1st Edition

The Employee and the Post-Pandemic Workplace Towards a New, Enlightened Working Environment

Edited By Adrián Zicari, Tom Gamble Copyright 2024

    The UN Sustainable Development Goals, an increasing interest in Environmental, Social and Governance factors, and the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have triggered a massive change in how companies and employees view their relationship, the role and meaning of work, and how to adapt to new environments and ways of working. This book covers a key topic for companies and management practice – that of how to create and foster a committed workforce in a post-pandemic era that has seen a radical change in working environments, approaches and employee understanding of her/his career and work-life balance.

    In this book, leading researchers and practitioners in the field of CSR, management, leadership, and human resources from the schools and corporate partners of the Council on Business & Society provide the latest focuses on the workplace post-pandemic, effectively managing virtual teams, collective and responsible leadership, and insights into policies and processes enhancing employee commitment and performance. Each insight is accompanied by key takeaways, food for thought and further reading, and later followed by micro-case studies.

    This accessible book will be a valuable resource for scholars, instructors and upper-level students across leadership and human resource management-related disciplines, enabling them to synthesise the knowledge presented for their own context (professional, academic, personal, wider society, and the planet).

    Foreword

    Armand Bam and Adrián Zicari

    Part 1: The impact of the pandemic on employers and leaders

    • Millennials: Lessons from COVID-19 lockdown and the future of work, Christine Zdelar and Michelle MacMahon
    • COVID-19 and the impact on women: An insight on academia in South Africa, Armand Bam
    • There is no New Normal: Welcome to the new Schumpeterian world, Inigo Echeveste and Adrián Zicari
    • Why climate change can determine your future job and what to do about it, Mette Grangaard Lund 
    • Microcase

    Part 2: Managing and adapting to remote and hybrid working

    • Out of sight, but not out of mind, Anca Metiu
    • Three out-of-this-world lessons for remote working: The NASA way, Tanusree Jain and Louis Brennan
    • Task bubbles and boosting remote project team success, Anca Metiu
    • Microcase

    Part 3: The influence of leadership, management, and organisational structure

    • Committed companies: Do they create happier, higher-performing employees? Joana S. P. Story and Filipa Castanheira,

    • Does workplace authenticity count in attracting new talent? Germand Glufke Reis, Beatriz Maria Braga, and Jordi Trullen
    • Management control and stress: A double-edged sword, Veronica Casarin, Bernard Leca, Stefan Linder, and Adrián Zicari
    • Microcase

    Part 4: Integrity as a driving notion for managers and employees

    • The manager’s dilemma: Performance and the choice between treating team members equally or equitably, Na Fu
    • Leader integrity: How it influences the organisation and employee creativity, He Peng
    • Navigating ethical challenges: The strategic role of the Chief Integrity Officer, Daniel Malan
    • Long working hours and pressure from professional expectations: Is it time to change the habit? Ioana Lupu, Mayra Ruiz-Castro, and Bernard Leca
    • Microcase

    You, this book, and your knowledge

    Biography

    Adrián Zicari is Co-Head of the Accounting and Management Control Department at ESSEC Business School, Director of the Management and Society track, and Academic Director of the Council on Business & Society. He is also the Honorary representative for Buenos Aires in Paris. He holds a PhD in Management Administration from the Universidad Nacional de Rosario, an MBA (Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez), and a BSc in Accounting. Adrian’s career has spanned the corporate sector as Financial Manager and Controller and his academic research has been widely published in leading journals, among others, the Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Cleaner Production, and Social and Environmental Accountability Journal.

    Tom Gamble is Executive Director of the Council on Business & Society, running the operations, communications, and publications branches of the alliance. He holds an MA in Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations from Keele University as well as several coaching certifications. Tom’s career has spanned teaching, lecturing, thought leadership, consulting, and instructional design, working with over 100 companies and educational institutions worldwide. He is a published author of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.