What does "Going to Work" even mean anymore?

“I’m off to work”.? “I’m home from work”. ?“I’ll see you later – what time will you be home?”

For many, this now means stepping into the home office (a.k.a. Bedroom or similar) and shutting the door.? Only to remerge a few hours later for a cup of tea and some lunch before stepping back again.? It’s a bit like having a Dr Who's - Tardis.? A room that allows you to navigate around the world through amazing space and time technologies like MS Teams and Zoom.? We also have a new teammate called Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot or Deep Seek. ?I’ve heard it said that these new technologies are like having a super keen A-Level student who is willing and able to become laser-focused and go find out whatever you want in no time at all.....but with the occasional faux-par so take care.? Soon this A-level student may be your PhD Candidate…what then?

This modern-day way of working has caused a disturbance in the force for some employers who, it seems, are starting to think that attendance is the way forward.? If you don’t come back into the office, then you won’t have a job.? Another worry might be that productivity is down or maybe it's just that people are focusing elsewhere.? Perhaps on their well-being and happiness? What!?

But here’s a thing.

The science behind high performance shows that giving people choice and agency, one which focuses on happiness and joy rather than deadlines and KPIs gets better results.? If people want to come to work in whatever guise this means, then they will probably perform better.? In my experience people are reasonable - if we have agency to do what is right then we will often negotiate with each other to find a pattern that works.

For some senior leaders, the great frustration appears to be that they want their employees to embrace change.? OK, so many have embraced it, where do you stand on that?

Maybe it’s, “Oh yes... well we want it, but we only want it to be the right kind of changes…you know the ones that we are telling you about, that we are in control of.”? And God forbid if you challenge us as well.

Now here’s the rub, if you as a leader don’t embrace change in all its forms including demonstrating it in everyday behaviour, then why would you expect anyone else to? I think this is the new normal.? Expectations have changed, and the perceived or real hypocrisy that employees feel when senior people tell others and then continue to do the opposite themselves is over. It probably has been for ages. Quiet quitting is not a new thing it has always been there.? This was probably a good thing, a natural thing because people are human beings. Except that rather than being curious about it, we got all control-oriented and started using tools like performance management, which if we are honest with ourselves - never feels good.

In this new world, the secret sauce to leadership is about self-awareness and acting in alignment with your values and behaviours, once you have figured out what they are, which takes a bit of personal work.? You can’t tell anyone anything and, it's highly likely that you never really could. If you haven’t watched the sassy employee Monica in the YouTube and Tic-Tok sensation “Managers Be Like” then I suggest you do.

Why do I think this? ?Well, when did you last do a staff/pulse survey?? What was your engagement score?? Did you naturally want it to be higher?

Here are a few things to look out for

Do you focus on improving engagement or reducing disengagement?? Hand on heart, where do you put your focus? The language you use to achieve higher performance of yourself, your people and your organisation really matters.? Positivity and kindness actually work, and it is scientifically proven (If you are curious, get in touch).? Part of the problem is that this has been ignored in favour of command-and-control practices, a hangover from Taylorism which may have been useful over 100 years ago but is not anymore.

Does your leadership team talk about holding employees to account?? Can we truly hold anyone other than ourselves to account?? The latter question is the key to building a successful culture - IMHO.

Performance review completion metrics are still a meaningful measure in your organisation.? Good luck with that one! 100% completion (we wish) but still no improvement in engagement or performance, hmmmmm I wonder why?

Aspirational or meaningless company values.? Sure, they are there on the wall, on the website and in the induction packs, but what do they mean?? Do people get it?? People don’t bring value to work, they bring meaning.? I think once you get your head around that you will start to improve engagement no end - at every level

Are conversations honest, even if this means they are uncomfortable?? Do senior leaders truly listen and publicly change their minds on things because they listen with humility and the potential for vulnerability?? When leaders think they have to have all the answers the organisation is likely running on a culture of fear and coercion.? Most don’t want to admit that.

New World Leadership? development and coaching.

Our New World Leadership? programme can help you to make this shift.? It can be so impactful that our customers call it “Life Changing” - so we now use that as our strapline.

Personal Change takes time and commitment because deeper change takes place at an emotional level - and this is an embodied change.? It also means you must let go of old ways of doing things, ways that might feel comfortable now but letting go will enable you to make the shift needed to lead in an emerging world which will feel very different than before.

Getting ahead and using high-quality leadership coaching to support and sustain the change and find your own meaning is more important than ever.? Why not get in touch and give our programmes and coaching experiences a try?

Change Innovators

Yvonne Thompson MA. MCIPD FCPHR SHRM-SCP Dawna Atamanchuk, MA, PCC Michael Thompson Louise Eagle Kelley Wacher Jo Lloyd ACC Coach

#NewWorldLeadership #SelfAwareness #Leadership #Coaching #Meaning #MeaningfulWork

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