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COVID accelerates the need for a resilient and adaptable workforce
Featured Waterloo Innovation Summit speakers Randall Lane, Norah McRae, Martin Basiri, and Michael Litt.
By Angelica Sanchez. This is an excerpt of an article originally published on Waterloo Stories.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced industries to re-evaluate and transform their purpose. Canada and the world need a resilient and future-ready workforce to help drive our economic recovery.
During Waterloo’s first virtual Innovation Summit, industry leaders explored how attracting and retaining highly-skilled talent has quickly become a top priority across organizations in all sectors.
“Waterloo is on the leading edge of developing career-ready, talented graduates — the next generation of driven, ambitious and inquisitive employees,” said Charmaine Dean, vice-president of research and international at the University of Waterloo. “They will make up the resilient and adaptable workforce that is really needed in this era of accelerated change.”
Here are three insights from Waterloo’s Innovation Summit on how future talent and the digital revolution will accelerate global change as we look to reset, rebuilt and rebound our post-COVID world.
Breaking down barriers
“We are in the most transformative, economic moment since World War II,” began Randall Lane, chief content officer and editor at Forbes Magazine and keynote speaker at Waterloo’s Innovation Summit. “[Virtual] gatherings like this have never been more essential.”
Adopting words from Niccolo Machiavelli, Winston Churchill and Rahm Emanuel, Lane encouraged listeners to “never waste a good crisis,” emphasizing that the importance of tapping into today’s technology and talent to break down previous workplace barriers.
“What excites me is that people can now be pretty much anywhere they want,” Lane said. “We’ve made many hires in the past few months, almost none of them have been in New York because we’re realizing it’s not as necessary to be at the home office. And so what that does is actually takes the pressure off any region to have to hone only its business ecosystem … it really makes it holistic, where if it’s a place where people want to live, it’s [also] now a place that people can work.”
Anticipating this shift in the workplace, Forbes created a list outlining five major trends that are needed during these constantly changing times:
- Treat and pay workers with respect
- Having a purpose matters
- Talent starts with education
- Unlocking talent with fairness create opportunities for all of us
- Collaboration is key
Increasingly, we’re seeing that being good to people is good for business, Lane said.
Lane explained how the future of talent is becoming a top priority for organizations as universities prepare students to adopt new trends and digital skills that employers need to succeed in different industries.
Tech is a constant and a commodity, while people are the value-added
The rate at which organizations have adopted digital technologies is accelerating dramatically. From spikes in e-commerce, to the digital applications that make working remotely happen — companies have redefined their objectives to be more adaptable.
“The longer we are in this state of working remote … the more it shows that we as a society can be economically productive in this world, the more permanent this is ultimately going to be,” Michael Litt (BASc ’11), co-founder and CEO of Vidyard, said.
Looking toward the upcoming generations of talent, Litt applauded universities like the Waterloo who are embedding digital practices of video into their everyday, remote working environments to maintain a higher connection with colleagues. Companies must ensure that employees feel included — digital innovations can help build that bridge.
“if you don’t use video during a Zoom call or you’re not using Slack’s calling feature, or you’re not using asynchronous communications, ultimately, you’re not able to be productive. And frankly, as a business owner, the impact to [operation expenditures] is phenomenal.”
Read the rest of the article on Waterloo Stories
New process for graduate studies practica and internships
A message from Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA).
Over the past few months, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA) has been working with campus stakeholders, including Faculty Associate Deans, Graduate Studies, Faculty Deans and the Safety Office, to support graduate programs and students that have had scheduled internships or practica precluded or delayed by COVID-19.
As a result of the consultation and work, we have developed a process by which programs or students can seek approval for in person activity at a placement. Details of the new process can be found on the GSPA Practica and Internships web page.
Q and A with the experts: managing natural disasters during COVID-19
The University of Waterloo has a number of experts available for comment on various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As hurricane season is now upon North America, we have many questions about the particular challenges of managing disasters during COVID-19. How do governments evacuate people safely? How will already scare PPE supplies be tested?
We spoke to Professor Jason Thistlethwaite, an expert in strategies to reduce the economic impacts of extreme weather and climate change, to hear his thoughts about managing disasters alongside the pandemic.
How does COVID-19 add to the difficulty of managing a natural disaster like a hurricane?
COVID-19 limits our ability to evacuate by grouping people in spaces we traditionally use for shelter such as community centres, convention centres, schools and sports facilities. Similarly, many families often seek shelter with relatives in other jurisdictions which could increase the spread of COVID-19.
COVID-19 also disproportionately affects those who are socio-economically vulnerable or marginalized. Hurricanes increase that burden since unemployment is higher in these communities. Many are unable to financially support their own recovery, can’t take time off work to help clean or re-build, and may subsequently forfeit mortgage payments.
Lastly, local governments have lost billions in revenue due to COVID-19 and are unlikely to have the financial and human resources to help prepare and recover from a hurricane.
Are there steps that can be taken in advance of a storm/event to ensure that we don’t increase the risk of transmitting COVID-19 in the aftermath?
Professional disaster response organizations, such as the military or Red Cross, as well as health clinics and hospitals, that have resources to protect communities from hurricanes as well as protect themselves from COVID via PPE, should be mobilized and ready for deployment. We should not be relying on volunteers who have less ability to protect themselves from COVID.
Hotels are mostly empty right now and should be identified beforehand as potential evacuation sites with PPE made available on site. Separate rooms for families can help limit the spread of COVID transmission compared to the large open spaces in community centres, schools or sports facilities. Ideally, COVID testing would be made available at any key evacuation sites.
If evacuation is not possible for some, emergency responders should deliver and distribute food and essential items to communities predicted to be in the path of the hurricane to avoid long lines and crowding at stores.
What can governments do to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 during a natural disaster?
Governments should ensure PPE distribution plans are prepared and freely available for evacuees and emergency responders. It is going to be hard to avoid groupings of people in an evacuation or rescue centres, so make sure PPE is made available at locations where most people have access.
Ensure a clear command structure is established between emergency responders and public health authorities.
Jason Thistlethwaite is a Professor for the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development. His research focuses on innovative strategies designed to reduce the economic impacts of extreme weather and climate change. He explores the role of insurance and government risk-transfer in promoting climate change adaptation and reducing economic vulnerability.