Recently, Arcadia co-hosted a Webinar with Elliott Scott HR Recruitment on the topic of Leadership Alignment featuring two of Arcadia’s Partners Mark Weston and Matt Lyon.

Given the current turmoil in the business world, leaders are facing a multitude of challenges, many of which we have never encountered before. Companies are being forced to pivot their businesses and fast forward plans to move online, while staff have had to move to a virtual way of working, turning home into office.

Leaders have had to reassess their business environment and consider whether the culture is appropriate for the new reality. Some of these challenges can be very emotive, and leadership teams have to make critical decisions, which can often be divisive. The companies that will be successful are the ones that have a leadership team united by a shared vision which is then shared across the whole organisation.

How transforming to and immersion in sustainable leadership can drive profits with purpose and positively impact our planet and our people. 

COVID-19 accelerated digital and virtual transformation. In doing so it challenged job roles, what we valued in work and life and our working patterns. Organisations accessed new information, data and evidence to illustrate jobs could be done from home. Technology could be made secure and safe, collaboration and relationships could be facilitated by platform like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex. Some people liked it that way.

It prompted leaders to ask about the purpose, usefulness and costs of office buildings. It also raised questions about diversity, isolation, remote leadership, mental health and wellbeing and our teams ability to focus and feel a sense of belonging to a brand/ company without all the cues of logos, colours, motifs, symbols, colleagues, trophies, achievements, values statements being promoted on screens and displays around the office.

It presented opportunities for work/ life flexibility or pressure with living in the ‘multiverse’ of home-schooling, homework, home care; all without escape or mobility.

As organisations move to new work modes of homeworking, hybrid, office fixed, office flex and mobile, leaders need to be very clear on the value proposition of any work mode change and mindful of unintended consequences and the psychological responses of individual and teams as a result of this change.

This paper outlines some of the critical issues and an approach to executing new work modes.

Hybrid working presents a generational and circumstantial  shift in culture, leadership, fundamental use of estates, team engagement/ employee experience, technological transformation, customer experience and much more. It’s unlikely that the people leading it are experienced in such an operational change and as such the execution presents risks. These risks have consequences in not only failing to realise the benefits of the new model but damaging the employee experience and organisational brand reputation.

The past year has seen some challenging times for most organisations. The pandemic brought with it huge uncertainty, endless lockdowns and social distancing measures to name a few. Organisations entered survival mode as they orchestrated work from home policies, strategies to stay competitive and figured out what was both beneficial to the company and could be quickly adapted.

McKinsey (2020) stated in an article, written at the height of the pandemic, that many companies adopted agile practices to cope with the changing business priorities. They concluded that companies with agile practices embedded in their operating models have managed the impact of the COVID-19 crisis better than their peers.

So, what is an agile organisation and what makes them adapt and cope with VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) conditions compared to more traditional organisations? 

McKinsey defined an agile organisation as “a network of teams within a people-centred culture that operates in rapid learning and fast decision cycles which are enabled by technology, and that is guided by a powerful common purpose to co-create value for all stakeholders” (McKinsey, pg. 3, 2018).

The year 2020 has been a big year of change and has indeed changed the way we will live our lives forever. No matter where you are in the world, we all have had to adjust to the “new” way of living and working. It started off as a perk to work from home; no long commutes, cooking lunch versus buying lunch, the list goes on. While some have worked from home prior to the COVID-19 restrictions, I think we can all agree that working from home can challenge your mental health. Whether you live with family or alone; it can sometimes be hard to pull yourself out of the sudden funk of loneliness, stress and anxiety.

A year later, with the remote workforce expanding it is important that we continue to practice healthy habits in our day to day lives. 

Deloitte surveys 18,000 Millennial and Gen Z people every year. The study reveals startling trends. This year the study was repeated during lockdown to get a perspective on changes. The regular survey had established a backdrop over the last 4 years of a rising number of Millennials and Gen Z who declare that they feel stressed “all or most of the time”, peaking this year pre-COVID at 40% for Millennials and 50% for Gen Z.

The issue here is that stress has a cumulative effect if it is continuous. Chronic stress is more damaging to mental health than heightened short term stress. Millennials entered the COVID-19 pandemic with low reserves of resilience.

We have recently written a paper, The Mindset Advantage, where we identified 6 areas of wellbeing management include sleep, breathing, meditation, access to nature, nutrition, exercise / activity, and mindfulness. The key is for the body to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system with Dopamine, Serotonin and Oxytocin and to quash the Cortisol stress hormone stimulated by the sympathetic nervous response to change.

Even now we are still processing and managing new changes. As the world returns to the ‘new normal’, many are suffering with ‘re-entry anxiety’ which is a fear of not being able to adapt to previously established routines and habits. Anxiety levels can increase for individuals as some return to their offices for the first time in over a year. These 6 habits below can help you feel more productive while managing your mental health:

Carving out time for loved ones is necessary during this time. Having a core group of friends and family that can help uplift your spirits is key. It is important to stay connected to loved ones; a quick phone call, video call or text can change your mood in a matter of minutes. 

Change of any kind can be a journey of trials, challenges and set backs. It requires us to be at our strongest mentally and physically. As some continue to work from home indefinitely and some begin to return to their offices, it’s important individuals actively put personal plans in place to support themselves and it’s equally as important for organisations and leaders to enable their colleagues to access the necessary physical and mental health support. 

As ‘back to a new normal’ begins to take shape leaders must focus not only on new systems and ways of working but also on their people and rebuilding their confidence. Confidence to act, make decisions, take risks and move forward. To find out how you can support your team as a leader, read and download our Rebuilding the World’s Confidence research paper.

As a leader, ensure you are actively supporting your team’s mental health and providing the appropriate support at the right time:

• Create a Wellness Action Plan
• Implement flexible working plans
• Role model your expectations
• Measure wellbeing and wellness as much as you measure revenue and share prices!
• Create TEAM belonging activities (‘cook along’, workout sessions, walking meetings)