With most of us now seeing some normality in our day to day lives with returning to work, a lot of pressure has been put on managers to provide extra support for employees, says Claire Conlaund
During lockdown most of the UK were forced to either work from home or were placed on the furlough system. Managers were expected, through this time, to support their employees through different virtual means such as social video calls.
A survey produced by The Skills Network discovered that with 50% of workers now back in the work environment, managers may need to change their support systems once again.
What support can managers offer?
With 60% of employees confessing they have not been offered any support by their management, it has resulted in 63% overall being concerned either for their physical health, mental health, or both.
One major concern still comes from staff safety linking to Covid-19, with many asking for their company to reconsider working from home rules and flexible working hours.
The following outlooks have been found as a way for employers to provide extra support to their workers where working from is unfortunately not an option:
- Extra training
- New communication tools
- Support groups/ meetings
- Regular company updates
- Company safety changes
Jake Third was named as the new managing director of Google’s Premier Partners Growing Businesses Online 2019 award winners, Hallam. He has pieced together his top three Covid-19 lessons to help shape the future:
Tackle the biggest issue head on
‘I firmly believe that if you put the best solution together you can and articulate that with transparency that is the optimum course of action to getting the best result to a problem. Your colleagues will see that and even if they don’t think you made the right decision, you won’t have it held against you.’
A one-size leadership approach does not fit all scenarios
‘Leaders need to be able to flex their style. Sometimes a firm hand is required, and colleagues need to be told what direction they are going in. That tends to only be required during a time of crisis, but that is crucial.’
Be transparent about everything
‘There should be no level of information within a company and its staff that should be hidden. Leadership teams should share 100% of the information of the team and if you are not doing that, it’s because you have got something to hide. By adopting that approach, you are able to justify your decision because you’re providing context.’
Managers also need support
The added pressure placed on managers, to keep their staff feeling safe, will increase their own stress. They will have challenging conversations with employees who have suffered bereavements or are struggling to return to work.
Many managers are having to double-up their emotional support for staff.
A pragmatic way to support managers is to ensure that they are provided with all the resources they need, to navigate staff through this uncertain period. This should include executive directors providing managers with access to up-to-date health and safety information, as well as access to some form of additional management training.
Managers will be under acute pressure to handle conflicting demands and they will need their own support to cope with the feeling of added responsibility.
It is important to switch off once your working day is over. It’s important to not take the weight of the world on your shoulders. While it is ultimately your responsibility to make the workspace safe, don’t carry the stress of the virus itself along with it. When you leave work at the end of the day, that’s it. If you don’t recharge and take time for yourself then you’re going to burnout. And then you can’t help your employees stay safe. Look after yourself and then you can look after others.
Claire Conlaund is Managing Director at The Skills Network. She joined The Skills Network in 2013 and worked initially on bringing the company in line with its fast growth across financial systems and processes.
The Skills Network is one of the most successful providers of online learning solutions in the UK. It is an online training provider that delivers distance learning courses, staff training and apprenticeship programmes. It helps businesses such as Sodexo, Kier and The Trades Union Congress (TUC) to reach their training and development goals via online training programmes.
The Skills Network surveyed 459 adults aged 18+ in the UK between 7 and 15 July 2020. Survey results are based upon sampled data with a confidence level of 95% and a 4.4% margin of error against the UK adult population in October 2018 of 53,383,965, as per the Office for National Statistics data.
