SME Executive Summary

By Rebekah Wallis, People & Corporate Responsibility Director at Ricoh UK

The pandemic redefined the importance of HR in every organisation. We’ve been on a steep learning curve to not only safeguard the health and well-being of our workforces, but the quick adaptation to remote working, changing government guidelines, vaccine rollouts and more recently staff and skills shortages.

HR has been through the test of a lifetime, and it’s far from over.

Recent research from Adecco Group revealed that the UK was the only country which reported higher levels of anxiety about going back into the office (52%) than excitement at seeing colleagues (48%). Whilst we have established COVID processes, the wider implications on employee well-being continue to be felt.

This report comes following our HR roundtable, which brought several different perspectives together. We have conducted, what we are calling a definitive discussion of how we can lead change at work. This report will provide recommendations for senior leaders proposed by the very teams they manage.

Rebekah Wallis,
People & Corporate Responsibility Director
Ricoh UK