BEST PRACTICES
BEST PRACTICES/TRANSITIONS
NEW LEADERS NEED TO BE EFFECTIVE IN
TODAY’S WORK ENVIRONMENT
COVID-19 will forever transform the landscape of today’s work
environment.
Business owners, leaders and managers have had to adapt their
leadership and management styles and models to accommodate
today’s different work models: working full time in the office;
hybrid — working in the office as well as remote; working remote
full time.
Employees have also changed their views. They are keenly
aware of how their work influences their overall well-being.
Because of the workplace changes precipitated by COVID-19,
employees will also expect more flexibility from their employers,
leaders and managers. They know that working flexible hours and
remotely is not only possible, they can also be highly productive
as well.
Business owners, leaders and managers need to be prepared
for these shifts in the hearts and minds of workers. As they move
forward with transitions and reboarding, they must remember
that their greatest assets are their people.
HOLISTICALLY CARING FOR EMPLOYEES
In traditional workplaces, home was home and work was work.
Now work is home and home is work. This means that an employee’s
home-life is intertwined with work. Many don’t miss their
commute, but they do miss the personal interaction and engagement
Clare Dreyer is the president of EVOLVE3
Consulting LLC and has more than 25
years of experience in organizational
and leadership development as well as
working with teams. She created the
trademarked system, Turbo-Charge Any
Team, to help business owners, leaders and
managers improve team communication
effectiveness and increase organizational
alignment. Dreyer, who is an expert in the
field of interpersonal communication skills,
has been certified as a coach and master
practitioner in the Art of Neuro-Linguistic
Programming. She recently retired from
the Florida SBDC at the University of North
Florida in Jacksonville.
CLARE DREYER
TCBusiness.com 27
with their managers and fellow associates.
Leaders and managers have also expanded their perspective of
their employees to be people who work, rather than workers that
happen to be people. This mind shift calls for a different leadership
model that uses more of a coaching approach — something
that employees have craved. This coaching model leads with
empathy and compassion.
Leaders need to encourage the coaching model with managers
because how managers treat their direct reports dramatically impacts
an employee’s engagement. According to Gallup, “Managers
account for at least 70% of variance in employee engagement
scores across business units.”
To assist Florida business owners in learning how to effectively
communicate, motivate and manage each associate, they
now have access to a DISC Behavioral Style Analysis and Driving
Forces assessment tool through their local Florida Small Business
Development Center. Knowing what motivates and drives their
employees also helps define and sustain the personal element of
their organization’s culture.
As workplaces transition out of the crisis, managers also need
to ask employees about their needs and demands outside of
work. This will help leaders and managers as they begin to reboard
their associates into their current work situation.
COMMUNICATION
Communication is critical for business success. During these
challenging times, leaders and managers have been creative in
using technology to stay in touch with their associates as well as
continuing to conduct business. As much as we need video con-
ferencing to hold meetings and to have eye-to-eye connection, it
still isn’t the same. Zoom fatigue is very much a real thing.
As leaders and managers rethink about communicating, they
also have to remember that each person has a unique style
of communicating. Some employers may have a tendency to
communicate in their own personal style. However, they may be
totally missing the mark if the other person has an entirely different
method of communicating.
Using the DISC Behavioral Style assessment will provide the
specific methods to communicate with each person as an individual.
It’s like having their communication software that connects
directly to their brain.
Communicating remotely brings its own barriers. Wouldn’t it
be nice to break down those doors and have a direct gateway to
associates?
When using assessments with associates, a communication
agreement checklist can be created. The agreement is that before
sending an email, making a call, texting or jumping on a Zoom
call, the checklist will be reviewed to see which method of communication
fellow associates prefer. Some might want to start
with a warm friendly comment, while others might want to jump
straight into business.
It’s easy to lose the personal touch in the virtual work environment.
Technology doesn’t take the place of a leader or manager
reaching out via a phone call or even sending a small thank-you
note. It can be the small gestures that reinforce that you care.
REBOARDING
Reboarding is when employees reenter and reengage in the
workplace.
One challenge is the workplace has changed. Due to COVID-19
there are new guidelines and protocols that need to be followed
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