Humanizing the Workplace and transforming Business

“Daring leaders work to make sure people can be themselves and feel a sense of belonging.”

― Brené Brown

Life has perhaps its own way to guide us all towards the right path. If we listen.

Our need to reevaluate our priorities and the way we work has been highlighted through many events and episodes for the last couple years more than ever.

During the latest pandemic, companies instantaneously found no other option but to move the offices, the meetings and the work fully to a hybrid and digital format. This abrupt change among others made the ‘future of work’ we were, at some point, just working towards take place sooner than anticipated.

Working remotely has pushed all the teams ready or not, equipped or not, to adapt and “learn as they go”; A change that has emphasized the call for more flexibility, expertise, preparedness and most of all a human-centered culture at the work-place.

Businesses have placed, during this time, a great faith in the potential of digital technology and creative managerial styles to sustain the same rhythm of work, stay productive and meet their targeted annual goals. The pandemic has accelerated the changes we had - long ago - to make in order to create a better workplace.

Our sense of collectivism has been put to light along with our undeniable need for connection, safety and belonging in all aspects of life. Remote work has even proven at this stage to be a more permanent solution for many businesses, which was far from being the item #1 of the agenda. Many even consider today implementing the solution long-term due to employee demand. A new, truly human approach to work had to emerge in order to reach the progress at the work-place humanity has been craving for.

Flexibility and the leverage of technology has proven to be essential to maintain employee engagement. It is for that reason that the priorities, roles and focus for leaders is shifting. These changes have highlighted the need to treat employees as humans by creating a work environment that is more human. This time was undoubtedly a critical one to dust off the core of Human Resources philosophies and practices in order to incorporate them into the core of how humans serve organizations moving forward. Promoting humanity in order to create a positive change isn’t just a cool idea, it’s the only way to do it. “If we want real; real is to focus now on how to uplift humanity through our firms, everybody should be thriving; the board members, the stakeholders and the employees,” argued Amri B. Johnson, the CEO of Inclusion Wins, in one of his interviews with me.

Just like the pandemic had pushed the role of many entities to change through the new policies put in place to protect citizens nationally as well as internationally from the pandemic, new rules and standards have been adapted to retain, encourage and build a safe environment at the workplace. Leaders have realized today more than ever that caring for their employees matters and that caring isn’t ‘just’ a soft skill. Soft skills are as important as hard skills; therefore, building a good corporate culture is as important as numbers.

What has been shown to be effective a few years ago has been challenged and proved to be less effective today. Our progress requires adaptation and a promotion of what truly matters. Respecting the new standards of working is essential, as one win is neither sufficient nor adequate. This shift is required by all; just like international cooperation was crucial not only to combat the virus, but also to accelerate research in order to find the vaccine for all, teamwork and a human-focused approach is the only way today to move forward — and together.

During an interview made with Haifa Al Kaylani, the founder of AIWF (Arab International Women Forum) as well as the only Commissioner from the Arab world to the ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work, she declared: “We urgently need a more human-centered approach, to bridge the digital gap, and address the gender dimension in order to ensure inclusion and diversity in the workforce of the future. Across the board, a more people-centric approach is needed – with the emphasis firmly on the people doing the jobs, not just on job creation. Quite simply, we need to humanise education and humanise the economy.”

Relying on technology pushed perhaps all of us to question our needs as well as embrace our real nature. We became fully aware that human values remain at the core of this experience; when employers deliver based on values they witness more loyalty and productivity in their teams. This doesn’t create just a happy human but also better business outcomes and contributes to the growth of the company as a whole. According to Forbes, companies with strong cultures have seen a 4x increase in revenue growth. Furthermore, companies that have appeared on Fortune’s annual 100 Best Companies to Work For list also see higher average annual returns, with cumulative returns as high as 495% instead of 170% (Russell 3000) and 156% (S&P 500).

Leading from within has become a necessity. Therefore, the digital world is, contrary to what we believe, highlighting the existence of many barriers we created — which led us to crave again human connection, and go back to basics.