CIOopinion
thousands of concurrent calls during the
early days of operation. The same need
for personal contact culminated in the
heartbreaking queues outside Centrelink
offices in late March.
It is clear that at times of stress and
hardship, people need and want to talk to
another person. They want to be heard and
to hear for themselves. It is a basic human
need and no website or app will ever be
able to replace it. Voice is here to stay and
will be an integral part of every business
offering in the future.
So, what comes next?
The last couple of months has forced
businesses to make decisions that would
previously have taken many, many months
to finalise. So, with restrictions continuing to
ease, it is going to be interesting to see just
how (and if) businesses wind back to pre-
COVID-19 working practices.
MNF Group’s own employee Pulse Survey
has thrown up some interesting insights,
which I expect may reflect universal
challenges and opportunities for shaping
the ‘new normal’.
Top of these is that we have seen employee
engagement and productivity maintained,
and even improved, thanks to the imposed
flexibility of remote working and the use of
unified collaboration tools.
But on the other hand, there are some signs
the enforced isolation is impacting wellbeing
and overall mental health.
So while decisions will have to be made
by my organisation – and many other
businesses – as to how far the work
pendulum swings back regarding WFH
versus office working, I believe we will see
a new and fundamentally changed
working paradigm emerge that embraces
flexibility and the need for human
community and connection.
What has become crystal clear during
this difficult journey is the very human
need to speak with others and in turn be
“
BUSINESS
LEADERS
GRAPPLED
WITH HOW TO
COMMUNICATE
A LEVEL OF
REASSURANCE
TO BOTH STAFF
AND CLIENTS
AND FACILITATE
WORKING
FROM HOME.
heard. This will continue to be front and
centre of whatever ‘new normal’ we
land upon. •
46 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com