Who stays, who goes. How to make those tough decisions during and after the pandemic?

With all major changes happening in the midst of this global crisis, a significant change and readjustment on the way leaders and managers act and behave in making decisions is inevitable. One of the most relevant questions in the period is how to survive, and remain in the market. Consequently, how companies will hire, qualify and adjust their workforce to act amid the uncertainties of this new scenario since this process demands individual characteristics and competencies very different from those that were considered adequate and relevant before the pandemic.

Much is said about the “new normal”, trying to find a formula to understand how to operate going forward. In fact, what characterizes the “new normal” is “disruption”. People and companies will have to deal with change as fast, and as radical, as what we are experiencing at the moment, in a constant and indefinite way. Disruptions will prompt knowledge and information to happen in quantum-leaps and by completely transforming old practices, of which we still have no idea how and what will be.

People management and leaders have a fundamental role in the planning and management of the workforce and in anticipating the necessary competencies of every role, of each team, and individual, so the company can adapt quickly to survive, recover from the consequences of an economic crisis that is already predicted, and grow again.

This will require a reassessment of all available resources, and in particular, who remains in the company, who will be relocated to different sectors, what characteristics are needed for new hires, and much more. Some competencies we have already identified as essential in this new era, such as critical thinking (identifying opportunities and evaluating the actions to generate value for companies); adaptation and flexibility (one of the most requested because it deals with how the world is constantly and rapidly changing); creativity (ability to solve problems differently, combining elements from a variety of repertoires), resilience, emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence and diversity, leadership skills, common sense, determination and collaboration.

Have you evaluated your team and how you are going to make decisions on this matter?

An important tool for solving these issues raised above is the Extended DISC. With approximately 1 million users, and used in more than 80 countries, this behavioural assessment tool based on the theory of the Swiss psychiatrist Carl G. Jung and the American psychologist William Moulton Marston, the Extended Disc gives you a highly accurate picture of your workforce, as it makes it possible to detect up to 100% and sixty different behavioural styles, and the only tool of its kind that makes it possible to identify the natural (unconscious) behavioural style and the behavioural style that the individual believes is necessary to face their present moment in the work environment (conscious behaviour).

People managers then have the possibility to map all teams, the entire company, and all employees, in order to identify, not only how and who they are, but where each profile is located in the organisation and the impact of these profiles on the team and in the workplace. In addition, it shows you where the points of conflict are, the points of stress, enabling you to plan actions to mitigate the critical points that are impacting performance and results of the entire organization. And, clearly, it offers opportunities for performance evaluations and assigning people with the best profiles and competencies necessary to overcome this very delicate moment for us all.

The tool obviously does not come alone, but accompanied by professionals who can assist in the application, data interpretation and ones who know how to help with the challenges of dealing with people and making difficult but crucial decisions. The moment is one of great solidarity, of great caution. Getting the support of the right professionals and tools that can guide those decisions is extremely important.

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