The covid-19 pandemic, which devastated the world at the beginning of 2020 and has subsided since, has changed the way all especially software businesses strategise, think and work. This has brought into question on the current theories and practices in the software industry and their relevance in the post-covid era.
One of the major changes that have changed the software industry, potentially for ever, is the concept of ‘Work from Home’. Software development is a extremely collaborative body of work. A study by Mckinsey based on data from US department of Labor and US department of Labor, calculated a score across various industries for their overall physical proximity. Software development score as moderate due to its ability to collaborate without physical proximity and the study determined that nearly all software development has the potential for remote work.
Companies are experimenting with strategies like multiple shifts and split teams. They are also modifying policies to incorporate remote working policies, will also help achieve the necessary social distancing by reducing the number of people in the workplace at any given time.
The cost of paid leave is considered one of employer’s largest expense. Companies, including software companies, are finding it difficult to manage excess time-off, which is in additional to their current leave policy and delayed vacation days, which do not necessarily carry forward.
Give the competition and challenges startups face, many startups are re-inventing the rules of people management. Many software startups now provide unlimited sick leave, albeit with a caveat that these leaves do not carry forward to the next year and cannot be encashed. Startups are also offering workations, which are defined as company paid remote working vacations, where teams work together in a resort or hotel.
In view of the pandemic, it is important for startups to innovate in their people management policies. Given the clear and direct correlation between people management and performance of the organisation, startups need to look after their employees. However, an equally important aspect of implementing these policies is to measure their effectiveness. People management has never been more in focus, especially for startups, during the pandemic and in the post-covid era. Implementation of these people friendly policies and measuring them for performance would enable software startups to cope up and thrive in the post-covid era.
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