Managing your work performance during coronavirus pandemic

Now that many organisations have settled their staff after Covid-19 disruptions, and considering the investment that has been redirected to mitigate business challenges, much more will be expected from every employee when it comes to productivity.

There is no doubt that most organisations are now reviewing business objectives to align them to market realities, and performance objectives set at the start of the year have been overtaken by recent events.

Managers will have to determine how to conduct performance reviews for the past two quarters, which in my view will be unfair due to unforeseen challenges including remote working, lockdown and curfew which are beyond anyone’s control.

CONDUCIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT

But now that key measures have been taken to enable a conducive work environment, employees must take note that to whom much is given, much is expected. I have some thoughts on how you can stay ahead of the pack.

Take note of the key deliverables across the organisation and use this as a guide to inform your new objectives. Do not disregard what you had set to do at the start of the year; it is best to review and identify what may be carried forward, revised or disregarded.

Many jobs are likely to change as organisations realign structures; ensure that your roles and responsibilities are well aligned to what is changing. Scan the market to align your tactical interventions to the new reality.

Define the resources you need to be well facilitated to achieve your targets, noting that there will be an expectation to do more with less. Seek to proactively bring your ideas to the table and demonstrate what would be at stake if support is not provided.

Check-in with your manager for agreement but most importantly for clear direction on regular review, feedback and calibration.

FEEDBACK

You have an opportunity to structure feedback more broadly to include frequent check-ins with longer bi-weekly feedback sessions to strategies and align with the market landscape.

With complexities of remote working and all other precautionary measures required, in roles where feedback is expected on a daily basis, this may need to be reviewed to allow more time or be automated to allow immediate feedback without taking precious work time.

The key message is to be open to feedback as often as possible so that you know what you need to do differently and apply it swiftly.

Do not forget to set personal goals especially looking at ways to enhance your skills to be well equipped for the job ahead.

The best way to arrive at this is to list the top three competencies that you need to exceed your goals, evaluate to see your gaps, and work on a plan to enhance your competitiveness.

While some of these skills may be available within your employer's development plans, look for ways to invest in yourself. We know that disruptions birth outliers, but this happens mostly to those who embrace challenges and thrive in finding solutions.

Ms Muthiani, an HR specialist with over 20 years’ experience, is the MD, MillennialHR