Ten Steps to Create a Better "New Normal"

We have learned so much during the past few months as we’ve shifted our businesses to home, replacing in-person workplaces and interactions with at-home offices and virtual communications and experiences. As we prepare to move out of this pandemic and create our better new normal workplaces, it is critical that we build cultures of empathy that allow all employees, regardless of gender or race, to achieve their professional goals.

During our latest Virtual Equality Lounge on May 19th, we explored how businesses can use the time now to accelerate change and create the “next” normal. (You can watch the full panel here.) I was joined by five amazing business leaders: Lauren Demar, Global Chief Growth Officer, Ipsos; David Roter, VP of Global Agency & Brand Partnerships, Snap, Inc; Deanna Bass, Executive Director of Global Diversity & Inclusion, P&G; Nishita Henry, Chief Innovation Officer, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Katherine Shappley, VP, GBG Scaled, NA, Facebook.

The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the way we are conducting our businesses. Unexpectedly, we have discovered so much about who we are — as leaders, as business colleagues, and as individuals. These insights will help us create the better new normal. Now, we have a more nuanced and informed understanding of:

• How resilient and adaptable people and organizations are 
• The speed at which we learned to work from home will accelerate our future work
• The mere fact that we can do things we didn’t think were possible
• Learning more about each other in our personal at-home surroundings
• Realizing how much more empathy we have, particularly for teachers and primary caregivers
• Knowing we can lead, influence, and progress our work and our businesses remotely
• The agility to bring people forth, particularly about inclusion
• Real and open conversations that get below the surface
• A true sense of connectedness among teams

We now have the time and the opportunity to accelerate what we’ve learned over the past few months to create an even better new normal. Powered by passion and empathy, our panelists identified ten key actions that will propel us forward:

1. Stay on track with gender and racial equality by continuing to fast-track the equal representation and progression of women and racial minorities, thereby allowing them to achieve their professional goals
2. Keep in mind that it’s not about men and it’s not about women; rather, it’s about leadership and working together to make the workplace more equitable
3. Map out the pathway to pipeline to ensure the gap does not widen
4. Make sure women stay in the workforce now, despite their burden of being an employee and caregiver/housekeeper
5. Do more business virtually, as there isn’t a need to always be face-to-face
6. Create support networks to connect people around the country and the world
7. Establish a mentoring program for people to have someone to seek advice from and talk to
8. Co-create how we want to evolve, which starts with listening to one another openly, without preconceived notions
9. Bring more men into the conversation
10. Focus on the mental health of employees … “be kind to our mind.”

Now that we’ve identified what we want the better new normal to be, we need to take action steps to make it a reality and accelerate our businesses. We can start by having active conversations about the future of work, particularly in terms of where you work, how you work, and when you work. For the “next” normal to be a success, it’s critical that we break the caregiver model for woman by making sure caregiving and household responsibilities are shared and equitable.