Thank you to everyone who responded to last week’s survey about how hybrid working is affecting leaders.
I asked, what is the main challenge leaders face with a working from home/hybrid model?
The results from my newsletter survey and an identical poll I conducted on LinkedIn (in percentages) are:
- Maintaining a positive culture 43%
- Supporting the emotional and mental health of team members 33%
- Connecting with your network 16%
- Unrealistic clients/managers 7%
Thank you also to the people who shared their valuable insights. Clearly, the challenges for leaders of working from home or in a hybrid model are top of mind. The results suggest people are struggling with maintaining a positive and an innovative culture while also recognising the need to support the mental health of their team members.
I would like to drill further into the topic by sharing some interesting research about the benefits of a positive culture and some suggestions about how to foster it. My aim is to generate further discussion about what it takes.
Research outlined in the HBR article, Proof That Positive Work Cultures Are More Productive by Emma Seppälä and Kim Cameron, concludes that, “When organizations develop positive, virtuous cultures they achieve significantly higher levels of organizational effectiveness — including financial performance, customer satisfaction, productivity, and employee engagement.”
They link employee wellbeing and positive culture by proposing that employee wellbeing comes from one place, and one place only — a positive culture.
The researchers suggest the qualities of a positive workplace culture boil down to six essential characteristics:
- Caring for, being interested in, and maintaining responsibility for colleagues as friends.
- Providing support for one another, including offering kindness and compassion when others are struggling.
- Avoiding blame and forgive mistakes.
- Inspiring one another at work.
- Emphasizing the meaningfulness of the work.
- Treating one another with respect, gratitude, trust, and integrity.
The article offers some practical ways to foster these principles.
I would love to hear your views.
🙋What are your suggestions about how leaders can maintain a positive culture in a working from home/hybrid model?🙋♀️
Best Regards, Brian