As we kick start 2022, helping our people to return to work and adapt to coming back into offices (in some way, shape and form) requires high awareness, planning and expertise. Key to successful reintegration is supporting the re-establishment of work routines and relationships, and support in preparation for what lies ahead, including a level of ambiguity, preparing people with the tools to tackle whatever 2022 brings.
Here are our top tips and 4 areas to help your people prepare and navigate 2022:
- Focus : Helping people to have clear desired outcomes/ areas of focus is critical for them to take ownership in their work, mentally prepare themselves for what they need to do and self-check/ stay on track to achieve goals. Focus and clarity is even more important in times of ambiguity or when people are in any way struggling and anxious, so setting this early on and then checking in regularly to ensure people remain on track and are supported is a key to success.
https://hbr.org/2017/03/how-to-keep-your-team-focused-and-productive-during-uncertain-times
- Fortitude : 2020/2021 demonstrated just how important mental fortitude is for individuals to navigate and solve new problems. This means being able to pivot quickly and adjust to completely new scenarios, forcing parents to become teachers working from home and businesses to go completely online and change their business models entirely. For some this has meant starting new businesses, change careers, and for most, exposure to huge learnings in leadership, problem solving and agility, all whilst managing increased personal pressures and anxiety.
Supporting your teams to develop resilience and mental fortitude is key for their own personal success and for that of any business. This can be achieved through a few key actions, including the following:
- Create a safe environment for people to think differently, share ideas and learn from failures quickly.
- Ensure regular communication and access to mentors and peers is available for sharing and bouncing ideas
- Allow space and time for people to invest in their wellbeing and flex for people to work to achieve best results and align to their own circumstances and energy peaks.
- Lead with empathy and understanding of your people so that your team can be open, honest and share with you, whilst creating safe space for robust feedback and discussions, around performance, outcomes and success factors
https://hbr.org/2021/01/7-strategies-to-build-a-more-resilient-team
- Flexibility : Flexibility has become synonymous with remote and flexible working in the current employee mindset and is most certainly at the top of the list for the vast majority of job seekers in this market. It is however about more than this in leadership and is a mindset.
Helping to create a flexible working environment and partnership with any business and employees, should most certainly include a reciprocal flexibility of employer and employee.
This means employees being open and flexible to try new things, new roles, extend their reach and having the opportunity to do so. It may include options around how people collaborate and come together to achieve business goals, solve problems (outside their specific areas of expertise) and even the engagement they have with the business.
In a market where we are experiencing global talent shortages and record low unemployment, reduced immigration and changed employee expectations, employers may need to be more flexible around how they look at new roles. This could mean providing people opportunities where they have previously not had this experience and look at people according to their thinking process and ability, versus what they have previously done and achieved. Potential vs Demonstrated Experience.
It has been very clear over the last 2 years that the little things matter and providing time and flex for employees generates huge trust, engagement and ultimately fulfillment at work, which is (in our humble opinions) priceless!
Setting yourselves apart as a ‘Flexible Leader & Employer’ has never been more important as it will be in 2022!
- Future Thinking: When businesses are challenged and under pressure, it is common for the default to become transactional, short thinking objectives and take the foot off the gas on longer term strategy and goals. The same can apply for leaders when they feel under pressure and default to daily, transactional tasks, rather than keeping people focused on the bigger strategy and how each individual contributes to this. This may result in disengagement, lack of freedom in people’s work autonomy and ultimately dissatisfaction for individuals in their work.
Whilst at times, intervention may be needed to refocus individuals on specific tasks or actions, keeping them connected to the business vision, values and larger strategic goals is critical for engagement. And, even more so with remote working scenarios and where people becoming purely task focused, will result in disassociation from the business and your culture.
https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/how-to/growth-strategies/2014/04/7-ways-to-train-yourself-to-be-a-forward-thinker.html
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