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Virtual working became the norm for most organizations since March 2020, and it brings well-recognized challenges. But we know little about the impact of virtual working on managerial behavior. This article presents the results of three surveys conducted before and during lockdown to understand what changed. It shows how managers became more blinkered: turning inward, becoming task-focused at the expense of relationship-building, and finding few opportunities to develop new skills. The article offers practical suggestions for how the evolution of managerial work might be accelerated, so that managers can become more effective in this changing environment.

We have already entered into the so called VUCA World, a world of tumult, new technologies, and a new generation of employees. HR departments need to revise their mission, vision, strategies, and tools to answer to these new challenges. The main aim of this chapter is to evaluate, through an in-depth bibliographical analysis and an Italian case study, how HR departments can be supported in their strategic reflection by using a structured approach to becoming more effective in this VUCA World. Moreover, the chapter contributes to making HR managers and HR professionals aware of the HR Strategic Forum, a method that could help them to define in a shared way what the main pillars of the HR function are. These mainstays should never be forgotten, especially in times of constant change, such as the ones we are currently experiencing.

The past 30 years have seen dramatic changes in the business environment. We are now in the so called volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world and Industry 4.0 era. The main aim of t...