Insanely Brilliant Workplaces
Stop Following Old Trends and Start Creating Insanely Brilliant Workplaces
We are at the start of a potentially incredible new workplace like we had never even thought of before and it’s all thanks to the global pandemic.
First of all, let’s be clear and acknowledge the devastation and sadness that Covid-19 has brought, this article is not trivialising that but it is going to look at the bright side and makes no apologies for doing so.
LinkedIn is the go-to place for all professionals looking for new ways of working, new jobs, ideas, models and opinions but it is also a place where regurgitation of ideas is rife. I can’t stand seeing poll after poll of people asking how many days they should Work From Home and what is “normal”.
Nonsense. It’s all Nonsense
If I asked 100 people in 100 different roles the same question about Working From Home (WFH), their answers don’t really help me understand the business needs. Every person has individual preferences, different role types and different ideas of what WFH actually means.
And this makes absolute sense because it’s clear that the IT team will work very differently to the Operations or People team.
What is emerging across the country, and indeed the world, is that many businesses are blanketing new working strategies based on how they implemented working patterns during lockdown. Swathes of people were WFH because there was no choice and for some that worked brilliantly. For some there is no going back, but for others it just didn’t work out and this is all because of the slight variations we looked at above.
And while across social media you see the thousands of comments about WFH from team members, you will find it hard to find detailed thoughts on the matter from business leaders.
Why would that be?
Well results of changes in working patterns and locations are not clear as yet, the data to support or deny the success of the changes don’t happen in a few months they take years to show trends. So why would a business leader make permanent changes to their operation based on unknown entities.
Yes some businesses have thrived and see no reason to return to the old model, but thousands have also folded because their people could not operate in the way it was needed.
That’s Not The Point
That being said, all of the above is not really the important topic of conversation for me though.
You see I’m a People leader. I study, develop and grow people into the best they can be…at least that’s my goal!
What I see is that the separation between the people offering is just too big in most operations because they follow the same, old way of thinking.
If the recruitment team recruit awesome people, then the Learning & Development Team will be developing an awesome group of people of course. But if we recruit badly then we are only developing not so great people.
Ok tell me I’m stating the obvious but it’s almost never the case that the people team are really aligned to both attract, recruit, retain and develop the best possible people. The bubble of working is just too tight to open up to change.
The New "Workplace" Isn't A Workplace At All
But what if the new way of working for business looked at a brand new idea, one that reverses the way we have managed our people before?
What would this look like and how could it work?
It was Steve Jobs that said “It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”
Steve knew a thing or two about people, ok he may not have been the absolute pinnacle of people managers but, he knew what worked for business.
His words have always rung in my ear, quite literally every day I’m at work.
Why do we continue to hire great people and then tell them what to do?
The New Beginning….Begins…
Here’s the new idea that every business should be thinking about doing, and doing it very soon….like now!
Remove the following from your Job Descriptions:
- JOB LOCATION
- WORKING HOURS
Don’t tell people where they need to be to do their job and don’t tell them how long they have to spend doing it.
Instead tell your candidates the required expectations such as Monthly Team Meets etc and then ask them what they need from you in order to deliver the best they possible can from their role.
Let them work from Home, Café, Your Office, Your Business/Warehouse/Stores etc. Let them work 6 days a week and let them work 3 days a week. Let all your people work at the time where they deliver their best and don’t limit their creativity.
If you don’t trust your candidate to do any of this then you shouldn’t be hiring them in the first place.
Trust your people to deliver what your Job Description requires, and if they deliver amazing from their treehouse in Barbados or an Office Desk in Bradford then that’s just fine.
Let your people deliver their best in any way they see fit
Trust is the key and your recruitment strategy needs to be able to find trustworthy people who are clear on your vision and goal in order to deliver amazing. If someone needs to go and do an afternoon grocery shop, and their diary is free, they should be able to do it without having to ask or feel bad, if they want to take a day off because they are on top of everything let them do it.
Manage results and let people shine by empowering their creativity.
Of course not all roles allow this, your checkout operator needs to be at the checkout but I am talking about those roles that justifiably can be done somewhere else.
I Hope You Take 3 Things Away From This Article.
1) Only recruit people you trust can make a difference to your business
2) Ask recruits where they are usually most productive and let them work there (This might change in time)
3) Don’t manage people by hours worked but by their results
Bringing new ways of thinking to the workplace is what I have absolute passion for. Empowering people and nurturing talent is the key to success in the new world.
If you think I could help your business, then feel free to get in touch (I work at all times of day and from various locations ??)
Article By: Peter Boswell