GET REAL, PLEASE!

So…?

There’s a move afoot to turn our work environment upside down and inside out - in a good way.?But how much of it is real??How many organizations are really and truly changing the way we work to ensure that the #FutureOfWork is a whole lot better than the past??

In this article I’m going to explore the differences between P.R. spin doctoring and the ‘real deal’ and then see what you think and what you’d expect from the future work environment.

First of all, let me say right up front that I’m going to talk (a bit) about #Optevo and there’s a real reason for doing so. If you think I’m using the word ‘real’ a bit too much, you’re right, but it’s all part of making my point and highlighting the difference between reality, perceived reality and smoke-and-mirrors, or showcasing.?

What kinds of changes are being discussed and implemented in the work environment right now?

By far the most spoken about are compassionate and empathetic leadership. From McKinsey, to Forbes, to the Wall Street Journal,?to Entrepreneur, we’ve been seeing articles focusing on this topic for at least the last year.?There are big organizations with household names which are espousing it.

It’s the opposite of the traditional corporate ‘command and control’ kind of approach to employees, so why the change and why now?

We could give these organizations the benefit of the doubt and say they’ve been influenced for the better by examples set by, say for instance, Patagonia, or SAS. ?

One would hope that the success that they’ve achieved would inspire everyone to implement similar policies. Then again, it could be that, according to a McKinsey interview, 70% of employees are ‘feeling disengaged from their business’. It could also be the ongoing effects of the #GreatResignation.?

Whatever the reason, it seems that working people have come to the realization that there can be such a thing as life beyond work and that work can be effectively done in places other than the office at times other than the traditional 9-5 workday.

Is it really about the tug-of-war between #WFH, #RemoteWork or #RTO? Or is it more to do with wanting to be acknowledged as a human, with a life as well as a job and the autonomy to arrange both for maximum sustainability?

Hmmm… interesting question. Whatever the practicalities of each of the above are, it’s long been our stance at #Optevo that our purpose is to provide a way for people to ensure that their work life doesn’t become their life’s work.?Now, I know there are plenty of people who love what they do and therefore feel that talking about life-work balance isn’t that important. But, no matter how much you love what you do, we all need regular breaks to do other things…

But imagine this… what if there weren’t such pressure to work irrespective of the rest of what we need to deal with in our lives??

Imagine if our leaders, bosses, managers, supervisors… whatever the title may be… were empathetic and compassionate - just like all those articles mentioned earlier speak about.?

I think that the articles and discussions on the topic make it clear that when we say ‘empathetic’ or ‘compassionate’, we’re not talking about bleeding heart, sob story, softie, push-over leadership. We’re talking about leadership who acknowledge the humanity of their teams and treat them accordingly.?

I think that because of the popularity of this concept and the demand of the workforce, there are many organizations who are revamping their 3 P’s: P.R, Policies and Procedures.?And that’s wonderful. Provided that the ‘heart’ of the organization is the wellspring from which the 3 P’s flow.

When we’re looking at which organizations are getting this right, we see that they don’t just have a desire to ‘make the world better’. They understand that the first step is to make the world better within their organization for their people. If it’s not better within the organization, how can it possibly make the greater world a better place?

Once again, and I know I’ve mentioned this many times in previous articles, this is the reason that #Optevo exists. This is our contribution to the #FutureOfWork.?This is not just a nice mission statement thought up by some slick P.R. or marketing agency, it is THE reason we exist.

For leaders who want their organization’s?3 P’s to be real - not just optics, I’d suggest that Danny Langloss, Ludmilla Praslova, Karen Zeigler and many others you’ll see me reposting give excellent insights and suggestions as to how to do just that!

#Empathy #Compassion #FutureOfWork #TeamMember #Leadership #HybridWork #RemoteWork #Optevo #CWM #business #technology #innovation