A more productive and healthier workforce for 2023

Summer Reflections

The summer break is inevitably a time when we pause and reflect. Our minds drift to the year that’s been, we tune into how we feel, what we want to keep and what we’d prefer to change. For some of us, it’s a tweak here and there, others set intentions for a new direction, and some go for big decisions followed by decisive action. It’s all part of the process.

Our recent change in Prime Minister here in Aotearoa was fuelled by exactly that summer reflection. Our outgoing PM is ready for a longer pause to recharge and reset, while the incoming feels refreshed and ready to dial it up.  

What were your summer reflections and what do you feel ready for this year?

For me, I reflected on the year that’s been and realised that my intention for 2023 is to play a broader role in creating a more productive AND healthier workforce. 

Redesigning Work

Most people know me as a flexible work specialist. Flex is and will continue to be a big part of the work I do. Zooming out from there, redesigning work is the bigger picture that has always fuelled my inner geek and flex fits into that. It’s a critical piece of a larger puzzle to improve the productivity and health of our workforce. 

When I talk to people, they ask me about what else is involved in the redesign of work, beyond flex.

There’s a lot to explore once you scratch the surface, but three key areas are:

• The work itself (job design)

• The role of technology

• Leadership

I want to focus in for a moment on the leadership we need if we want to redesign work in a way that positively impacts the productivity and health of our workforce.

Bottom up by Design - Leadership for the Redesign of Work

One of the things I’ve learnt through deep diving into flex is that the redesign of work requires a particular kind of leadership. I describe that style as “bottom up by design”. 

When flex goes well, leaders have let go of their need to control the specifics and instead focus on enabling teams to come up with what works best for them, closest to the problem or opportunity. Leaders can get the assurance they need by measuring the outcomes and impact as the redesign takes place.

Conversely, when I’ve worked with leaders who start with setting the rules from the top-down, unintended consequences emerge. The rules and restrictions inevitably adversely impact a significant minority of people and teams. These are new fires that leaders then have to work hard to put out. 

The main one I’ve come across in my work is the rule that working from home is to be on a 2:3 ratio, with two days a week at home and three days on site. Although this is put in place with good intentions of creating fairness and consistency, it often ends up being discarded. 

The approach doesn’t work for so many people and they can feel overlooked and disowned with this kind of blanket approach. Examples of those who often need something very different include:

• Early-in-career people who need more face-to-face time with more experienced colleagues

• Operational and frontline teams often have very little opportunity to work from home

• Some have no desire (or the right conditions) to work from home but feel obliged to because there’s not enough space in the office for them anymore

• Part-time people don’t fit the pattern of their full-time colleagues and they’re not sure how they fit in 

Bottom up by design means that leaders move away from creating these kinds of well-meaning but reactive and controlling constraints. Instead we move towards being creative and open. Our role becomes more about enabling people to come up with ideas that fix the issues as they experience them, as well as connect teams together who have related challenges.

I’m seeing this leadership shift happen in the redesign of work when it comes to flex leadership.

Here’s how I’d describe it…

… We started out in 2020 with flex leadership styles that fit this distribution curve.

At best, we had a majority of leaders who were hesitant. There were a few who were dead against it, but not many. Most were cautious and comfortable to create flex when necessary, especially for people with caring responsibilities. There was an emerging group of pro-flex leaders too, who had often benefited from flexible arrangements themselves. These were good people leaders, but often found themselves with complex team arrangements that created more work for them as the manager. In some instances, their flexible team was envied and sometimes resented by others, especially if others felt let down by being unable to contact the team when they needed to.

I see a maturing taking place, which is a different kind of leadership mix that is much more suited to this bigger idea of the redesign of work…

…Which will land us here…

As leaders move from hesitant, to pro-flex and ultimately to ‘flexpert’ they are able to put in place the “bottom up by design” approach that frees teams up to design their work in a way that meets their needs, including of course, the needs of the organisation, its customers and stakeholders.

Senior leaders I work with, especially those who wouldn’t yet describe themselves as ‘flexperts’ have said to me that they’re moving with flex because they have to, not for any other reason. It’s simply a matter of being forced to keep up with a rising tide. Ultimately, they wish flex would go away so they can get on with focusing their attention on other important areas of their business.

At one level, this reactive state of mind is disappointing. The reluctant move forward is unlikely to inspire the confidence of teams to get creative with their work redesign. But, and it’s a big but, this is just a temporary and human reaction to a context that has changed incredibly quickly. Ultimately, this shift in a more creative way of leading is underway and the rising tide means even reluctant leaders are getting on board. 

I’m optimistic that this shift can and will accelerate this year. Our economic constraints will open up our minds to creative ways of working and ultimately that will see us experience a more productive and healthier 2023. 

What about you?

What kind of year would you like to see in 2023?

What creativity can you lead in your workplace for a more productive and healthy 2023?