As leaders continue to navigate an organizational landscape of virtual, hybrid, and in-person work, they need new competencies to foster connection of their teams and employees.

Employees who feel undervalued or disconnected have been leaving organizations far more frequently in the past two years, and it is up to leaders to reverse this trend. In April 2022, we sat down with CHROs to discuss these ongoing challenges and best practices to address them. Following is a summary of our discussion.

Discussion Points

• Leaders are focused on how to protect their culture when everyone is working in different places, as well as how to evolve their culture to meet the current state.
• The philosophy of the leadership team is a key driver of the decision to use a virtual, hybrid, or all-in approach. Participant CHRO organizations were in very different places with regard to “return to office” following the pandemic.
• Leaders may be in denial that employees are feeling disconnected. If productivity remains high despite higher-than-average turnover, leaders may not see the link between connectivity and turnover.

• Some employees are very interested in in-person work, while others expressed dissatisfaction about returning to the office.
• Employees want more empathy from their managers—not just asking about their weekends, but truly showing they care for employees at a deeper level. In particular, Gen Z employees’ workplace satisfaction depends on feeling valued and heard.
• Many leaders need additional development in their situational leadership ability.

• Regular listening groups or informal Q&A sessions make a big difference in employee engagement.
• Feedback surveys are especially fruitful when they are followed-up by discussing the results with employees, identifying action items, and the leaders being transparent about the changes made.
• Work teams also benefit from weekly wrap-up meetings to share accomplishments, feedback, recognition, etc. in a more casual and informal format

Need additional support?

As your leaders continue to stretch themselves to navigate new and challenging dynamics, coaching support can help them do so more effectively. CTD’s on-target® and quickconnect® coaching models give you the flexibility to invest in targeted coaching at any level.  Effective onboarding is another tool for organizations who want to differentiate themselves as an employer. Check out our solutions for leadership and all-employee onboarding that provide a branded, customized experience for your new hires. We welcome the opportunity to talk with you about your specific leadership development needs and a custom solution. 

George Bernard Shaw said it best in his quotation about communication: “The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

The numbers are sobering:

• 86% of senior executives, managers and junior staff at U.S. companies who report experiencing communication breakdowns that lead to reduced productivity, missed deadlines, and sales deals that don’t close, according to research from The Economist Intelligence Unit.
• 63% of U.S. employees in 2019 who have wanted to quit their jobs because ineffective communication has gotten in the way of doing their work, almost double from 2018 (33 percent), according to a Dynamic Signal study.

So, what can organization and individual leaders do to address these significant gaps?

Communicate clearly and often to reduce the opportunities for frustration, disengagement, and performance challenges.

As we continue to adjust to our new work environments, employees are looking to their leaders for clarity even more than usual.  Although leaders do not have all of the answers and are dealing with their own questions, establishing a regular cadence for communicating priorities and expectations and providing feedback is important.  And, because most of our communication will be done virtually, by phone and email, taking the time to be deliberately clear is critical.

Establish (or re-establish) a regular meeting cadence with your team and each individual

• Continue staff and one-on-one meetings.
• Send meeting agendas, keeping the scope tight and relevant.
• Establish expectations for participation.
• Include time to recognize team members’ well-being
• Ask your team for feedback on the cadence – what’s working? What could be better?

Make yourself available to your team

• Let your team know the best ways to communicate with you during this time.
• Reinforce and “apply” organizational communication and policies to increase understanding and compliance.
• Appropriately share how you are feeling about and managing the situation.

Be aware of assumptions: They will throw you off track every time!

• Be specific about your expectations: “As soon as possible” may mean tomorrow to you, and next week to your team member.
• Keep the basic communication model in mind: As information is exchanged between the sender and receiver, there may be a disconnect between what is intended and what is understood—particularly when you are using a different medium than usual (e.g., email vs. face-to-face).

By not underestimating the power and impact of simple, clear and consistent communication, leaders and organizations will see the payback both immediately and over time.  Regardless of the economic picture, market landscape or political environment, effective communication is a foundational component of a healthy and thriving organization.

Our April Real Leadership Insight newsletter is all about Emotional Intelligence. The newsletter contains an informative overview of EQ-i, a mini case study on its use in our practice, and a piece about using EQ-i to help optimize team success. Read it here.