Názory

Time to talk to employees openly: what change does business need in a war

"TopsMane is important to realize that employees need at least a little certainty in war conditions. Meetings with dry figures with statistics and general phrases about the company's prospects will not answer their" painful "questions. " Opinion. We. From Ukraine, the transition to open communication is an important step in the company's cultural changes. The ability to hear candid answers from management is very valuable for company employees.

Business executives can have two global modes: Peace Time and War Time. The second in our realities is direct. The PEACE TIME mode has the usual relationship between all employees and standard tasks. If War Time comes, executives have to act quickly, make unpopular decisions and do it yourself. It is very important to keep the balance between these modes. And even in War Time, communicate with their employees and be intended for them.

Let's be certainty about your behavior: talk about your planned steps and solutions, explain that you are going to act harshly and this is important. But try to make your company culture still be in Peace Time. Do not close your eyes to the reality your company and people work. Some toplemeters went abroad and switched to European reality. They seemed to forget that their team in Ukraine is completely different.

And for all months of the war, they did not meet any meeting alone to ask how the employee was doing. It repels people. They say that this is not my leader, I will look for something new. This attitude causes the release, because they often go not from the company, but from the manager. When we talk about Remout, it also applies to executives as well. After the war, many people have moved to safer regions or abroad, regardless of their position in the company.

It is also worth remembering that in some of our cities it is now dangerous for employees to go to the office. Therefore, Remout is not always a choice, but a need. Some toplemeters believe that they are effective if they are sitting in the office. Because when people see them, they work more efficiently. This is a myth. A good leader can travel the world, be in different offices, and the organization works as a clock.

After all, if you are not spending half a working time in the office, then it will notice a dozen people working with you on one floor. Others and almost do not see you. Now, during the war, the families of many executives are far from them. And the belief in the myth that we need 100% of time to work with a team in the office, forcing them to sacrifice the opportunity to be with their relatives. Take this as an opportunity: spend a little time with your family, a little with the company.

And learn to be an effective manager at a distance. Oldskurth CEO is often not understood. They think that if they are in the office, so the company works. And when most of the company switched online during the war, it can be a difficult situation for executives. They are used to going to the office, seeing people and understanding what is happening. Now it is difficult for them to control the situation, and they usually model negative scenarios: people are unproductive or do not work at all.

The management during the war ceased to feel the pulse of the company. And he does not know how to get out of it. This eye control should be abandoned. Because in the coming years there will be no trend in the office. In this situation, it is important to realize that you do not restore the previous habits, you need to learn new. Translate your usual routine online and continue to communicate effectively with the team there.

To see the whole picture of the company, it is important to hold regular meetings and retrospectives. If there are no employees or executives in the office, you need to continue to maintain the usual communication, just in another format. As you have regular meetings for the team, there should also be meetings for the whole company. At least once a quarter, and it is better in the war. It is important that these rallies are not reduced to presentations with a bunch of text and numbers.

Managers should be ready to talk to their employees about topical issues. I had a cool example when I came to an American CEO to the Ukrainian branch of the company for a general meeting. Everyone tried to ask him intelligent, well -formulated questions, to be as polite as possible. Then, at a meeting of managers, he said that he was striking in Ukrainian workers that they are very nice to him. Because when he meets with employees in the states, they are constantly asking uncomfortable questions.

They are not always satisfied with what is happening in the company and they raise really important topics. In fact, this is the right tactics, so rallies should happen. There must be honesty. And I understand that our leaders are not very ready for that honesty. But this is an important change in culture. Zuckerberg, for example, spends all Hands rallies every two weeks. Someone comes physically, someone connects virtually. Their company has a forum where people can leave questions.

Employees vote for the most relevant of them. If judicial investigations are being carried out, Facebook is moderation, salaries change, people raise these topics. And no one will ask Zuckerberg only something "comfortable". There will be up -to -date issues. And he is obliged to give people his vision of the situation. The rallies of this plan can be made optional for the entire company.

Only those employees who are really interested in the topic of the meeting and who want to ask questions come come. For the culture of our business, such openness is still difficult. If you are afraid to go out and talk to people, it's okay. But it still needs to be done. Prepare for the meeting with HR, make top questions. Think about what topics are actually relevant now. And during the war, the most common questions are about the release and changes of wages.