Articles

TASA ID: 22108

As a manager, leading a reshuffled hybrid team after layoffs can be a challenging task. The team dynamic has changed, and employees may be feeling uncertain, anxious or even resentful about the changes. This can affect their motivation and productivity, which can lead to decreased morale, lower job satisfaction and eventually, high turnover. It can be even more difficult when the layoffs happened in a less-than-empathetic manner, such as many prominent tech companies - Google, Twitter, Amazon, Meta, and others - recently laying off their employees by email.

But with the right approach, managers can navigate this difficult situation and keep their teams motivated and productive. As an expert in hybrid workforce strategy, I helped team managers navigate through this stressful period, so as to minimize the natural decline of productivity, morale, and engagement that accompanies any layoff and team reshuffling.

TASA ID: 1302

William Shedd, a noted American Presbyterian Theologian in the 1800s, once said, “A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.” Almost 150 years later, modern businesses are finding the principles behind this saying still hold true. In fact, this same line of thinking can effectively be applied to many information technology (IT) projects today.

IT investments comprise over half the capital budgets of U.S. organizations, but in spite of the obvious importance placed on IT, many projects are cancelled outright, completed late, over budget, or fail to deliver the promised business capabilities and financial ROI. Given the magnitude of the resources utilized, the opportunity costs, and the risks involved, IT projects are clearly an issue that deserves executive-level attention in addition to that afforded it by the chief information officer at your company. 

The planning and management of IT project investments is a material concern for those dealing with requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), the Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70: Service Organizations (SAS 70), financial forecasts, SEC reports, and other regulatory and reporting requirements. Such concerns are not limited to U.S. companies and their foreign subsidiaries since these laws and standards potentially affect companies outside the U.S. as well.

TASA ID: 22108

As the world slowly recovers from the pandemic, many knowledge workers find themselves at a crossroads. On one hand, the prospect of returning to the office stirs up a cocktail of dread and nostalgia. On the other hand, the threat of AI-driven job elimination looms large. It's like being caught between a rock and a hard place, or more aptly, between a swivel chair and a supercomputer.

But let's take a step back and examine the situation. The office, despite its occasional inconveniences, offers a unique environment for collaboration, innovation, and social interaction. It's the proverbial watering hole where ideas are exchanged, relationships are forged, and corporate culture is nurtured. That’s how I encourage my clients to frame the conversation in formulating their approach to hybrid work policy.

TASA ID: 22108

As companies continue to navigate the new normal of remote and hybrid work, it is crucial that they establish clear expectations and guidelines for their employees. In addition, unlike Disney and Twitter, it’s very important that they don’t change their minds randomly when the leadership changes.

However, a recent survey conducted by Mercer found that only a third of organizations have formal rules in place for managing flexible work. Mercer assessed 749 organizations and found that 48% rely on informal and ambiguous guidelines to manage flexible work, 17% are completely hands off, and only 34% rely on clear and transparent formal rules. This lack of clear communication and expectations can have a serious impact on both retention and recruitment efforts.

TASA ID: 22108

Picture this: a large tech company decides to bring employees back to the office, believing that this will encourage mentoring and support organizational continuity. For example, consider what Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said in Spring 2023 on the “On With Kara Swisher” podcast: “For our new employees who are coming in, we know empirically that they do better if they’re in the office, meeting people, being on-boarded, being trained. If they are at home and not going through that process, we don’t think they’re as successful.” 

That’s why Salesforce decided to change its policy from its previous fully flexible model: for example, the company’s Chief People Officer, Brent Hyder, wrote in a September 2022 company blog post that “at Salesforce, we’ve never had office mandates, and we never will.” However, in the Spring of 2023, Salesforce demanded that sales and marketing staff come to the office four days a week. We’re seeing many tech, finance, and other leaders make similar claims and adopt similar policies.

Certainly, these changes at Salesforce and other companies represent well-intentioned moves trying to develop the careers and performance of junior staff. Unfortunately, the evidence shows that they are misguided in the post-pandemic world. The result? Resentful senior staff, lackluster mentoring, and a suboptimal work environment. Here's why, and how to fix it.