Call for ‘humane’ leadership, post-crisis

Dr B K Mukhopadhyay (The author is a Professor of Management and Economics, formerly at IIBM (RBI) Guwahati. He can be contacted at m. bibhas@gmail.

com) Dr. Boidurjo Rick Mukhopadhyay (The author, international award-winning development and management economist, formerly a Gold Medalist in Economics at Gauhati University) T hey say “Never let a crisis go to waste” . While the pandemic has provided new opportunities for people in leadership roles to change how they operate, it has also led to the ‘great resignation’ during this period.

Moving forward, how people and organizations are managed and led are of particular interest. A recent US-based study interviewed leaders, leadership development professionals, and young graduates from consulting, financial services, media and technology, and also consumer goods sectors entering the workforce at a time of unprecedented global market uncertainty to understand how the pandemic would impact business markets, processes, and also operations. Going forward, it is essential to know the set of skills that managers and leaders will require to possess in the post-pandemic global market.

A Forbes evidenced that the pandemic would continue to impact global markets, and the nature of operations, and also disrupt the supply chain at various levels over the next few years. Naturally, therefore, the way we produce and also how we travel would significantly change, at the same time, we will explore new markets and newer ways of approaching them. The rise and importance of ‘humane leadership’ In addition to this, nourishing organizational culture and building relationships largely based on digital communication would still remain something to be continually improvised.

While working from home is a reality today, it is also about the mindset to identify new opportunities and improve a progressive attitude towards work, particularly in a virtual setting. Another study that interviewed over 2K individuals from a mix of industries reports that 33 per cent believe that the quality of their working relationships will suffer from continued reliance on virtual communication, whereas only 23 per cent think that their relationships might actually improve. Leadership skills such as openness, empathy, resilience, altruism, and also perhaps the most important ability of all – to communicate effectively are now of greater importance.

Despite the devastating effects that the pandemic has on multiple sectors, it is also a time when leaders have recognised valuable opportunities for innovation. Some report that their organizations have pivoted operations successfully during the crisis by seeking out new markets and new ways of connecting to customers. From marketing to operations, from international business to talent recruitment, effective leaders have changed strategies to stay ahead of the curve.

‘Psychological safety and well-being Psychological safety in the workplace is one of the areas that have regained importance at various levels in light of events in the past two years. Most jobs are still encouraging and supporting employees to sign up for flexible working arrangements. Leaders recognise that under the new working arrangements, the work does continue after all and therefore it remains important to find ways to keep employees motivated, stay innovative, and at the same time prosper under pressure.

From companies like Google to firms in Investment banking, it has been observed that mentorship, providing mental health support, and mindfulness training have been emphasised a lot more recently. The psychological safety aspect is supreme and therefore the focus is to build cultures that acknowledge and allow for the mental and emotional pressures that people will face while working from home. This needs to be considered by the organizations all the more today.

‘Recalibrating the Human Connection is Essential Lockdown, isolation, and cutting off social life, amongst others had a significant impact on the mental health of millions of people. In late 2020, WHO estimated the economic impact of depression and anxiety on the global economy at US$ 1 trillion per year in lost productivity. Needless to say, that has only gone up over the past few months.

As Economies have now opened up, these issues won’t simply go away expecting things to return to normalcy rather quickly. Leaders have to work closely in ensuring that ‘return to work is realistic, manageable, supportive, and gradual. Leaders who understand how to cultivate meaningful relationships with their staff are more likely to be able to rally the troops.

One example that takes a step forward, leaders in the tech sector in Silicon Valley, particularly the AI industry recently proposed on grounds of moral responsibility that it is essential to address questions of developing and using Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions to make day-to-day interfaces more effective while addressing mental health challenges. Several strings of research are currently in progress addressing this need. In higher education, leaders have improvised on design learning experiences that rely less on traditional learning session formats.

This goes beyond the platforms that help us deliver lessons recently, but it is more about developing a new mindset where the faculty is more of a facilitator and improves learners by mentoring and coaching learners thereby making them co-creators in their own development. Schools and Universities have invested more in experiential learning, and cross-cultural interactions, and at the same time support faculty to upskill in the latest digital learning technologies. Guiding on preserving the sense of purpose while cultivating an innovative mindset are important considerations for leaders in organizations.

People take ownership of their self-development with the goal of becoming the best versions of themselves. Signing up for courses offered by LinkedIn Learning, Coursera and similar platforms has skyrocketed in the recent past. Prioritising autonomy and developing the resilience that people need to unearth opportunities and expand their networks are areas where leaders are investing significantly.

However, these initiatives need guidance and a sense of direction and therefore organizational leaders need to create time for employees to guide them to reflect on their sense of purpose, and help them identify areas where their skills are strongest and areas where they most need improvement. ‘Managing a Hybrid Workforce’ As employees return to work in most places, there is a growing discussion that some employers in particular industries are offering a workplace arrangement where either the employees can work from home on certain days or/ and spend restricted hours at the office. But the hybrid arrangements are becoming the new reality.

We can expect to see more companies accommodating remote work to various degrees and greater flexibility as regards working hours. For casual and freelance workers in the gig economy, employers should nurture a more inclusive workplace culture and employment benefits now that the pandemic has shown the importance of the gig economy. Leaders need to recognise and foster strong, cohesive teams, despite the obvious gap between team members at the office and those working from home.

Managing a part of the team in person in the office and the other part/s that are working and responding virtually called for a redesigned leadership style. In some industries, this would be something entirely new. Technology certainly helps on this score, however, that’s largely limited to communication and capacity building, for example, the heightened importance of data in decision-making will demand new strengths in data and problem-solving and critical thinking.

Leaders have to step in when it comes to team building nurturing the team building and spirit along with empathy and motivating the employees, working virtually or otherwise. As the pandemic crippled the world economy and exposed flaws in some of our long-held assumptions, the issues around leadership and requirements in a leader have changed vastly. Human skills, an effective and accommodative organizational structure, workplace culture, and integration of virtual teams with physical ones would call for a strategic and integrated approach, going forward.

Transparency, willingness to adapt, and an openness to listen would top the traits that leaders would essentially require. These are amongst the other characteristics of effective leadership as discussed in this article which will determine survival and new definitions of success in this ‘new normal economy. .