Employees have seen a measurable rise in the work experience over the last century, with worker safety, wages, and benefits all improving. But as we move past the industrial revolution and into a new age of work, maybe partially propelled by COVID-19, we have new challenges.
Joshua Siegal, VP of organizational effectiveness at Wave HQ and co-founder of Taito – Rise, presented at DisruptHR on how decentralization presents new challenges for connecting.
“Unlike the platypus, who predominantly lives its life in solitude, humans are born wired for connection,” says Siegal. “It’s in our DNA, as strong of a need as food, water, or warmth.” As adults, we make many of the connections in the workplace. What happens when that disappears?
People are struggling to adapt and are lonely.
Siegal shared four “T’s” that he learned as he scaled an organization from 150 centralized employees to 1,000 decentralized employees over five years.
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- Technology. It’s getting cheaper but don’t skimp. While it can’t replace face-to-face, it’s better than nothing.
- Travel. Getting your team together (of course, after COVID-19). It’s important for decentralized teams and it will be important post-coronavirus.
- Training. Coach and guide your people leaders on the new way of working. This isn’t easy for anyone and very few are natural at managing remote teams.
- Talent. Great leaders find ways to keep people connected. Continue to optimize your people leaders toward connection.
Watch the five-minute video below.
In partnership with DisruptHR, TLNT presents some of the best Disrupt presentations from events across North America and now the world. Disrupt talks are modeled on the Ignite concept: Short, to the point talks on all things HR — talent, culture, and technology.
