How do we adapt to a changing world?

Welcome to June's edition of Thrive ??

I hope this finds you well with life and work going your way!

Unfortunately for too many that is not yet the case.

In the last month I have been involved in many conversations covering the following points:

• No one wants to come into the office, I can't even get them to go on site with a client.
• There doesn't seem to be any loyalty anymore, no one stays longer than 2 years at the most.
• Everyone is more focussed on work life balance than their career.
• Our teams no longer want to work towards being a partner/leader.
• I'm burnt out...
• Overwhelmed

None of this is new, they have all been repeatedly discussed in recent years.

However what does appear to be the case is that this is becoming endemic, rather than just a post Covid adjustment.

Many said that we would see these issues stabilise as life returned to some form of normality. I hold my hands up to the fact I was very much one of those people.

That view appears to have been wrong, these problems are not going away.

So what?

Well, any long term stressor will create adaptations both positive and negative.

We are starting to see two trends emerging:

1) Giving up.

There are increasing numbers of companies who are starting to avoid hiring younger members of the team either by going for more experienced individuals OR through hiring / outsourcing to countries in Eastern Europe, South Africa, India and even as far away as the Philippines. Young people in these countries are well educated and happier to sign up to more traditional hours and workloads because there is less opportunity for well paying jobs.

I know this has been a trend for years, but we are without doubt seeing it accelerate and in ways many companies would never have previously contemplated.

In general for UK Plc I doubt this is a good thing, we are essentially giving up on some of the workforce rather than helping them to adjust and adapt.

2) Evolution.

This one is the positive ??

The alternative approach it to recognise that the UK working population is not intrinsically lazy and most people do want to add value to their work and the world around them. They have the skills and passion they have always had. Not to mention the fact that although work life balance is more of a priority for many, it remains expensive to live in the UK and people need to work.

Good companies, good teams are evolving so they can harness these skills and passions in a mutually beneficial way.

How?

• Leadership -The "Do what I tell you" school of management used to work (ish) because it sat within a societal and work structure that just made it work. That structure has broken down and quickly, and this style simply does not work. Leadership has to be more collaborative.
• Skills - Collaborative leadership is MUCH more skilled than the old approach. It requires emotional intelligence, good and broad communication skills, the ability to think of others and the big picture rather than self. I could go on, and on. Therefore leaders need much more investment, investment in training and development, but also investment in older leaders so that they can role model this style for younger generations.
• Outputs not inputs - Outputs are all that matter as long as they are aligned with the values and behaviours of your organisation. If a member of your team produces great work, on time and budget, has happy clients and colleagues and lives to your values why does it matter if they do that work in less time than their contract stipulates? Why does it matter if they take time off in the afternoon to spend 2 hrs doing something they want? You can be comfortable with this because the flip side is if they are not producing the results then a well structured management process will either help them to grow where needed or remove them from the team. If you focus on inputs you will smother and lose those people who would have achieved everything you wanted anyway.
• Purpose - The UK is a very developed economy and society, it is also complex and nuanced, so what I'm about to say is not universal but is increasingly prevalent. People want to have real meaning in what they do, and are no longer willing (where they have a choice) to just work for a pay cheque. There has to be a purpose to what you do. It doesn't have to be earth shattering, but in some small way both authentic and meaningful. If you are just about making money, hitting targets and enhancing shareholder value don't be surprised when you suffer from all of the issues highlighted at the beginning.
• Operational structure - 5 days a week in the office will no longer work for knowledge workers, equally working on your own remotely will undermine the ability of a social animal (i.e all humans) to thrive. It will also breakdown the critical skills required for a business to develop, such as; communication, influence, dealing with conflict, building deep relationships and a myriad of others required to build the leaders who can pull together a diverse group of people. So, good businesses are finding a balanced position that does allow for flexibility and autonomy but also demands (and I use that word deliberately) the right amount of time together face to face for their culture and needs.

So, how do we adapt to a changing world?

Give people a purpose, work with them collaboratively, ask them to deliver a set of results aligned with this and give them the space and operational structure to find the mixture of inputs that works for them and delivers those results.

Supporting all of this is a leadership skill set that isn't afraid of challenging conversations and, when needs be, of removing people who are undermining the team and business.

Yes, this is harder and more complex than it used to be, but it's worth it to work in teams that thrive together and produce great results ??

Last but by no means least - Reading tip for the month:

Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell

I'm a bit late to the party on this one, but it powerfully breaks down some of the assumptions we all make about success and just how wrong we are. Well worth a read.

Thanks for reading! ??