Anupam Satyasheel, CEO, founded Occams Advisory in 2011. Prior to founding Occams, Anupam spent over half a decade on Wall Street.
I have spent a lot of time pondering how the Covid-19 crisis highlighted the human need to be treated like individuals, not equipment. The Aristotelian sentiment, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” rings true, as people are essential components within an organization. In my experience, many managers say they value their people but don’t act as such. Post-Covid-19, I see vastly different managerial approaches.
Treating human beings like pieces of equipment is bound to fail; people want to be seen and heard. It’s key to emotional and mental well-being. Success looks like employees knowing they are needed and employers treating them that way. Future-minded, thoughtful organizations have embraced management changes that empower people not to keep a job but to grow in their careers.
Remote Work And Flexibility
While some companies insisted workers return to the office after the pandemic, other organizations realized employees were happier, more productive and more willing to participate in company culture remotely. When optimizing business efficiencies, there are benefits to having teams together physically. Still, remote-forward managers often see that their employees are happier and more productive. Far more enticing than nitro brew on tap and happy hour beers on the company card is when employers value their employees’ time.
In a survey by Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago, 30% of respondents said they were more productive and engaged working from home. Managers should be realistic about incentivizing employees and optimizing for longevity. After a year of daily nitro brew coffee, employees won’t see free coffee as a good enough reason to stay. Because managers want to minimize churn, they should consider whether they’re actually providing a long-term incentive or if they’re waving a shiny object.
Emphasis On Employee Well-Being
Highly efficient managers recognize that employee well-being amounts to company well-being—and success isn’t sustainable without well-being. No one does their best work under stress. Unless your organization is saving lives, there need not be tension or severity coming from leadership—employees will feel it.
Employee well-being is achievable and should be measured as a qualitative KPI. Occasionally, I find myself with colleagues who wonder why I stress this point; isn’t my job about business efficiencies, taxes and processes? Certainly. However, I have found that when employees are physically and mentally well, they are primed to perform at a high level, focus and positively impact the company’s bottom line. Managers who genuinely ask how their employees are doing will gain the trust and confidence of their employees. And they will be more likely to provide management with transparent feedback, minimizing the chance of management being blindsided or relying on reactive responses.
Digital Transformation
A McKinsey Global Survey found that Covid-19 accelerated digitization by several years. As Covid-19 enhanced the digital transformation conversation, companies were forced to adopt technologies enabling processes to resume remotely. Yet, in the process of this adoption and transformation, some organizations inadvertently lost sight of the operators of the technology: their employees.
Digital transformation enables business continuity but is only as powerful as those who use the technology. Good management encourages online interactions and creates digital experiences for employees. Keeping a remote workforce connected and controlling for feelings of isolation is crucial. With new technologies, teams can bond if and when they are properly on-boarded and trained. Managers can also recognize that while fantastic technology is available, a personal check-in phone call goes a long way.
Remote Team Building And Leadership
As we know, quarantine isolated people physically, and the internet created a reality in which everyone can be together digitally at all times. In a remote work environment, team bonding is not naturally cultivated. In particular, employees whose roles are deliverables-focused could go days, if not longer, without speaking with a team member. Maintaining morale for a remote team requires management to maintain an optimistic attitude and consistent disposition that makes them trustworthy and reliable.
Remote Team Building: It’s Easier Said Than Done
A Harvard survey found that 40% of leaders were unprepared for home-based remote work, and 41% struggled to keep employees engaged. I have found that leaders build remote teams most effectively when they individually check in with their team members and gauge employees’ interests. Remote team building can look like weekly department meetings, monthly “Town Hall” meetings that keep everyone in the loop and fun activities like Fantasy Football, classic icebreaker games or internal learning circles. Regardless of the exercise, managers need to appoint internal evangelists who will make team building continuous and productive.
Talent Acquisition And Retention
Acquiring and retaining talent has been one of the greatest challenges for managers since the onset of Covid-19 because, to a degree, people have become strangers. While many managers tell me they would love to respond to every job application, they do not have the bandwidth. Because employees are interviewed remotely, it is harder to identify synergies or a shared wave of communication. Managers must be highly communicative with job candidates and lay the groundwork for an organized, systematic remote work environment.
The digital ecosystem is void of tone, and managers are tasked with over-communicating. In terms of retaining talent, many of my clients have seen horrible churn. They don’t know if employees are unhappy or if they’re searching for a different job. That is why management should be proactive and systematize department meetings, team meetings, check-ins and continuous team building. Employees enjoy consistency and recognition. Churn happens when people feel undervalued or forgotten.
These components are pillars of successful remote work management. Covid-19 was an unexpected crisis, leaving business leaders wondering how they would recover. Our experience emphasized the importance of valuing the human behind the employee and continues to challenge employers to balance how people and technology play into company success.
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