The one key skill which is vital to thrive in the age of the new normal
If we take an in-depth look at the companies that have reported an increase in productivity resulting from their shift to a remote workforce we can observe that for the most part are relatively large companies which tend to have a strong emphasis on training especially the training of managers.
This can go a long way in explaining why some companies are increasing their productivity with a remote workforce, at the same time in which other companies cannot wait to get their workforce back into the office, due to poor performance.
We are sailing in uncharted waters, whilst pushing the limits of what we previously believed to be possible. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to re-evaluate not only how we conduct our business in the age of the new normal, but rather from where. We are beginning to see the foundation of location-independent office workers, in all fields. If the employee does not need to make anything physically or interact with specialised equipment they do not need to be based in the office.
This radical shift in our corporate culture has exposed a deep crack present but hidden within many organisations, the untrained manager. In many organisations, two main aspects are weighted higher than any other when promoting someone, they are, their skills in their job and longevity within their organisation, none of which is an indicator of managerial ability or training.
The easiest and clearest example of this tendency is the Classical Kitchen, a classical Kitchen is organised almost like an army, there is a strict chain of command. it goes something like this (this is a simplified version);
Head / Executive Chef
Sous Chef
jr. Sous Chef
Chef de Partie
Demi Chef de Partie
Commis Chef
Apprentice
Most Chefs regardless of education will begin either as an apprentice or a commis. As their skills grow they will move up within their organisation. They will do the best they can in their section and as they get promoted they will be made responsible for more and more people until they eventually become the chef.
At no point through this journey which will take 10-20 years is there one iota of management training. It is all trial by fire. This is one of the reasons you arrive a the stereotype of the shouting chef because all his chefs beforehand did it that way.
Now, this was a perfectly acceptable philosophy for restaurants and businesses 20 years ago, however, in today's world, we have realised that managing people is not as simple as that.
Back to the present, a large percentage of managers in SME's have progressed through the ranks in the above manner, and while this might be acceptable two decades ago it is simply not good enough now.
Some of the biggest offending management types that I have noticed, especially in SME's that are graduates of the above managerial culture are;
The micromanager;
They will look over the shoulder of every employee and approach most problems with sarcasm.
The "Jack of all trades, master of none"
They are always eager to please senior management and are unable or unwilling to say no to any and all request accepting greater and greater responsibility from senior management.
They do this regardless of skills that particular field or time availability.
This often results in neglected or ignored staff.
The impatient one;
This is the one that will take over any task not being performed adequately and rather than train their subordinate will end up doing it themselves.
The one in denial;
This manager essentially does not manage, as long as the daily tasks are performed they do not care how they are done.
However, it tends to be the employees that are responsible for both setting these tasks and enforcing them.
Basically leave me alone management style, as long as ain’t wrong you don’t need to fix it.
As you can surmise none of these managers is able to adapt to a remote work scenario, where the staff need to be managed/trained/mentored all from a remote location. When their own remote work experiment fails the obviously blame the system and accuse the staff of being lazy and not take a minute to reflect on themselves and their actions.
I recently spoke to a client which had presented the below problem;
Employee A has been working remotely since the lockdown.
Employee A has requested to continue working remotely indefinitely.
The manager has observed a decrease in productivity.
The manager denied the request and requested that the employee return to work.
After a few weeks, the manager realised that the loss in productivity occurred years before lockdown. Lockdown only brought the issue front and centre, it has forced the manager to focus much more on the individual employee and their performance, as well as made him re-evaluate their approach to that employee.
This is why we should take this opportunity given to us during the pandemic to re-invest in our staff, especially the management. It is difficult to convince managers that have been on the job for a long time to change their ways, but if done correctly this can become a turning point for the company. Remember that after all people do not quit their Jobs they quit their managers. Let’s take this opportunity to become proactive as opposed to reactive. We need to not just because someone calls themselves a manager they are able to perform that job.