This pandemic has shifted how organizations operate. And while many of the changes can be seen as temporary, many of them are likely here to stay. We’ll likely never go back to what we used to consider normal.  The shift to remote work has had and will continue to have a profound impact on organizations and how we lead our employees.

Surge capacity is “a collection of adaptive systems — mental and physical — that humans draw on for short-term survival in acutely stressful situations, such as natural disasters.”  This is how we get through stressful periods or events in our life. But with a pandemic, the stressful situation is spread out over a much longer period of time, and many of us have likely depleted our surge capacity.

I think we’ve all had to be mentally tough over the last six months and are all striving to find ways to be tougher. I recently read an article on Forbes.com that outlines seven things mentally tough people never do.  I like that these apply both professionally and also in how we can better handle ourselves during the stress of the pandemic.

Google recently surveyed more than 5,000 employees and held focus groups to understand the impact of distributed work after recently announcing that they would extend remote work through at least July 2021.

While employee experience is important to HR, it is often overestimated to be more positive than it actually is.  A recent survey by Topia, Adapt or Lose the War for Talent: Why Your Employee Experience Needs an Upgrade, shows some insight into how employees really feel.

In my last blog I wrote about the likelihood of work becoming a hybrid blend of remote and office. However, there are some leadership challenges to be aware of when creating a hybrid environment that will be successful.  

As we return to work, employees and employers will need to adjust to a new way of doing things. Employees have grown accustomed to the flexibility they have with remote work.  While many miss the office, many do not.

Sometimes lately I wonder why I am so exhausted at the end of the day.  I used to travel around from one meeting to another all day long.  Now I have the leisure of doing all my meetings online from the comfort of my own home. But why am I more exhausted now?

As Michigan enters phase 4 of reopening, organizations must decide how to phase their workers back into the office. I know several businesses who have already chosen to stay fully remote even once we reach phase  6 – post-pandemic. But not all business can support that, so how do you bring employees back safely?

As we slowly return to the workplace, will it ever return to “normal?”  Not right away, if ever.

World Economic Forum outlined several trends likely to shape the post-COVID workplace.  Some of these I agree with, some I have trouble with.

HR is front and center during a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic we are experiencing right now.  The everyday responsibilities of HR shift while dealing with a crisis such as this.  HR and leadership must create a sense of trust and empathy. 

Even through the hardest of times, there is always something we can learn. “Never let a crisis go to waste” is a quote that continues to come to mind.

COVID-19 has hit Michigan and the nation harder than anyone expected. Many ASE member organizations have stepped up to provide services and produce items in need.  I am very proud to have them as ASE members and would like to recognize a few of the organizations currently helping out:

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every one of us, and we are each processing it differently.  Never before in my lifetime have I experienced a shelter-in-place order.  This is a big adjustment for all of us, and Forbes recently posted an article with some mental health practices that are helpful during this pandemic.

As an avid reader, I often notice writing or grammar mistakes in professionally published works. Quickanddirtytips.com surveyed editors at Macmillan Publishers and asked them to rank the most common writing and grammar mistakes they see.  With the writer being so close to his/her work, the editors are who catch most of these common mistakes: