The global outbreak of coronavirus has created significant challenges for leaders at all levels and in industries across the world. In fact, according to some organizational and leadership development experts, we are all in a state of transition especially in the domain of work.
With the pandemic touching every corner of the world and every aspect of business, we know that things will not go back to normal as soon as, or perhaps just not yet. Businesses and industries that don’t adapt quickly surely won’t survive. This will be a historical moment that changes the shape of the world and economy permanently.
We are currently facing changes such as rapid rises in unemployment and full-time remote employment. Now, what does that mean for the future of leadership development? For starters, it means they must embrace a broader range of learning options including virtual and digital learning. Although there are new tools that could be of big help, how do you handle the big switch to being digital and virtual when it comes to career and leadership development?
To tackle this certain issue, HR Nation Philippines in their HR Masterclass webinar titled “Career and Leadership Development During Covid-19” invited guest speakers who can share their new expectations, realities, and strategies for planning the future of the workforce.
The first speaker is no other than Ms. Aimee Martinez, HR Director at Asian Hospital & Medical Center. According to her, leadership starts with influence. A leader must be able to influence employees in many things but mostly when it comes to productivity turnover and employee engagement. Given that there are new and different job demands moving over us, we must create change starting with developing new core competencies such as understanding new requirements, learning new skills, and many more.
After we help ourselves adapt to those changes, we must also get involved and help our leaders as we know more, do more, and be more. We need to make expectations, set clear deadlines, communicate accomplishments, give feedback, and be highly visible.
Achieving these can lead us to the transition stage where we should practice being responsible to unfamiliar responsibilities. New challenges come with new opportunities to learn and grow. Allow yourselves to embrace change and find new ways on how the whole company can build employee connectivity despite our current situation.
Closing her talk, she shared the motto that they have been embracing in their company which is, “Happy Staff, Happy Clients”. She wanted to impart this learning to every business leader out there that they should open their doors and look after their staff because at the end of the day, it’s them who will drive the business to success.
The next presenter was Ms. May Sunega, Head for HR and Communication at Sun Life Asia Service-Centre Philippines. She discussed some points as to how HR practitioners in this new era have learned to converse and engage digitally specially when it comes to career and leadership advancement.
Regarding the career and leadership topic, professionals should be able to ask themselves two things: “To change or not to change?” before deciding with anything. There are many things about the different aspects of our lives as professionals that should be gauged if it deserves to be changed or not.
First are the things that matter the most. You must rethink what is important and such prioritization must be on a whole new level. Next is examining the things that are needed. Leaders as a source of stability may be asking themselves “Am I good enough? Or Is being great good enough?” This is where each of our experiences comes in. Experience matters especially during these hard times and what we can bring to the table will greatly impact the future of our careers.
We are all changing without a warning. Everything is changing and nobody would’ve ever thought that we will no longer be able to see ourselves in the offices, do team buildings, meet with our employees, etc. or maybe just not yet. The future is changing and life as we know it, is gone instantly. We all need to start all over again and in this chaos that we were experiencing, nothing has ever been highlighted far more than the importance of leadership.
Leadership may have been redefined but during these unusual times call for unusual measures and provide unusual opportunities. This is the time to step up, step forward and be counted for doing something meaningful, something out of ordinary, something generous, something humane, or to support others who are taking the first steps towards tomorrow.
So wherever in the organizational hierarchy we stand, we have the choice to take ownership and be accountable, social distancing notwithstanding. In today’s pandemic time, each of us can be a leader.
Closing the event was Mr. Gene Jardeleza, Solutions Consultant at Salarium.
Previously, the most popular method to capture Time & Attendance was to rely on Biometric Devices. However, in the recent changes, companies are exploring other options where the need to touch the same fingerprint scanner would be avoided. So, currently Salarium’s new product which is the FacePass, is the most viable option in our platform.
FacePass is Salarium’s Touchless Time and Attendance Solution powered by S.A.F.E. Tech, this service automates your workplace’s safety entry protocols and efficiently monitors your employees’ time and attendance at the same time—all without the need of physical contact.
FacePass is a time and attendance solution under Salarium’s Transparent Timekeeping module. This service will be offered as a standalone solution but can be optionally integrated with Salarium’s Effortless Payroll module.
To know more about Salarium’s products, you may visit https://www.salarium.com/facepass/
You may view Ms. May Sunega’s presentation here: Career and Leadership Development
You may watch the webinar recording here:
