Professional landscapes have changed and it is time to reassess our business operations. In the wake of an international health crisis, those qualities that we have previously sought and celebrated in departments, managers, and individuals are not necessarily carried over into a new environment of remote working and changing duty of care considerations. As such, we must not only seek to change the qualities we do celebrate but also how we measure them.
Successful leaders will know that one of the most effective ways to influence employees and departments is to do so through leadership, which is why managers carry such responsibility. This has not changed and, as we move forward into what is still a relatively unexplored environment of business practice, it is our managers who will do well to receive support, enabling businesses to better navigate a post-pandemic landscape.
Open Conversations
One of the most essential acknowledgements is that managers are a valuable resource for understanding the workplace. If leaders do not support open dialogue with their department heads they will be closing themselves off from valuable insight. At a time when circumstances continue to change, it is then paramount that open conversations between managers are supported, enabling them to better feedback pertaining to the needs of their teams.
Cloud-based operations might initially struggle to establish such a regular channel of dialogue but even video conferences, no matter how fleeting, can be useful, offering a platform for conversation.
Seek Guidance
There is a substantial advantage to retraining managers at this time, not only to help them develop new skills and experience, especially those related to human resources and communication but also to simply refresh their basics. Numerous lockdowns and changing schedules have left some managers feeling without confidence, which is why many are turning to management training in London and other such cities, so as to reaffirm their knowledge.
The investment of training also helps to support employee teams too, with stronger leaders able to better inspire and support their employees.
Duty Of Care
Historically, the divide between our professional and personal lives have always been distinctly divided. This, however, is no longer the case and it is now more challenging to expect staff members to entirely separate themselves from external issues without support. In the workplace, this manifests as duty of care and a number of businesses are already enabling their staff and managers the ability to seek support when necessary.
An intention of this is to dismantle the stigma of mental health in the workplace, supporting the cultural move toward work-life balance. The advantages of such endeavours are few professional absences and improved workplace culture.
Allow Independence
Being the first port of call for issues and risk in the workplace, managers will have a great deal of hands-on experience dealing with issues. This experience should be respected, allowing for their working independence, or else business leaders risk micro-managing and creating sources of stress, when simply placing trust in the manager would go much further.