Covid made companies focus more on employee happiness

Airports. Planes. Hotels. Customer visits. Not too long ago, this was my packed business life and schedule. I still vividly remember my last time on a flight, as I returned from an eventful trip to our company headquarters in Amsterdam. The date was February 12, 2020.Not too soon after, the world changed in an unimaginable way and so did everyone’s lives. I found myself locked up in my home with my family, cooking and cleaning. All interactions with my colleagues, customers and friends became virtual. For over a year, we moved into a life of masks, sanitisers and extreme caution.And then the second wave hit us. This time, its reach touched me and my family, and all of us were infected. Like everyone else will concur, it isn’t by any means a pleasant experience. But we made it through, and here I am feeling like I am fresh out of the oven – with epiphanies and perspectives of both life and work. As happy and grateful I am that all of us came out of it without any complications, it saddens me to see many of my colleagues, friends and their families being impacted. It is my constant prayer that people and societies across the world recover safely and that collectively, we can overcome this pandemic.As a business leader used to being clued into work all the time, it was a totally different experience when both my personal and professional life came to a crashing halt. It made me wonder and reflect on things I probably hadn’t paused to think about before.The Covid-19 challenge brought the value of employee happiness to the fore in a manner that wasn’t experienced before. It is not as if organisations did not believe in it, it is that these challenging times actually gave them the opportunity to demonstrate it in big and little ways. For example, at Randstad, our ‘Human Forward’ culture is something that we believe in and execute with passion. I was very fortunate to experience it first-hand from the Randstad Covid Task Force. This is an employee volunteer-driven initiative that comprises volunteers from across the organisation and locations, who kindly raise their hands to help their colleagues going through a difficult situation.Other organisations have shown their people-first values in many ways, and it is a practice that we should continue. Personally, I feel fulfilled in learning newer dimensions of how I can embed humility and compassion as a leader. medium83924093There are a few other precious lessons that my quarantine and recovery period taught me for use in my professional and personal life:It was really wonderful to see fellow humans come together to help each other without letting their differences come in the way. This was teamwork at its best, and I hope we continue to practice and learn from it.* One important lesson was ‘don’t panic’. This is probably the biggest cause of damage. Our great ‘Whatsapp University’ churned out many unfounded theories that agitate the mind. Let us keep it simple by trusting verified facts and sensibly accepting realities to take the next step correctly. We call it data-driven reasoning and decisioning at work, don’t we?* Another lesson I learnt was to take the counsel of experts. I trusted my doctors - who were knowledgeable and were fighting hard to save lives – to see me through Covid-19. Extend this philosophy to life and work. Listen to and have faith in the experts.* Focus on your wellness. The value of keeping fit and healthy all the time, I realised, is something that we have to constantly remind ourselves about.* However, the most important lesson I hope never to forget is that of gratitude. We could not have pulled through the trying time we went through if it were not for an army of people who directly and indirectly supported us – my sister, my doctors and nurses, and my family, friends, colleagues and leaders. I, for one, have resolved to bring a lot more authentic thankfulness into the workplace.Let us all be responsible for ourselves and those around us, and do what is right and good. Covid-19 has taught us lessons that positively blurred personal and professional lines. Let us bring the best of our personal self to work, and let us take the best from our professional lives to make us even better persons.The writer is the Director and Country Head, Randstad Sourceright IndiaThe article features in the Worklife+ newsletter which you can subscribe here