Maximizing your human capital

In the second article of our Lessons Learned from COVID-19 series, we discuss the impact a strong workforce has on the resiliency of Canadian businesses.

There’s no question that a strong workforce can go a long way in successfully managing a crisis like COVID‑19. Throughout this event, everyone—from employees, to managers, to executive leaders and boards—were asked to stretch beyond their comfort zones and adapt overnight to a new reality.

Some companies were able to do this more quickly than others, largely because they already had an agile workforce in place. Specifically, in most cases, these organizations had:

• Visionary leadership. While the job description for CEOs has been evolving for years, COVID‑19 cemented the notion that an empathetic, democratic leader is best equipped to handle a crisis. These types of leaders recognize that it’s impossible to have all the answers, so they trust their team to help guide decisions. Similarly, they consider the human experience—the needs and wants of their employees, customers and suppliers—when deciding which path to take.
  
  This culminates in a transparent leadership style—one built on clear and consistent communication, and a willingness to get things wrong (because they don’t pretend to have all the answers). As such, they aren’t afraid to take risks and are prepared to quickly pivot in the event of failure.
  
  Adam Silver, commissioner of the National Basketball Association, amply demonstrated these traits when he suspended the league shortly after COVID-19 began its international spread—months before countries put quarantine measures into place.[1] New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, also showed decisive leadership by rapidly introducing a four-level COVID-19 alert system across the country, effectively allowing the country to lockdown quickly as cases rose. These transparent leadership styles not only helped people understand the situation as it was unfolding, but created a human context that allowed them—and those around them—to respond with empathy and compassion.
  
  
• A flexible workforce. Many organizations were focused on becoming more agile before COVID‑19 hit—and their workforces reflected that. Whether they were offering more work-from-home options, or experimenting with different work teams or collaboration arrangements, they hired people capable of adapting to new and varied situations. As a result, when their people were required to rapidly move to a 100 percent remote work environment during the pandemic, they were able to maintain—and, in some cases, increase—their productivity levels.
  
  
• A commitment to leadership development. To be considered a strong leader today, you must have very different skillsets than those required in the past. Increasingly, agility, the ability to act quickly and a willingness to be vulnerable are becoming the hallmarks of authentic leadership. At the same time, it is becoming clear that organizational effectiveness hinges on a leader’s ability to build trust across the management team. By following what is known as the Lencioni Model[2], it becomes possible to have open, transparent discussions about any issues that arise, gain commitment to better decisions and outcomes, drive accountability and ultimately empower the team to achieve organizational goals. To help leaders build these skills, many leading organizations have offered regular leadership training in recent years—a differentiator that meant their leaders were well-equipped to handle the fallout from a global pandemic.

_{[1] Harvard Business Review, April 13, 2020. “What Good Leadership Looks Like During This Pandemic,” by Michaela J. Kerrissey and Amy C. Edmondson.} 

_{[2] “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni, 2002, Wiley Imprint.}

_{[3] Raconteur. July 13, 2020 “How COVID changed the CEO skillset,” by Chris Stokel-Walker.}

To read the full report, "A blueprint for moving forward: Lessons learned from COVID-19," download the PDF.

Download PDF [ 1599 kb ]

More insights in this series