If, in the changed situation we’re facing, you’re questioning how you can continue to develop your top talent and help them feel valued, you’re not alone. The good news is that there are key steps that can help your organisation during this time of uncertainty.
As the corporate world has globalised and teams have become more dispersed, the need for remote leadership has already grown significantly. This has been put into sharp relief in the past two weeks.
The current crisis is actually an opportunity here, albeit an unforeseen one: the chance to give your top talent the experience of leading a remote team, even if that team lives on the same street.
Our research and the experience of our own clients has some even better news: leaders who manage remote teams effectively can actually increase engagement and productivity compared with those who are co-located.
There are some core approaches that we recommend to deliver the best foundations for strengthened leadership and continued talent development: • Communication is essential, regardless of the channel Remote leadership doesn’t need to rely on the latest video technology. Before the advent of video conferencing, leaders with remote teams (e.g. field sales managers or retail area managers) used regular phone-check ins with people to talk through what they were doing, how they were feeling and what blockers they could help to remove.
Today, we can use the telephone just as we did then, as well as taking advantage of the multitude of other channels and technologies available. This might mean different channels are used for different team members, but as long as you’re in regular contact, the method is actually of little consequence.
- Regular check-ins are critical Ensuring your top talent has regular check-ins and coaching sessions with their leaders is vital. Make them feel valued by giving them one of your most valuable resources – your time. During this time, ensure the focus is on them: how are they doing, how are they leading, what are their issues, what can you do to remove the concerns they have?
In particular, ask them how they are finding leading their own team in the current situation. Remember, while top talent can give an awful lot to the organisation, they themselves often need ‘management fuel’ to help with their own motivation.
Most importantly perhaps, let your top talent know that there are opportunities for them to play a big role in helping people through this time. Ownership and responsibility are core assets for both developing talent and demonstrating how much they are valued.
- Be open to new ways of working With an increasingly distributed workforce, communication and collaboration requires different approaches and different routes to function. Undoubtedly, there will be a need for redefining ways of working in your organisation as a whole, and within departments and teams. Your top talent may be very well placed to input into the creative ways your organisation can adjust to this new norm – which may well provide improved working practices for the long-term, too.
- Provide learning and coaching opportunities Learning and development doesn’t have to stop during times of change or crisis. In fact, they are often the catalyst for large leaps in individual and team capability.
Digital learning tools and solutions are being harnessed much more widely with a newly-remote workforce, and this should be accessible to your top talent. Group learning on simulation platforms or virtual reality are just some of the advanced ways that our own clients are accessing learning, but the options are almost limitless, so assess what may work best for your organisation.
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Mentoring and coaching may also prove to be critical to the motivation of your top talent. If internal leaders are stretched during this time, you can ensure development continues using external coaching and mentoring, which can easily happen over the phone, via video-conferencing or a variety of social apps.
Given the current uncharted situation, it’s likely that leaders will be given more latitude to find what works best, both for themselves and the individuals within their teams. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, but our guidelines may help your organisation to more easily navigate the path ahead, ensuring your top talent doesn’t get missed among the multitude of other considerations you’re having to focus your time on.
By Dr Andy Brown, CEO and co-founder ENGAGE
