How to Create a Work Experience That Everyone Feels Connected to and Inspired by
There is a massive opportunity for all of us to re-envision the work experience and it doesn't have to look anything like it did in 2019.
The organizations that are thriving in the post pandemic era have adopted an invest, test, learn, grow, iterate approach. They are unafraid to take risks, admit when those risks don't work as they had expected, and try something new. The greatest leaders of all time are unafraid to be vulnerable and consistently attribute their failures as their greatest lessons. Yet today, many leaders are plagued with fear, doubt, frustration and uncertainty. This leaves them unable to make clear and measurable decisions. Many leaders would rather do nothing or return to what the pre-pandemic work experience looked like vs. experiment, fail, admit to failure and try again. However, it doesn't have to be like this.
There’s a real opportunity to create a work experience that everyone feels connected to and inspired by.
Rooted in my own experience, research I've read, and information I gained from Robin's Hybrid Work Conference, I can confidently say, invest, test, learn, grow, iterate is the way of the future and those who decide to stay stuck in their fear will be left behind. To open ourselves up to this new approach I believe we need to undergo a massive shift in our mindset. We need to move away from thinking everything is "fixable" (short term thinking) and to, positive and impactful change happens over time and through a series of values based decisions that may need to adapt over time (long term thinking).
During the conference lots of questions were asked by virtual and in person attendees. Lot's of these questions were centered around wanting a quick fix..
What's the best method, what's the best training, what's the best program, what's the best step, etc.
Many of the work challenges we are trying to solve today don't have a written playbook to follow and they aren't fixable with a "best" or "magic bullet.” This is because we are in the process of re-creating what the work experience looks like.
One example of this is embracing and adopting hybrid work. Let's start by defining what that means, it's a flexible working model where employees work partly in a physical workplace, and partly remotely – at home or from another workspace.
This is uncharted water - to expect that someone has the magic answer or a fix, is crazy.
Different roles and responsibilities require different needs (location, collaboration, resources, etc.)
There are many elements of hybrid work from physical location, hiring and growing people, KPI's and so much more. Each one of these elements requires it's own unique and intentional plan.
Different people or teams are going to have different values and needs which means they will want working experiences to look different. For example, a team of mostly parents will likely want flexibility around school drop off and pick up. While a team of recent grads may want to be in the office to create in person relationships and enjoy spontaneous bonding opportunities. When a team has a mix of different needs, it's important to come together so that everyone's voice and needs feel heard.
One theme across all of these points is, if leaders want to make decisions that align with the needs of their teams they must create experiences to listen to them. Otherwise, decisions are being made based off of assumptions vs. fact. So what's an example of a way you can take the invest, test, learn, grow, iterate approach. Let's dissect the beginning steps of developing a "Work Location Expectation Policy"
Executives leaders must start with, why do we want people to return to an office space? Is this important to the growth and development of our people and to our business? If yes, why? How does returning to a physical office space map to our organizational values? What does the location or space that they will be returning to look like and does it provide them with opportunity they can't get at home? --- There are many more questions that should be asked, but this is a start.
Once these questions are asked, there's a real opportunity to engage everyone in the organization. Before decisions are made by leadership, the opportunity to provide insight and feedback should be made possible to each employee in the form of surveys and group discussion/conversation. Bringing in a non-biased third party could be a great option as employees will likely feel more inclined to share their true feelings.
Once employee data is collected, a plan needs to be built.
How do you measure the success of the plan? What are key performance metrics you can use to identify if it's successful? How often are you measuring KPI's? When and how do you determine if a pivot or change to the plan needs to take place?
The next step is, how do you get people excited about the plan? How are you going to communicate, train and reinforce the plan?
Each part of the workplace experience has the opportunity to be re-written like this. This new approach invites curiosity, vulnerability, connection and accountability. These are all attributes we are eager to welcome into an organization. Decisions no longer need to be made in a vacuum and from a place of fear. We have a real opportunity to build comprehensive plans that engage the entire workforce in shaping what the future of work looks like. We can create a work experience that everyone feels connected to and inspired by.
