By Cheryl L. Mason, J.D.
Trust is a two-way street. To get it, you have to give it. For leaders, this translates as risk and for employees, this means value.
The pandemic required offices to shut down and people to work remotely. Many leaders were not and still are not comfortable with employees working in a location other than the traditional office space. The belief was and is that employees cannot be trusted to do their work without the possibility of the leader checking on them. What is most interesting with this concept is that leaders (pre pandemic) rarely left their offices to check on employees. It was the idea that they could that gave them comfort. Leaders believe that when employees are not in the office, they are not working and if they are, they are less productive.
Most leaders follow conventional leadership practices. Work is done at work and anything at home is not work. This created an inherent distrust between leaders and employees. Leaders followed the traditional boundaries – be the boss at work and the human at home. This is the training leaders received for years. If you can’t see the person in the office, they are not working. This led to questions, how do we manage people we can’t see; how do we provide training; and what if they are working out? For these reasons, during the pandemic many leaders clamored work surveillance software, required employees to check in with supervisors when working remotely, and pushed for the return to in office work as quickly as possible. By doing all these things and more, leaders broke any fragile trust they had with employees.
Change was already well underway before the pandemic. Some organizations had implemented telework and remote work options with successful results. I led one of these organizations. Prior to the pandemic, approximately a quarter of my staff worked remotely and about one third participated in telework. And as shocking as it might be, these people were successful, sometimes more so than their in-office colleagues. When the pandemic hit, we transitioned our entire workforce of more than 1000 people to remote work and we continued hiring, adding 200 more employees and training them REMOTELY! We also improved our technology which provided more support for employees and streamlined processes. And what happened? Our results exceeded all expectations! Why? and How? Getting comfortable with risk, adjusting to change, and communicating value, acknowledgement and trust every day.
The redefinition of personal and professional success and the boundaries between work and life were changing fast. Employees want to matter, to know that they bring value and have purpose to the organization. In this way, work enhances their lives, but it does not dominate it. Employees believed that they demonstrated to leaders, during the pandemic, that they could be productive working remotely and thus, it should be an option. But leaders pushed back because it was outside their comfort zone. It requires them to take risk and operate differently. Again, leaders broke the trust.
Some leaders did not believe this could continue. Others think that because some employees’ jobs require them to be in the office on a regular basis, that everyone has to – it’s the only fair way to do it. That thinking doesn’t work with employees. Employees expect leaders to think and lead the organization in the best way possible for the employees, the customers, and the organization, not themselves. That might mean some people have to be in the office, but not everyone and not all the time. Many employees do not believe that the leaders think beyond profit or results and how they as leaders are impacted. Employees are challenging leaders to think outside their comfort zone and lead with agility, innovation, and trust. Employees are asking leaders to treat them as their most valuable resources.
Leaders must change just as the employees and the workplace is. Relating to and connecting with your employees can be done in person or virtually – but it is necessary. Leading requires taking risk and adapting and embracing different approaches and perspectives. You either drive change or it runs you over – either way trust is the copilot.
