The work world is changing. As Covid-19 pushed us towards the fifth industrial revolution at an accelerated timeline, we’re now operating in a time of high innovation… along with high demands on our energy—mental, physical, and emotional. As often happens, change cascades into more change. The people piece of our work world is shifting in massive ways that everyone is talking about too. The right to disconnect, the mindset of a “Bare Minimum Monday,” quiet quitting, four day work weeks… These shifts are redefining workplace boundaries.
How leaders respond to changes in technology is one thing. Curiously, it’s even more threatening when things change with the workforce. The pendulum of power and balance for leaders and employees is swinging. The modern leader needs to pay close attention to these emerging trends in order to retain the trust of their employees and have a stake in the business of the future.
Shifting Sands: How the Workplace Is Changing
A quick recap of the trends that are bringing upheaval to traditional work settings. We’re not suggesting you should advocate for or agree with these trends, but every leader needs to at least really understand why people feel so strongly about them.
Imagine leaving work and not spending a few more hours fielding calls and responding to emails? The old mindset would never question this, but it’s now the law by which many organizations must abide. Outside of work time… Your people’s time is theirs.
An alarming number of people suffer from the Sunday Scaries—that sense of dread that closes in on us as the weekend wraps up. More employees are fighting it with a Bare Minimum Monday. The old mindset that measured productivity only by tasks accomplished won’t make sense of this, but the motivation behind this is for productivity. Rather than rushing towards burnout, the goal is to do only the urgent tasks and use the rest of the time to set up for the week in a balanced way.
This doesn’t mean leaving a job but rather leaving behind the expectations that they’ll go the extra mile. This employee will do what their job description tells them to do. No more. No less. Again, this is in opposition to the societal pressure to pour time and energy you don’t have into a job with the (often empty) promise that doing so will pay off in the long run.
It worked during the pandemic—quite well. As employers respond to calls to increase flexibility, a four day workweek is becoming more common, with a lot of debate. Whatever the mechanism, more and more data is being gathered that supports positive benefits shared for both parties when there’s a shift in work-life balance that allows for more value being placed on the “life” part.
Pursuing Organizational Health in a Changing World
People have more power than they used to have. That’s the fact they are acting on in ways that sometimes seem unfounded and inappropriate to their employers. And sometimes, it is unfounded and inappropriate. People don’t always make the best decisions. Employees don’t see the same big picture that the leadership team sees. Leaders are under immense pressure to flex with these shifts, to give team members what they want (or even demand) but also make the right calls when it comes to the organization.
But the business world of tomorrow (a very near tomorrow) will also not accept leaders who cling to their power and don’t listen to understand. Many leaders give countless hours and make immense sacrifices in their relationships, mental health, and physical wellness for the sake of their job, and it seems shockingly presumptuous that employees wouldn’t see it the same way. How will companies function without committed employees and leaders?
The questions that should be emerging from these trends, though, are these: What is productivity, really? What does commitment look like? What does a healthy person need? What about people who aren’t like you, in terms of physical/mental capacity, relational demands, wiring and motivations, financial supports, etc?
These are not just questions for your employees. They’re questions for your peers, and for you. Addressing these questions and applying them to your team and your company is going to be one of the best steps you can take towards organizational health and the success of your company in years to come.
That’s your job: to navigate the pressure between all the oft-competing needs of your organization and its people.
The pressure is there… But so is the opportunity to be a more effective leader.
Leading with Authenticity
Some leaders respond to the pressures of these issues without really confronting the possibility that change is a good thing here. There will be pressure in discussion with fellow leaders to deliver performative responses to employee dissatisfaction and no-yield “solutions” that merely cover the surface.
Don’t let that happen. It’s your future on the line.
If you’ve created a leadership team intentionally, you will have people who simply do not let you be performative. Listen to and value the voices of those at your table and strive to be proactive in the face of employee resistance. Start by understanding—really take this on board—that people are not being “dramatic.” They are not acting “spoiled.” It can feel like this, especially when shifts are in the early stages. Push yourself to look for the pattern behind even people who you could dismiss due to other problematic symptoms.
The fact is that your people do care. Deeply. But your people may not care about the same things as you. For example, it’s more personal to you that the organization is doing well. People who are not leaders—they care that their lives are going well.
Where is the middle ground here? It is there, but may require some work to find. Approach trends with curiosity so discontent does not grow into an organism that lives and thrives on its own. Don’t make your people into caricatures that you have no need to respect or understand—they aren’t. Even if you disagree with what they are saying they want as a solution, work to understand what they value, and make your company a place where people don’t have to sacrifice what they value for the sake of a paycheck. This will go a long way towards loyalty, innovation, communication, and company reputation.
Proactive Leadership
How do you balance the necessity of hitting targets with creating/maintaining a positive staff experience? If you are all going to win together, you have to know what you can reasonably take on, within which team, in order to achieve your goals. When this works and you all hit that target together, it’s energizing. It’s healthy!
- Build feedback loops throughout your organization. And no, this doesn’t mean take a poll or do a town hall. Egalitarian is not the way to go: you are the leader. Lead. However, in your decision-making, do everything possible not just to listen but to make it safe for people to engage and share what they really see and think. That’s how you demonstrate the ways their feedback informed your process.
- Grieve—and move on. The trends we are discussing all resist traditional work structures. Many leaders have been able to thrive in those structures, and change is not a welcome thing. It’s not just leaders either—some of the workforce wants to cling to the traditional way of doing business too. Bringing the whole company through these changes will require acknowledging the loss of “the way things have been”. Ask of your organization, “What are we trying to do in the world? Are we going to be able to exist in the face of these changes?” If the answer is, “No,” or even, “I’m not sure,” it is a sign that you’re not innovating. To survive, to thrive, adapting to change is inevitable. The future might not seem like a place you want to go, but challenge your assumptions. There might be more for you in it than you’re allowing for...
- Check your mindset. If you are only making changes within your organization out of fear or pressure, don’t! It’s not healthy. Rather, seek more effective ways to understand power dynamics at play. Do the work until your mindset and your actions align.
- Take the OrgHealth Ascent Assessment™. Dig into the health of your organization and take substantive action to innovate and adapt. Essentially another form of feedback, it will tell you where, and how, you can grow.
- Bring in a consultant. Getting outside help is not a sign that you don’t have your stuff together. Quite the opposite is true: It’s a signal that you are reaching out in order to be the leader your organization and its people need. This is yet another form of feedback.
- Don’t “give in.” Yes, change, adapt, innovate—but don’t give in. Doing so feels like losing authority. And that’s true to an extent; it’s not productive because teams need strong, effective leaders. Giving in to your people is not healthy. Standing up, listening, engaging with curiosity, gathering, analyzing, and implementing change… All of this is. Whatever you decide, don’t do it because you feel held hostage. You’re the leader, do what it takes to own the change.
The Workplace Is Changing
These employment pressures are not fads. They are not going to disappear into the ether. They are signals that workplace expectations are changing, and will continue to change. Is your organization healthy enough to adapt, survive, and thrive? Don’t guess. Do the work to listen and determine the best way forward.
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