{"id":2541,"date":"2021-02-04T16:46:24","date_gmt":"2021-02-04T16:46:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.skylite-associates.co.uk\/?p=2541"},"modified":"2021-05-12T17:02:34","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T17:02:34","slug":"blog-humane-leadership-post-covid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skylite-associates.co.uk\/2021\/02\/04\/blog-humane-leadership-post-covid\/","title":{"rendered":"Humane Leadership; How Do We Lead Post Covid"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\n
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Humane Leadership; How Do We Lead Post Covid?<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Louise Cantrill – Managing Partner – Skylite Associates<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n
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For most of us those early stages of this pandemic were a bit of a sprint. I have seen organisations transform in days \u2013 areas that would have taken years to complete normally with huge numbers of people working from home.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We were working on Agile and Flexible plans with organisations in the Public Sector back in only last February and well that got taken over! We watched as shops, bars and restaurants switched to delivery-only models. My local pub opening a wonderful takeaway service to survive \u2013 which is now closed again! \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We are also grappling with the complexities of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, furloughing staff rather than let them go, with the government paying 80% of the wage bill. After hearing the word furlough at the horse races it is now an everyday word – 9.5 million jobs furloughed! Who would thought this back at the beginning of last year?<\/span><\/p>\n

However, a year later, it has become painfully, exhaustingly clear that what we thought was a sprint, was actuall,y a marathon. The additional adrenaline rush \u2013 that we felt ourselves – of new ways of working wore off. People are fatigued and fed up.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As you know we speak with HR leaders on a regular basis. This fatigue has only increased with leaders and managers looking for external support and peer connection.<\/span><\/p>\n

Something that has raised its head in recent weeks through these conversations is what I think of as a \u201cfracturing\u201d of the workforce. Many organisations now know when they can bring people together physically, but the more challenging issue\u2014one that can\u2019t be solved with one-way walking systems and Perspex screens\u2014is bringing people back together psychologically. Organisations of all sizes and across all sectors and regions have such a disparity of employee experiences of the pandemic, that creating a sense of \u201coneness\u201d is a formidable task.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat sense of \u2018we\u2019re all in this together\u2019 has long gone,\u201d one chief people officer reflected recently. Another, rather gloomily, added: \u201cThe kindness has left the room.\u201d It\u2019s being replaced with resentment (Why am I putting myself in danger every day while my colleagues sit at home on full pay?) and anxiety (Am I going to lose my job?).<\/span><\/p>\n

We are seeing cracks appear.\u00a0 <\/span>There are always challenges with staff \u2013 we wouldn\u2019t have a business if there weren\u2019t but this crisis made things more visible and more profound. As a Covid survivor myself lets pull no punches this is a matter of life and death.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This uniqueness of experience challenges the concept of fairness. How can you be fair and consistent when the spectrum of needs varies so dramatically? Should you even try?<\/span><\/p>\n