Leadership Priorities
For Navigating
The Next Normal
Practices that will help build
engagement and cultural resilience
By Brian Hartzer, Sayers
Yet another Covid variation is burning through
the world, sending workers home, shuttering
restaurants and bars, and even delaying Davos.
On the home front, fear of Covid (or the Great Vaccine
Debate), family separation, remote schooling, and
social isolation have raised anxiety and mental
health issues within many families.
Meanwhile, inflation fears and the investment
required to keep up with technological disruption,
continue to put downward pressure on company
bottom lines.
What will these pressures mean for the workplace in
2022? And more importantly, what will leaders need
to do to respond?
I recommend that any leader, who wants to
successfully navigate the Next Normal, focus on the
following five priorities.
Refocus on Building Engagement
Covid-19’s consequences—lockdowns, Zoom fatigue,
wage inflation, a dearth of workers, and even ‘too
much’ time to reassess life’s purpose—are frequently
blamed for making it harder for leaders to keep
good people.
But Covid-19 is merely a catalyst: To understand the
root cause, leaders should spend more time looking
in the mirror.
Why are people leaving? Because their leaders have
failed to engage them emotionally.
To respond to the “Next Normal,” leaders will need to
refocus on building engagement if they want to win in
the all-important war for talent.
Connect with Employees Individually
In a period of crisis or significant change, people’s
needs shift as they focus more on the safety and
security of themselves and their families. Remote
working compounds this, as many people feel more
isolated.
And having experienced the benefits of remote
working—less time commuting, more flexible working
hours, more ability to concentrate on “quiet” work—
few employees will want to go back to full time office
work (even where their home working environment is
less than ideal).
While companies are already experimenting with
new hybrid working rules, the most effective
leaders will regularly connect with each employee
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