Your brand’s purpose should illustrate why your organisation exists, what problems it aims to solve, and who it wants to be to each person it professionally interacts with.
Successful businesses harness their purpose to create deeper connections with consumers and give back to the communities they work within. As an executive leadership coach, Scaleup North East partner Angelina Bell [pictured] has been party to many change management conversations over the last year.
For managers who lend themselves to a process- driven and almost autocratic style of management, it has been imperative to adjust to new ways of managing their teams. More so than ever, the need for employees to be heard and understood is integral, and staff are eager to form a deeper connection with their bosses beyond just ‘the numbers’.
To help employees feel valued where they work, designated one-to-one communication can offer an invaluable outlet.
Here, Angelina provides her top tips for a people-centric 2021
While as a leader you must be continually looking forward to what is over the horizon, the importance of your people should be at the forefront of your thought leadership. Your teams need to be aligned and understand how the work they are doing is contributing to both business success and their own individual performance
Great listeners make great managers, so ask more questions and listen very carefully to the answers. Reach out for executive coaching for you and your leadership teams. A coach can help you and your team become more effective leaders, which will help the business navigate safely through uncertain times
• Encourage your team to be the best version of themselves by adopting good habits, such as time management, compiling to-do-lists, healthy eating and tackling hard tasks first to avoid procrastination
• Ensure you keep the consistency of what the business needs in terms of policies and meeting KPIs, but take care of individuals by inspiring them to be their best and by genuinely caring for their wellbeing. It is very motivating to be led by someone who can see the skills in their team, even when the individual is not feeling like themselves
• Make sure your staff have all the resources they need to help them do their job properly. Home-working has brought challenges from people not having desks to work on, issues accessing CRM systems and general logistical challenges, such as learning to use Microsoft Teams and Zoom
• Build strategies that encourage ways to focus on the outputs from your staff members and not the time they spend at their workstations. Help your team
to develop a structure that works for them and will optimise their individual and team performance
• Ensure your team are taking breaks and working hours that suit both the business and their personal lives. Be mindful of the fact that regular breaks and time away from screens is essential for optimum productivity
• Ask for feedback more regularly. You do not have the advantage of listening to office conversations where you can pick up small gripes around fears and issues with clients, so check in regularly. Ensure you ask how your people are on an individual basis, providing them with an opportunity to offload.