Last week, I caught up with my friend Jody Thompson, creator of the Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) and author of Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It. (If you missed it, you can watch it here.) Jody outlined a tale of two hybrids: the policy-driven hybrid vs the performance-driven hybrid. The highlights of the talk can be found here. So many great shares. Here are three things that it got me thinking about:
1. What Really Causes Stress
Did you know the highest cause of stress is when job demands outweighs one’s ability to control how work gets done. As more and more organizations are demanding return to office, they are lowering employee control while increasing job demands. This is creating an avalanche of avoidable stress. When people have more autonomy over where and how they get their work done, stress reduces, and performance goes up. With the trend towards organizations hiring on-staff psychologists to support overburdened workers, one has to wonder if we’re not just solving the wrong problem.
2. Shifting Ways of Working Requires Shifting Ways of Thinking About Work
The more attention that gets placed on “where” and “when” we have to work vs. “what”results we’re supposed to be driving, the less effective our organizations become. Consider the hours you lost during COVID trying to figure out where to put stickers on the floor in your office? Imagine if that same effort and attention had been placed towards landing a new client or developing a new product.
3. Changing the System Takes Courage and Commitment
Jody shared that for organizations to embrace a culture that focuses on results, leaders need to be status quo breakers, curious about looking forward and courageous. Sadly, this type of leadership is often in short supply. The majority of us settle back into what we’re comfortable with and what we know. If you’re really serious about upending the apple cart of the traditional workplace, you’re going to have to be ready to move into some uncharted territory and get comfortable not having all the answers. But speaking from personal experience, if you can get yourself there, the payoff is worth it.
Grab the HR Success Guide and Autonomy Guide from Jody’s team at CultureRX and consider how you can inject more job control into your team’s day-to-day experience.
Join me later this month when I welcome Henna Pryor author of Good Awkward to our Ask the Expert series. Henna is a two-time TEDx speaker and advocate for channeling your awkwardness into a career differentiator. I’m sure several awkward moments will be revealed. Register today.
Here at The Roundtable, there’s still time to register for our Fall Roundtable for Leaders program if you hurry. Reach out to Ashley. And if you know someone who might be a great fit, remember that 10% of all of your kind referrals will go towards support out #Impact215 campaign to fund Indigenous students in their post-secondary studies.
Happy Leading!
Glain
