This is a common dilemma we hear from many excellent CEOs. They are stuck in a conflict between caring for their staff and wanting them to deliver. That’s probably why we are often asked ‘What is the sweet spot where people are performing at their best without negative consequences for their wellbeing?’.
The impact of COVID-19 has presented many people with unexpected professional and personal challenges. In just a few weeks, the landscape of work and life has changed in ways that are yet to fully unravel.
While lockdown and furloughing have been an uncertain time, it’s also created the space to reflect on the lives we lead. How will we cope with the return to work pressures but also find the time to pursue possible new directions?
As organisations return to work and take stock of the past few weeks, the conversation is shifting from ‘how to work at home during lockdown’ to ‘what remote working will mean to the future remote based organisation’. It’s a far reaching strategic issue.
How do you maintain pace and quality of work, without burning out your staff? It’s a concern expressed by many people we work with in innovative, creative, and high pressured environments.
Many of us take stock of our careers at some point in our working lives, and not surprisingly, the impact of COVID-19 is proving to be a catalyst for change. Concerns for personal safety and worries about what may happen to job security are causing large numbers of people to re-think their careers.
The government has issued a ‘conditional plan’ to ease the lockdown which contains some guidance on returning people to work. People who cannot work from home should return to the workplace from Wednesday but avoid public transport. More detail is to be added but the call to return to work, for some sectors at least, has raised safety concerns.
Motivation is often talked about, much researched, and prized goal of many leaders. Research shows it can provide a measurable competitive advantage, improve creativity, raise employee engagement levels as well as adding bottom line profitability.
It’s been just 6 weeks since most organisations introduced mandatory working from home. It needed to happen almost overnight and, in most instances, it did. At the time we predicted that it would test organisations and their people like never before, which would require leaders to lead like they’ve never done before.
Although this is a blog about burnout, the Coronavirus COVID-19 is currently dominating all our lives, putting many of us under huge pressure at home and at work - a line that is increasingly blurred. Inevitably this additional stress may lead to higher levels of burnout, which makes this content especially relevant.
What a difference a week makes. Most of us are now working remotely and the country is in virtual lockdown - evidence of just how quickly the Coronavirus is affecting every aspect of our daily lives. If we are feeling unsure about how to respond - that’s because this is unlike anything we’ve encountered.
We are living and working in an increasingly unknown territory. No one quite knows how the COVID-19 virus will play out in the long run but what is becoming increasingly clear is this - many organisations are on the edge of mandatory working from home.
A lot of people don’t want to be ‘that person’, the one who is always bragging on about how great they are, how good their work is and the ‘proven track record’ they have. However, in our wish to avoid being seen as arrogant or stepping on peoples’ toes, we can get left behind - along with the profile our great work could have given us.
