How Leaders Can Turn Upheavals Into Workplace Innovations

Key tips to follow

The Covid-19 pandemic is a once in a generation global event – an era of difficulty and tragedy for many. This reality has forced workplaces and offices across countless industries to fundamentally rethink the fundamentals of their operations – probably for the first time in a generation.

Even before the pandemic, workplaces faced turmoil – burnout, stress, jobs that seemed meaningless, lack of internal support, and more. Now, as the pandemic continues to spur a radical reshuffling of processes once taken for granted, employers stand to benefit by embracing new changes as they seek to navigate obstacles, both new and old. Although only time will tell which changes have the staying power to outlast the circumstances that catalyzed them, there is no doubt that the workplace landscape will never be the same.
Here are some of the key tips I learned about how leaders can use this moment of unprecedented upheaval as a means to cultivate longstanding workplace innovations.

By now, “workplace wellbeing” is a phrase almost every office worker will have heard at some point, but current wellbeing policies still lack certain key components. While many companies offer a vast array of benefits and wellbeing resources, very few have figured out how to effectively incentivize employees to use them. Only a marginal 14% of UK employees feel they take full advantage of wellness offerings, which hints at two possible oversights – either there is a lapse between wellness provisions and the true needs of employees, or there is a communication breakdown in understanding how and why these options can be beneficial.

With the pandemic heaping new and unforeseen needs on top of those that employees have long held, there is no better time for business leadership to try and break this cycle of ineffective wellness resource allocation. Employers must start by meeting their employees where they’re at – asking astute questions and gleaning ideas for possible solutions – and using that newfound understanding to craft innovative alternatives.

It is for good reason that the word “innovation” is inextricably linked with technology. And indeed, innovative technology has increasingly come to define the modern workplace era, with collaborative tools developing rapidly against the backdrop of an era of asynchronous working habits.

But as workplace tech becomes increasingly commonplace, there is a heightened risk that workplaces might approach tech implementation as a bandwagon cure-all. In reality, innovation through tech is not only a matter of acquiring software suited to each business vertical, but a matter of choosing the right platforms for your employees’ needs as well. What will help them do their jobs better and what will help them feel better about doing their jobs? Engaging with employees to answer questions like this will help organizations make the best decisions for their teams, as they strive to infuse new technology into the ways they rethink workplace practices.

Plain and simple, business leaders that don’t show compassion for those they employ shouldn’t expect to see a passion for work in return from their employees. But workplaces that strive to weave compassion into their day-to-day operations will reap rewards regarding employee satisfaction, retention, and longevity. Particularly during the difficult waning days of the pandemic, business leaders who prioritize compassion as an expected virtue in their workplace will foster more open, effective, empathetic communication between managers and those they manage.

And compassion doesn’t only have to be internally minded. For example, my company, YuLife, recently facilitated a two-day team building exercise where company leaders and employees came together to build and paint a children’s play area at a school near our office. Innovation sometimes means breaking routines in order to strengthen a value proposition, and there are few things more rewarding, enjoyable, and camaraderie-building than paying it forward.

There is a big difference between listening and hearing.

Indeed, good listening is the central thread that underpins any of the approaches to change that I have outlined above. Particularly through such unprecedented times, the ability to listen to employees and take feedback seriously is paramount to successfully revitalizing workplace wellness.

I believe that listeners are better team members and contribute to a holistically healthy working culture across an organization. Changing how we listen can be as valuable an innovation as adopting a new wellbeing policy or bringing the latest snazzy piece of HR tech on board.

As author Roy T. Bennet put it, “The greatest problem with communication is we don’t listen to understand. We listen to reply…Don’t listen with the intent to reply…listen for what’s behind the words.”