Senior leaders should be concerned about the answer to this question. Companies have adjusted to the times and conditions. However, only now do I see some senior leaders ask how we can best prepare our leaders and managers for a permanent hybrid future. A very different approach to developing leaders may be needed.
Is hybrid here to stay? A Slack survey of almost 3,500 remote workers found that 63% desired a hybrid working model, 20% wanted to work remotely full time and 12% wanted to return to permanent in-office work. In the 25-34 age group, nine out of 10 workers don’t want to come back to the office full-time.
Organisations must offer hybrid options. Right now, all organisations and leaders are experiencing problems with this, especially with so many new staff. They must develop existing and incoming leaders to get the best out of all their people with new mindsets and skill sets.
A mindset change from transactional to situational leadership is needed. I believe companies that have developed their leadership approaches based on keeping a close eye on performance, reward and censure will face challenges.
The hybrid workplace is not a place for micro-managers. Constant checkups and reporting irritate people and divert them from the potential to focus. I learned this in my organisation. Check-ins are good, but they wear people down if they are too long, regular and extensive.
Leaders must understand their people’s situation and provide enough flexibility (within agreed limits). Many of our people are doing new things for the first time for which they have no playbook. Leaders must be able to balance the right amount of guidance and freedom needed. But macro-managers — those who point their people in the right direction and let them go — are not necessarily the answer either.
So, what should we prepare our leaders to do? And what is required of our future leadership development approaches?
Rather than off-the-shelf or traditional corporate leadership development packages, senior leaders need to look at what successful hybrid leaders do. Begin by assessing whether what you are doing now is producing managers or leaders.
Then check if you are preparing leaders who can create and empower an environment of trust. In a hybrid environment, reciprocal trust is essential for the individual and the team. Leaders must be able to use empathy to create this environment, understand that their people’s situations differ, and develop a team that is accountable to the needs of each other. This is important in any environment, but especially in a hybrid one.
Leaders also need to be developed to get to know the strengths and challenges of each team member so they can lead them in any situation. Leadership development that advocates one size fits all approaches are a recipe for disaster in the hybrid world.
This is especially true if we consider the changing nature of talent and the fact that some leaders may be leading people they never meet in person, and perhaps never will. This requires flexible and situationally astute leaders who can switch between approaches to fit their people.
The above leads to the next consideration: developing leaders who can provide the right support. The effectiveness of support is determined by the team members’ experience, not the leader’s efforts.
Leaders can’t just provide encouraging words or cheerleading virtually. They must assess the need and quickly connect the support to the team member, including sensing when a team member doesn’t know what to do or where to start.
The leader may need to provide daily check-ins and engage in co-creation. Or it may be much less formal for a more experienced employee who is assigned virtual open-door office hours where they can reach out to the leader.
Development efforts also need to produce leaders who can effectively build teams that do not spend as much time together. We need to develop leaders who maximise the innovation and engagement of the two days per week they physically spend together by establishing group agreed or designed protocols, systems, pre-meeting requirements, etc.
They also need to use this shorter window to create team bonding and a mindset of shared accountability. If leadership development efforts don’t do this, they may not be supporting long-term hybrid workplace sustainability.
Have a look at your current approaches and ask your development leaders if what you are doing now is going to produce:
- Agile and adaptable leaders willing to learn what your employees need? And who desire to make technology and humanity work together.
- Leaders who at their core are good servants (to their team).
- Leaders who believe in the possible and ongoing growth, and who understand the hybrid world will provide obstacles but are motivated to overcome them.
If the answer to any of the above is no, it may be time for a rethink.
Arinya Talerngsri is Chief Capability Officer and Managing Director at SEAC — Southeast Asia’s Lifelong Learning Center. She can be reached by email at arinya_t@seasiacenter.com or https://www.linkedin.com/in/arinya-talerngsri-53b81aa. Talk to us about how SEAC can help your business during times of uncertainty at https://forms.gle/wf8upGdmwprxC6Ey9
