Leadership
Leadership: view from In-house The Quick Read In-House has had to adapt as elsewhere and wellbeing has also stood out as a key issue for leadership. Glassdoor, a UK job review site, states that ‘about 60 per cent of employees now place more emphasis on perks related to physical and mental wellbeing, such as apps, private healthcare and access to online therapy.’
Tangy Morgan Senior adviser to the Bank of England and Strategia Worldwide LW asked Tangy about her role and approach to leadership My role is to work with the senior leadership bringing a strategic overview of issues that are facing the organisations both internally and externally. I am involved in activities ranging from helping to give context to priorities and concerns while challenging assumptions, bringing challenge to decisions regarding prioritisation, mentoring senior leadership and speaking on behalf of the organisation. Unlike the role of the non-executive director that works on behalf of shareholders, the Senior Advisor works with the executive team and provides independent advice. I come to these roles with 40 years (as of 6 January 2021) of experience in the US, UK and international with global organisations in petroleum and financial services. What constitutes effective leadership post pandemic and how is this impacted by hybrid working? Effective leadership requires trust between managers and staff and this needs to work both ways. Some organisations are allowing staff to decide what works best for them, others are requiring staff to report back to work, some are allowing teams to decide what works best. Ultimately, some organisations are happy with staff being digital nomads (work from anywhere). Of course, flexible working in some sectors has been around for a while, think of call centres in the North of England. However, the difference now is that potentially some companies have entire workforces that are now looking to work more flexibly. The situation may be further complicated by companies with global footprints and continuing issues related to variants and resurgence of the coronavirus. A recent study by McKinsey indicated that 68% of the executive respondents had a detailed vision in place for hybrid work. Although the majority expected employees with non-essential on-site roles to be on-site between 21 and 80 percent of the time (one to four days per week) rather than 100 percent previously. As we move into a post pandemic environment, reminding staff of acceptable standards when interacting internally and externally is in order. The minimum is a set of expectations for various staffing models.
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How can performance be assessed between office-based staff and those working remotely? If organisations truly sign on to the concept that workers should be able to choose the environment that works best for them, then there should be no difference in assessments (e.g., annual appraisals) for office-based or those working remotely. The Chartered Management Institute’s guide for flexible working makes clear there are’ many ways to do it: working from home, flexitime, compressed hours, jobshares and part-time working. Other options include annualised hours and term-time working’. That said, I think that there is ‘present privilege’ meaning that those in the office will (perhaps) have access to senior leadership, develop networks and have more visibility than those that chose to work remotely. If there are different criteria used for both groups, I believe that will cause issues regarding discrimination and unfairness come time for considerations for promotions, raises and or bonuses. Transparency, setting clear goals and behaviour criteria that is communicated to all staff will be key to getting this right. How should work culture be assessed when all staff are not under the same roof? I suggest using tools such as regular staff surveys, townhalls, monitoring productivity levels and retention rates are a start. However, attendance rates and well-being surveys are also ways to assess culture. Some firms are trialling (and using) technology to track employees’ productivity and behaviours. One global consultancy is using technology to track emails, meetings and diaries to change behaviours among managers. I do caution that such tools should be transparent as the potential blurring lines between work and home could be problematic for employers. The key is for management to make changes and modifications, basically, acting upon the results of any monitoring. Actions speak louder than words and employees will be watching how management takes on the results of any feedback. Staff retention is an increasing challenge. How do employers meet this? The expectations of staff are changing and this was happening before the pandemic, George Floyd’s murder and climate activism. I suggest that the past year has exponentially accelerated the need for organisations to make changes to well established working practices. One that comes to mind is the ‘bringing your whole self to work’ or speaking out about mental health issues. Some suggest that the ‘old perks’ of office gyms, on-site laundry or subsidized canteen meals might be outdated now. Glassdoor, a UK job review site, states that ‘about 60 per cent of employees now place more emphasis on perks related to physical and mental wellbeing, such as apps, private healthcare and access
