How to Create a Postpandemic Workplace That Works For Everyone

Patricia Rosado, HR Director, Vigor

The globalized world and the constant changes brought daily challenges to the organizations. Companies unwilling to change disappeared at some point. Organizational transformation is an ongoing process in companies, and it would not be different in a post-pandemic context. Of course, the pandemic also brought a new challenge, it was all speedy, and the changes were on a global scale. The context forced companies, even the most traditional, to adapt to a new homework model, giving that work invading the home space.

In addition, they had to “take care” exhaustively of employees’ health that had to remain in face-to-face activities in essential sectors. In short, Health has never been on the rise in the corporate world as today. It was not just the COVID that impacted but also the exponential increase in cases of burnout and other mental illnesses as well as depression and anxiety.

Much has been discussed about transformations, such as the hybrid model, flexibility, mental Health, and others. However, it has a powerful theme: the change in how organizations look at and relate to their employees. Organizations meet human needs, the crisis impacted organizations, and leaders woke up to a new reality.

People are getting sick and looking for healthier places to work, where they can better balance their lives, and the companies that have that will be more attractive. As a result of this change, several forums emerged talking about the new model of humanized leadership. I see authors talking about the need to develop empathic leadership, which builds trust, cares, and assumes their vulnerability. Even so, what do these characteristics have in common? They are a leadership style that uses feminine energy. But what would that energy be?

I’ll give you some context. All genders have inside of them both feminine and masculine energy. It’s important to note that we all have both(I’m referring to energies, not gender). Feminine and masculine energy are opposites. To understand one, it helps to understand both of them. Think of them as yin + yang – they are the perfect complementary opposites, which is why they work together so well. Feminine energy is the energy that’s used to be creative, collaborative, connect and support others, have fun, and flow through life. It’s where we access our intuition, experience our emotions + feelings, and share compassion and love with those around us. On the contrary, the masculine is about achievement, structure, analytical, control, and discipline. This energy is focused on logic instead of emotions and takes decisive, deliberate action.

"Workplaces that are balanced and no longer in duality is very new, and companies that know how to transform their culture and seek this new way of acting will be successful"

No energy is better than the other; they are just uniquely different. However, in our current culture, specialty inside organizations, the masculine can sometimes be “valued” more than the feminine. Because of this, it can make us feel like we need to push harder into our masculinity than what naturally feels good to us. This can cause us to feel disharmony. Also, this imbalance of energies occurs everywhere, and it’s causing some serious issues and diseases.

As humans, our actions/inactions are a direct result of our emotions, so, to have healthy workplaces that work for everyone, we need to develop these capabilities in our leadership. This process does not happen cognitively; with theory, it is necessary to experiment and reflect to understand. It’s no use wanting that your leaders shifted abruptly. It takes a lot of self-knowledge, openness, and practice.

Promoting Organizational Change I believe that developing human-centered skills should not just be a matter of leadership. It has to change the organization. The masculine energy is vital for the corporate world, after all, it is impossible to face competitive landscapes without taking that energy forward. The point I want to bring from reflection here is that for a long time and until today, organizations have used this type of energy to get where they are and remain today. However, the world requires a different look at people, and organizations need to change. From my point of view, it is critical to seek a balance between energies.

If a company can do this, it will have everything to prosper. However, how can we do this? The solution is not just to hire more women, gender balance helps, but that is not enough. As I explained earlier, we all have both energies, which means I can have several women leading organizations using more masculine energies. So, the reflection I bring is: after all, how to work this balance within the organization?

Some initiatives can contribute to this transformation, such as:

• Encouraging leaders to become more compassionate and inclusive of diverse perspectives;

• Effectively Communication. Communication and open dialogue are essential for the whole process;

• Developing initiatives to bring more purpose and strategy to empower your people to assume accountability and make decisions in line with the strategy;

• Strengthen Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives to create a culture of trust, empowerment, and belonging;

• Understand the importance of empathy, starting with HR leaders. Empathic CHROs and connected with the purpose of the area are more effective;

To summarize, having workplaces in balance and no longer in duality is something very new, and I believe that companies that know how to transform their culture and seek this new way of acting will be successful.