ABSTRACT
One of the major issues with reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on work values and dynamics is leadership and management of both material and human resources. We have started this chapter with the challenges of people management in government bodies, corporate outfits, health organisations and educational systems. Relationality and inter-subjectivity have been considered as essential ingredients in preparing for the future. We have looked at the dimensions of preparedness as mimicking the dimensions of the human being so that there are physical, psychological and spiritual aspects. Physical preparedness directly involves the material resources that make it possible to handle the changes in work hours, technological needs and competence upskilling. Psychological preparedness has been discussed with resilience at the core so that health organisations, businesses and governance target specific aspects of resilience needed for people to thrive. Spiritual preparedness is briefly explained as a continual memory of the capacities of transcendence inherent to the human being so that rapid technological growth never becomes dehumanising. Recommendations are made based on a deeper understanding of these different dimensions in an individual and collective way. © 2022 Kemi Ogunyemi and Adaora I. Onaga. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The Covid 19 pandemic transformed the slow morphing of work modes into rapid shifts that heightened VUCA characteristics globally. The management of these shifts in work dynamics is the focus of the chapters in this volume. The variation of post-pandemic outcomes for businesses, from complete collapses to profit booms, easily motivates an interest in the values that influence truly positive outcomes. Also, the health sector, globally, has borne much of the brunt of the pandemic and needs to draw practical lessons to promote its adaptability and sustainability through future crises. Responsible Management of Shifts in Work Modes - Values for Post Pandemic Sustainability, Volume 2 looks at specific issues relating to ethical leadership, people management, resilience, and the management of consequences for business and healthcare systems. In the process, contributors identify challenges to and engage in in-depth discussions of work values that enrich people management. The necessary qualities needed to develop these work values both now and in the future are thus highlighted in the different chapters: both individual and organisational characteristics are explored while developing ways to promote responsible management through fairness to stakeholders and ethical leadership. As a post-pandemic future incorporates new realities distinct from the old normal and yet does not change the purpose of all responsible management, this book deliberates on the necessity of values, virtues, and skills to make the necessary work mode shifts in small, medium, and large organisations positively impactful for the future of humanity. © 2023 Kemi Ogunyemi and Adaora I. Onaga. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Epidemics and pandemics tend to jolt people out of their ordinary living to a special state of crisis and suffering. The COVID-19 pandemic has not proven different, and this chapter and indeed the whole volume is a call to reflect on an ongoing state of volatility, uncertainty, complexities and ambiguity (VUCA). Where it is difficult to project an end to a pandemic as occurs presently, VUCA is even more significant, and the outcomes of these reflections can only augur well for present and future confrontations of a crisis. In this chapter, we have described our premises for understanding work values in a normative sense. Understanding the principles behind the stability and sustainability of these values will serve as a guide for the responsible management of changing workforce dynamics. While respecting the personal choices involved in work values, we outline some social and organisational factors that influence said dynamics. Ethical principles play a key role in the attendant changes in the workforce ranging from rapid digitisation to remote working, to flexible work hours, and changing workspaces. New problems have arisen relating to the rising costs of working virtually, unequal opportunities in different economies, genders, and fields, and the rapid changes that are still ongoing. Some issues we have tackled include the challenge with employer-employee trust when supervision and workspaces are rapidly shifting, and the responsibility for well-ness and flourishing when the lines between work and the rest of life become blurred. We have recommended some attitudes that will promote integrity in all the stakeholders of a given workforce so that there is effective collaboration and individual growth. © 2022 Kemi Ogunyemi and Adaora I. Onaga. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The Covid-19 pandemic is leaving an indelible mark on history leaving a heightened need for responsibility, accountability, and ethics in the use and management of resources for the common good. This first volume of Responsible Management of Shifts in Work Modes - Values for a Post Pandemic Future reflects on past and present events influencing the pandemic's global impact and the shifts towards new directions in responsible management of human relationships and workforce dynamics. Our post-pandemic world requires active agency to ensure that it places work in its right context for growth and development;this entails greater responsibility for those whose decisions impact others' physical, psychological, and spiritual health. Considering the organisations that have borne the direct impact of the changes and the challenges to the health sector, Responsible Management of Shifts in Work Modes - Values for a Post Pandemic Future, Volume 1 unpacks what responsible management means, explores future adaptions to heighten responsibility and proffers recommendations. Case studies within present examples to guide others who wish to act responsibly with an intentional focus on the future of work and management which are rapidly evolving and require deep reflections about their direction and its quality. In the wake of the pandemic, Responsible Management of Shifts in Work Modes - Values for a Post Pandemic Future will aid businesses by providing insights on how to responsibly react to changes caused by the pandemic;by reinforcing their ongoing efforts and by broadening their perspectives. © 2022 Kemi Ogunyemi and Adaora I. Onaga. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
There has been a widespread proliferation of digital technologies in the last few decades with worldwide usage increasing to 4.66 billion active internet users in 2021. This amounts to 59.5% or half of the overall population and is significant. On the one hand, the changing digital state of affairs means that there are greater opportunities for businesses, economies and societies to flourish since 92.6% (4.32 billion) access the internet through mobile devices (Statista, 2021). On the other hand, this digital revolution has not percolated equally, with women having less access to resources and capabilities to utilise digital tools. This phenomenon is known as the 'digital gender divide' (OECD, 2018). Correspondingly, the COVID-19 pandemic has not had favourable outcomes for women, with many losing jobs, downscaling their careers or leaving the workforce. Generally, it has disadvantaged women both economically and socially to the extent of slowing their progress towards gender equality and empowerment. With the new normal, following the COVID-19 pandemic and the acceleration of the digitalisation process, possessing digital skills and know-how will be an essential must-have. Digital working offers possibilities for women to become business owners, work flexibly and remotely, be connected to the rest of the world, and have easy access to information and education. For this to happen, the digital gender divide must be resolved by quick, concerted and inclusive pragmatic global policy-level actions to empower women to play a significant part in the digital landscape that would lead to economic prosperity and resilience, equal societies and a much better world. © 2022 Kemi Ogunyemi and Adaora I. Onaga. All rights reserved.