The Chancellor has missed the point: culture doesn't only live in the workspace, it's in our shared BelongingSpace
The Chancellor Rishi Sunak warned in The Telegraph
'Workers could quit if forced to stay at home.'
Of course many others could quit if forced to lose flexible working...
The Chancellor has missed the point.
Hybrid working is clearly the only way for many companies to operate for some time, or for ever.
And there's no one-size-fits-all. It shows a startling lack of awareness of our human nature, as much as being out of touch with the reality for businesses, to assume we all need to be back in the office to work well together or have a strong culture. For most businesses, the last 12 months have defied and redefined that old prejudice.
We've learned the intense human value of belonging - taken for granted until it was taken away. We've learned how to feel close to people despite being far apart. We've learned which aspects really require deep collaboration, and which ones we can give more trust and freedom to people to get on with, rather than needing heavy oversight.
Most leaders have a clear view on the priorities for some level of close contact in person, when we can. But not everybody will want or need to be in the same place every day. So combined workplace-home-remote working, and connecting people across teams and parts of the world will continue.
The CEOs of CitiBank and Goldman Sachs have rejected long-term remote working, extolling the virtues of being together in the office. Other companies like Nationwide, Twitter and BA are gearing up to give employees the freedom to choose.
How best to plan for your individual company, serving the needs of customers, employees and sustained profit?
To solve this problem means nurturing a sense of #Belonging regardless of where people are. The Chancellor (and many traditional leaders) are looking in the wrong place: the emphasis is on #BelongingSpace not #WorkSpace.
The challenge of our times demands a whole new approach to culture based on a balance of freedom and responsibility, and a distributed (not command) leadership style to support it.
- Are your purpose and values still in action, holding you all together as a shared Ethos (and indeed, fit for purpose)?
- How can you bond within and between teams, even if not all in the same place?
- How can you keep people closely connected across locations and timezones?
- If you've managed to work efficiently and keep up productivity, what about camaraderie and innovation?
- What new habits will you keep from the last year?
- How will you ensure equitable reward for contribution, not biased by those with whom you have closer proximity and visibility?
I'm currently coaching leaders on reframing culture for our times, in a sessions of BelongingSpace sessions. DM me for details.
The London Chamber of Commerce reports that 52% of business owners will continue remote working in some form long term.
Richard Burge, Chief Executive of London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said:
Changes to ways of working that we have seen during the pandemic are going to carry on in some form for some businesses after it is over.
Our research shows that half of businesses will continue some remote working, whilst a third of businesses polled will continue with reduced physical space, and three in five will maintain virtual meetings where possible.
Companies have responded brilliantly to the last year. Now the challenge is to reframe culture and belonging to suit ongoing dispersed nature of teams.
Meanwhile... Perhaps it reassures politicians to send out reassuring messages... even if they're not really relevant to what we actually need assurance on!
#Belonging #Culture #Leadership #FutureOfWork #RemoteWorking