Reconnect with Care

This is the first in a series of blog posts exploring the key steps on The Path Forward to Work.

As organizations ponder how, where, when, and by whom work will be done next, one thing is clear. We will not return to the same set of strategic factors as before the pandemic hit. I know this sounds like I’m stating the obvious here, but stay with me. We are not the same. Our customers, stakeholders, supply chains, and communities are not the same. Our values and priorities are not the same. Our competitors are not the same nor are our team members. Radical changes and traumatic events have shocked and stressed us, awakened and inspired us, stretched and taught us. And for so many of us, these have clarified what is truly important.

So if all these things have changed, then why would we "go back?"

When leaders craft strategy, they consider analyses of the current and projected states of markets, stakeholders, suppliers, competitors, customer feedback, employee feedback, company data, executive feedback, and business insights summarizing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This is Strategy 101 for identifying competitive position. And these factors have ALL changed.

Leaders know that ignoring changes in any of these critical factors will threaten performance. The business literature is chock full of case studies of organizations that denied shifts, hung on to outdated assumptions, persisted with an antiquated approach, and ultimately failed.

Since we know every strategic consideration has changed in some way, then it is reasonable that the way we work and our culture must be reconsidered and likely change too. Yet so many organizations are planning to just “go back” and try to take up where they left off pre-pandemic based on an old set of assumptions rather than on their new reality.

Why this response?

Many leaders, like their team members, have also suffered under the traumas of 2020-21. They are carrying a huge weight to make the “right” next decisions about how to go forward in circumstances that are unfamiliar, volatile, and unknowable. Many leaders are exhausted, stressed out, and, reasonably, afraid of what to do next. I’ve talked to so many and have heard this again and again. These are difficult and frightening times to lead.

In such conditions, the limbic system triggers a protective response, causing us to flee the novel and revert to old ways to avoid uncertainties and more risk. Never mind that the circumstances have changed. The limbic system doesn’t sense this and instead tempts us to “go back” to the familiar rather than forward to something new and more appropriate.

How can those of us who lead quell this fear response and open up to new possibilities?

• Admit to ourselves and close advisors that this threat response is impacting us. This takes humility and openness, qualities we know cause leaders to be more respected, despite old myths of heroic, directive, infallible leadership. We can drop this standard, admit we are human, and increase the trust of our team.

• Practice evidence-based techniques to de-escalate our threat response. We’ve learned about and used so many techniques during the pandemic. We should not stop using them now when we need them most. Here’s a list of them as a reminder.

• Surround ourselves with people who will help us explore and understand the real current state of strategic factors that guide our business and then engage with creativity and innovation to explore new ways forward.

What’s really at risk?

2020-21 saw an incredible display of trust, goodwill, and human-centered performance. Employees around the world stepped up, kept business going, improved productivity, AND many enjoyed a better quality of life centered at home, even under difficult circumstances. So when old assumptions bring back former practices, job designs, policies, practices, and norms, it is frustrating and disrespectful of leaders and team members who’ve just proven what they can do in the biggest global workplace experiment ever. And as people have felt unseen and mistrusted, yet expected to renounce their newfound quality of life, the Great Resignation has begun.

But it doesn’t have to be this way! We can understand what’s true now and align our strategy and policies around new creative solutions. What a fantastic opportunity to remake our ways of working, to seize this moment to advance a more human workplace that respects all people. This human workplace will not only appeal to workers, but it will also give us greater insights to navigate this time of change, respond to customers, engage communities, become more inclusive, and more.

In light of this, it is on us as business leaders to manage those fears making it a top priority to understand and respond to today’s realities and go Forward (not back) to Work.

This should probably be the end of this blog post, but I’m on a role and so let’s talk about what comes first!

What is the first step on this Path Forward to Work that a leader should take?

Step 1: Make it a priority to Reconnect with Care.

Reconnecting with care means acknowledging what people have been through and making time and space for meaningful human connections at work to process the experience of the pandemic, racial reckoning and other challenges of 2020-21.

How leaders meet team members in this moment of return will determine if team members stay and take us forward, or leave us behind, understaffed and unable to meet our basic business commitments.

Remote workers were scattered geographically and separated by varied experiences. Front line workers faced exposure to the virus often for low wages. Each is carrying the mental and emotional impact of those experiences. And before we can go forward together and engage in our next phase of work, we need to come together as human beings. Team members need the chance to listen and share with each other about their experiences, to acknowledge what they’ve been through, and to talk about what all this has meant. This will help individuals to set some things down they no longer have to carry and to heal.

This important first step creates trust and belonging and sets the stage for all other steps on the Path Forward to Work.

How do I lead my team to Reconnect with Care? As a leader, here are some simple but important things you can do to create the context and support for this first step.

1.       Tell them why. Communicate from your heart and with sincerity your concern for people and what they’ve been through. Explain why it is important that teams take time to reconnect in a human-centered way -- to build trust and respect, to be supportive of each other’s well-being, to know and show that you care about each other as people. Tie this to your organizational values if possible. Acknowledge that we are all people first and if we reconnect with care, we will be stronger together for the work ahead. By doing this, we will also positively influence families and communities to be stronger and healthier too.

2.       Show them how. Model vulnerability by acknowledging how hard this time has been. Share thoughtfully about some of your own challenges. Be sensitive to the fact that you are in a more privileged position. For example, don’t complain about missing that European vacation. Do express how hard it was to not see your grandchildren or your concern for your elderly parents.

3.       Set aside time for listening. Create dedicated time and an atmosphere of support and respect for people to talk about their experiences with each other. We coach leaders at all levels to host small groups and create space in one-on-ones. And we facilitate sessions on behalf of organizations who want to support their teams. This is not meant to be a conversation. This is a time for generous, empathetic listening and taking turns with uninterrupted sharing. This supports emotional and mental well-being and helps with moving ahead.

4.       SHUVA each other. Our goal in Reconnecting with Care should be to help each person feel what author and friend of A Human Workplace Patty Beach calls SHUVA, that is feeling Seen-Heard-Understood-Valued-Appreciated. We want everyone to feel SHUVA and to help SHUVA each other too.

5.       Ask others to help. Explicitly ask supervisors and managers to prioritize reconnecting with care. Let them know you want and support them to prioritize their people’s well-being. Some of your leaders will need to hear this directly and clearly. They may think it is optional or a waste of time when they should be doing the “real work.” But this is the real work at this moment, the work of building up the team. And this investment will pay off. In normal times we know that a 15 minute investment in social connection each day results in a 20% improvement in productivty. Imagine how much more this is needed today? So let all supervisors know they should cascade Reconnecting with Care to all team members making sure no one is left out.

6.       Welcome choice. It is important to never require staff participation in these activities. Instead, offer the option AND express respect for the fact that people have different needs and preferences when it comes to sharing about feelings and experiences at work. Acknowledge that the invitation to share means different things to different people depending on positionality, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability status and more. This is a chance to show respect for diversity and to create room for all.

7.       Move forward together. Be sensitive to the fact that people will move through this traumatic experience at different rates. While we may be ready to look to the future, others may take a little longer. It is reasonable to move ahead while also understanding that a team member may still feel sad thinking about what’s happened or exhausted being around others. One team described this as giving the grace to work through this experience. Patience and care with this will ultimately foster loyalty, trust, and engagement qualities that will be an advantage in the coming months and years.

If we don’t reconnect with care, then how will we reconnect?

Finally if you still are not sure if this caring approach is a good idea, pause for a second to think about how else we might reconnect, if not with care? Afterall, you and your team members are going to come together for the next phase of work in some fashion. The question is, what are the defining qualities of that experience?

Well, instead of Reconnecting with Care, we can reconnect with callousness, or with insensitivity, or perhaps with indifference. If we are not taking a human-centered approach, then we will be dehumanizing by default. There’s no neutral ground in this; it’s one or the other. We can treat people like cogs in a machine, and suboptimize performance. Or we can use this opportunity to create a more loving, respectful, kind, and human workplace that deeply regards the life of every person and is high performing.

And that process begins by Reconnecting with Care.

If you would like to talk about how to help your team or organization Reconnect with Care and move Forward to Work, reach out for a supportive conversation. We really care and would love to talk with you!