By Siddhi Jain

New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANSlife): Leaders need to lead by example in setting a good work culture even during these times. Leaders who listen, encourage collaboration, are empathetic, and drive organisational agenda by keeping employees at the centre of it all, will be able to successfully ensure a good work culture even during remote work, says a leading business and human resource expert.

Ester Martinez, CEO, People Matters feels that with the pandemic-induced changes in organisational structure, HR practices will become more digital, more personalised, more employee centric, and intelligent, and most importantly, more empathetic.

"The pandemic-induced changes have accelerated the path to digitalisation overnight and HR practices will have to let go of old legacies to keep up with the reality of the new normal. It is time for HR to show more adaptability and resilience and in fact, hit the reset button," Martinez told IANSlife.

How does she think organisation culture will change? "Culture is something that flows from the top and this pandemic has firmly established that flexibility, empathy, care, collaboration, technology and employee centricity need to be the core of your culture. A culture which ignores these tenets and does not realign itself to give employees the required flexibility to align themselves to the new reality won't survive. Cultures set in stone won't last, it's time for becoming flexible, employee centric, and fluid."

She stresses on the role of leaders to ensure a good work culture even during remote work. The recent People Matters TechHR 2020 deliberated upon innovative ways of progressing in a world of work that has transformed drastically due to the disruption caused by the pandemic. "Leaders who can clearly set boundaries between work and life will be able to inspire a culture that ensures employee wellness is taken care of even remotely."