We all know that Wales and the rest of the world has undergone the most extraordinary change in the past three months. The human and economic impact across the Principality is quite staggering, with one third of private sector employees (330,000) being furloughed, 100,000 self-employed workers being made inactive and huge impact being felt across the public sector too.
“This is deeper and wider than mere Disruption”
The word “Disruption” doesn’t even begin to describe the current state. This is not a financial crisis like 1991 or 2008. It’s not ‘just’ an unparalleled health crisis (which looks set to continue for quite a while). It’s a genuinely ‘transformational crisis’ – a clean break with what has gone before. As many workers return to their physical workplace, putting stress on them and an increased duty of care on their employers to protect their psychological and physical wellbeing, it’s tempting to see ‘Digital’ as a reaction to immediate challenges – and of course, technology has come to the fore in the past few months as a great enabler, simply because organisations have had to find a ‘different way to work’.
“Positives to embrace and build upon”
But there’s a much more positive perspective to take on all this. In fact, there’s a clear opportunity to those who embrace ‘the new’. Take the role of ‘The Manager’ as an example. Greater flexibility has shown that people can manage themselves at home. Indeed, the latest research by 451 Research suggests that productivity for remote workers in the UK may actually have increased. So are we seeing the beginning of the end for multiple layers of management? Or at the very least, a change in the role of manager, with greater empowerment for employees?
And what of “Leadership”? The health crisis has demonstrated a need for visible, authentic, ‘human’ leadership. It's a type of management that we might refer to as servant leadership – where managers are enabling their teams to ‘do their thing', rather than commanding and controlling what that thing is. Pre-Covid, we were already seeing the limitations of Control & Command type leadership and management styles; and the future is most definitely being built on leadership that engages, enables and empowers. Digital can deliver all that if it’s embraced and ‘used’, not to replace the ‘human’ but to widen communication channels, bring greater shared purpose and engender deeper trust and wider engagement (both of which had been at record lows going into 2020). And yes, of course, Digital by definition can bring far greater efficiencies and measurable ongoing improvements, too.
“A Unique Opportunity for Wales plc?”
Is this landmark moment of transformation a unique opportunity for Wales? For decades, we have looked to encourage entrepreneurs by investing in their start-ups. But there’s no safety net for failure; and that may prove a real negative in these times of great uncertainty. Can the Welsh Government, which has proven itself capable of some remarkable lateral thinking in this crisis, look to create an entrepreneurship centre that helps start-ups through their difficult times? Could some of the billions going into furloughing go into a fund to sustain entrepreneurs in Wales, through greater investment capital being made available to Development Bank Wales? Should some of that investment be made available to drive digital transformation that will make Wales one of the best places to work, live and do business on the planet? And what about the people that make up Wales plc? Is this the chance to upskill and re-skill employees at all levels – not just in digital skills, but across manufacturing, the service industries and the entire supply chain, through digital learning?
They say you can’t predict the future, but I believe we can create it here in Wales – by backing ourselves with intelligence and ambition in this age of digital transformation.
