The Great Disconnect

We’re all feeling the pinch right now, aren’t we?  Life used to be fun and there were things to look forward to but right now the state of the economy is making that really hard.  Interest rates are up (and may go up again), inflation is still going up (interest rate be damned), everything costs more than it used to (hello grocery bill, fuel costs, travel anyone?).  Companies are struggling with higher overheads, increasing wages and people are losing their jobs.  

After the years of Covid, we all thought life should be better by now. And it's not. The post Covid world is simply not living up to our expectations (One star rating on Reddit – ‘Would not recommend’). We’re dissatisfied. Whether you are an employer/ business owner or an employee. As a global society, we’re flatter than flatbread or flatter than a 3-day old balloon!

Huge levels of change and disruption – we feel lost

 This dissatisfaction comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and from all sides of the employment aisle, as well documented in many articles on ‘The Great Resignation’.  So, what would we call this now?  

There is a mix of quiet quitting, lack of engagement, increased sense of entitlement, greater demand for flexibility from employees more than ever before with working from home and, at the very core, there is a less discretionary effort. Any industry that relied on sweat equity to get the job done (in other words utilised blood, sweat and tears), no longer has this strategy to fall back on. People are starting to push back on crazy workloads.

For employers and leaders there’s increased responsibility now for their team’s mental health with the change in legislation for providing psychologically safe workplaces. Also, the introduction of ‘The right to disconnect’ legislation sees us further adrift from what we are used to.

Our data and interviews are suggesting that a perfectly reasonable argument can be made for the statement that we are experiencing more disruption in workplace dynamics than ever before. As a result, we are observing that many leaders are in utter confusion about how they need to behave and lead in these very new and unchartered waters.

How are leaders responding?

Unfortunately, we are seeing a lot of leaders be at the whim of power dynamics. When they are in a sector where unemployment is relatively high, and the economy is fragile, leaders treat their staff poorly because staff don’t have many other options to go to. Leaders and organisations see this as an opportunity to not waste any time on that fluffy engagement stuff, but rather drive staff hard and make the most of this upper hand position. One leader in an interview said, “I am sick of this lazy generation not working hard. Just wait for a really bad recession, then they will find out who is boss.” Wow! You know you are angry with a group when you wish an economic disaster on the world to get even with them. 

 In contrast, sectors where the employee has the upper hand because unemployment is low and staff are hard to come by, leaders and organisations scramble to try and keep their people by sucking up to them in an effort to try and make them stay. Many leaders say they stay away from challenging and developing their people as well as holding them accountable for cultural behaviour and achieving goals. Many leaders are saying ‘I am scared to have performance conversations with my staff’. The reason why is they said it is so difficult to find staff we will put up with poor performance, as some performance is better than none. One manager in hospitality said to me ‘if they can remain upright in front of customers, I will hire them.’ Employees know their leaders are desperate and that they hold all the cards. If they don’t like something they will simply go somewhere else. Employees have choice and exercise that right to choose with their feet and looking for other roles or advantages in the current one. Some leaders (from multiple professions, finance, education, pharmaceuticals, etc.) say that anytime they talk to staff about their performance, even about them just stepping up their performance the employee claims bullying and goes off on stress leave. 

 Recently, I did a tour of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Our tour guide said that of all the conquering leaders and peoples over time – “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’. We see both leaders and team members fall into this pattern of behaviour. Relying on power to take advantage of the group. The saddest part of this is that it benefits neither group. Leaders fail to learn how to really connect with their team and team members need to be challenged and held accountable to build their skills, resilience and capacity to apply themselves in a way where they can evolve and develop mastery.

A healthier approach

So how do we move forward in these times effectively leading the people that we have and in the circumstances we are all in?

It’s a tall order and will vary from industry to industry, but perhaps one of the best starting places is authentic leadership.   Authentic leadership that has connection as the key; move away from using the power dynamics to creating connection for both leaders and employees. 

One of the strongest findings out of our research partnership with Deakin University is that the biggest predictor of successful performance at work is something called Psychological Capital. This is a Psychological Construct made up of Hope, Optimism, Resilience and Confidence. No matter what the role, the profession, the type of organisation, Psychological Capital always comes out on top. The other benefit we see is that increases in this construct also lead to higher levels of connection and engagement in their role.

Therefore, if we were to give advice to a leader on how to navigate this tumultuous time, it is to focus on building your teams Psychological Capital.  How do you do that?

 Focus on three things - Connection, Challenge and Chart Progress.

Connection

Why connection?   Connection has the capacity to increase all four dimensions - Hope, Optimism, Resilience and Confidence. With connection comes greater empathy (for both the employee and leader to each other) and greater ability to inspire as much as lead, therefore reducing depersonalisation and cynicism, both factors that drive burnout. With connection we have greater clarity of our teams needs so we can manage their workload better thus preventing physical and mental exhaustion.  A team that has greater connection to their leader and their role have greater clarity of what's required of them. They feel safe to challenge themselves and take risks. Connection drives psychological safety.

What also really drives connection is curiosity and compassion. Be curious about them as a person, what do they love about the work, where do they find meaning and purpose, what are their concerns about the role and what stresses them the most. Be curious and understand your team members on multiple levels.

In terms of compassion this is around having the mindset that people are doing the best they can. We all make mistakes, get things wrong and experience failure. In those moments, it is critical for leaders to be supportive and compassionate. When we support our team members in the hard times the connection that builds is deep and genuine.

Challenge

Obviously, leaders and employees don’t want to act poorly towards each other; but as leaders we don’t want to avoid holding boundaries and challenging and developing our teams. Building capability in the individuals that make up our teams and upholding standards and expectations is essential in leadership. In fact, it’s what employees want from their leaders.  We did some research where we asked over 3000 people, who was your best leader and why. The most common answer was: “They challenged me to grow by giving me difficult work that required me to evolve. At the same time, they were very supportive and helpful through the process”. Challenge wrapped in support and connection gets the most out of people and helps a team evolve.

Chart Progress

Something well documented in the research is that when we show someone how they are growing and evolving, we see a big uplift in Resilience, Optimism, Hope and Confidence. Charting their teams progress is something every leader should focus on. This does not just mean only hard metrics like sales numbers or specific goals. This also includes feedback on their character, are they challenging themselves more, are they collaborating with others more, are they speaking up and putting their ideas forward. Our research, as well as others, shows that even celebrating small wins goes a long way to improving Psychological Capital.

 Leaders who change their leadership due to workforce trends give their people a very inconsistent work experience, and as a result their people lose trust in them.  Rather than their leadership and culture being controlled by external factors they instead need to focus on an intention around what sort of workplace experience can we create that people will never want to leave, regardless of external factors. To do this, leaders and organisations need to have a more consistent approach to engaging their people and building connection with them.