Unworking...What's this? Should l worry?

Covid19 brought about the biggest changes to our attitudes to work, workplaces and how we carry on and go about our lives each day than many of us remember in our lifetimes.

Suddenly health, family, friends and communities mattered. It should have mattered before, and perhaps it did in part, but we were forced to absorb a sense of reality and take responsibility and accountability for our own actions and help others to do the same.

Companies had to respond to the pandemic strains and routines. It wasn't optional.

The events forced many companies to reassess how they utilised working hours and workspaces.

So we began unworking what we were all used to. We've had to forge new pathways.

For anyone embracing these new changes and moving forward with what this looks like and how it needs to work, this will enable future working and bring about new opportunities.

For those trying to return to the previous working, they may find themselves in a far worser situation than at the start of the pandemic. It might not be apparent immediately, but it is unlikely returning to previous models will be sustainable and as such these organisations will no doubt face uphills to improve and increase retention of people, and attraction of new people.

In January-March 2022 (House of Commons, UK Gov), redundancies were reported to be below pre-pandemic levels, and job vacancies were at record highs. What is for sure, there are no immediate signs that there were significant increases to the number of jobs available, and so one conclusion is people are moving about.

If there is one thing that the pandemic did, it was help people realise that they have a choice and they can be responsible and accountable for that choice.

So if you want to retain people, attract new people, you might want to consider how your organisation arranges its working time and where people can perform their work and how develop to be at their best.

If you want to read about Unworking, you might consider reading 'Unworking - The Journey to now' Myerson&Ross

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