However, the role of the people manager and the competencies required to effectively lead others in a hybrid workplace is emerging as a critical topic that businesses must address to ensure organisational success in the future.

According to Gartner the changing role of the manager is one of the top that greatly impacts the employee experience post Covid-19 and 鈥楨nabling managers to manage a hybrid workforce鈥� and 鈥楿pskilling leaders to lead in a hybrid environment鈥� are top challenges when setting strategy for a hybrid workforce.

What鈥檚 changed and what鈥檚 the big deal?
analysis of HR business press trends shows the awareness of a new viewpoint on the competencies required. Noting the pandemic has extended both the organisations and leaders鈥� roles to be more emotionally supportive of their employees, with managers expected to support their team members as whole people with passions, aspirations, and preferences, rather than just workers with a set of skills.

As a result, people managers must balance being an advocate for their team members鈥� needs while also meeting the expectations of executive leadership and upper management, with this balancing act more pronounced in a remote or hybrid environments.

When you consider that Management can be viewed as 鈥榤anaging the work鈥� – controlling a group or a set of entities to accomplish a goal and not necessarily about the people, you being to realise the potential magnitude of the task. Leadership in comparison is characterised as an individual鈥檚 ability to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward organisational success.

In a hybrid environment with fewer opportunities for spontaneous in-person interactions, a workers’ connection to their manager may be stronger than their connection to the organisation as a whole, it follows that the manager-employee relationship is critical in shaping the employee experience and connection to the organisation.

How can you support your managers to make the transition?
The 51风流SuccessFactors analysis provides a perspective and fledgling insights on the skills required and the role HR Practitioners and HR Technology can play in assisting both existing managers of people in making this transition to be holistically supportive of team members鈥� work and non-work experiences and in the selection of future managers of people.

HR needs to come to the fore
Analysis of how leadership and management roles have changed in the organisation should be undertaken by HR and reflected in updated job descriptions, performance management criteria, and succession-planning practices.

For example, rethinking the role of management in the employee journey not as a necessary step in the career ladder recognising that not everyone should or wants to be a people manager, but rather organisations that focus more on identifying and developing the most effective and supportive people managers will create better teams and a better culture. Proactively addressing people manager burnout from having to quickly learn new and complex management skills is also identified as a well-being action item for HR.

Technology can be your friend and your foe
While it would seem obvious that the effective use of to support processes virtually which have historically been in person, such as performance and succession planning roundtable discussions is a must; As is 鈥榝reeing up鈥� People managers time to be more supportive of employees by automating administrative tasks, increasing automation also places more emphasis on certain 鈥渉uman-centered鈥� skills, such as empathy which remain central to leader鈥檚 role and arguably even increase in importance in a hybrid workplace.

Human Centred Skills are a must
People Managers can no longer manage just for performance they must also manage for experience. The Human-centric skills that are generally associated with impacting workforce health and operations include empathy, agility, creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability and emotional intelligence. Gartner suggests that equipping leaders for the Hybrid workplace is a key area of opportunity for organisations to evolve their approach towards Human Leadership, where leaders are:

Authentic – Act with purpose and enable true self-expression, for both themselves and their teams.

Empathetic – Show genuine care, respect and concern for employees鈥� well-being.

Adaptive – Enable flexibility and support that fit team members鈥� unique needs.

Recruiting, promoting, and managing employees with human centred skills which reflect personal characteristics in addition to experience, however, raises further challenges to ensure these processes do not promote inequity.

It is clear that in a Hybrid workplace all people manager roles need to be more emotionally supportive of their employees. The transition to Human Leadership should be part of your company鈥檚 strategy to support long term hybrid working. Although this change was borne of the pandemic, an evolution to Human Leadership is a change that will benefit us all, employees, managers, and leaders and above all humanity.

Interested in sharing your company鈥檚 perspective on the Transformation of People Management? Our is looking for Customers to participate in our research study. Or continue the discussion by joining us at in on 30 August and on 6 September or on 30 August.

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Flexibility
From an employment perspective we have already seen the lack of flexibility play out as the great resignation. Employers need to be more flexible supporting staff to step outside their normal job role and engage in dynamic teams supported by the concept of personalisation through the 鈥榳hole self-model鈥�, where companies make it possible for employees to share more than just skills and competencies 鈥� but also individual work styles, aspirations, motivations and learning preferences.

Another example is customised benefit packages like SAP鈥檚 global 鈥溾�� program. According to Debbie Rigger, Head of Human Resources at 51风流ANZ, 51风流has always provided workplace flexibility.

鈥淲hat we needed to do was package this up into a program that our people could relate to and one where everyone can run at their personal best,鈥� said Rigger.鈥� Our Pledge to Flex program has provided a trust-based environment empowering our people to choose how, when and where they work based on individual choices.鈥�

Purpose
Brands are recognising the importance and role they can play in uplifting people during times of uncertainty. In this context employees are also re-evaluating their lives and work, and many now expect their jobs to be a significant source of purpose in their lives.

A recent report indicates that people who live their purpose at work are more productive than people who don鈥檛; they are also healthier, more resilient, and more likely to stay at the company and when employees feel that their purpose is aligned with the organisation鈥檚 purpose.

The benefits expand to include stronger employee engagement, heightened loyalty, and a greater willingness to recommend the company to others. contribution. Processes that allow employees to document and track their contribution linked to compensation processes should be a habit at your company.

McKinsey identified a 鈥榩urpose hierarchy gap鈥� with executives nearly eight times more likely to say their purpose is fulfilled by work and nearly three times more likely to say they rely on work for purpose than others.

In exploring this gap further, McKinsey found that frontline managers and employees are ten times less likely than management-level colleagues to say that they鈥檇 had opportunities to reflect on their purpose, and nine times less likely to say that they鈥檇 had a manager foster opportunities for them to work on purposeful projects.

Highlighting the importance of providing all staff the time to reflect on their own sense of purpose, and how it connects to the company鈥檚 purpose, concluding that when this is provided employees are nearly three times more likely to feel their purpose is fulfilled at work.

Sustainability
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) regulation is no longer a question of 鈥榠f鈥� but 鈥榳hen鈥� and 鈥榯o what extent鈥�. Australian regulators including are looking at Enterprise Sustainability Goals credentials and released affecting banks, insurers and superannuation trustees and is undertaking a Climate Vulnerability Assessment (CVA) of Australian banks, with results to be released this year.

has noted and commenced a review of ESG-focused financial products and will consider action ranging from engagement to enforcement. ASIC is also continuing to monitor net zero statements in both fundraising documents and in the market generally and will take regulatory action where warranted.

Employers must be ready to be held accountable and be prepared to produce key performance metrics related to the organisations鈥� purpose statement including ethical efforts through and ESG goals, and the

found that high-growth brands put a premium on accountability, with 93% indicating that they have established key performance metrics related to their purpose statement (versus 72% of negative-growth organisations) such metrics include those pertaining to product portfolio measurements (50%); diversity, equity, and inclusion (47%); and the employee review process (44%).

As we are encouraged to bring our 鈥� to work, understanding of these key global trends and their applicability to the workplace provides employers insights to assist in refining their people strategies. Is your company ready?

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鈥淓mployee benefits around health and well-being are a major topic within the Australian culture because people in this country expect more work-life balance,鈥� said Chi Tran, head of workforce market insights and data at Mercer. 鈥淥rganisations want to make sure they have the flexible programs in place to attract and retain people. We see well-being benefits becoming increasingly non-negotiable as a core component of an organization鈥檚 ability to deliver an effective employee experience.鈥�

The same study also showed that 97% of organisations had a health and wellness benefits program in place, and employees were more attracted to organisations that have a sense of purpose.

Pandemic puts employee wellness at center stage

Like everything else, the pandemic has fast-tracked the future of work. Another Mercer poll revealed that respondents from one in two companies in Asia-Pacific saw indications of worsening employee burnout and pandemic fatigue. As a result, Tran said many organisations are taking a risk-based approach with data-driven prevention programs to reduce insurance premiums while addressing worker well-being, particularly mental health.

鈥淚n addition to keeping responsive employee assistance programs in place, many companies are shifting to proactive strategies that bring people in with virtual wellness workshops on a more regular basis,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no one-size-fits-all program. Organisations need to listen to their different employee cohorts, investing in benefits that will resonate with everyone鈥檚 unique needs.鈥�

Personalised, flexible benefit programs

One example is SAP鈥檚 global 鈥淧ledge to Flex鈥� program designed to fit every鈥� employee鈥檚 鈥媟ole, style, and location while continuing to meet business and customer needs. At 51风流ANZ, where the pandemic鈥檚 impact was nascent in 2020, but revved up through 2021, the company established a framework for employees to consider when determining their work style preferences.

鈥淲e want people empowered to find the ideal working style that will meet their individual, team, and customer success responsibilities,鈥� said Debbie Rigger, head of HR at 51风流Australia and New Zealand 鈥淲e have parents with young children or other caregiving responsibilities. We have early talent working at home out of their bedroom. We want them to ask themselves, what is my role? Who are my stakeholders and what are their expectations? What family-related and other personal commitments do I have? Given all these factors, what do I need to do my best work?鈥�

Looking ahead, Rigger expects to see the unexpected, meaning employee requests for things HR has never thought of before. Meantime, the 51风流ANZ team as doubled down on creating a safe in-person reentry experience for employees based on legislation and government guidance, as well as the company鈥檚 global policies.

鈥淭his has been more of a re-education for employees about the options they have, and being transparent about what鈥檚 possible when it comes to working schedules that span full-time, part-time, compressed hours, job sharing, and even geographies,鈥� said Rigger. 鈥淕iven the border closures, people have been interested in traveling within the country, while also being able to work remotely for a specified time period. Through candid conversations with managers, employees determine how, when, and where they work based on their personal circumstances and the needs of the business.鈥�

Organisations adjust employee experience to the new normal

Flexible working practices are likely here to stay. analysts predicted that by 2023, digital transformation and business volatility would drive 70% of G2000 organisations to deploy remote or hybrid-first work models, redefining work processes and engaging diverse talent pools. The beauty of being flexible is obvious during these times of rapid change and market uncertainty.

Rigger said 51风流ANZ was already exploring how to make the most of the company鈥檚 office spaces in compliance with local legislation guidance. Hybrid work models might demand new spacial configurations, not just for social distancing, but for fundamentally changed workplace norms. From impermanent individual workstations to virtual tools that let people effectively brainstorm when they aren鈥檛 in the same room, organizations need to create that employee community again, bringing people back into a space so they can continue to be more productive.

Companies still struggling with remote versus in-person work mandates are missing the point about addressing the opportunities the global pandemic continues to reveal. Innovative organisations will jump at this historic inflection point to redefine the future of work with benefits for both organisations and their employees.

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Employing a workforce that is truly representative of the communities a company touches through its products and services may benefit the bottom line. In fact, research reveals a strong for DE&I initiatives that can positively impact employee culture, and resilience, and even deliver tangible business benefits margins and cashflow per employee.

Addressing unconscious bias

Unconscious biases, also known as implicit biases, are the underlying attitudes and stereotypes that people unconsciously attribute to another person or group of people, affecting how they understand and engage with a person or group. These stereotypes in our subconscious impact decision-making processes company-wide, and can lead to unequal and non-inclusive workplaces. For example, the universal lack of females in senior positions globally, regardless of industry and the gender pay gap, is largely attributed to unconscious bias.

Each step of the employee life cycle has the potential for unconscious bias, negating the most well intentioned DE&I targets. The talent acquisition process, for example, is the most critical in securing a diverse workforce, beginning with the job role definition. Inconsistent definition of job roles and the inclusion of non-essential requirements limits the candidates who will apply. People may self-select themselves out of the candidate pool because the language doesn鈥檛 encourage them to apply. To attract a gender balanced talent pool, make sure the position description has gender neutral language and the career site reflects inclusive messages and images.

For example, , a global manufacturer in the industrial machinery and components industry, has put diversity and inclusion at the heart of its global talent strategy, using technology to bring more women, veterans, and other under-represented communities into their traditionally-male dominated workforce. The company created a dedicated landing page on its career site to showcase its Women@Terex initiative. Similarly, , displays the various awards and recognition they have received for their DEI initiatives on its career site.

Prevent talent bias at the point of decision

Core HR and recruitment technology solutions, including AI such as machine learning, can address DE&I issues. AI-based software platforms that are both data-driven and taught to ignore traditional prejudices rely on algorithms that prevent historical patterns of underrepresentation. These platforms can support the full range of talent processes, including who to hire, and how to manage them, as well as development, rewards, and promotions. The objective is to detect and mitigate bias at the decision-making step. For example, SAP鈥檚 Business Beyond Bias initiative helps customers use 51风流SuccessFactors to eliminate inherent biases around age, race and ethnicity, as well as differently-abled individuals, and LGBTQ+ communities.

, an international food company committed to conserving the goodness of nature, relies on the creativity and imagination of its people to stay ahead of competitors. The Hero Group attributes the deployment of technology to support its performance and goals process as having 鈥渆nabled us to establish an open culture that feeds our employees鈥� ambitions and supports their development鈥� and ultimately drives our success.鈥�

When it comes to compensation, team salary overviews can spotlight inequities and bias alerts with a calibration tool that analyses historical data, surfacing important information to managers, such as when an employee has not been promoted in over three years despite consistently high performance ratings.

Gaining actionable insights from analytics and metrics

As with any other organisational imperative, DE&I requires a structured approach and regular monitoring and refinement. Analytics reveal meaningful data that we might not otherwise detect. For example, it鈥檚 not enough to understand the composition of your workforce. A dashboard that brings together analytics can help managers visualize and forecast diversity trends, highlighting critical diversity metrics and the impact of leadership programs. Companies can create diversity scorecards to benchmark internal trends against external metrics such as industry, location, or other parameters. Pushing diversity data out to managers鈥� desktops, and providing data relevant to their daily activities at the point of decision through embedded analytics provides transparency and supports actionable insights down the management line.

HR technology is already helping organisations live and work by DE&I practices. Diversity is a reality, but equity and inclusion is a choice, giving business and HR leaders an important role in changing workplace norms for individuals, the company, and the entire community.

Find out more about DE&I strategies at the virtual .

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That said, Australian executives may be underestimating upcoming challenges. Less than half (47%) expected COVID-19 to increase flexibility for remote work over the next year. They did expect that maintaining productivity given new ways of working (49%) and establishing a culture that supported more remote employees (44%) would become top challenges for businesses, but at a far lower percentage than many other countries in the survey.

from employers and employees in 10 countries, including Australia. It was conducted in partnership with , Oxford Economics, and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Deliberately design for employee engagement

Speaking during the , Sarah McCann-Bartlett, CEO of Australian HR Institute, said that her organisation鈥檚 research revealed challenges as companies moved to hybrid work. While most organisations In Australia fall somewhere along a continuum between onsite and remote work choices, having a hybrid model that equally engages all employees can be more difficult.

鈥淭here鈥檚 concern among some HR practitioners about creating a two-tiered system in the workplace, and that employee engagement among those who can鈥檛 work remotely will drop. Some are considering other flexibility benefits they can provide to support the work/life balance of these employees,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e need to give it the thought, time, consultation, project management, training, and engagement that we would any change project. Envision your future and deliberately work towards that.鈥�

Don鈥檛 leave out culture change

Just because it鈥檚 possible to have workers all remote, doesn鈥檛 mean that鈥檚 necessarily the most productive working model. McCann-Bartlett advised companies to make hybrid work decisions in the context of the corporate culture.

鈥淔or those looking at moving to a new workplace model, culture change has to be part of this process. she said. 鈥淭his is even more urgent for Australian organisations鈥o focus on building much healthier, and more inclusive, ethical cultures.鈥�

Think digital first

Most of the surveyed Australian leaders were satisfied with the technology they have for new ways of working鈥攂ut they may not be accommodating all workers. For example, less than 23 percent said that most of their workers had the necessary technology and environment effectively work remotely. Customer service workers (54%), general staff (51%), and service/field workers (51%) were especially disadvantaged in this area.

鈥淗R needs to think digital first. It鈥檚 one people strategy that leads with digital,鈥� said Jason Averbook, CEO and founder of Leapgen. 鈥淒igital starts with a mindset and vision鈥econd, it鈥檚 how do I understand my people and how they work鈥ow do I make sure I鈥檓 designing for them and not HR鈥hird, that HR develops not processes, but employee journeys that generate feelings which create the employee experience鈥nd fourth is the technology.鈥�

Holistic employee experience

With the advent of digitalisation, employers have the tools to find out what workers are going through and act on their input. However, in the same survey, Australians were significantly less likely than respondents in other countries to conduct regular employee pulse surveys (25%).

鈥淥ne of the biggest learnings from the pandemic is that humans are more important than ever, and I hope this stays with us in every country鈥t鈥檚 time to start checking in with people instead of checking up on people, enabling people instead of monitoring people,鈥� said Averbrook. 鈥淭hose organisations that listen and act are going to be key. We need to design the employee experience for the whole person鈥hysical, emotional, spiritual, social and intellectual.鈥�

Bridging the workforce learning gap

The report also found that although companies viewed reskilling as a long-term talent investment, just 30 percent expected to invest in learning programs for reskilling and upskilling over the next year vs. 38 percent in other countries.

鈥淩eskilling is very pertinent because we鈥檙e looking at potential labor shortages in a number of areas,鈥� said McCann-Bartlett. 鈥淭he border has been shut for over a year with no skilled immigration and a reduction in foreign students鈥ho stay on and take up roles in Australia. If we don鈥檛 focus on this, the skills our workforce needs are not going to be developed.鈥�

The future of work is now

Organisations can take advantage of the massive appetite and opportunity for change by designing employee-centric HR strategies.

鈥淧eople realise we have to be much more agile in fragile times,鈥� said Averbook. 鈥淭hat takes an understanding of the employee. We have to stop counting heads and make heads count鈥hen based on employee persona, we can say some work can happen in the office, at home鈥e design for the mindset of the organisation.鈥�

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According to the report, 鈥溾��, the vast majority of Australian HR executives surveyed claim their organisation effectively found new ways of working in response to the pandemic (80%) and believe they are well prepared to address the changing work environment (78%).

HR challenges and opportunities in 2021

However, other findings indicate Australian HR executives may be underestimating upcoming people challenges as changes to the workplace continue to accelerate. 聽Almost half of Australian leaders (47%) see increased employee demand for remote work as one of the top long-term impacts of the pandemic, with 64 per cent saying they expect flexible work policies will be more important to an organisation鈥檚 ability to attract or retain talent going forward. Yet less than a quarter (23%) agree the majority of their workers can work remotely and have the necessary technology and environment to do so effectively.

Only 14 per cent of Australian HR executives surveyed plan to invest in return-to-work technologies over the next 12 months, including test and tracing and remote worker management technologies, despite almost half (49%) expecting that maintaining productivity in the new dispersed work environment is going to be an ongoing challenge.

Australian leaders are also not viewing reskilling talent as a top priority, with only a third (34%) claiming they expect to invest in learning programs for reskilling and upskilling over the next year. Among the top countries to invest in reskilling are Mexico (50%), India (46%) and Spain (40%).

“Modernising HR is a critical piece of any organisation’s digital transformation journey, and it’s become even more important as we continue to adjust in the wake of the pandemic,” says Angela Colantuono, VP and head of 51风流SuccessFactors ANZ, which partnered with Oxford Economics and the Society of Human Resource Management to conduct the study.

Preparing for the future of Work

“There has been a huge amount of resilience and agility demonstrated in recent months as workplaces have adapted, but driving ongoing business results demands a continued focus on agile processes, learning and reskilling, and a culture that embraces every individual and values their feedback.”

Staying on top of employee sentiment is another area where executives鈥� feedback points to a mismatch between expectations and intentions. While more than 44 per cent of global respondents said that establishing a culture that supports remote employees will be a challenge going forward, and most acknowledge that their workers have had very different experiences depending on if they are salaried, hourly, office or field workers, Australian leaders are significantly less likely than other countries to be conducting regular pulse surveys to gather employee feedback (25%). Many may be left in the dark about employee sentiment as the workplace continues to evolve.

鈥� surveyed HR leaders in 10 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. The data in this press release represents more than 300 HR leaders in Australia.

Download the . To find out more about 51风流SuccessFactors Human Experience Management solutions, visit the .听

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After a loud and impressive video montage of his achievements 鈥� climbing Everest, crossing the arctic in an inflatable boat, or teaching President Obama survival skills in Alaska 鈥� the soft-spoken, sincere nature of the man onstage at the 2019 SuccessConnect event in London was all the more apparent.

When Bear Grylls speaks about his successes and failures, what drives him, and what he believes is everybody鈥檚 remarkable potential, you know he means it. Here are three strategies for personal survival that he imparted to the crowd.

Grit Matters, Not the Outcome

In the world of聽human resources聽(HR), we often talk about qualities like grit and a growth mindset because of the results they give us. What Bear Grylls reminded the audience was the ways in which qualities like grit can make us stronger 鈥� no matter what happens.

When Grylls spoke about his second attempt to join the British Special Forces (he failed the first time), he described a gruelling, nonstop hike in a remote corner of Britain in which he and a few colleagues were marched up and down mountains carrying heavy packs through cold and rain, in light and in darkness.

At the end, there was a promised convoy to take them home and an offer of acceptance if they could tough it out. When the convoy drove off unexpectedly, just steps from him and his fellow recruits at the end of the trail, all but Grylls and one other gave up on the spot. Something inside him, said Grylls, chose to march over one more hill, not quite because he believed the promise of the officer that it would be the final hill, but because he had resolved for himself that he would not give up this time.

In the end, Grylls and his fellow recruit only had to take a few more steps before they were offered membership. It was the willingness to keep going, the grit, that counted, not the test of yet another hill.

Strength Can Come from Unexpected Places

As a public figure, Grylls is defined by physical strength and endurance. On his many shows, viewers have seen him, scorched, starved, fatigued, and nearly frozen while subjected to just about any extreme physical situation imaginable. But it was not a purely physical challenge that transformed him into a celebrity.

While still in the military, a freak accident during a parachuting exercise left his spine broken in three places. He was told he would never walk again. During his convalescence, Grylls said he could not turn to the one quality which had, until then, given him a feeling of mastery over life: the strength of his body.

Instead, he had to look to his friends, family, and faith to guide him through what he still calls the darkest time in his life. These newfound forms of strength not only expanded his mind and fortified his spirit, they also allowed him to fully recover. Within a year of the accident, Grylls climbed Ama Dablam, a forbidding 22,000-foot Himalayan peak. It was after that achievement that he became a public figure.

Success is Never the Whole Story

We all compare ourselves to the successful people we see in the media and in our own lives. When I asked for advice on how to be more adventurous in my own life, Grylls surprisingly spoke about failure. It is the flipside of the coin for those who are willing to attempt great things; by definition, things with outcomes that are uncertain. If you make this a habit, explained Grylls, you are bound to rack up some negative outcomes: 鈥淭he thing is, people forget about the failures once you have succeeded.鈥� Behind his success is 鈥渁 whole ton of disastrous expeditions and failed TV projects and books that never have worked. But those are [part of] the story.鈥�

Hearing about the necessity of failure from the youngest person ever to summit Everest was all the encouragement I needed to look at my to-do list, pick the one task or project that I had been avoiding, and make that my next action.

It is true that Grylls鈥� challenges are in an area that is radically different from what most of us face every day. But anyone can benefit from his ingredients for success: grit, knowing where true strength lies, and never forgetting that failure is never the final word.

This article first appeared on the 51风流Global News Centre.

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