How COVID Has Changed Us: Rethinking the Return to Work
How COVID Has Changed Us
Rethinking the Return to Work
Written by David Robert, Chief Strategy Officer at Loeb Leadership
I am elated that we are beginning to see real signs that the end to the pandemic is near. Businesses are slowly opening at full capacity, students are returning to schools, and there seems to be a level of optimism among the people I speak with that hasn’t been present in some time. In preparation for my own return to the office, or in my case “the road,” I have attended a handful of webinars on the topic. The panel discussions seemed to focus on the legal and logistical aspects of the process: vaccination policies, cleaning procedures, and the restructuring of the office space to promote social distancing, to name a few. These are all helpful topics for business owners and leaders to consider but something about these discussions felt incomplete. I couldn’t put my finger on why until I started examining my own feelings about returning to some form of normalcy.
I found myself engaged in a mental exercise of trying to jam a square peg into a round hole. That’s when I realized what was missing from those previous panel discussions. There was an underlying assumption in those conversations that the same people were returning to work; that if we could figure out the logistical pieces, people would return to the office and everything would go back to normal. That assumption is wrong. Although our names remained the same, we aren’t the same people. I’m not the same person. I have changed. I have changed in ways that I don’t yet fully understand, but I know I am not the same person I was prior to the pandemic. I am confident I am not alone in this realization. The past 15 months have been dark, stressful, and unnerving. I have experienced bouts of anxiety, sadness, fear, frustration, and an ambiguous sense of loss. The ambiguous loss has had the greatest impact on my mental health. I can only describe the feeling as experiencing the grieving process yet unable to articulate what I have lost. I liken the feeling to swimming in a pool full of gelatin. I’m exerting a lot of physical and mental energy but I’m not gaining much ground.
I have also begun the process of redefining what normal should look like for me. Within that process I am realizing that the old normal may no longer work for me; that I have an opportunity to be intentional about what I invite back into my life – both personally and professionally. I am sure others are reconsidering their own priorities. These self-reflections will have an impact on our workplaces. People may no longer have that intense fire in their belly, want the same things or tolerate the same behaviors. We will likely need to be led and engaged differently, and we may not understand exactly what we need as soon as we walk back through the lobby door. We will require patience, care and empathy, particularly from our leaders. Some firms may experience an uptick in voluntary turnover, as a result. So, as we continue the discussions about the return to work, let’s also talk about how we can better support and care for each other. Let’s talk about the importance of mental health awareness and how stress and grief impact one’s performance. Let’s talk about how we can leverage insights from DE&I to build a new, better normal that works for everyone.