Current Organizational Challenges Resolution Strategies

Addressing Current Challenges and Planning for Progress

As the Harvard Business Review - HBR (2020) feature points out, the business environment is changing. Thus, businesses that do not wish to be left behind must adapt (HBR, 2020). It is also important to note that individuals that want to continue being relevant in a competitive job market must also adapt. There are various courses of action that my organization and I could embrace at present so as to not only address present unprecedented challenges, but also lay the foundation for even greater success going forward.

To begin with, the organization could manage current challenges by ensuring that employees are advanced the relevant managerial support. This is especially important given that the COVID-19 pandemic has to a large extent informed novel operational formats (i.e. the need to work from home) that could be a challenge for most employees to navigate. Further, as HBR (2020) points out, in as far as new work formats are concerned, “the blurring of the boundaries between work time and personal time that comes with remote work can lead to burnout” (99). With this in mind, the organization should advance the relevant managerial support to employees by ensuring that communication lines between employees and their superiors are kept open for active and timely consultation. In keeping the said communication lines open, employees can have active connection with their supervisors – effectively helping rein in the notion or feeling of isolation (and hence burnout). At the personal level, I could seek to rein in burnout by embracing effective task/time management approaches. HBR (2020) recommends devoting energy to issues deemed top-priority.

Next, it is important to note that one of the most useful resources that an organization has is its human resources. For this reason, anything that affects the productivity of employees is likely to affect the performance of the organization as a whole. With this in mind, it should be noted that the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated impacts of the same did have a negative impact on the mental health and wellbeing of most employees. This is more so the case given that most employees lost their loved ones and could have had their families affected in multiple other formats. For the organization to continue being relevant in an increasingly competitive industry, it must put in place measures to secure the mental health and wellbeing of employees so as to ensure that their productivity is not adversely affected. One way to do this would be by way of ensuring that employees have access to the relevant mental health resources. This could be through access to an organizational counsellor or therapist. At the personal level, there may be need to familiarize myself with, and explore, the various strass management strategies if/and when the going gets tough. HBR (2020) recommends such strategies as eating and sleeping well, establishing connections with others for the relevant support, and embracing mindfulness practices.

In the final analysis, it would also be prudent to note that to ensure that the organization emerges even stronger, there may be need to further enhance the skillsets of employees. Plenty of opportunities for this endeavor exist in the realms of customer relationship management, emergency/crisis management, etc. For instance, according to HBR (2020), customer preferences and priorities have been altered following the global COVID-19 pandemic. By ensuring that employees are equipped with the skills and capabilities necessary to establish, build and sustain long-term customer relationships, the organization will be in a better position to pull ahead of the competition. On this front, the organization could organize the relevant seminars and/or workshops for employees.