Leading Colleagues on the Path to Success in the Year Ahead Begins with Reflection

While it is always beneficial to be reflective, I find that routinely taking the time at the end of the year to recognize accomplishments and plan new goals is helpful before a new year begins. For many of us, the end of the calendar year serves as the perfect reminder to gain fresh perspective from insights learned so that there is a clear path to starting the next year off right.

Leaders played a significant role in helping their teams feel supported and safe during the ups and downs of the ongoing pandemic. In fact, as a result of the pandemic and the light it shined on mental and physical health, many leaders have been reevaluating their policies and programs to make work environments more productive and considerate of employee needs—not just on a business level, but on a human level, too.

From my personal experience, during the surge of COVID-19 cases this summer, I knew my teams were feeling stressed and nervous, especially as many of their children would be starting the school year soon. It was important to me to encourage my teams to feel comfortable asking for help and seeking resources so they could manage their personal and work lives successfully.

To start the next year off right, whether workplaces will operate on-site, remotely or a hybrid of both, there are key lessons that 2021 taught us that can be integrated for a better year ahead.

Listen to Your Colleagues

The much-needed conversation around mental health blossomed this year, especially in terms of its importance in the workplace. According to a recent Aetna survey , 55% of Americans report a negative impact on their overall stress levels due to the pandemic, and 58% of employed adults also say they often feel like they’re just trying to get through the week.

Leaders set the tone for how a team thinks about their workplace and the happiness and well-being of one another. Even if you don’t think your teams are paying attention to your emphasis on a topic, as a leader, your presence and words shape the whole team’s perceptions and actions. Often, colleagues see those in leadership positions as change-makers who can help pave the way for the better in the continued “new normal.” Therefore, it’s important to be a compassionate and supportive leader who listens to the various perspectives of teammates to create a space that fosters satisfied, productive employees who meet personal and business goals.

Ultimately, it is important that leaders lead with empathy and put themselves in the shoes of their colleagues. Once leaders ask themselves how they can improve employee well-being – such as if a flexible hybrid work policy would aid employee work/life balance, or if it would be worthwhile to invest in a new tool to help employees find efficiencies – they can then put those changes action.

Pave the Way for Your Team

Whether an organization is large or small, leadership can’t be everywhere at once. It’s important that the tone set by leaders be carried out through the actions of their teams. Trust, communication and teamwork are important factors to ensuring productivity and efficiency. Many leaders have trusted teams with various expertise and skill sets in place who can share responsibilities with one another. Not only does this aid employee growth and potential talent mobility opportunities, but it also helps to ensure business needs are accomplished.

It is trust and collaboration that allows us to serve members across the country. For example, to help address health inequities that were exacerbated by the pandemic, our Medicare care management team works together to improve the health literacy of members from historically underrepresented populations. As part of Aetna’s Medicare Multicultural Care Management program , our team receives training in implicit bias and cultural sensitivity and consults with members’ health providers and social workers to clarify care plans for members.

For leaders to help guide their teams set direction and commit to a culture of collaboration, it can be additive to put company guidelines on expectations and behaviors in place. For example, CVS Health’s Heart at Work behaviors? help us stay on track with commitments to each other and our members and customers. They are a reminder that regardless of where we sit within the company and the work that we do day in and day out, we are all working toward common goals and achievements collectively as a team. As a leader, it’s critical that we embed this sentiment and level of purpose into the daily work of our team.

Leaders are in the unique position to make real change. It’s important to be open-minded and receptive to the future of the workplace and employee needs—it is through this that success can be seen in businesses at large and within each individual part of the collective team. As you reflect back on this year, I encourage you to consider opportunities that can advance you, your employees and your organization forward. I know it’s something I’ll be thinking about as we close out a successful 2021 and begin a prosperous 2022.