The post pandemic board - a new collaborative endeavour PR File - Flipbook - Page 9
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The post pandemic board: a new collaborative endeavour
“A modern board should be agile, responsive,
evolve pretty constantly, be self-analysing and
understanding of its strengths and weaknesses.
And it has to be able to do it all at pace.”
Both existing and emerging priorities within
organisations require attention because of the risks
inherent in them. In 2022, many chief executives
also report feeling overwhelmed by the demands
on them stemming from changes in the operating
environment.
Organisations hit the hardest by the pandemic
are still grappling with major issues to do with
financial sustainability and what that will mean for
overarching strategy and priorities. On top of that,
we are all facing the big socio-economic challenges
of our time in the energy and cost of living crises,
recessionary climate, political instability and
increasing polarisation within communities.
new talent, with most of us working from home for
at least part of the week.
Many CEOs are thinking hard about how they will
foster the new sense of belonging they need for
cohesive and effective teams, and pay attention to
the wellbeing of their workforces. And just as some
organisations were settling into a hybrid routine,
employees concerned about rising energy costs
are reconsidering a return to the office or looking
for enhanced pay that will cover the increase costs
associated with working remotely.
Generational tensions are also starting to emerge
within organisations as cohorts of new workers
introduce their expectations to the workplace and
challenge thinking.
As one contributor put it, “very few organisations
if any that I know have a straightforward ‘carry on’
kind of ability at the moment”.
There are also a number of emerging issues starting
to manifest within organisations, such as critical
talent shortages, the inability of public sector
organisations to pay competitively when they need
to, and broader talent implications relating both to
Brexit and the levelling up agenda.
Organisations are re-establishing employer value
proposition or reforming organisational cultures
that drifted or were eroded by the lockdown period
so that they can support hybrid working. Perhaps
there has never been a better time to address equity
and diversity in the workforce? Yet there has never a
been a harder or more complicated time to onboard
Covid has prompted the question: what risks to the business have
we not traditionally considered in the risk register? We traditionally
have a disaster recovery plan for fire, flood, and physical or cyber
terrorism, but what about a disaster that unfolds progressively,
or a disaster of national or transnational proportions? Should a
conventional risk register have produced contingency for energy costs
rising by 500% year-on-year? Or for the gradual loss of technological
capacity as the supply of new chips dries up in the event of a Chinese
takeover of Taiwan? Where is the point at which governments, not
boards, must take responsibility for enabling businesses to survive?