Jul 7, 2020
Pre COVID-19, many organizations
had internal discussions around flexible schedules, remote work,
less micro-managing but rather empowering and trusting people to
manage their own time and contribution to the collective output.
Most organizations never got to the point of moving from intent to
execution because of mid-management pressure, old-school mindset or
whatever excuse leaders could find.
After being forced to move their
workforce to remote work due to COVID-19, the same leaders realized
that it wasn’t not as complicated as it seemed. On the contrary,
the transition in most of the companies I’ve talked to was smooth
and quick. Most companies have even seen an increase in
productivity, a higher employee engagement rate, AND more human
connections (instead of purely transactional type of interactions
such as “hey, did you do this?”) despite social distancing and
stay-at-home mandates.
Suddenly, executives, HR
professionals and employees have realized that it’s OK to be human
at work, with the roller coaster of emotions we’re all going
through, our kids or pets photobombing Zoom calls, wearing shorts
and t-shirts, drinking a beer or a glass of wine, all while
collaborating with our co-workers and bosses.
My eX Podcast guest this month is the awesome, fun and upbeat Rachel Druckenmiller, Founder & CEO of Unmuted. Recognized as the #1 Health Promotion Professional in the U.S. and a 40 Under 40 Game Changer, Rachel is a national thought leader and dynamic speaker. She’s on a mission to empower people to use their voices courageously to speak up, speak out and have a positive impact in the world. With expertise in resilience, wellbeing and leadership, Rachel is a catalyst who ignites people to live and lead more intentionally so they can thrive at work and at home. She posts daily inspirational videos on LinkedIn (sometimes singing!). Follow her there and at www.UnmutedLife.com.
Today with Rachel we talk
about:
- How organizations can better
support their people through the COVID-19 pandemic
- Why it’s OK to be vulnerable and
show our humanity at work
- What’s next for organizations as we
will (eventually) transition out of social distancing and
shelter-in-place orders.
Note: you can follow Rachel on LinkedIn,
Twitter
and at Unmuted.
Here are some additional resources Rachel is recommending:
If you want to send me feedback, suggestions for future topics or guests, you can reach me at svincent@exsummit.com or on Twitter @eX_Summit.
Interested in learning more about Business To Employee Branding (B2E branding)?
Interested in sponsoring or speaking at the next Employee Experience Summit (eX Summit)?