EMPLOYEE MAGAZINE
The invasion of the COVID-19 pandemic brought the entire world into a season where everything slowed down . You were either infected by the virus , which slowed down or halted your physical ability to engage with society , or you were affected by its ramifications in your work , and all your other plans . One thing that became apparent when the pandemic hit was that whoever resisted the change that it was bringing , would be left behind . The best thing to do was adapt . This applies strongly in career building and management . The luxury of being in the office in person was taken away when countries went into lockdown , and for many people , their jobs as they knew them , completely changed . So , the way “ business ” was done was everything but usual . A great need to pivot how we look at our careers arose . The way we deliver and communicate our value had to change . In fact , it had to be heightened . So , this article will shed light on how career building changed in this new climate and the choices you must make in order to thrive in your career during and post this pandemic . We do not always get the chance to reset , and the pandemic afforded each of us this opportunity . Many companies resorted to having their employees work from home , so this meant people no longer had to get up early , rush to the gym , be at the office before 8am , attended a number of meetings , chat up a storm with colleagues and get stuck in traffic on their way back home . The new office became some people ’ s bedrooms , living rooms and for the fortunate ones , study rooms . Meetings were now held virtually , and all that time that would be spent in traffic was now spare time that individuals had to and for themselves . Time to think through their careers and how satisfied they really are in them , and time to evaluate what the next best move would be . For me personally , it became a practice run for the life I want to live post the pandemic . I have aspirations of being a full-time entrepreneur , and the new work-from-home set-up gave me an opportunity to create my own work routine , test my discipline and prepare me to be independent and responsible with how I spend my time and energy . My question to you is : Did you use this spare time to consider your career and what you want from it , or by force of habit , did you find other activities to fill your time with ? COVID-19 was a sure disruptor . Ways of work have been eternally transformed . The truth is , old systems are going to be done away with , if this has not already happened . Similarly , old mentalities no longer have a place in this new climate . I remember when my workplace made arrangements for all of us to start working from home , an older man was disturbed by this , telling me that in all his 45 years of employment , nothing of this fashion and magnitude had ever been imposed . It made him uncomfortable . He wasn ’ t the only one though ; my former boss was challenged by this new set-up , and I was chuffed at this , because for the longest time , I had been championing that we should impose a routine in the team where we have team members spend at least one day in a week , working remotely , whether that was at home , in a coffee shop or an alternative working space . I kept suggesting this because many people who were at times forced to work from home before the pandemic reported how productive and efficient , they were in doing their jobs when they were away from the office . Which made sense because so much of our time is spent making our way to meetings , catching up after the meetings , having endless conversations with colleagues and having extended lunches and
Employee magazine SEPT - OCT 2021 26