To evaluate your workplace leaders’ readiness to handle our new world of work, here are a few questions you should be asking.
How we work has drastically changed in recent years and at an unprecedented pace. Companies shifted to a remote or hybrid work setup, conversations on productivity and mental health circulated, and technology became a must-have for the workplace. However, another significant change was the number of people who left the workforce in droves, and, according to the World Economic Forum, around 20% of workers are still planning to quit in 2022. There are many reasons for this exodus, with a lack of job flexibility and satisfaction being cited quite often. If organizations and their leaders don’t adapt to the new world of work, they risk struggling to manage their operations or losing their employees. To evaluate your workplace leaders’ readiness to handle these changes, here are a few questions you should be asking:
Can your leaders handle globalized workplace dynamics?
Most teams and leaders normally interact and occupy the same space in person, but the pandemic has largely shifted this setup. A write-up from LHH on boosting team performance notes how workplaces have gone global, with teams required to collaborate remotely across departments, functions and geographies. However, when teams need to be at their strongest, many have been falling behind with these new dynamics. A study for leaders to assess teams’ performance revealed that only 6% of leaders thought their teams were doing exceptionally, and 88% rated their teams as average or lower.
Strengthening and organizing communication channels are crucial to keeping the workflow between team members, leaders, and other departments well-oiled and efficient. It’s best to have a shared database or software where people can collaborate and update each other regularly, whether they’re just down the hall or across the world.
Are your leaders willing to address the mental well-being of employees?
Workers are now more transparent about the impact of work on their mental well-being than ever before. Mental health in the workplace is often regarded as a personal concern but should be seen as a collective priority. A Harvard Business Review article on mental health at work states that these measures shouldn’t just be confined to HR; leaders should serve as allies by sharing their own experiences with mental health to foster transparency and destigmatize these conversations.
Frequent check-ins, evaluations, or surveys can be conducted to build interpersonal connections and improve leader-employee relationships. By encouraging people to speak up and preparing proper support measures, mental health in the workplace no longer becomes taboo but something that the organization prioritizes and takes care of.
Are your leaders flexible enough to manage the #QuietQuitting trend?
With all the changes in workplace structures and culture, many people have reflected on their place in the corporate world and what their work is worth. The trend of “Quiet Quitting” entails that a person would not go above and beyond what is required at work, essentially only doing the bare minimum of their job description. This phenomenon is quite common in many workplaces, as potentially more than 50% of the workforce subscribes to this trend. Quiet Quitting emerged as a way to separate personal value from productivity or output and maintain a work-life balance.
How can this movement be mitigated? In Avilar’s post on combating Quiet Quitting, we suggested that leaders be “loud” and transparent regarding the culture, expectations, resources, and opportunities at the organization. Build trust with managers and team members and ask them for an honest evaluation of their experiences. You can also use performance management software to track work performance and initiate reviews to get feedback. Doing so can allow you to spot Quiet Quitting symptoms and address the underlying problems causing burnout while improving working conditions in the office.
These things are essential for leaders to be trained in, as they are the first to forge the path ahead for the rest of their team. Adapting to an ever-changing work landscape can pose a challenge, but it’s integral to creating a productive and supportive work environment.
Are you ready to assess and build the skills of your leaders? Download our Competency Management Toolkit to see how a competency-first approach can strengthen leaders and teams. Or contact us to find out how Avilar’s WebMentor Skills™ competency management system or WebMentor LMS™ could help.
RELATED RESOURCES
Do Your Leaders Have the Skills Needed to Successfully Manage Teams Remotely?
6 Ways Competency Management Can Support Your Hybrid Work Environment
5 Advantages of a Competency-Based Approach to Solving Workforce Issues
How to Develop Leadership Competencies that Work
