INDUSTRY OPINION
Your employees are ready for hybrid working. Are you? The past year has redefined work so that it is now much more about ‘what you do’ and much less about ‘where you go.’ As it becomes feasible for us to meet one another again, leaders are having to think about what the office is really for and how best to use the space. By Wendy Mars, Senior Vice President, President - Cisco EMEAR. Used with the permission of https://newsroom.cisco.com/
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hile some businesses are preparing to return to the office full-time and others are letting people work from home indefinitely, most are looking at hybrid options. Employees want flexibility and choice. According to Cisco’s research1, 87% of workers surveyed in EMEAR want the ability to decide whether they work in the office or at home – or even in coffee shops, co-working spaces, customers’ or suppliers’ sites, hotels and other hospitality environments that are rethinking their own business models in light of changing working practices. A permanent move to a hybrid way of working is a monumental change for any business and how leaders manage that
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SECURITY FOCUS AFRICA JULY 2021
change is a defining moment. Five topics that need to be on every leader’s mind Exactly what the new way of working looks like will be different from one business to the next. Working this out will be a big undertaking, but an important one. Leaders and managers need to look at every team and every role to see what’s right for them, assessing the type of work they do and who they need to collaborate with. While each business will have its own model that best matches its needs, there are certain considerations that should be on every leadership team’s agenda right now.
Here are five thought-starters for the big conversations that are now underway. 1. The leadership mindset has to change. The leadership style of 2019 is out of date in today’s environment. Gone are the days when a manager could look out from a glass corner office and see their team getting on with their work. To succeed in this new environment, we need to rethink how we measure performance, how we motivate our teams, and how we plan work. We will need to focus much more on culture, purpose and wellbeing to help people better manage their time, their working
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