CEOs, let's reimagine connection in the workplace.

The month I've been an active participant in a debate regarding Quiet Quitting during the World Economic Forum's annual event in Davos. Workforce dynamics are changing quickly I am struck that the decision-makers have been asking plenty of appropriate questions. how to balance the benefits as well as the drawbacks along with the possibilities as well as the risks associated through AI and the necessity to create an environment that's more comfortable and long-lasting.

However, one question is deserving of more attention in the event that the workforce of our generation is evolving technologically as well as Post-pandemic behaviour and expectations are changing...don't our leaders also need to adjust?

There's a whole Generation of Digital Natives who have entered the workforce. They have grown up making and sharing video instead of calling or sending texts. They are now able to consider TikTok or YouTube as their main source of information. When it comes to their private lives, they're hyper-connected and also extremely engaged.

In their professional life, it's a completely distinct story. We're witnessing dramatic decreases in employee engagement and satisfaction among remote Gen Z and younger millennials. Only 4 percent of employees younger than 40 that are hybrid or remote know what is expected of them when they work More than 50% of Gen Z employees are ambivalent or not engaged at work. When we think of that employee engagement is the leading indicator of workforce productivity and productivity that has significant effects for each company as well as any revenue.

What's the reason for this disconnect? In the workplace and in our lives it is common that we want to be part of something larger that we are. It is our natural desire to be part of something bigger, to have an identity that is open sincere, authentic as well as authentically human. The more that our society is digitally dispersed and AI-enabled, the harder it is to connect with real people every single day. Particularly, if we haven't modified our work practices in order to adapt to the new generation. Our employees are still required to go through an avalanche of documentation, write lengthy emails, as well as attend boring meetings. Employees learn about layoffs as well as corporate priorities via comms that are made consisting of scripts as well as automated, which can be created using ChatGPT. Our only insight as managers have comes through cookie-cutter engagement surveys or live events with very low turn-in rates, and the occasional snarky chat or Q&A.

Traditional management models are not serving us. It's time to adapt how we as leaders show up and engage with our team. In the same way that we're focused in enhancing the abilities of our staff in regards to the changing size of our population tech trends, demographics and demographics as well, we must develop our leadership abilities in order to build trust and connection at large.

I've had a go at a lot of this during the past several years . These are the things I've learned and applied which I think will help us show up differently and more efficiently lead:

     1. You are who you are.

When the outbreak, I hosted an open town hall for the world at the home of my parents within Flint, Michigan -- sleep deprived, wearing my pajamas that were made from velour and my toddler son and my mother shifting between backgrounds.

This could have been the most efficient communication of all time.

Why? because it was not scripted as well as uncomfortable, awkward and messy. It's very easy to slip into "us versus us versus them" situations when working in an office, especially when we are under stress or challenge. It's simple to imagine "leadership" as an unnamed and insignificant machine. Being video-first and visual in your communication can be a potent deterrent. It forces you to remove the veil and protect yourself from writing and editing communications. One of the best ways to communicate your message is to show yourself as you really are.

There is a lot of examples of leaders that were at risk, and that backfiring...but I would guess that, in most cases it was because the leader was working too much. It is important to be willing and allow that part of yourself to fall short before your group. We all have flaws that make us human. Everybody wants to see their leaders do their best which only motivates us to follow them more.

     2. Begin by asking the "why . "

Much like many managers, I've been faced with difficult decisions in the last year. In the past I've had to make executive decisions as well as laid-offs, from reorganizing and cutting down on projects to boost efficiency. It's my job to make those difficult, controversial decisions and make changes fast within our business.

In a growing number of cases, employees are looking to learn the reasons of their choicesNot just the "what" however there is also the "why". That includes the desire to know the wider context of competition, trade-offs balanced and weighed, and the method employed and when it was.

The classic comms book advises that when you face an urgent communication problem that requires your attention to be a little strained, start with the "what" then get straight into the crucial steps. But, I've had more success in getting my team members to make a decision by presenting my team members as the key stakeholders who deserve to understand the context.

At the end of the day, beginning with "why" is a the first rule to follow for any communication about . There are of course limitations to fully transparent communication (legal or PR-related and risk to the customer) However, I've found that the majority of the perceived barriers to transparency simply are that. Perceived. The public may not always agree with your decisions however, it is possible to say that if they disagree with you, then perhaps you're not doing your job. They will however appreciate and accept your choices in the beginning when you know the reasoning behind them.

     3. Spend money on in-person meetings or even in-person gatherings Make it more personal.

Sure, I see the irony in being the head of a firm that creates videos saying that. But, one of the biggest lessons I've learned in the last couple of months was that we've been waiting too long and weren't conscious enough of bringing our teams closer in reality.

In January, a week after announcing layoffs, we held a kickoff for our company in NYC. The event brought in employees from over 12 nations. Our employees were based in Ukraine and traveled via plane or train to reach us. We decided to avoid the typical event celebration confetti and went with a more casual look with the smallest budget. This was among the most energizing and needed decisions I've ever made.

It is even more powerful for those in leadership when you hop on a plane and visit your team wherever they are. We are a distributed executive team that spans eight distinct locations, ranging at Seattle to Switzerland. Most of them were hired in the past year therefore are relatively new and are only beginning to become a cohesive team. To accelerate the process of building a cohesive team the team started hosting offsites within each leader's home city. Our CFO's mom was a host to us at her fireplace in Vermont. The Head of Sales at the time was dressed in apron. He made us frittatas for breakfast. The working sessions took place at our Table of the Chef of Product.

The outbreak provided us with the opportunity to peek into other peoples' homes and personal lives . If we make the most of that and integrate the incident into our daily lives, it's possible to create better-performing and more cohesive teams.

     4. There is a possibility of switching from "lean back" to "lean forward" experience.

An essential communication ability will likely to evolve into the capacity to create "lean forward" experience, not "lean back" broadcasts. Humans have attention spans that have been decreasing (now below the eight-second mark which is shorter than the goldfish's length!). We communicate through multiple emails. This could be through an email you read or a highly produced town halls that you can sit and observe.

This impact on engagement in our own data, where the average time to stop watching video has dropped in the last couple of years. If we don't change our strategy, the possibility of losing viewers will seriously hinder our capacity to ensure that our teams are aligned and productive.

The key here is shifting our thinking and be open to trying new things. There is a younger generation that is entering the workforce who is ahead of us in their ability to generate as well as record genuine and rich information. They are ahead because they are free of the limitations that our generation faced throughout the decades of the traditional methods for communication in the workplace.

It's true that employees don't quit their job, they simply let managers depart. The CEOs are, in fact, the best supervisors. According to the results of a study of more than 113,000 executives The most important element of effective leader is their trustworthiness to their employees. As leaders, we must teach ourselves how to show up in more authentic, interesting and reliable ways. I'm betting that the executives who are open to this new world will be more efficient in overseeing the future generation of employees. They'll better educate and involve teams distributed all over the world, coordinate employees to improve outcomes, and develop solid relationships that produce incredible work. They'll stop communicating and make connections more effectively.

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