In these entirely unprecedented times driven by Covid-19, many of the predictable patterns, models and plans for business have been thrown into deep uncertainty. Sectors and the jobs within them will fundamentally shift, while employee needs and priorities are poised to change in significant and multifaceted ways. Businesses will need to find objective ways to overcome challenges, use the right tools to make difficult decisions and completely reengineer their operating model in order to successfully adapt to a blended world of work.

Chapter 1: A New Era of Leadership

The pandemic, along with the acceleration of digital adoption that came with it, requires a new style of leadership. Leadership that is focused on humility, adaptability, purpose and communication. Qualities such as deep domain expertise, decisiveness, authority and short-term focus are no longer at the forefront, instead the in-demand skills of the future are industry agnostic and focused on people.

Our research shows that the top priority for business leaders over the next 6–12 months is people. There is a newfound appreciation for the value of employees and an overwhelming consensus that if you get the ‘people’ side of things right, everything else will follow.

“It’s all about people. If you empower people to make decisions then good things happen. Our focus is to remove barriers in order to enable people to go away and do the best that they can do” Business Development Director, Fintech

Leaders in this new era must adopt softer skills to manage effectively:

Humility. Humble leaders will use their knowledge, skills and experience to inspire followers and bring people together, aligning them to their vision. They are willing to admit mistakes, show vulnerability and learn from others. An essential quality and core ingredient for leaders in this new world.

“We are seeing leaders admitting they are tired one day, or feeling vulnerable and don’t want their camera on. Trying to show that these behaviours are okay, they’re normal.” Head of Compliance, Investment Management

Adaptability. Today, it is more important than ever to be open to different ways of thinking, shifting and experimenting with different approaches as things change. The current climate means decisions and trade offs must be made and it is likely that businesses will need to continue to respond to the changing landscape. To do this successfully flexibility and adaptability is essential.

Purpose. The key to navigating the complex world we face today, where strategy is ever changing and few decisions are definitely right or wrong, is purpose. Purpose unlocks exceptional performance, inspiring and motivating employees to come together behind a common goal.

“Success is really driven when we are all behind the same goal. I want to look at how we can take what we’ve learnt from this period and apply it to the business plan going forward” Senior Comms Manager, Transport

Communication. Honest, open and transparent communication from leaders is imperative and valued by employees. Leaders must ensure they are visible, appear authentic and demonstrate that they are truly listening to their employees. Communication is so important to get right, over communicate and you confuse people, under communicate and people feel lost.

“We are doing what we were doing before, but with much more openness. There are regular calls with everyone in the business, providing direct access to the leaders. And the CEO has taken time to ring people which has given a massive boost. It lets people know that the leaders are visible, that they’re listening and are interested in the workforce” Business Development Director, Fintech

Leaders must be clear about when employees are expected to be available; technology can mean an “always on” mentality that can quickly lead to burnout. This is particularly important for younger, more junior members of staff who feel less comfortable making decisions about their working day.

There is a real risk that presenteeism is transforming into e-presenteeism and so it’s even more important that leaders evolve that dated mindset and move towards managing based on outcomes. This in turn helps to build trust and empower employees resulting in a more highly motivated workforce. It could even lead to fewer ‘people managers’ going forward as employees become more self-sufficient, able to motivate themselves in a remote world.

There is a feeling from both employees and leaders that productivity throughout lockdown has not been impacted, in fact, many have found themselves and their teams more productive. With dedicated concentration-time, strict agendas leading to efficient and productive meetings, flattening hierarchy, and open windows into colleagues' lives there are many positives to this new way of working. And in an attempt to stay connected, new meeting rituals have emerged, increasing connection with colleagues globally.

“We launched Monday motivator which included things like how to keep connected and mentally well. We scheduled in community cafes so people could have informal coffees with colleagues from around the business. We increased the frequency of formal meetings, more one to ones, whole team meetings would happen weekly. The Senior Leadership Team meeting happens twice a week, and we became more rigorous about what was on the agenda.” Senior Comms Manager, Transport

Although these new rituals go some way towards building an effective workforce, leaders still need to grapple with challenges such as remote collaboration, team cohesiveness and replicating informal chats to name just a few. To do this, they must re-engineer fundamental rituals within the business.

Effective remote collaboration is a real struggle.

“The collaborative piece about working together is not there yet. In terms of how we brainstorm, we haven’t cracked that…it takes longer virtually. It’s faster and cleaner when you’re in a room together.” CSO, Insurance

Leaders must find the right tools and techniques for their business to creatively collaborate and brainstorm. New technologies make real-time remote collaboration possible and very effective from Microsoft Teams, to Google docs and more advanced platforms such as Miro, a virtual whiteboard. Workshops are a great format for team building, sense-making, problem solving, coming up with new ideas and designing experiments and can be delivered just as effectively online. The key is to plan the right format, identify the best tool for the job, make it fun, keep it short and facilitate, facilitate, facilitate.

The lack of informal chats is missed, both from a social and work perspective.

“The informal interactions are missing. You have to formalise bouncing ideas off people. A lot of people you bump into can just throw some ideas around but now you have to plan a meeting. That formalisation takes the edge away, it works better in an informal discussion.” Director of Strategic Relationships, Engineering

Without the office as a central hub, ‘watercooler’ moments are lost and there is a risk businesses could lose out on ‘idea mitosis’, the natural product of humans working near other humans. Employees often come up with new creations following a conversation over coffee or a quick catch-up walking to a meeting. Long-term virtual work setups could eventually lead to a decline in new ideas. In order to replicate these moments new rituals must emerge. From ‘community cafes’ to ‘zoom roulettes’, carving out time as a business to chat to colleagues about anything and everything is so important. These small pockets of time encourage spontaneous conversations, going some way to recreate the informality missed from the physical interaction.

Cohesiveness is a concern.

And according to OWL Labs 2019 it’s the 2nd biggest worry about remote working.

“I worry that people are trying to solve the same problem across different teams” Transformation Lead, Banking

Offices provide culture, community and connection. Without spontaneous conversations that happen in a co-located office, it’s hard to keep on top of what each team member is doing. Transparency is essential to avoid employees being left in the dark; whilst project management tools make it easy to keep the entire team up to date. Business leaders must also find ways to ensure team and business cohesiveness through rituals that help foster togetherness in order for the business to remain effective.

Faced with challenges never before experienced and a recession worse than that of 2008, leaders in this new era must adopt a new style of leadership. Increased transparency and authenticity is essential — whilst technology is playing a role to facilitate this, providing a window into colleagues lives, breaking down barriers, flattening hierarchy and adding a much needed human touch, there is still more that needs to be done. Leaders must find new ways to help employees effectively collaborate in a remote world, introduce new rituals and look to recreate spontaneity and informality — something truly missed by all. And whilst employees experience greater autonomy, it is important to embed a culture of communication and connection in order to maintain cohesiveness. Navigating businesses through the pandemic is not an easy task but leaders who embrace flexibility, openness and this new world of work will be the ones to successfully come out the other side.

Chapter 2: Reimagining the Employee Experience>>

Natalia Walters is a consultant at Fluxx. Stay tuned with all that’s Fluxx by following us on LinkedIn or signing up for our WTF Newsletter.

Are you curious as to how Fluxx has helped companies such as Condé Nast, Mars, Thames Water, HSBC, Addison Lee Group and many more? Learn the secrets for sustained, repeatable innovation models, from expert practitioners. Get in touch now Natalia.Walters@Fluxx.uk.com. Equally, if you have any thoughts on the piece above, I’d love to hear from you!