Welcome to Spectrum 2021

Have you noticed NABA’s digital transformation. Last year, we launched #SpectrumLIVE, Insight Reimagined:Virtual Convention, authored and shared a digital toolkit for surviving socio-political unrest, and taken our national headquarter staff remote. We are boldly diving head first into the new normal. The Fall/Winter 2020 Edition of Spectrum Magazine: Navigating a New Normal referred to life during the COVID-19 pandemic and how companies will transform after.

As government-mandated COVID-19 restrictions are relaxing, some offices are opening back up. But can professional-life ever look like it did pre-pandemic? While at least one corporation is allowing workers to never return to the office, most employers will be choosing to bring some or all workers back. Business leaders have to carefully and thoughtfully plan and execute guidelines and begin to ideate around team expansion amid expectations of heightened health screening and social-distancing. As the search for a vaccine continues, it seems like flexible work will be here to stay.  But what does that mean to the workforce? And what must managers do to help navigate the new normal involving remote work?

Management consultancy Gallup has seen massive changes in different aspects of work and employee life, and they are seeing record levels of stress and worry among the U.S. workforce. So how are employers faring in terms of their response? Leaders need to have a clear course of action and communicate it clearly to their employees. A survey from Gallup shows that 52 percent of employees strongly agree that their employer fared well in terms of sharing information to them about the next steps.