Juraj Porubský

The pandemic has disrupted traditional bonds between companies and their employees. Some people were left to work from home. Some lost their jobs. Others had to go to work, because home office was not an option. They all stepped out of their comfort zone.

At the same time, the pandemic has accelerated the technological changes that have been going on for a number of years. It has changed the behaviour of customers. It has changed business models in several industries. Here too, many had to leave their comfort zone to meet new demands.

The optimism that emerges from the current survey of Slovak CEOs is based on the expectation of economic recovery and continuing demand from customers, who evidently have money left over from their holidays and entertainment plans.

However, the real question remains - what impact will labour market changes have on these optimistic plans and expectations? Everyone is aware that the lack of quality, qualified and passionate people will be the biggest challenge for the growth of their businesses.

Because if companies have so far had to solve how to attract new young talents, educate their people and keep the best ones, several new aspects will be added to each task - How to reconcile new technologies with people? How to combine home office and work at the office? How to create new communication channels? How to replace chance encounters in the kitchen? How to put those who want to work flexibly on an equal footing with those working at the office? But most importantly - how to prepare managers for all this?

It has been said that people do not leave bad work, but rather bad bosses. The new era has also pulled managers out of their comfort zone. For many of them, it is natural to go back to old ways. However, in an era of intense competition for talent, combined with a huge change in work routines, old ways could lead to a very different destination than companies and their bosses would like.

Juraj Porubský
Editor-in-chief, Forbes Slovakia