In a panel at PRovoke Media Global Summit titled, “The Future of Work: Building a Strong and Inclusive Culture,” industry leaders spoke about the lessons learned while building a strong and inclusive culture in a remote environment. Moderated by APCO Worldwide’s Licy Do Canto, panelists included Kathryn Beiser, vice president of global communications for Eli Lilly, and Eric Kraus, former senior vice president, chief communications and corporate affairs officer for Bacardi Ltd. and former SVP, corporate communications and public affairs, at Covidien plc.
As a result of the pandemic, the workplace and broader workforce has undergone a massive transformation. This has created new challenges like keeping employees engaged through a computer screen and embedding DEI practices into workplace culture—and every company is handling these transitions differently.
WeWork, the community office space company was in the news given its IPO last week. Executive chairman Marcelo Claure recently said, “One size fits all is dead. The corporate headquarters as we knew it, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., five days a week, I don’t think we’re ever going back to that.”
Conversely, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon said recently that “remote work virtually eliminates spontaneous learning and creativity because you don’t run into people at the coffee machine, talk with clients in unplanned scenarios or travel to meet with customers and employees for feedback on your products and services.”
So how can companies reconcile this as they all transition to the “next normal”? What are some of the lessons learned in building a strong and inclusive culture in a remote environment? How can organizations best prepare for the future of work and maintaining company culture and employee engagement in hybrid environments? How can organizations and agencies deal with the shifting demands of this ‘next normal’ to ensure we empower people to do great work and nurture an organization where everyone is valued?
These are some of the questions facing all companies as they prepare for 2022, and questions that this panel, with over a combined half-century of dealing with corporate communications, employee engagement and company culture and branding experience, are going to answer.
