Don't Be The Parent or the Child

Is it me or does the Get Back Into The Office and the Right to Disconnect smack of a Parent/Child relationship that’s deeply rooted in the Industrial Age (kindly close the gate on your way out please…)?

We are not Big Bad Employers (never have been) and I understand the need to protect employees from unsavoury business and employment practices that ultimately hurt everyone. But in this new age, don’t we need a smarter approach from our law-makers than a demand of a one size fits all? Can't we all show up and be treated like adults?

Article after article is calling for the return of Normal, and we are deluding ourselves if we think Normal has just popped out for some ‘time out’ before coming to its senses.

If you talk to anyone looking for a new role today, they just don’t want what was and who can blame them. They want purpose, something interesting to do for work, but most of all they want to feel valued and respected for something that they spend most of their waking hours doing. Rightly or wrongly, most are feeling pressure to do something that just isn't going to work for them.

Most business owners I know and read about are responsible, whilst also trying to keep the wolf from the door where every cost is increasing at a rate higher than their ability to grow. Rightly or wrongly, most feel like one big ATM and the stress is killing them.

Like all small business owners, when I started to build Better Business Basics and FinMatch.Me, I did it all, some woefully badly until the business took flight and I could bring in people who grabbed the early successes and ran with them. But one of the benefits of leading the ship is that you can still drop in for a Tour of Duty to see how the business is going in various areas now it's not so small.

Last week, I carried out a series of what we call Culture Catch-Ups, a stage before the formal interview stage where we spend 20 minutes in calls just getting to know one another (like a coffee date before you invest in dinner). These calls are invaluable for everyone – where everyone is trying on the relationship for size. Can we meet your expectations? Are you who you say you are? What do you really need in a role? What are we like as employers on a bad day? Its a high learning environment for me. Every time.

I had 15 of these last week. 15 insightful conversations where I heard the following challenges that people are navigating in everyday life:

·???????? 'I travel 40-60 mins one way, 5 days a week. How do I get those 390 hours (or 10 working weeks) back every year?'

·???????? 'My husband has just had a major, life-changing operation and I want to be at home as he’s recovering at home incase he needs me'

·???????? 'My wife and I have both been working from home in some capacity and we took it in turns to take out children to and from school. Now both our employers are mandating that we come back to the office full-time. How do I explain this to my children who love this part of their day?'

It’s exhausting for most people to navigate modern life with a new way of working but it can be done. Motivating teams in today's low trust environment is one of the most complex management issues of our time. As business owners, we need to be able to craft and customise our businesses that's sustainable. A large part of this country's GDP relies on it.

Having built remote and distributed teams for more than 10 years, here’s what I learnt last week and the first step in building the trust relationship from the first conversation:

·???????? As an employer: Give your team the gift of as much flexibility as you possibly can. Think long and hard about why you’re asking people to come back into the office. Question your own motivations at every turn on this topic. And if you still believe that your team can only be productive in the office. Own it. Be honest with people that the roles you offer are ‘in situ’ only

·???????? As an employee. Be brave enough to articulate what flexibility means to you and why. What employers need to be able to do is believe in you. So own your truth from day one. Work out what you need. Give insights as to why. Ask lots of questions. Understand how you can create value in what you offer and how you'll help in being part of a company's solution to this debate. And don’t say yes if you really mean no

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