Transcript

NATASHA DAVIES

New ways of working are inevitably going to mean new ways of leading and managing teams and organisations, which is obviously going to have an impact on the skills and attributes that we need from our leaders as we move forward.

We did some research actually during the pandemic that helped us highlight a number of areas where training might be needed. And it was around things like, managing virtual teams, self-awareness, how different leadership styles might impact or work differently in a hybrid dispersed world of work, training around resilience, motivating team members, managing wellbeing, being a particularly key area. And training some of the softer skills that we think might be really important.

So we're prioritising things like wellbeing, but also thinking about communication, and empathy, and that kind of thing. Through the same research that we did, we also identified a number of attributes that our stakeholders felt that leaders and managers are going to need. And that is very much leaders who are effective communicators, who can actively listen, who prioritise regular contact with staff, who embrace new ways of communicating in a virtual and digital world. Empathetic leaders who understand how different ways of working, how changes in how we work, might affect individuals differently.

Leaders who can act as role models, who set out clearly what they expect, who don't regularly overwork themselves, because we know overworking really is a risk in a more dispersed world of work. Leaders who really lead by example, managing their own wellbeing, and the wellbeing of their teams. And then also leaders who are emotionally intelligent, who are open and transparent, and are visible across the organisation, and I think who recognise that things that perhaps happen quite naturally around being visible, or approachable, or contactable, when we're all working in the same physical location, we're going to need to be quite proactive about those in the future.

And I think it's really important as well to remember that in this space, this is quite a dynamic space. This is something that-- we're not going to implement new ways of working now that are just going to stay static I think we're going to constantly be finding new ways of organizing our workplaces, particularly as new technology becomes available that can facilitate that collaborative working that perhaps we've relied upon doing in person in the past. And so I think we're going to need leaders who are open to learning, adapting, and embracing new ways of doing things as we move forward.

I think there are many things that can be done to help leaders develop a more empathetic approach. Inevitably, training is going to be part of that. But I think something that perhaps gets missed in this conversation sometimes is that empathy requires self-reflection, and self-reflection requires time. So I think it's really important, that within organisations, we're creating the space and time for leaders to be able to reflect on their leadership style, on their leadership skills, and to develop their leadership skills. And as a leader, sometimes that can be quite a difficult thing to do, because I'm so busy doing the day job, it's easy to forget that actually being a leader is an important part of my day job as well, and I equally need to be developing my skills in that space.

And so I think I think creating spaces with an organisation so that leaders can take that time to do the self-reflection, the development, is important. I think investing in the development of our leadership team is important. And I think probably doing that collectively, so that leaders are able to learn from other leaders within the organisation. I think it's quite difficult to just send somebody away with the instruction ‘right, you need to be more empathetic’, because that's going to look different in different situations.

So I think, yeah, investment in opportunities for your leadership team to develop collectively, but also to engage in some peer to peer support, to learn about new styles and approaches, what's worked well, what's enabled people to really connect with their staff, and understand how their changing world of work is affecting them. Because I think when we're thinking about managing this shift in ways of working-- yes, it's important to think about the ways of working themselves, but also change can be quite scary for people. And for some, this shift is going to be quite significant change in how they work. So I think it's just-- it's ensuring that our leaders are able to understand how change can leave people feeling quite uncertain, and how that can affect them in their day to day as well.