Planning and Communications

• Do we need new tools or technology to enable more effective information flow?
• Are people receiving COVID-related information they need as they return to the workplace (e.g., COVID cases/variants, vaccination process)?
• What processes do we have in place to manage any COVID cases within our network (e.g., within our workplace, amongst clients/customers and/or suppliers)?
• How do we do ensure that the workforce has what they need, should there be a re-occurrence of COVID-19 or subsequent pandemic?

Note: please see Workplace – Re-entry & Monitoring for details on return to office

Measurement

• What processes are we implementing to ensure the emergency preparedness and response team is regularly reflecting on lessons learned to change as needed?
• How will we detect how many COVID-related issues we have in our workforce and where?
• How will we measure our effectiveness in responding to / managing COVID cases within our network?

Planning and Communications

• Do we have agreed-upon scenarios that we will use to frame our decisions regarding emergency response?
• What have we learned from our response to this crisis, and how are we updating our emergency response protocols for the future?
• How are we using data and technology to sense what might be coming next?

Note: See “Workplace: Reopening and returning to work” for details on returning to the office.

Measurement

• What KPIs can we set to understand the effectiveness of our response at various stages?

Nature of work

• What did we learn about workforce productivity? What lessons can we apply moving forward?
• Where can technology, automation, or machines enhance the work currently done by humans?
• Have we adequately challenged the outcomes we want to achieve through our work? If so, how is this further changing the nature of our work?

Organizational structure and collaboration

• Where can we leverage the insights from organizational analytics to understand the formal and informal networks that underpin our organization, and where are the best opportunities to drive greater collaboration and efficiency?
• Have we had to make any changes to team structures, succession plans, or reporting lines?
• Have we effectively changed our norms for collaboration?
• How will we perform and manage risk with a more dispersed workforce?
• What programs, enhancements, and team operating norms can we put together to counteract fatigue as a result of virtual work?

Nature of work

• How can we rethink the flow of work to enable more human ways of working?
• How can we design well-being into our work?
• What long-term work outcomes do we want to achieve? How can our broad set of technology capabilities enable us to achieve these outcomes?

Organizational structure and collaboration

• Where can we leverage the insights from organizational analytics to understand the formal and informal networks that underpin our organization, and where are the best opportunities to drive greater collaboration and efficiency?
• Have we had to make any changes to team structures, succession plans, or reporting lines?
• Have we effectively changed our norms for collaboration?
• How will we perform and manage risk with a more dispersed workforce?
• What programs, enhancements, and team operating norms can we put together to counteract fatigue as a result of virtual work?

Digitization

• How might we leverage automation as a first line of response for employee questions?
• What processes are ripe for greater digitization? How has our response during the pandemic highlighted additional areas of opportunity?
• What work cannot be completed because information or resources have not been fully digitized, and how can these challenges be remedied?
• What processes and practices are drawing our employees back to the physical workspace? Can these be changed?

Digitization

• How can we leverage automation to create capacity for our employees?
• How can we digitize or automate processes with minimal disruption of the workforce? What is the right road map to do so?

Measurement

• How did our measures of productivity change during the pandemic? What practices can we take forward postpandemic?
• What efficiencies did we develop through workarounds during the pandemic? Which can we establish as long-term changes?
• How are we leveraging collaborative technology to enhance productivity?
• How are we monitoring the use of technologies and platforms and adjusting our offerings accordingly to best support employees?
• What unstructured data do we already collect that we can analyze to yield deeper insights?

Measurement

• How might we ethically leverage technology to monitor the engagement, productivity, and well-being of our workforce?
• What tools, processes, and systems does the workforce require to feel efficient and productive in a future hybrid environment?

Reputation management

• How do we make sure we are maintaining and elevating our employment brand across current and future prospects?
• Has our reputation changes through the crisis, either through our own actions or that of our industry? How do we want to continue or reverse this shift?

Reputation management

• How do we want to position our brand as we emerge from the pandemic? What changes have we made that we want to make core tenets of our reputation?
• How can we leverage the “next normal” to enhance our brand and reputation?
• Will our employment brand need to change in the future?

Vendor relationships

• How has the vendor landscape changed? How do we need to further adjust our vendor strategy?
• Are any of our strategic vendors now facing serious challenges that threaten our business? In what ways could we support them?
• How will our physical interaction with vendors work moving forward? What protocol changes have they made?

Vendor relationships

• How do we anticipate partnering with vendors in the future? What will be our primary mode of interaction?
• Will changes to usage patterns trigger any rebates or cost negotiations with external vendors?

Workforce scenario planning

• Do we anticipate further changes in demand for our services that would require different workforce models?
• Did we adequately predict the impacts on various employee cohorts as a result of COVID-19? Were some hit harder than we expected? How do we adjust our workforce planning?
• For organizations where the crisis has led to rapid hiring, how do we plan for potential shortages in talent supply?
• Have we determined the kinds of work we will shift to virtual (or hybrid) work arrangements on a more permanent basis?

Compensation

• How do we channel resources to recovery planning while meeting day-to-day workforce needs?
• What resource reallocations do we need to make within HR?

Talent access strategy

• Are we adequately considering new types of labor supply for critical roles and skills or for new and emerging needs?
• Do we understand what roles are best suited for alternative talent pools?
• How can we build, borrow, or buy talent in order to adequately meet new business demands?
• In what areas may we want to elevate our recruitment brand in the market?

Sentiment analysis

• How does the workforce feel about adapting to new ways of working?
• How has the workforce responded to changes as a result of COVID-19?
• How do our workers believe their mental health has been affected by the pandemic and remote work?

Workforce scenario planning

• How might we more holistically rethink the composition of our workforce for the future? How important is alternative talent to our talent strategy moving forward?
• How are we thinking about our workforce in a way that provides us with the greatest flexibility, sustainability, and resilience?
• How can we develop methods to continually reevaluate work arrangements based on the type of work we do?

People strategy

• How do we incorporate our talent value proposition into our organization’s next business strategy?

Talent access strategy

• How will sustained remote or hybrid work evolve our strategy and ability to consider talent pools outside of our physical locations?
• How might we improve our candidate experience through the use of technology? Are there circumstances in which in-person interaction is not necessary?
• How can we establish internal talent marketplaces to leverage the diverse skills of our existing workforce?

Sentiment analysis

• How can we keep the workforce engaged in the long term?
• How can we capture workforce innovation on an ongoing basis and incorporate it into business planning?

Benefits plans

• What modifications should we make to our programs to facilitate future ways of working? How can we make the appropriate modifications?
• How have our benefit providers modified their plans as a result of the pandemic? How can we work with them to enhance our plans?
• Are considering extending any benefit plan entitlements that we offered at the onset of the crisis? Which of these entitlements can we make permanent?
• Are remote employees covered by our current plans (e.g., health insurance and similar plans)? Are special riders needed?

Compensation

• What is the current total cost of our workforce? What lever do we have to reduce costs over the short, medium, and long term?
• How and when will we make decisions to consider adjusting our salaries and bonus and equity-based programs, metrics, and payouts to offset changes made during the pandemic?
• Do our executive compensation program metrics need to be reviewed?
• How are we addressing wage and hour issues and administrative and operational consideration for nonexempt employees working in a hybrid or remote environment?

Well-being

• Do we need to consider additional mental health support prior to and upon reentry into the workplace?
• How can we address rapid changes in working norms to support mental health?
• What programs can we or have we put into place to support the well-being of those employees hit hardest by COVID-19?
• How are we tracking and responding to unintended consequences associated with COVID-19?

Benefits plans

• How can we reimagine our offerings to provide our employees with the greatest degree of flexibility?
• How can we leverage analytics to better manage costs and tailor our benefit offerings to our employee needs?

Compensation

• Do our compensation principles need to be reimagined?
• How does our compensation strategy need to evolve to take into consideration alternative work arrangements?
• What feedback have we received on potential compensation model changes? How does this affect our potential plan changes?

Well-being

• Should we conduct a comprehensive review of our mental health policies, programs, and practices?
• Have we established robust policies and programs to enable the well-being of various workforce segments, including, but not limited to, women, racially and ethnically diverse people, parents, etc., who may have differing needs in a hybrid work environment?

Benefits plans

• What modifications should we make to our programs to facilitate future ways of working? How can we make the appropriate modifications?
• How have our benefit providers modified their plans as a result of the pandemic? How can we work with them to enhance our plans?
• Are considering extending any benefit plan entitlements that we offered at the onset of the crisis? Which of these entitlements can we make permanent?
• Are remote employees covered by our current plans (e.g., health insurance and similar plans)? Are special riders needed?

Compensation

• What is the current total cost of our workforce? What lever do we have to reduce costs over the short, medium, and long term?
• How and when will we make decisions to consider adjusting our salaries and bonus and equity-based programs, metrics, and payouts to offset changes made during the pandemic?
• Do our executive compensation program metrics need to be reviewed?
• How are we addressing wage and hour issues and administrative and operational consideration for nonexempt employees working in a hybrid or remote environment?

Well-being

• Do we need to consider additional mental health support prior to and upon reentry into the workplace?
• How can we address rapid changes in working norms to support mental health?
• What programs can we or have we put into place to support the well-being of those employees hit hardest by COVID-19?
• How are we tracking and responding to unintended consequences associated with COVID-19?

Benefits plans

• How can we reimagine our offerings to provide our employees with the greatest degree of flexibility?
• How can we leverage analytics to better manage costs and tailor our benefit offerings to our employee needs?

Compensation

• Do our compensation principles need to be reimagined?
• How does our compensation strategy need to evolve to take into consideration alternative work arrangements?
• What feedback have we received on potential compensation model changes? How does this affect our potential plan changes?

Well-being

• Should we conduct a comprehensive review of our mental health policies, programs, and practices?
• Have we established robust policies and programs to enable the well-being of various workforce segments, including, but not limited to, women, racially and ethnically diverse people, parents, etc., who may have differing needs in a hybrid work environment?

Multichannel and multidirectional communication

• What is the appropriate cadence and channel for communications to keep people engaged without being overwhelmed?
• What have we learned from communication during the pandemic that we need to continue and enhance? What measures need to be permanently adopted?
• How are ensuring employees continue to feel heard as they reenter the workplace?

Recognition and retention

• Are we actively engaging our people in the appropriate career development conversations?
• Is there a need for special recognition of any of our workforce?
• Are there new opportunities to engage our top performers?

Multichannel and multidirectional communication

• What channels do we need to include in the long run to manage a diverse workforce model?
• What communications should become part of “business as usual” and be shared more frequently with the workforce?

Recognition and retention

• What retention methods should we explore, given new hybrid working norms and the ability to “work from anywhere” (if applicable)?
• What curated and personalized experiences can we provide the workforce to engage them and allow them to contribute their full potential?
• How can we keep our top performers engaged with appropriate recognition activities?

Leadership effectiveness

• What is the appropriate cadence and channel for communications to keep people engaged without being overwhelmed?
• What have we learned from communication during the pandemic that we need to continue and enhance? What measures need to be permanently adopted?
• How are ensuring employees continue to feel heard as they reenter the workplace?

Workforce behaviors

• Are we actively engaging our people in the appropriate career development conversations?
• Is there a need for special recognition of any of our workforce?
• Are there new opportunities to engage our top performers?

Workforce norms

• How has the pandemic changed the level of effort required to complete day-to-day tasks, given the organization’s unique structure?
• What network(s) can employees tap into for coaching and informal learning?

Leadership effectiveness

• What behaviors, actions, and changes do we need to make to adapt our culture to future business plans?
• What long-term leadership behaviors should we instill, given new ways of working?
• How can leaders cascade these behaviors throughout the organization?
• Do we need to add to or adjust the skills represented on our board of directors?

Workforce behaviors

• How can we foster behaviors which maximize performance and engagement?

Onboarding

• Do we need to account for changes to our onboarding processes for new types of talent categories and/or for new work arrangements?
• Are new hires feeling connected to the organization?

Performance management

• How are defining performance expectations for modified working arrangements? How are we ensuring we avoid biases in performance reviews?
• Are there tools and resources we can equip managers and employees with to ensure that dialogue is appropriately tailored to changes in performance expectations?
• Do we have an adequate approach in place to handle performance reviews?

Learning and reskilling

• What broader reskilling efforts may now be required? Which are our priority areas based on skills we need to succeed in the future business environment?
• Can we digitize more of our existing learning content?
• What new learning content might we need to curate or develop?

Mobility

• Where might we need to consider changes to our processes and programs?
• Do any of our assignees require changes to their support entitlements?

Succession planning

• Are there net-new leadership roles required to position us to thrive? How will we plan for and fill these roles?
• Do we need to revisit any of our succession plans?
• How are supporting leaders in new roles?

Capability gaps and development

• What impact have changes to our work and collaboration had on the skills and capabilities our workforce requires?
• What capabilities are most valued as we evolve work priorities and outcomes?

Performance management

• How do we adapt performance management for a more diverse workforce drawn from many talent models?

Learning and reskilling

• How do we continue to shift our learning culture so that our people see learning as integrated “into the flow” of their daily work?
• What enduring human skills and capabilities do we require in the future? How can we infuse these into our workforce?

Mobility

• How can we think about mobility differently given new ways of working? What new mobility opportunities have we uncovered?

Succession planning

• What long-term changes do we need to incorporate into our succession planning based on what we learned during the pandemic?

Capability gaps and development

• What is our strategy to access capabilities of the broad talent ecosystem in order to achieve our target work outcomes?
• How can we harness technology to unleash human potential?

Remote work strategy

• What is our organization’s remote and hybrid work strategy postpandemic?
• What criteria are we using to make these decisions?
• How will we monitor and manage adherence to the chosen strategy?
• How will we communicate our remote and hybrid work strategy decisions with our employees?

Work preferences

• How will we use data and employee sentiment to understand working preferences and inform our go-forward hybrid work posture?

Mobility

• How do we anticipate embracing a remote work posture on an ongoing basis?
• Have we considered the strategies, policies, and procedures needed to enable ongoing remote work? Have we implemented them?
• How will we reevaluate criteria used to govern hybrid work decisions?
• How will our hybrid work strategy link to and feed our talent acquisition strategy and employer value proposition?

Work preferences

• How might work preferences evolve with the integration of human and technology capabilities?

PPE

• What PPE do employees need to wear when in the office (pre- versus post-vaccination)?
• What PPE are we providing to our employees (e.g., masks)?
• How are monitoring PPE compliance of employees, clients, and customers?

Reentry and monitoring

• On which guidelines or regulations are we anchoring our reentry timeline?
• What are our processes for clearing employees for reentry and for daily work?
• Which employees will be unable to return to the office because of personal, health and safety, or logistical circumstances?
• How do we communicate with employees so that they feel safe? What channels should we use?
• What are our protocols for monitoring potential employee illness? What training are we providing to employees?

Health and safety

• Are our sanitization processes proving sufficient?
• What protocols might we need to ensure employees maintain distancing while in the office? What is our approach to noncompliance?
• Have our employees been following our food safety guidelines? Do we need to consider greater measured for heightened food safety?

Reentry and monitoring

• How do we equip our employees in the long run to see monitoring as a matter of shared accountability?

Health and safety

• What are the health and safety implications when it comes to remote working or having a home office?
• What policies, if any, will we establish regarding vaccination on an ongoing basis? What is legal?

Collaboration and connectivity

• What tools and platforms continue to be most effective to support a blend of physical and virtual work? How are we understanding employee preferences?
• Are there any persistent challenges our employees are facing with existing platforms? Where can we make enhancements?

Remote working tools

• Do we need to revise processes we have in place to provide easier access to remote-work hardware in the future?
• What, if any, policies do we need to establish regarding remote working tools?

Security

• Are there any behaviors we need to promote with employees to ensure the continued reliability of our systems and infrastructures?
• How might we enhance supervision and design new controls to manage a perpetually remote workforce?

Workplace technology

• What technologies should be introduced to manage the workspace efficiently while offering a seamless experience to employees and others in the future workplace?
• What technology solutions and controls are needed to manage the future workplace?

Collaboration and connectivity

• How do we remain on the cutting edge of remote working and other types of software offerings to increase productivity and keep us prepared for future disruption?
• How are we using technology to create a digital workplace experience?

Remote working tools

• Do we need to reassess our technology infrastructure to support operational resilience (including business continuity) and digital footprint in a remote environment on a continuous
basis?
• Should we invest in remote work technologies or expand “use your own device” programs, including subsidies for workforce segments that did not have them before?
• What tools, technology, and equipment will be provisioned for the future hybrid or remote workforce? How will shifts in work arrangements affect tooling?

Security

• How might we enhance policies and monitoring of corporate network, identity access, data privacy and confidentiality, and cyber risk programs to address increased risks of
sophisticated cyberattacks?
• Are there new security patches that need to be implemented to maintain system safety in light of more permanent work-from-home arrangements?

Workplace technology

• How can we create or enhance an integrated workspace management and workplace experience application?

Real estate scenario planning

• Are employees using our physical space or opting to work from home? Do we need to adjust our real estate strategy in the medium term based on projected working postures?
• Are clients and customers visiting our office locations as much as they used to? How do these changes affect our real estate strategy?
• Can we creatively look at partnering with temporary workspace providers?

Workspace

• Do we need to make any adjustments to shifts or working hours or consider introducing them?
• Do we need greater enforcement of our workspace protocols with our clients and customers? What is our approach to noncompliance?
• What are the new space requirements for employees based on remote, hybrid, and in-person assignments?

Architecture and design

• What is the right mix of space to support our workers’ day-to-day activities?
• What technology can we leverage to minimize safety risks?
• How can we reconfigure workplaces?
• What light changes and material changes are needed?

Real estate scenario planning

• How will long-term changes in work arrangements affect real estate? Do we anticipate a desire to return to the office in the long term?
• How might we think about buying versus building and renting office space in the future?
• What new sets of data and assumptions can we use to model client, customer, and employee demand by location?
• Are we amenable to owning real estate in alternative locations to enable a more distributed workforce and obtain labor arbitrage savings?

Workspace

• How will we balance our employees’ needs for human connection with the heightened adoption of technology?
• How can we leverage the workspace to promote core tenets of company culture?
• How can the workplace produce an environment for colleagues to be productive?
• How can we leverage technology to enable workplace strategies?

Architecture and design

• How can we design spaces to drive collaboration and connectivity while supporting the future hybrid workforce?

COVID-19 vaccinations¹

• Will we have a policy that requires our employees to get vaccinated? Have we reviewed federal, state and provincial, and local legislation and guidance and any applicable union agreements?
• What is our organization’s role in vaccine delivery and administration? Are we providing our employees any tactical support during this vaccination process? How are we ensuring fair
and consistent implementation?
• Have we considered financial or other incentives for employees who receive the vaccine?
• How will we collect information to verify vaccinations while maintaining data privacy in line with company and health policies?

¹ Considered a Horizon 1 item based on current landscape and trends; subject to change as situation evolves

Business travel

• Will we set restrictions for employees while they are traveling to optimize their safety? How often will we review restrictions?
• Do we need restrictions on who travels and how often?
• What protocols should be in place to have contract with employees who are traveling?

Personal travel

• Do we need to develop guidance for personal travel?

Regulatory requirements

• What support are we providing to employees in understanding any relevant policy changes that may affect them?
• How are we managing recalls from temporary layoffs?
• How are staying on top of regulatory changes in other jurisdictions that may have implications for us globally?

Other policies

• What are the tax and payroll compliance implications of ongoing hybrid work?
• What are the talent, performance, and HR operations implications of ongoing hybrid work?
• What are the privacy and security implications of ongoing hybrid work?
• What policies have we established regarding leaves of absence?

² COVID-19 vaccinations could become a Horizon 2 item based on the evolution of the landscape and situation.

Business travel

• Is there an opportunity to rethink our overall travel philosophy to reduce costs and environmental impact?

Personal travel

• How will personal travel policies need to evolve as we embrace hybrid work as an option?

Regulatory requirements

• How can we effectively incorporate regulatory changes into our regular cycle of employee relations policy reviews?

Other policies

• How are we continuing to assess the tax and payroll implications of the future of work?
• How are we continuing to assess the talent, performance, and HR operations implications of the future of work? Do we need to redesign any policies or procedures?
• How are we continuing to assess the legal and finance implications of the future of work?

Employment tax and payroll requirements

• Will we adjust employer payroll reporting and withholding in cases where an employee’s remote work location difference from their former primary work location?
• Have we determined applicable tax withholdings and reporting by analyzing each jurisdiction’s resident and nonresident rules, treaty and reciprocity agreements, and COVID-19–related announcements?

Corporate tax and permanent establishment considerations

• How will employees working remote affect our local credits and incentives?

Employment tax burden

• When will employment tax liabilities be required, and when will we have to register for employment taxes in new work locations?

Corporate tax and permanent establishment considerations

• Do we have an understanding of corporate tax nexus and permanent establishment implications?
• What level of incremental corporate tax exposure is acceptable to the organization?
• What level of incremental corporate tax compliance costs is acceptable to the organization?
• What level of increase to corporate effective and cash tax rate is acceptable to the organization?
• What systems will be put in place to track information necessary for the organization to be compliant with its obligations?

Employment tax burden

• What is our tax policy and ongoing governance approach to manage changes in employee work locations and continuously monitor current cases?