MANILA, PHILIPPINES — With the shift to work-for-home and hybrid setups also comes other big changes; for starters, the shift to taking better care of employees and putting structures in place to make the workplace more resilient. Workplace culture is changing and it’s being driven by digital transformation. Aware of the real-world impacts this shift brings, telecommunications giant Eastern Communications puts its workplace culture first for the betterment of its employees’ welfare.
“[Remote work and our current hybrid setup] gives our employees more time for leisurely and personal activities. Another great thing brought about by the digital shift is that employees get to enjoy a work-life balance, boosting their morale, productivity, and overall well-being,” observed Eastern Communications HROD Head Anilene Cometa.
“In terms of the employers, the setup gives them a huge opportunity to create a more welcoming, productive, and fair work environment, and be more inclusive in all of our company activities.”
The transition was not all smooth sailing, of course, and even now there are still challenges being posed. But Anilene affirmed that Eastern Communications has programs and solutions in place to continually address hurdles like technical difficulties with the digital shift of business processes, Covid-related issues, and any problems with the team’s mental well-being.
“Digital tools like Eastern Cloud and Microsoft 365 products helped us improve teamwork and collaboration among employees, as they can now simultaneously work on documents online. This is of course supplemented by a stable and fast internet connection,” she added.
Anilene was adamant that remote and hybrid setups will be sticking around for Eastern Communications.
“I strongly believe that our current setup is here to stay, for a long time. As a company that enforces the positive impact that digital transformation brings, I believe that working remotely will continuously bring great outcomes and a positive impact for our company and for our people,” she said. “In a time when mental health issues are rising, remote working helps create a balanced environment for our employees to thrive and preserve their mental wellness.”
Sharing strategies for workplace resilience
Last July 23, the giant telecommunications company held “Reimagining Resilience: Growth After Adversity,” a webinar on how to develop a more resilient and holistic workforce. As an advocate for a digital-first work setup, the company aimed to share their values so that industry leaders could more easily adapt to the new workspace. During this webinar, the speakers tackled how to reimagine resilience in the context of post-Covid recovery and the challenges they bring, as well as ways businesses can continue to pivot.
Up first was MindNation CMO Cat Triviño, a media and digital marketing practitioner and sought-after resource speaker for content creation, personal branding, and digital marketing. During the session, Cat revealed that even though businesses have eased into the new normal, the company still needed to change their old ways of thinking. In order to be resilient and able to adapt to these challenges, she said, one’s “Well-being Capital” — which is composed of physical, emotional, social, cultural, and mental health — must be balanced.
“Our Well-Being Capital has five key dimensions of health that need to be balanced and fulfilled for us to live the happiest, healthiest, and most resilient versions of ourselves,” she explained. “It’s how we are able to adapt to challenges and to whatever stresses come in our lives.”
Cat also pointed out that resilience is not about returning to the state of things pre-adversity, it’s about reacting to adversity in a way that leads to a better version of how things were.
She ended her presentation with a reminder of how important it is for leaders to apply these in developing their teams. Cat emphasized that leaders must equip their team members with the skills and resources necessary to practice the five strategies for resilience that she presented: self-care, awareness, support, gratitude, and practice.
“Remember that resiliency must be carefully cultivated by leadership,” she stressed. “It is our role as leaders to make sure that we develop resilient teams so that we are empowered enough to face the challenges that’s to come.”
Eastern Communications Strategic Segment Marketing Manager Carmina Marquez also spoke at the webinar, tackling both the basics and complexities of adapting to the new business environment. “You are not alone. We’re all in this constant mode where boundaries between work and home are dissolved,” she assured. She walked the viewers through how you can utilize the features of Microsoft Teams to make it easier to predict opportune moments to switch tasks and take breaks.
“I want you to think how helpful it could be if an AI-based digital tool guided you in transitioning to a different activity or taking a break, saving you the time and energy forging unproductively ahead, continuing to fall behind, or getting further distracted by negative feelings surrounding your progress or lack thereof,” Carmina said, introducing how this is exactly what Microsoft Teams offers.
Through artificial intelligence, Microsoft Teams created a feature designed to signal when a person should consider switching to a new task or stepping away for a break as a means of enhancing positive emotions while still ensuring work gets done.
There are also Wellness Features integrated into Teams that take you through a Virtual Commute that closes your tasks to clear up mental space, provides mental check-ins, and gives you moments of mindfulness.
“[Eastern Communications] realized that technology has not only played a key role in helping people work remotely and stay productive, it is also proving to be a key part of preserving and creating well-being,” Carmina said.
“Indeed employees who are happy and satisfied with their lives tend to be more engaged with their work, more resilient to setbacks, and ultimately more likely to perform well,” she said at the end of her presentation. “With the help of science and technology, there are a lot of digital tools available out there to assist and guide us, and we should definitely maximize these tools to make our lives easier.”
As it becomes more evident that the workplace shift to virtual and hybrid setups is here to stay, the more vital it becomes to pay attention to the changing needs of employees that come with it. Eastern Communications establishes what leaders must keep in mind in the new normal: There are tools and strategies that workplaces can and must equip themselves with in order to keep up with the adjustments that must be done in the face of new challenges this setup brings. And when these changing needs and new challenges are addressed the right way, not only does it improve productivity, but it also makes teams more holistic and resilient and creates a safer and more nurturing space for everyone’s wellbeing.
