Okay, so Covid hasn’t gone away but we are learning to live with it in a world of work that is immensely altered for many organisations and their people. Though there has been a return to the office for many it’s on a hybrid basis. The centre of gravity has shifted somewhat from a fully laden ‘mother ship’ day in, day out.
But there’s a subtler shift than the purely physical that, as leaders, needs to be on our radar.
The impact of WFH persistently was isolating for many, irrespective of how many Zoom calls they attended. The emotional connection with colleagues and workplace was eroded, if not lost. For those who started new jobs in the pandemic the lack of connection was likely more acute, compounded by not really understanding the business they had joined or how things really worked.
We have seen the impact wrought by the pandemic on many employees and how they feel about work in what have been called the ‘Great Resignation’ and ‘Quiet Quitting’. For many connection has shifted to transaction.
So the challenge facing leaders is clear…focusing on relationships, on building an engaging climate, on restoring the connection that has been lost.
It starts with clarifying what the organisation stands for – its purpose – and what it values. And it requires a disciplined and consistent focus on the culture we’re creating in the way we behave, the way we relate to others and the humanness we bring to our interactions.
In hybrid mode we have to work harder – make more opportunities to connect more deeply than just task conversations when people are in the office and prioritise 1-1s focused on how people are feeling not what they’re doing.
Team meetings need a wellbeing and more social focus built in (in discussion with the team) so these moments feel genuine and valued by all rather than contrived. And when we’re connecting through screens we need to be fully present, paying attention to the subtle cues and what isn’t said, as well as what is.