The pandemic has allowed employees to reflect on what is important to them – not only in their personal life but also their work life.

Indeed commissioned a 2021 Workplace Happiness Study conducted by Forrester Consulting which revealed that nearly 50% of people believe expectations around work happiness has increased over the last five years.

Whilst most people think pay is the most important aspect of work, when asked what actually makes you happy at work, the social elements of work proved to be more important than pay. For example, dimensions like being energised by work (17%), feeling belonging (12%) and having a sense of purpose (11%) all ranked higher than pay (5%).

This is a big wake-up call for employers who will have to make intentional and concerted efforts to not only retain their current talent but attract the talent they need to be leaders into the future. It is going to take more than just a large pay packet.

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The introduction of new technology into your organization requires us to pay attention to the people side of change. New technology can impact policies, process and procedures, roles and responsibilities, resources, and ways of working which all impact people. When organizations invest time and money in organizational change management (OCM) they get a return on their investment through rapid adoption, less delays, reduced need for rework, and earlier benefits realization.

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A recent report from ADP Research Institute called “Employee Sentiment on Workplace” contained some interesting survey results. ADPRI surveyed 9,000 US employees who either worked remotely or onsite at workplace locations during the pandemic. They also surveyed employees who divided their work week between onsite and remote locations (hybrid workers) who said they experienced better social and manager dynamics that their fully onsite or remote counterparts – combining key upsides of both working arrangements.

My analysis of the result indicates that a hybrid working model is the best of both worlds. Hybrid employees rates stronger connection with teammates and colleagues higher than their remote or onsite counterparts. Both hybrid and remote workers rated team collaboration and support higher than onsite employees. Onsite workers rated the challenge of listening to each other and ensuring active participation of everyone higher than remote workers.

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When you are leading a hybrid team, diversity equity and inclusion - takes on a new challenge.

Whilst DEI has focused on identities such as race, gender, colour, sexual orientation, religion and so on, we are now adding two more - those in the office and those who are not.

Leaders must make sure that everyone is on a level playing field and there is no bias or preferential treatment related to where you work.

My latest article for Remote Report.

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The recent CEO Leadership Report 2021 from Development Dimensions International analyses responses from 368 CEOs and 2,102 human resource executives around the world to understand if they are positioned to deal with the one of the most challenging times ever experienced by businesses. Do they have the resilience, capability, and agility to drive a successful outcome for their organisation in these unprecedented times?

This article is my analysis and conclusion from the results.

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Capability invisibility is a term used to describe a situation in which employees’ skills, capabilities and competencies are not visible or known.

This can result in an employee being given a task for which they are ill equipped, or their skills not fully utilized.

While this incompetent leadership blindness can exist when everyone is colocated, it can be exacerbated when the team is hybrid and working across multiple locations.

Leaders and every member of a team should know what skills, capabilities and competencies exist so that they can be leveraged for the optimum performance of the individual, team and organization.

My latest article for Remote Report.

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The researchers, the commentators, the surveys, the advisories, the consultants, and the experts, are all telling us the same thing. Employees do not want to return to the office on a permanent basis – they want flexibility to work when they want, where they want, and how they want.

The writing is on the wall. Try and force, threaten or coerce, your employees back into the office, against their will, and you will suffer the consequences.

We are already seeing the backlash. The question then is why?

The two repeated arguments from the return-to-the-office-brigade are concerns about maintaining the culture and collaboration.

This is absolute BS. These are what I believe to be the top five reasons for the return-to-office demand.

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Employees are putting mental health and wellbeing programs at the top of their preferences list when looking at new employers.

Employees are in the driving seat. They have proved that they can work from anywhere and now have a choice of employer that is not limited by geography.

If you want to retain your talent, you must be an employer of choice. You must state and demonstrate that employee wellbeing is at the centre of all that you do.

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Last week I shared the fact that we are now being faced with what is being termed The Great Resignation.

This week I wanted to explore four more actions you can take to stem the exodus of talent from your workplace.

You need to listen - really listen. You need to close the sentiment gap between executive and employee. Leaders need to be available - approachable, visible and accessible. The new ways of working have affected psychological safety as we move into a categorically different domain.

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We are now being faced with what is being termed The Great Resignation.

The term was coined by Anthony Klotz to refer to the significant number of people who will leave their jobs post pandemic.

In his words:

“The pandemic has made many realize their job does not contribute enough (or at all) to their pursuit for happiness and meaning, and they have decided to invest their energy elsewhere — in new jobs, new careers or in other aspects of their lives (e.g., family, travel, creative endeavors).”

Microsoft predicts 46% of employees globally are thinking of changing employers over the next year.

Can you afford not to act now?

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My latest article for Remote Report explores performance management of hybrid teams.

Just because you can measure it, doesn’t mean you should.

Our approach to measuring performance needs two fundamental adjustments.

First, leaders need to be able to measure performance based on outcomes and not hours spent at a desk.

The second adjustment is the removal of proximity bias.

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In the first of my July articles for Remote Report, I explore setting objectives for your hybrid team.

The objectives you set should motivate both your team as a whole and the members of your team. This needs to be emphasized as some employees working remotely may find it harder to motivate themselves.

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There are 5 Rs that leaders need to get a grip on right now to determine their model of working.

Realise - wake-up

Reflect - learn

Rethink - leverage

Reimagine - make it different

Reinvent - its a journey

This is the time that leaders need to be brave, be bold and buoyant.

It is time to throw away assumptions and biases and move forward with an open mind that embraces the opportunities that are being laid out in front of you. Be curious and inquisitive and make informed- decisions.

Keep on listening and hearing the need of your employees. This must be an organisational-wide act of collaboration undertaken with mutual trust, respect, transparency, empathy and willingness to continually adapt to change.

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It is likely you have seen acronym DE&I – diversity, equity, and inclusion. It has been in regular use for over a decade and its use in the workplace centred around the need for leaders to create an environment in which:

· Representation and participation of diverse group of people including a multiplicity of gender, religion, race, ethnicities, cultures, ages, sexual orientation, and nationality are actively encouraged.

· There is equity and everyone has access to the same opportunities to grow, contribute and develop.

· People with different identities feel included – they feel valued, welcomed, and respected.

I love the clarification from cultural change catalyst and author Verna Myers who said:

“Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.”

These diverse groups are often referred to as identities.

Addressing DE&I in the workplace has been an ongoing challenge for many organisations.

The challenge is now elevated as we add two new identifies to the list – those who are in the office and those who are remote.

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My recent article for Remote Report.

It is the second article looking at how the Tuckman team development model of forming-storming-norming-performing can be used as a useful diagnostic framework to overcome issues when integrating your hybrid team.

Click on the logo to read the report.

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Last week I shared five f***-ups organisations are making as they grapple with the new world of work.

It received such amazing feedback and commentary that I thought I would continue the theme and explore another five! Yes, there are many of them!

The bottom line is that the pandemic has granted your business one of the greatest opportunities you may ever encounter.

This is the chance to reimagine and reinvent the model of how, where and when we work.

The reality is most organisations are poised to f*** this up in a mega fashion.

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The pandemic has granted your business one of the biggest opportunities you may ever encounter.

This is the chance to reimagine and reinvent the model of how, where and when we work and reap the benefits of increased productivity, profitability and happy, engaged employees to boot.

Instead of planning how to leverage this opportunity, many businesses are responding with knee-jerk reactions or procrastinating, they are waiting to see what others are doing or ignoring the whole thing and doing very impressive ostrich impressions

If you are one of the above, then you are going to f*** this up in a mega fashion.

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