Leading employees in 2021

The covid-19 pandemic has changed what businesses look like, now and in the years ahead. Although it is very difficult to imagine the post-pandemic world, the paranoia created by the pandemic can take a long time to go away. But one thing is for certain, leaders have realized that in this day and age, even without interacting physically with the real world, people can still be productive and create value. Businesses that suffered the most from the crisis can also benefit from it. As a leader now is the time for you to think about the ways you can focus on core sets of tenets that will continue to make an impact on the world in 2021.

Being connected digitally

Accept it or not, online work has become a reality. The Covid-19 is not the type of crisis, for which leaders could gather and plan the strategy. Everything has already become technology-driven and touchless, with minimal manual intervention. Research suggests that 85% of firms viewed digital as nice to have in 2019. While in 2020, every business has learned that digital is critical for being successful. Since investing time to stay digitally connected will be the only way to build and sustain relationships in 2021, leaders need to find new ways to remain connected.

Redefining high-performance

The survey data of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has indicated that 71% of employees believe that it’s difficult to work remotely. Thus, there is a need to redefine how groups should function to continue delivering high performance because of social distancing. Leaders need to prepare the work teams that are comfortable amid change. For this, leaders will need to ensure a clear and equal division of work and accountability setting. Similarly, they will need to empower their teams to make decisions and equip them with the right digital tools for the next normal.

Reskilling the work teams

Since uncertainty is everywhere, leaders need to come up with ways to match and prepare the employees to new roles. They need to reskill and upskill the employees to work in 2021. To do this, leaders need to find ways on how to increase employees’ critical, digital, social, cognitive, emotional, adaptability, and resilience skills. Now is the time for leaders to double down on their learning budgets and commit to reskilling.

Revisiting Organizational Purpose

Studies indicate that in 2021, businesses will change how, why, and where they invest. The organizational purpose is now more important than ever in businesses. It refers to the reasons why businesses exist, and most businesses have purposes that go beyond generating revenue and profit, extending to deliver a larger societal benefit. In this crisis, this can be in the form of saving the lives of people developing drugs, providing important information, powering cities, and so on. Leaders can also focus on creating meaningful experiences for work teams, giving back to the society that supports and buy from them.

It is so crucial for leaders to keep their teams involved and informed on challenges that lie ahead to maintain the culture they have built. Because people are watching businesses right now. They are to decide who the really good ones are. The ones who do not just talk. The ones who move beyond platitudes into action. Make sure you as a leader and your business come out on the right side of history as quoted by Brian Tracy, motivational speaker, “The true test of leadership is how well you function in a crisis.”