The pandemic has drastically transformed our lives, and despite being twice vaccinated, most of us are still afraid of being infected by this virus. In the last two years, the industry has adopted a new working culture that allows us to work from any location without ever stepping foot in an office. There are certain job profiles in our industry that may provide leverage when it comes to deciding where to work when joining a new organisation or even within an existing one. Previously, providing someone with work from home was a special privilege.

If an employee is allowed to work from home, it is viewed as a source of pride for the individual and the importance of their role in the company. This culture is now a part of everyone's life, and most industries offer it to the majority of their employees. Although the number of cases of the Corona pandemic has decreased, it still exists. People are afraid of losing their jobs if the same incident occurs again in the next two years. People want to secure their future and financial things, so they prefer companies that can offer their employees the ability to work from home in any adversity. In general, industries that can operate without shutting down their operations in such unavoidable circumstances are preferred.

In these circumstances, retaining employees has become a new challenge in which preference of working location has become a constraint for many while also a headache for organisations to deal with employee expectations. People are satisfied with their current employers, but the threat of another pandemic, as well as the fear of losing their jobs or facing financial difficulties, has heightened their interest in organisations that provide part-time or full-time work from home.

This is a complex picture for industries, and it is imperative that new workplace policies be designed, developed, and implemented to categorise those job roles that can be managed in adverse situations with a systematic operational strategy to avoid sloppy management at the last minute. Leaders should carefully welcome any queries/concerns raised by their employees and avoid the approach of procrastination; otherwise, the absence of acknowledgement on their queries by their reporting managers will create unrest in them and prompt them to look for a new job. There should be a specific cell in HR to listen to more questions and concerns in order to create a better Human capital management plan. Leader must listen carefully until they have finished explaining a situation in which they have become stuck and are now seeking your advice/suggestion. If you interrupt their conversation without fully listening to them, the employee may be less likely to speak up in the future. By identifying current and upcoming challenges, active listening is the key to designing a better workplace experience.

Organization must speak clearly about their vision and plan to educate new onboarding and for existing employee so that they could see their future within organization amid pandemics. People must know what is back up plan of their organization in any adverse situation and its line of action plan in such a situation so their doubts and fear may encounter with concrete response in first phase. Organization must keep an eye on their close competitor workplace design and benefits they are providing to understand their level in market competition as your better policy will keep you ahead than others who do not have.

Organizations must implement health insurance policies that cover employees and their families, as well as major hospitals, based on employee diversity. This is regarded as the employer's emotional investment proportion in the employee's life outside of professional relationships. There should be some kind of emergency fund committee where employees can contribute freely to help their colleagues who are facing financial difficulties. The identity of the person receiving the benefit should be kept private in order to avoid an embarrassing situation for him when he meets his peers; however, this will foster a sense of inclusiveness in employees and participation in good acts.

We all know that communication is the only way to resolve any problem, but when it is not done properly, the problem begins at that point. Organizations must ensure that their leaders are not criticizing their teams for making mistakes, but rather are proactive in offering mentorship to correct those mistakes so that they do not occur again. Diverse ideas should be enthusiastically welcomed and entertained. Employee recognition is something that people will never forget if it is done at the right time. This is something that helps you retain employees because such activities build memory and emotional investment that is difficult to detach for the sake of a random thought of changing jobs due to a raise in salary or something else. We must never lose sight of the fact that we are human, and we must always prioritise workplace safety, inclusiveness, and belonging over monetary rewards. Externally, through the organization's social media, for example, leaders must celebrate their team's success.

If I summarize the whole discussion, organizations must be people driven and should focus on people management to reduce the grievance level to control the attrition level. Proper communication with employees helps organization to choose the direction to move to maintain an amicable environment at the workplace. Agile organizations keeps their strategy always intact to retain their best talent.