Why Leadership Requires More Than Wielding An Obi-Wan Kenobi Lightsaber

Culture-driven leadership for hybrid model success

For organizations to stand out as extraordinary forward-thinking achievers take some doing. That’s because we live in a highly volatile economic environment and an increasingly diverse society, which creates vast differences in how people see the same things. 

Companies face the challenge of embracing variance while finding common ground to promote inclusion. Moreover, the latter cuts two ways: They must engage employees to establish long-term retention while developing cast iron brand loyalty in a marketplace with multiple customer segments. Organizational culture, therefore, must converge on minimizing employee and customer churn, both of which are revenue bottom-line destroyers.

The subject is complex, and for this article, we primarily focus on how it relates to employees.

The so-called “Great Resignation,” amid growing labor demand and the lowest unemployment rate in decades, was a flashing signal that employees were no longer simply happy to have a job and a steady income. This ground-shifting event resulted in millions of workers voluntarily leaving companies faster than they could be replaced. The fallout: close to eleven million job openings versus around six million new hires—a 43% gap in our ability to:
 

• Reestablish project continuity and team harmony.
• Ensure supply chain functionality.
• Reassure customers of seamless service and support.
• Fortify data assets from cybersecurity attacks.
• Uphold the ROI and EBITDA metrics that stakeholders expect.

These elements are the tip of a massive iceberg that unwary businesses are smashing into left, right, and center. It translates into CEOs and management teams floundering for answers to many perplexing questions, discovering that the “same-old, same-old” band-aid solutions don’t even scratch the surface.

Some leaders wield "compensation" like Obi-Wan Kenobi's magical lightsaber expecting or hoping its “kyber-crystal” power can conquer anything. Instead, all it means is that organizations pay more to retain disengaged employees already on the cusp of leaving or to lesser talent replacing their disgruntled predecessors. The result is a drop in productivity and an increase in labor overhead—a double-whammy hit to net profit.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that salary structuring alone, while crucial, is not the entire answer. Writing bigger checks doesn't address:
 

• The unstoppable trend toward remote working.
• Relieving high-pressure stress from working untenable hours.
• Stemming the churn rate that has nothing to do with remuneration.

So what's in the cards for leadership success in a changing cultural environment? 

Compensation Packages

Are you asking the kinds of questions about compensation packages that leaders in organizations spearheading industry change are asking?
 

1. What's the market paying top-skilled workers in a world where compensation transparency is the order of the day?
2. Given that there's no such thing as package confidentiality, how will I adjust all salary scales in light of offers to new hires?
3. To what extent can I use outside contractors on a freelance basis as a parallel strategic workforce, erasing costs like sick leave, office rental, leave pay, and so on?
4. Can I inject additional benefits with a compelling monetary significance into the formula such as paying for or subsidizing:
   1. Housekeeping/cleaning services.
   2. Fitness center memberships.
   3. Childcare services.
   4. Mental health therapies.
   5. Remote working offices and tech requirements.

Culture-Centric Initiatives

These “additional benefits” connect entirely to employee lifestyle preferences. From this, cultural attitude and leadership merge inextricably at the remote/hybrid work platform, which is not going away. 

Organizational leaders making waves in their industries have embraced remote work full-time for specific employees and hybrid models for others. If you're only starting to come to grips with the shift, time is limited and working against you. 

A recent AT&T study, for instance, predicts the hybrid work model will double in size between 2022 and 2024 reaching 81% popularity while a FlexJobs' Employee Engagement Report says that nearly half the workforce is already one-way operating—and learning—within a hybrid model.

My team and I at Ideal Outcomes, as culture change consultants who deliver training both in-person and online, have seen it all. What we’ve experienced recently is that companies and employees have embraced remote learning. Two-thirds of our clients continue to use our instructor-led interactive online courses for a variety of reasons including cost-effectiveness, time savings and convenience. Moreover, technology has improved to enhance the online experience and employees have become used to this format. The barriers are down.

It’s a mind-boggling cultural shift that has changed how companies do business, lease real estate, engage with customers, and hire and retain employees, as well as train them. Only stubborn traditionalists fail to appreciate that, outside of factories, while physical office presence has many obvious benefits it does not necessarily coincide with increased productivity.

The hybrid work model bandwagon is rolling down the tracks at an accelerating pace. All aboard are brand leaders such as Adobe, Salesforce, Airbnb, Allstate, Amazon, Ancestry.com, Citi, Dell Technologies, Google, and Salesforce. If this isn’t a neon-lit confirmation of leadership direction and cultural demands, then nothing is. Statistics from a FlexJobs' Career Pulse Survey dismiss any notion this could be a fad, finding:
 

1. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents were vying for full-time remote working conditions.
2. Another 32% required a hybrid model from their employer. 

Finally, business leaders intent on a cultural approach that's in tune with modern times should pay careful attention to Remote.co's Work & Financial Wellness Report. It highlights that 63% of workers surveyed intended moving on if their current employer didn't come up with an acceptable hybrid proposal. Aside from that, they rated “Remote Work Options” as the #1 priority (84%), followed closely by “Salary” (81%) and “Work-Life Balance” (79%). Other drivers were:
 

• Work schedule (56%)
• Meaningful work (50%)
• Company culture (42%)
• Skills training (40%)
• Education options (40%)
• Career progression (40%). 

Interestingly, “company culture” as an item was relatively low down the list. But you can take that with a pinch of salt because the entire list defines a company's culture, starting with its flexibility to take all this seriously and adjust accordingly. Indeed, if hybrid models aren't fundamentally ingrained in culture-driven leadership, the odds of success are somewhat remote!

Jason Richmond is the CEO and Chief Culture Officer at Ideal Outcomes, Inc.