HAYS CEO PROVIDES BUSINESS LEADERS WITH ADVICE ON HOW TO MANAGE AND INSPIRE THEIR WORKFORCE DURING TIMES OF UNCERTAINTY

Keeping the workforce productive and engaged so an organisation emerges from the current crisis in the best possible position is a key priority for business leaders today. According to Hays CEO Alistair Cox, who recently shared his advice on the topic, there are eight key steps employers can take to guide staff through the current period of uncertainty and establish new, productive ways of working to deliver value to their customers.

Strong and decisive leadership

There is a lot that business leaders cannot control at the moment, but the one thing they do have control over is how they respond and react to their staff. Alistair advises leaders to do everything they can to build trust in their workforce through regular communication and updates on new developments or stances they are taking as a business.

Alistair comments, “Your people will be craving a sense of reassurance, certainty and positivity – to know that this is just temporary, that the organisation they work for will have a positive future and actions are being taken to maximise the chances of that outcome.” 

Employees need to feel accountable and busy

The day-to-day work of professionals will likely look very different to what it was just a few months ago. “It’s times like these when people want and need to feel as though they are contributing in a meaningful way,” notes Alistair. “I’ve seen so many examples where the work people do gives them meaning in a world turned upside down and by doing so, they help both themselves and their organisation.”

Alistair suggests that business leaders use the skills and talent they have in their business to best effect, by creating task forces, assigning specific roles to the right people and setting priorities and targets so everyone stays focused and understands what they are working towards.

Set new norms and expectations

When teams are suddenly dispersed, it can be extremely disruptive and unsettling. Alistair says it is important that business leaders establish new norms and expectations.

Alistair says, “Discuss as a group how you are going to communicate as a team going forwards. In what instances would you use chat versus email versus a video call? How often will you have one-to-ones and wider team meetings? If a member of the team needs to be out of the ‘office’, how is this communicated? What are your expectations around response times? Deciding on all these things will start to help you flow more quickly as a team, establishing new routines and protocols with ease.”

Establish a connection

When business leaders aren’t in the same location as their teams, increasing the regularity of contact can be beneficial. Alistair says, “Your people are sat at home, maybe alone, working in a space that they don’t associate with work, and completely cut off from everything and everyone in their normal place of work. It’s understandable that feelings of isolation or loneliness creep in. This could lead to feelings of disconnect and disgruntlement, making matters worse.”

Leaders should also encourage their people to increase communication with their customers and other stakeholders, since building lasting and trusting relationships virtually can take longer and requires more effort. It’s important to remember that all stakeholders will be dealing with their own stresses and anxieties too, so a simple phone call should never be underestimated.

Prompt employees to find a routine that works for them

Alistair says that routine is crucial to productivity and engagement, no matter where a person works from. Therefore, it’s important to establish a new work routine. Some employees may have to juggle their work with family commitments, so it’s important that business leaders are empathetic to that.

Alistair advises, “Start by setting boundaries for yourself and role modelling healthy behaviour – schedule set start and finish times, as well as breaks, and communicate these to your team. A good way to do this is to block the time in your calendar and share it with your team.”

Encourage learning and development

Organisations that spend time and resources training and developing of their people during this period will likely emerge at the other end in the best possible situation. Leaders must ensure they are doing everything to make sure their organisation is in the best shape possible to thrive when it is over.

Alistair says, “See this period of adversity and struggle as an opportunity to proactively strengthen the skills within your teams. Explore ways you can run virtual ‘lunch and learn’ sessions and online training. By investing in them now, you are proactively showing them that you are investing in their future.”

Enable a sense of human connection

After a prolonged period, the lack of daily human contact has the potential to fracture the dynamics of a team. It’s the responsibility of a business leader to orchestrate team bonding the best way they can for the foreseeable future.

Alistair suggests, “At the beginning of your team video calls, take a moment to ask how everyone is doing and what is going on in their lives. Think about starting a specific chat or messenger conversation which is always open and is devoted to non-work-related conversations. I’ve already seen some great and creative ideas – virtual pub quizzes after work on a Friday being the latest in the UK. They all help reinforce the team connectivity and bring a bit of fun into the day.”

Provide the appropriate tools

Employees need the right equipment, tools and resources to enable them to work effectively during periods of uncertainty. That means access to work laptops and mobile phones, as well as internal drives and communications tools such as Teams, Zoom and Skype.

Alistair says it is important that employees know how to use the tools at their disposal; “Don’t just give your employees these new tools and expect them to magically know how to operate them, or even to immediately appreciate how to work well from home straight away. For many, these new tools are just that – new. Provide guidance, training and advice on all these things. You cannot simply leave your teams to it, expect they will be ok and will get to grips with things, eventually. It’s not going to work like that.”

The way in which professionals will work over the next few weeks, and potentially months, will become the new normal and it’s important business leaders provide their employees with the guidance needed to help navigate them through this difficult period of uncertainty. Alistair advises that businesses that manage to achieve this level of support to their workforce, will quickly establish new, productive ways of working and innovative approaches to deliver value to their customers.

For more advice on navigating the new world of work, see our dedicated Inspire Me Remotely hub for candidates and organisations.

This content was originally published as a LinkedIn Influencer blog.

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About Hays

Hays plc (the "Group") is a leading global professional recruiting group. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK and Asia Pacific and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 31 December 2019 the Group employed 11,600 staff operating from 266 offices in 33 countries across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2019:

– the Group reported net fees of £1,129.7 million and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £248.8 million;

– the Group placed around 81,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 254,000 people into temporary assignments;

– 18% of Group net fees were generated in Australia & New Zealand, 27% in Germany, 23% in United Kingdom & Ireland and 32% in Rest of World (RoW);

– the temporary placement business represented 57% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 43% of net fees;

– Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA