Corporate

Innovative Concepts for Working Together in a Post-Pandemic World 12 an executive white paper by CEO Health + Safety Leadership Network Teams must be focused on results and employees should come together with purpose The team at PRAXIS was polled about a year and a half into the pandemic to assess their preferences with respect to remaining remote or moving to a hybrid structure. The team supported remote work but still gets together regularly. "We have quarterly collaboration days and managers and individual employees have budgets for co-working so they can plan team meetings of their own," says Juniper. At Siemens, flexibility and empowerment are critical to operating as a mobile workforce. "We were a telecommuting workforce before the pandemic. We had to figure out how to do the work and manage workload. We have tried to educate people, to listen and understand their unique needs. This is how a dynamic team works. We empower and trust the team. We clarify deliverables and give people the flexibility to manage how they get it done," says Vuckovic. "Employees can work anywhere as long as they are able to deliver on results." She also notes that when they do meet in person, they come together with a purpose; they aren't just bringing people in for the sake of having them in the office. Peoples says her leadership style has changed over the last few years. "Personally, I lead differently now than I did before. Employees' family and work lives are integrated. We have people in different parts of the country in different time zones, so flexibility and trust are critically important from my perspective. I feel now that if I don't trust an employee to do their work and meet deliverables, I'm not sure they should be with us. I have no idea when they are at their desks and when they leave. I am leading and managing based on deliverables, not time in the seat." Mistry says CSA Group is working closely with employees as they figure out how to move forward with a flexible work arrangement. They are thinking strategically about meeting employee needs and marrying the goals of the organization with individual needs and the way work gets done. "There are so many nuances we're not aware of until we actually talk to employees and they're happy to help us understand what they're dealing with. Personally, I'm able to manage life much easier today than I could five years ago and that takes away a lot of anxiety." She says, "If the pandemic had happened fifteen years earlier, we wouldn't have had technology like Teams and Zoom that made it possible to bring teams together." Peoples agrees. "Digital advancement was a silver lining of the pandemic. My national Board of Directors never met virtually before the pandemic and now we are able to spend less and increase efficiency with virtual Board and committee meetings." Given that Siemens is a technology company, it's not surprising that they had already developed a lot of tools and software that enabled them to shift a workforce of 140,000 people to working globally mobile pretty quickly – the systems and networks were already in place. They also used virtual reality to complete certifications and audits during lockdown and they're continuing to do this today to save costs. " There are so many nuances we're not aware of until we actually talk to employees and they're happy to help us understand what they're dealing with." — Manisha Mistry Senior Director, HSSE & DEI CSA Group 3

• Cover
• Introduction
• A Snapshot of the Panelists and Speakers
• Highlights of Panel Discussion
• Building Culture and Creating Mentally Healthy Workplaces from Afar
• Conclusion