What’s happening today between leaders and employees?

I'm asking this question because there's been so much in the news lately about quiet quitting, quiet firing, employee tracking, time theft (LOL), back-to-office (BTO) ORDERS, lowest employee satisfaction ever, and people having more than one job simultaneously. Feels like there’s a bit of a human crisis in business and leadership - a growing chasm between leaders and employees.

Leadership actions like forcing people back to work, or tracking people for fear of ‘time left’, are ridiculous. The world has changed, and people want flexible work arrangements (and there are a million reasons why it’s better for both leaders and employees, but that’s a whole article itself).?

Unless someone has a job that requires them to be in person (service, support etc.), there’s no such thing as time theft. Leaders should be focused on outcomes/outputs - those are the measures that matter. Isn’t the essence of productivity about the rate of output per unit of input (meaning achieving the same or better results by doing less is better)?

Right now, we need amazing PEOPLE leaders. Business schools and higher ed institutions aren’t teaching enough of the soft skills, the human skills of modern leadership. Amazing leaders are great business people AND great humans. They put people first.?

IMHO, successful, modern, leadership is really, really, hard, and many people aren’t cut out for it. It’s a recipe of many ingredients including (but not limited to) a leader being:?

Servant +?

Empathic +?

Empowering +?

Supportive +?

Competent (demonstrated track record, skills & experience)

Confident +?

An inspiring visionary +?

Creative +?

A strong executor +?

Resilient +?

Transparent +

A great advocate +

An excellent communicator +?

A great coach +?

A great listener…

For me, it’s very hard to watch many leaders talking out of both sides of their mouths…ex. we love and value our employees…BUT…we have to cut 30% of you. However, we’re still going to give $50MM to charity, or invest $10B in a new AI company, drop $500K on our company party, spend $5MM on a new office, or give management a 20% retention bonus and more stock. But sorry employees, there isn’t enough money for a 6-7% COLA (in a 7% inflationary market), so you can make LESS money this year.?

Widespread cuts (like those in tech and other sectors right now) and lack of COLA increases create and reinforce the disengaged behaviour we see from employees today. Leaders (by their actions) ensure that employees only care about themselves. I don’t blame them a bit. Loyalty rarely goes both ways.?

Employees are tuned in big time to all the things, the mixed signals, the hypocrisy. Values are represented by the things leaders DO, NOT what they say. While some of these “investments” may be extremely strategic, justified or even necessary, they still cause discontent with employees and reinforce where employees feel they sit on the priority list. BTW - it’s not business to employees, it’s always personal.

So leaders can’t expect engaged, happy and healthy employees when they do things that harm them (whenever it’s convenient). One leader said “NEVER waste a good crisis, " concerning the plethora of layoffs and the opportunity to follow suit (see the incomplete list here).

In my personal experience, I always EARNED loyalty by being a good human, putting my people first (ahead of me), putting myself in their shoes, cheering them on, supporting them, and advocating for them. (a few things I’m proud of - Leigh go and get the girl, taking “a flyer” on a few people, Bryan to Tulum etc).

Maybe it’s time for leaders to look in the mirror, and question where their actions conflict with what they say and promise, or their company “values”. Leaders should think about their employee's POV, and if they have the right recipe (themselves) to be a successful, modern, leader. If leaders get the recipe right and evolve with the demands of the current day, work ends up being a lot more fun for everyone, and magic happens. If the recipe is wrong, then all this stuff we’re hearing about in the news happens…and the chasm between leaders and employees continues to widen. My vote’s for the former.?

Thoughts?