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Engage, Enable and Empower your people as they return to workplace
In times of uncertainty, engagement, enablement and empowerment become even more tricky — but they’re also not ignorable. As the world of work prepares to return back to work, here are 9 things that matter:
1. Health and Safety Matters
And it’s not just about the traditional HSE practices. It’s about tailoring your approaches to meet the needs of employees for both, physical and emotional health and safety. Never has this been more relevant than in a global pandemic like this.
2. Communication Matters
Nothing new — but leaders must be super careful about what they say. The uncertainty around us enhances our perception of fear which leads to unnecessary interpretations. It’s time to communicate with honesty and empathy.
3. Technology Matters
Digital technology is literally serving as life-line of human connectivity. But let’s be honest — technology is fallible. Make the most out of what’s available and be open to glitches.
4. Respect Matters
Everyone is fighting their own battles. Few are vocal, few are silent. Be mindful. As leaders, facilitate and reimagine employee assistance programs and support wherever and whenever you can.
5. Focus Matters
With so much happening at personal and profession front, juggling priorities can be a serious challenge. Leaders must exhibit patience in coaching your employees on managing priorities. Leaders need to help their people to focus on what’s critical and what can wait.
6. Diversity Matters
The crisis may be the same, but our experiences are unique. Don’t make assumptions and embrace diversity. What’s true for one person today may not be true tomorrow. Acknowledging this difference is respectful and helps employees feel connected.
7. Rewards Matter
Crisis cannot subdue the need to be recognised for efforts. But then the reality of financial constraints cannot be ignored as well. Adjust expectations of what success looks like and create new pathways to high performance. Leaders must be clear about how the organisation will fairly manage reward.
8. Interaction Matters
It’s a great time for innovation. Informal conversation can often spark innovation and now is the time. Find new ways and channels to ignite informal communication virtually. Lunch and Learn & Morning Huddles done virtually can be extremely helpful.
9. Opinions Matter
“What do you think?” is the mantra. I recently quoted this in my virtual training that it’s nature’s way of training leaders to seek opinion — because now, nobody knows what’s next. So, seeking opinion is not a bad idea. It’s important for leaders at all levels to engage in dialogue with their people and create platforms for them to feel heard and see opinions reflected in meaningful work done in the organization.
It’s my humble opinion that leaders must focus on these 9 areas to engage, enable and empower their people as they try to gain some momentum in this topsy-turvy world.
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