“The past is a different country: they do things differently there.”
The memorable line by novelist L.P. Hartley has special resonance at this time when so much has changed in a matter of weeks. We have all landed unexpectedly in a future none of us anticipated. Now, even as thousands of new COVID-19 infections are reported daily, we – individuals, organizations, businesses and institutions – are already trying to catch the first flight back to the place we think of as normal.
That’s not going to happen. The normal we knew is part of the past; it’s become another country with beliefs and behaviors that seem increasingly archaic. Those who believe they can recreate their old lives in this new country will eventually understand that, at best, they have merely fallen back into familiar routines while a new world evolves all around them. Some of the differences will be tangible. Others, perhaps even more significant, will be found in changed beliefs, attitudes and commitments.
The public appears to be transforming before our eyes, galvanized by the Black Lives Matter movement, which is being fueled by the disproportionate impact of the recession on minorities, which in turn is a symptom of the growing wealth gap tearing at the fabric of our society. And let’s not forget this is happening as minorities are contracting the coronavirus and dying in disproportionate numbers, which is one of the factors driving a reexamination of the healthcare system. This is all exacerbated by ugly political attacks clogging both the traditional and social media, from which there is no escape, especially when tens of millions of Americans have been confined to their homes for months.
Health experts are warning that emotional and psychological harm has been inflicted by this conflagration of negative events. Some say that the pandemic is worsening or even causing large-scale Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Why am I focusing so much on the roiling minds and spirits of the general population? Because that population includes millions of the workers who in coming weeks will be told they should return to work or remain working at home. Still others will be told they are losing their jobs. All of this will be fuel on the already roaring fire of unrest.
We are in a period of sudden social, economic and business upheavals. Most of us are affected by one or all of them. None of us feels as good about our prospects as we did three months ago.
Corporate leaders must be under no illusions that their workforce is somehow unaffected by the recent turn of events, that there’s a magical switch people can flip to eliminate their unease about the future and their anxiety about our tempest-tossed social order.
Even as they urge their people to work in new ways, learn new skills, become expert in new communications technology and respond with agility to new goals, CEOs must understand that the people they lead have been changed.
Younger workers, especially, are having a formative experience perhaps even more profound than the 9/11 experience of the prior generation. Beyond health concerns for themselves and family members, many know people who have lost their jobs, students concerned about returning to class, relatives struggling to pay their rent, or recent graduates stunned by the collapse of the job market. Workers in their 20s and early 30s had only experienced a strong economy and unending opportunity; now they hear of record unemployment figures and see long lines of hungry people on the evening news. At the same time, flaws in society and in business have become glaringly apparent.
For communications professionals, helping business resume and then excel in the future is going to require even greater skill and effort. We must assume the responsibility of monitoring societal trends and understanding how they affect the perceptions and behaviors of all stakeholders. Corporate stakeholder models -- the relevance and messaging assigned to each key audience -- need to be reconsidered. Greater weight must be given to worker feedback about company policies and management behaviors; and we will have to anticipate greater employee activism.
A re-examination of corporate culture is needed almost everywhere. Past commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion are no longer adequate. If significant numbers of employees will be working at home, teamwork will be affected. Professional development, onboarding, recognition, celebration and much more will be impacted. These are cornerstones of culture and key components of the employee value proposition.
More change is coming. Big change. And this will require even stronger leadership at all levels of organizations. CEOs, in particular, are going to have to step up their game. They’ve got to reinforce culture, make the commitment to purpose even more concrete and inspire people to embrace a new future. The will need to revise their stories about what the organization is all about, why it exists and where it is going. Their narratives must provide hope but not mislead about the difficult decisions to come. They must be optimistic yet pragmatic about the high degree of uncertainty that will characterize the new world we all are entering.
Make no mistake, CEOs are going to need Sherpas in this new country, Sherpas who may not be natives themselves but who use the experience and tools at their disposal to stay out in front and provide the CEO with valuable information and counsel.
Communicators, are we ready?
