Helping People Leaders Manage Through Times of Uncertainty

2020 was a tough year for all of us. I do not know anyone who got through it without going through some sort of stressful moment (or more accurately moments). Many of us are still coming to grips with changes to our lives both personally and professionally.

In times of uncertainly we are often forced, or can take the opportunity to re-evaluate our lives and re-prioritise our needs. Our health, our family, and our finances, namely our job security, are the first things we look at. It is little wonder then that during the COVID-19 pandemic people leaders have faced enormous amounts of pressure, as they work to navigate employees need for clarity and security alongside their own in during unprecedented times.

I recently spoke to a senior leader in the financial services sector who told me that the pressure she was put under over the last year led her to totally rethink her work / life balance. When she found that there was no way to relieve the burden at work, she felt there was no other option but to resign.

A few months later that same leader was hired back to the organisation as a contractor, less the people leader responsibilities, and she was much happier for it. This to me is a real concern. How can we help people leaders manage through times of uncertainty and come out still wanting to lead?

I asked this question of the Head of Digital at a large corporation. His response was essentially that there is “no silver bullet” but, there are things organisations can put in place to help people leaders feel supported.

“At the peak of the pandemic, other than keeping people in jobs, the greatest thing we could have done for our people was arm our managers with clear communications. We didn’t always have the answer to the questions being asked, but we did what we could.

“We provided our managers with Q&A documents and basic points on what was happening and when. We’d refresh them as often as we needed to – anytime anything changed or if new questions were raised. If the government released updated information, we’d immediately prepare communications for our managers. It made a real difference”.

The focus on people leader support in this instance was two-fold. It worked to support the people leaders, and, in turn, it gave employees what they craved – open, honest communication in uncertain times.

“We continue to provide updated communications to our people leaders, although the frequency has dropped from daily to weekly. I do think it will be something that will continue. It really did help to ease pressure, and it showed our people that we were all working together”.

Employee communications has been a real theme throughout many organisations I have spoken to, as many found that keeping communications going through all levels or the company during the pandemic was essential to helping keep people engaged and focused in high stress situations.

“You cannot underestimate the importance of employees hearing from leaders during these times. If leaders go silent, people panic. Keeping the lines of communication open was key to helping us continue to function”.

This was especially true given entire workforces were working remotely, making leading people particularly difficult. If a team member is struggling it can be hard to see over a video conference. Unless you have a workplace culture where open dialogue is encouraged, then people may be too afraid or embarrassed to speak up.

An executive in financial services consulting recently told me that one of the things that many corporates have done is introduce a raft of agile principles to ensure people are clear on tasks and have the opportunity each day to raise issues or concerns.

“We hold daily stand up’s and apply agile ways of working to ensure we are working as productively as we can as a team. We know what we have to achieve, and we trust each other to deliver”.

The agile way of working is another way of helping to relieve team managers of pressure. It provides a clear framework so people understand what they must deliver each day. It also ensures people leaders have a clear path to lead and starts the day off on the right foot.

Several organisations have been utilising services offered by organisations such as Beyond Blue by having guest speakers deliver presentations or workshops on wellbeing and resilience for managers and employees.

Given the broad view that many of us are likely to be continuing to work remotely in some sort of capacity throughout 2021, an organisation I have spoken to are working on updates to policies and frameworks on how to lead virtually – a skill that will be entirely new to the many leaders.

Without support how are people leaders to navigate this new way of working and build strong team culture?

It really is a lot to expect of someone without providing support from the top and that is what must happen, or we will continue to see a trend of talented leaders deciding that it’s just too difficult.

I think the Head of Digital is right when he said – “there is no silver bullet here,” but it is something I believe we must put more thought, support, care, education (and let’s face it, funding) behind as we more into 2021 and beyond.

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