COVID utterly screwed us up—that much is obvious. From the real and terrible physical health effects to the reprogramming it unleashed upon our society. While COVID is not over (there were more than 2,500 COVID-related deaths across the US in the last three months alone), we’ve seen our cities, communities and workplaces all take steps to return to normalcy. But what’s “normal” has invariably shifted.
Like a lot of companies, Elasticity has maintained a largely hybrid work schedule post pandemic. Our team enjoys more flexible hours and improved work-life balance, but we’ve also had to deal with its drawbacks—like having more isolated team members, and fewer spontaneous get-togethers (this Slate article from a couple months ago goes deeper on the death of the post-work happy hour).
In the latest episode of the Stretching Boundaries with Elasticity podcast, we speak with Colin Wheeler, VP and Global Lead, Corporate Affairs, VF Corp, about how how his company (the parent company of a number of apparel and outdoor brands like Vans and The North Face) about how their company has seen shifts in culture and how leadership is responding to it.
“The priorities have changed,” Wheeler said. “Employee communications, internal communications is a lot more important to us now as a company — making sure the employee base understands the turnaround strategy, understands their role in making that happen and that the organization feels aligned.”
Communication has always been key, but with employees who are more disconnected from the office and its culture than ever, it’s critical for companies to find ways of instilling their core values in this new landscape. There may not be a single silver bullet answer, but there are things you can do.
Embrace Transparency
Remember, if you’re not seeing your employees, they’re not seeing you either. You have to make the times you do interact with them count. That means formally sharing more than you’ve done in the past to make up for the causal conversations that aren’t happening as often.
Go Beyond the Monthly All-hands
Find more opportunities to connect (and connect with) your teams. We’ve tried a number of things at Elasticity — internal newsletters, sponsored company extracurricular activities, team lunches. These all have helped build trust in our teams and our leadership. Get creative, and find what works best for your people.
Be Clear About Your Goals
We can’t all pull in the same direction if we don’t know what direction to go. Wheeler says “there’s a lot of premium placed on making sure employees know and understand where the business is heading, what their role is and whether the company is living up to its values.” Elasticity is currently in the process of revamping our website (coming soon), and while part of that is to create a better relationship with our potential customers, it’s equally about reaffirming our brand’s values to our own employees.
It’s a whole new world out there, and the steps we take now are going to have a big impact on how things play out moving forward. You can either try and go back to the way things were before COVID (which hasn’t worked out for the majority of companies who’ve tried it), or you can embrace this new paradigm and try to take advantage of the opportunities it affords. We know which we’re taking.
Listen to the full episode of the new Stretching Boundaries podcast here. We promise it’s not all about COVID.
