“No leader who has built a career on making expert contributions and exercising hands-on control can be expected to make the leap overnight to a people-centric style.”
It is a three-stage journey to move from a directive style to one of empowering and enabling others.
Read MoreMcKinsey suggests five areas where you can start to focus for new ways of working and in this newsletter, I will add my take on their suggestions.
1. Reset performance expectations
2. Be transparent
3. Be purposeful about where people work
4. Remove ambiguity about working practices
5. Test and learn
Read MoreThe McKinsey “The State of Organizations 2023” report cites one of the ten shifts that are transforming organisations as “True Hybrid: The new balance of in-person and remote work.” The McKinsey research named two benefits of getting the right balance: attracting and retaining talent, and increased productivity - both of which I have spoken and written about recently.
A remote work model is required for organisations to thrive, which means every part of an organisation will need to adjust physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Read MoreThe changes in where, when, and how we work, present challenges across structures, processes, and people, but they also offer the greatest opportunity organisations will be presented with for some time to come.
Organisations that unlock this opportunity, will distinguish themselves as the employer of choice whilst those that do not, will find succumb to the pressure of competition, fail to grow, suffer financial deterioration, and ultimately cease to exist.
Read MoreOrganisations that invest in addressing the empathy gap will not only retain their talent but also become a highly valued destination for top talent. This is not a nice to have. It is imperative.
And whilst many will be forced out of their comfort zone, that is not an excuse not to do it. Remember a ship is safe in the harbour but that is not what ships are built for. ~ John A. Shedd
Read MoreWe have a leadership crisis. DDI research revealed 5 key skills lacking in our leadership today. One of those was the ability to manage successful change. In this article I explore 5 commons mistakes that can be avoided.
Read MoreAndrew Vanderstock is the Executive Director at OWASP (Open Worldwide Application Security Project®).
He recently introduced a four-day workweek and in this interview he shares his approach and the outcomes.
Read MoreWhy are your employees leaving you?
Why can’t you attract the right talent?
Why has your customer satisfaction score dropped yet again?
Why has your employee engagement score taken a dive?
There is a very easy way to find out.
Just Ask!
Read MoreThe DDI 2023 Global Leadership Forecast reveals that confidence in leadership quality has taken a nosedive. Only 40% of leaders said their companies had high-quality leadership – “the biggest decline in a decade.”
The 17% drop from just two years ago and the biggest decline in a decade put current leadership quality ratings nearly on par with those in the wake of the 2007-2008 economic crisis.
Read MoreThe behaviour of leaders clearly shows that we have a leadership crisis. We have a mass of so-called “leaders” asking the question, “How do I know if my employees are working or not?”
The fact is that when these employees were in the line of sight, sitting at a desk for 8 hours in the office, leaders still did not know if they were working!
This behaviour means that leaders believe that performance is measured by the hours spent at a computer.
Read MoreThe latest disruptor is AI and ChatGPT. People are again running scared that their jobs will become redundant due to new technology.
And the fact is that they may. But rather than running scared, face it head-on and respond accordingly.
Read MoreThis must be one of the best descriptions of what it is like for a leader making the shift to leading a remote team.
“It’s like learning to drive on the wrong side of the road. You must get to the same destination as before, but you now have different signals, cues, and controls — and that does take some time getting used to!”
This is Raghu Krishnamoorthy writing for Harvard Business Review in October 2022.
Read MoreI am not sure whether I love it or hate it when I read an article from one of the big guns and I say to myself, “I have been saying that for ages!” On one hand, it validates what I have been saying and on the other, it feels like no one listens unless your name is Garter, HBR, BCG, McKinsey, Gallup, Deloitte or the like.
In this instance it is Gartner and the report is called “Think Hybrid Work Doesn’t Work? The Data Disagrees.”
Read MoreEven before the pandemic, less than one in five HR leaders believed that performance management was effective at achieving its objective according to Gartner. This must be a concern. If the process was broken before the pandemic, failure to act now will destroy it. Leaders must have the resolve to change how they handle the performance management of a remote workforce. If they don’t, trust will disintegrate, employee engagement will fall, and employees will walk out of the door.
Read MoreThis Essential rests on the human needs of learning and accomplishment.
Learning is the process of acquiring new knowledge and skills in the workplace, which provides opportunities for individual intellectual, social, professional, and emotional growth.
Accomplishment confers a sense of competence that reduces stress, anxiety, and self-doubt. When organizations create more opportunities for learning, accomplishment, and growth, workers become more optimistic about their abilities and more enthusiastic about contributing to the organization.
Read MoreEmployees want to know that they matter. They want to know that they are valued, heard, and respected. They want to know that what they do makes a difference in the lives of others.
Knowing that you matter can lower stress while feeling that you do not can raise the risk of depression.[2] [3]
This Essential rests on the human need for dignity and meaning.
Read MoreEvery employee must be provided with both flexibility and autonomy to choose where they work, when they work and how they work. Employees will be more motivated, engaged, and productive. Organisations must treat their employees as people first and foremost. They have many needs, roles, and responsibilities outside of work and must be able to choreograph work around those and not the other way around.
Read MoreOrganisations that create opportunities for social connection and community can help improve health and well-being. The Essential rests on two human needs: social support and belonging. Social support networks can mitigate feelings of loneliness and isolation. Fostering a sense of belonging has the potential to improve the health and well-being of employees and communities and the prosperity of the organisation itself.
Read MoreThe Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health & Well-Being is intended to spark organizational dialogue and change in the workplace. It can also catalyze areas for further research, strategic investment, and broader policy advancements.
It is intended as a framework to support workplaces and enable them to create a plan with all employees to enact the components within the framework and reimagine workplaces as engines of well-being. It shows how to begin the journey.
Read MoreLast week, you may have noticed that there was very little activity from me on LinkedIn. There were no daily videos, and the weekly Leading Change newsletter was nowhere to be seen. As Björk sang, “It’s Oh So Quiet.”
The following is the explanation, and the reason this week’s newsletter is a little smaller than usual.
Two years and 9 months in and COVID finally got me!
Read More