This task required me to choose three trends which will impact my workplace in the future. My choices were: Hybrid Work, Retaining top talent and Leadership Quality.
Hybrid work has become a standard in my industry. Managers and their subordinates like to work remotely. Unfortunately Covid-19 forced companies to shift to remote work where it was possible and it introduced hybrid work as possible solution, which I use also. This affects a persons social life in a bad way, since humans need social interraction. Fortunately my workplace has clear guidelines and protocols for remote work, including check-ins, engagement and communication excercises.
“Small meetings can work by video conference; large meetings are best in person.”
https://siepr.stanford.edu/publications/policy-brief/hybrid-future-work
Hybrid model forced a huge techonology integration to utilize multiple tehcnology tools efficiently. We have regular video conferences and collaboration meetings, which engage people to communicate and socialize. My manager is working in a different city, so we need to use remote connection anyway to connect with eachother.
One thing I have noticed in my current working environment is that they focus on employee well-being a lot to compensate the social isolation from remote work.
Hybrid work impacts managerial skills with adaptive leadership, enhanced communication skills, social intelligence, stategic decision-making and adaptability.
Remote work brings hidden challenges with it and a good manager needs to be able to be flexible, resilient and proactive. Focusing on daily check-ins, utilizing communication technologies, and using effective communication becomes paramount. Leaders need to be able to maintain a regular communication and provide clear expectations for an open and supportive workplace culture. Encouraging social interaction becomes a good trait for a remote workplace and leaders should find creative ways to maintain team motivation and social interactions through events and conversations.
Retaining top talent is done via good compensation and work environment. Companies need to focus on developing effective retention strategies.
Every engineering company has a huge amount of competitors, this forces companies to focus attention to employee tenure. According to Harvard Business Review text (see references below) “employees with three or more years of tenure are more likely to leave”. Organizations should pay special attention to this period of their employees careers.
This trend impacts my workplace a lot, since I know plenty of people who have had switched places just because the competition is so high. The pay rise and more benefits impact the decision a lot.
The impact of a good leader on employee tenure is huge, which most of employers don’t realize. Workplace satisfaction usually outweighs the better pay. A good manager needs to have: Effective interpersonal skills, Development skills, Tailoring leadership approaches and adaptability for younger potential employees.
The sad truth about engineering companies is that they are more likely to hire a person with a lot of experience but zero motivation instead of a person with zero experience but a lot of motivation. You can always learn more but you cannot learn motivation through a good salary.
I’ve seen this in multiple companies, and they never end well, they always stay for a couple of years and then switch to a new company with a higher salary, including the place I am currently working in.
To be a manager who retains top talent you need to be able to be flexible and follow your intuition.
“Confidence in Leadership Takes a Nosedive”
https://www.ddiworld.com/global-leadership-forecast-2023/leadership-quality
Global Leadership Forecast 2023* study finds that Leader quality ratings reflect biggest drop in a decade. This is not a surprise, because Covid-19 introduced new platforms, softwares, leadership tactics, social isolation and burnouts.
Crisis-induced leadership challenges have been around for several years, and the study reports 40% with only 40% of leaders are high-quality. This has been a issue in my experience as well. People are burnt out and their energy levels are not back to normal. In response to this, workplaces need to reassess and adjust their practices to rebuild trust and confidence amon their leaders and employees.
The growing signs of burnouts are mostly among the leaders, which should be responded with prevention strategies and workload management to ensure leaders can work effectively and stress free.
The application to my workplace is Leadership training, burnout prevention, alignment of models, people forward practices, empahis on empathy and continuous monitoring and adaptation.
We need to recognize the crisis of faith in leadership skills and invest in development programs to enhance the skills of leaders. Focusing on only critical skills first, stress management and developing a positive company culture.
Addressing the burnout culture and implementing effective burnout strategies. Companies usually are not eager to admit that their employees are feelin burnt out.
Defining quality leadership cultures that aligns with the company’s values and needs. Implementing a common model for leaders which implements a strategy for critical leadership skills.
Adopting to people-first practices and priorizing to employee developmend and career growth, which won’t cause more stress.
Continuous monitoring for well-being of employees and adapting strategies based on employee feedback and circumstances.
In conclusion, adressing a crisis for leadership and the signs of burnout requires a approach that includes, development, burnout prevention and continuous adaptation to changing conditions.
Last task was to evaluate myself using for this list:
- Integrity:
- Value: I act with honesty and integrity. I stand by my words.
- Self-Evaluation: I have had several though decisions in my career. Every time I made the decision with honesty and integrity in mind.
- Fairness and Justice:
- Value: I need to work on treating everyone fairly without bias.
- Self-Evaluation: I base the decision on facts, so it is not always fair or just, so I need to develop my skills on this. I think facts, honest and integrity go hand in hand.
- Transparency:
- Value: I am always transparent with my actions, my communication needs more work.
- Self-Evaluation: Communication with me and my team is always honest and transparent. Sometimes maybe too honest.
- Empathy:
- Value: Empathy demonstration has never been my strong point, and I am working on it to become a better leader.
- Self-Evaluation: Yes, I try to understand their concerns, but they need to be backed up by facts. This is one I need to work on also.
- Accountability:
- Value: I always stand by my words and decisions. Even if they were mistakes.
- Self-Evaluation: Everyone makes mistakes and the only thing that separetes people is that who learn from them. This is an important part to be succesful.
- Humility:
- Value: I am humble and value everyone and their skills.
- Self-Evaluation: I am always open for feedback and I like to learn new skills.
- Ethical Decision-Making:
- Skill: Ethical decision-making is a must to be a good leader, I always try to focus on this.
- Self-Evaluation: Usually my decisions have been ethical considerations. I approach ethical dilemmas with care and concern.
- Cultural Competence:
- Skill: Diversity is a bonus for a team, it is always good to have different cultures and point of views.
- Self-Evaluation: Every team has been diverse, so I understand other perspectives. I prommote inclusivity with having no prejudice.
- Social Responsibility:
- Attitude: I understand the responsibility of being a leader and that I can’t say whatever I want.
- Self-Evaluation: I always try to think how to approach a difficult converstation, I usually am open and honest with them.
- Communication Skills:
- Skill: Ethics and expectations are clearly articulated.
- Self-Evaluation: My opinion is that I have handled everything well and I haven’t received any bad feedback.
References
https://www.ddiworld.com/global-leadership-forecast-2023
https://hbr.org/2020/03/a-guide-to-managing-your-newly-remote-workers
https://siepr.stanford.edu/publications/policy-brief/hybrid-future-work