Of Interest…

2020 was a rough year.  We’ve all been working hard to stay motivated.  Research suggests that employees excel when they feel empowered, and I feel that is so important right now.  Creating a sense of empowerment in employees takes effort from leadership. Leaders must truly get to know and understand their employees.  Managers should understand what uniquely motivates and empowers each of their employees.

Well, we made it to 2021, but we shouldn’t expect anything other than more change.  We are still in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, experiencing political unrest, the economy is struggling, diversity and inclusion has been escalated in importance and accountability, and remote/hybrid work continues and is likely here to stay.  Our biggest challenge for 2021 is likely going to be becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable. Change is the new norm.

With so much more communication via email today, I’ve noticed more and more grammar mistakes.  We have to dig back to the fourth grade to remember some of the most important grammar rules.  The review below will help you dust off the cobwebs of those elementary school lessons.

Fear.  It’s something we all experience.  Some fears are small, such as a fear of spiders – a fairly harmless fear.  But larger fears, such as a fear of losing or a fear of risk, can hold you back from what could be large successes in your life.

I recently read a fascinating article from BBC Worklife where they asked leading experts how they felt the world of work has changed as a result of COVID.  They looked at remote work and how it’s been normalized through this pandemic and what effects it’s expected to have long term.

As the COVID numbers are rising, I think it’s safe to say that remote work isn’t going anywhere soon.  We’ve talked a lot about remote work lately, but a recent article in Fast Company shines a different light on it.  It talks about making the most of your now virtual commute. We’ve saved all this time commuting to and from work, but how are we making the best out of that time?

I had the pleasure of seeing Barbara Corcoran speak at a conference about a year ago.  She is a very successful businesswoman and always has great advice.  I recently read an article where she gives five tips to help your team remain productive while working from home.  They are all great reminders as we enter month eight of working remote.

With everything going on right now – a pandemic, working from home, political unrest – we are all stressed out.  I recently read an article that listed some natural remedies that help dealing with stress, and I felt it was worth sharing with our readers.

This pandemic has shifted how organizations operate. And while many of the changes can be seen as temporary, many of them are likely here to stay. We’ll likely never go back to what we used to consider normal.  The shift to remote work has had and will continue to have a profound impact on organizations and how we lead our employees.

Surge capacity is “a collection of adaptive systems — mental and physical — that humans draw on for short-term survival in acutely stressful situations, such as natural disasters.”  This is how we get through stressful periods or events in our life. But with a pandemic, the stressful situation is spread out over a much longer period of time, and many of us have likely depleted our surge capacity.

I think we’ve all had to be mentally tough over the last six months and are all striving to find ways to be tougher. I recently read an article on Forbes.com that outlines seven things mentally tough people never do.  I like that these apply both professionally and also in how we can better handle ourselves during the stress of the pandemic.

Google recently surveyed more than 5,000 employees and held focus groups to understand the impact of distributed work after recently announcing that they would extend remote work through at least July 2021.

While employee experience is important to HR, it is often overestimated to be more positive than it actually is.  A recent survey by Topia, Adapt or Lose the War for Talent: Why Your Employee Experience Needs an Upgrade, shows some insight into how employees really feel.

In my last blog I wrote about the likelihood of work becoming a hybrid blend of remote and office. However, there are some leadership challenges to be aware of when creating a hybrid environment that will be successful.  

As we return to work, employees and employers will need to adjust to a new way of doing things. Employees have grown accustomed to the flexibility they have with remote work.  While many miss the office, many do not.