Workplace Realities and Transformation
The pandemic threw the workplace headfirst to determine what was needed to survive. Businesses learned to navigate remote, hybrid, synchronous, asynchronous, and in-person methods. A PwC study indicated that 83% of employees surveyed said that the shift to remote work has been successful for their company. Also, 54% of employees surveyed said they want to continue working remotely. As employers figure out what is best for their businesses and employees, here are ideas to explore:
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Recognize reality. Trying to return to the way things were pre-pandemic and expecting the same level of productivity and engagement as before, might be met with disappointing results. Many of us are burned out and depleted. With what’s going on in the world, we need to acknowledge that there is always going to be something going on in people’s lives. Expecting to keep mental health issues hidden will no longer work. Employees wish to have resources available to help them deal with concerns. They want an empathic and concerned employer.
Mandates don’t work. Rushing to establish an old norm that doesn’t make sense will result in loss of psychological safety and increased stress. Develop principles, not policies. Workplace mandates for when and where work needs to be done will likely be rejected by employees.
Consider how to use technological tools to build trust and culture. Over the past two years, we found that technology allowed us to seamlessly transition many functions to being done remotely. And during the past two years, we have learned a lot about what is needed to conduct business. However, there’s still more to do to build trust, improve teamwork, boost collaboration, build social ties, enhance culture, and strengthen skill-building when employees are working remotely.
Invest in competence and skills. Competence refers to an individual’s ability to complete tasks by mastering relevant skills. The message to employees is that building competencies will give them autonomy to thrive in hybrid environments.
Cultivate a sense of belonging. While research shows that most employees agree that a hybrid environment makes sense, they are still concerned that this type of environment might impact the team’s cohesiveness and career opportunities. Creating a sense of belonging within a hybrid environment will not happen without a deliberate effort from the organization and supervisor. Helping employees have a clear line of sight to how their role fits within the organization, regardless of their physical location, is paramount to employee retention.
Communicate “why.” Regardless of the organization’s decisions, the rationale for the decision must be carefully explained. If it hasn’t been clearly articulated “why” the decision was made, people will make up their reasons. Communication should include the benefits of the findings, what alternatives were considered and ruled out, how they will impact specific employee groups, and what latitude supervisors have in making exceptions.
Consider experiments and pilots. Many people have had two years of flexibility in when, where, and how their work was done. Drawing a line in the sand for everyone to do something different as of a specific date could lead to disappointing results. Try easing employees into another way of working by running pilots or letting people experiment themselves. Before making any decisions, make sure you have a wide range of feedback from employees to ensure you haven’t missed some nuanced situations that could lead to trouble later.
Don’t make promises that you might not be able to keep. To motivate employees to accept decisions, organizations sometimes make promises that they can’t control. For example, the office is entirely safe, and we will never allow certain types of working arrangements. Who knows what the future might bring? What we have lived through is a testament to that.
Compassion and accountability. Don’t assume you understand what employees have gone through or are continuing to experience. Some managers believe that they need to set high standards and be tough to get people to deliver commitments. However, research doesn’t support that theory. You may find this approach works in the short term, but in the long run, adding stress to people’s lives does not make them more productive.
Meet individually with employees. One of the best things you can do to re-engage with your team is to have individual meetings to discuss what’s going on in their lives, hear their concerns, and jointly develop expectations for the future.
Reframe what has happened during the past two years. While there is a long list of challenges and hardships employees have gone through, focus on how the team overcame these challenges. It might be an excellent time to institutionalize sharing good news, recognition, and successes at the individual and team levels.
If you face any of these issues, the best place to begin is by deliberately engaging with your employees. You might conduct a combination of individual conversations, small groups, town halls, or even surveys. This will help you prioritize issues and help avoid making decisions that will fail to deliver.
References
https://www.pwc.com/us/en/library/covid-19/us-remote-work-survey.html