CEOs, let's reimagine connection to work.

The month I've been part of a panel discussion on Quiet quitting at the annual World Economic Forum gathering in Davos. We live in a rapidly evolving world for those who work, and it strikes me that our leaders, as well are tackling a variety relevant questions, including how to balance the benefits and disadvantages of remote work. The risks and potential of AI as well as the necessity of developing better and more sustainable companies.

But one question is worthy of more attention: if our workforce is changing, technology is changing, and post-pandemic behaviors as well as expectations changing...don't our leaders also need to adapt also?

There is an entire Generation of Digital Natives making their way through the corporate world. They were educated to create and sharing videos instead of communicating or making calls as they are able to consider TikTok or YouTube the best sources for data. In their personal life, they're hyper-connected as well as extremely involved.

In their working life, there's an entirely different situation. There's notable decreases in engagement and employee satisfaction among the remote Gen Z and younger millennials. Fewer than four in ten employees who work remotely or within hybrid workplaces know what they are expected to do at work. Moreover, over fifty percent of Gen Z employees are ambivalent or aren't engaged in their workplace. If we take employee engagement as the primary indicator of workforce productivity and productivity that has significant implications for every business and every company's profitability.

Why is this lack of communication? At work, as well as in our lives everyone wants to be part of some bigger picture than we have to be. It is our natural desire to be part of larger things, and also to have a sense of identity that is transparent, clear and real. However, the more of our workforce is dispersed digitally and connected to AI and dispersed, the harder it will be to make genuine connections every single day. Particularly, if, as of yet, we've not modified our working methods in order to meet the needs of the next generation. We still ask our employees to go through an avalanche of documents or to write long emails, and then participate in ineffective gatherings. The employees learn about layoffs as well as their company's goals from messages which are so automated and scripted that they could be produced through ChatGPT. All we have is via cookie-cutter surveys regarding engagement, live-streamed events with very low percentages of participation, as well as occasional informal chats, or Q&As.

The traditional model of managing has proven ineffective. It's the time to change how we , as leaders, present ourselves and communicate with our employees. Just as we are focused on upgrading our employees in the wake changing demographics, demographics as well as technological trends, we also have to improve our capabilities as leaders, so we are able to build relationships and trust on a scale.

I've played around with a lot of these in the last several years . These are the things I'm exploring and adopting that I believe will allow us to become more flexible and lead more effectively:

     1. Find out who you are and become who you are.

In the midst of the outbreak was raging, I attended the town hall that was held across the world from my house in Flint, Michigan -- tired and slumbering in my velvet pajamas along with my son, who is a toddler and my grandmother moving through the background.

Perhaps it was my most successful communication in my life.

Why? because it's not scripted chaotic, vulnerable, and chaotic. It's very easy to slip into "us against us against them" dynamic when working at a job, particularly in times of stress or the need to overcome. It's easy to think of "leadership" as an insignificant and faceless machine. Ensuring that you're using video in your communications is a powerful antidote. It forces you to let go of the veil and security of edited and written comms. The best way to stand out is to present yourself like you yourself.

There will be instances of leaders being vulnerable and it backfiring...but I think that in the majority of cases, the issue was it was too performative. It is important to allow your part of you be vulnerable to making mistakes prior to your group. Everyone has flaws, which allow us to be humans. We all wish that our leaders were brave -- it only encourages us to strive to be as brave and courageous as they are.

     2. Beginning by asking "why . "

Like many leaders like me, I've faced difficult decisions during the year. From layoffs and executive changes to closing and restructuring initiatives in order to improve efficiency. It is my job to make tough choices, which are not widely viewed and quickly implement changes within our entire organization.

I often observe people wanting to understand the rationale behind their decisionsand not only the "what" but also"the "why". The desire is to know the wider market context that is that are balanced and weighted, as well as the procedure of who was in the loop as well as what was the context of their decisions.

The traditional comms strategy will advise that when faced with one of the most critical communications with limited time, start by asking the "what" then get straight into the steps that are essential. But I've discovered that I'm far more successful in getting people to make a choice when I view my staff as important stakeholders who deserve to understand the significance.

In the end, starting with "why" is a first rule for any communication . There will always be restrictions to full openness (legal, PR, governance, customer risk), but I've found that, in the majority of situations, people perceive obstacles to transparency are simply the result of. Perceived. Some people may not agree with your decisions, however it is possible to argue that, if they do, they are not performing your job as you are supposed to be doing. But they'll appreciate and accept your choices initially, when they know the reasons behind them.

     3. Spend money on in-person meetings or meetings in person Make it more personal.

It's true that I see that it's ironic to hear the CEO of a video company telling the truth. One of the major lessons over the last few months has been that we've been waiting too long and that we didn't take enough care in the way we brought teams together that we have on a daily on a regular basis.

In the month of January, one week after announcement of layoffs, we held a corporate kickoff event in NYC. Our employees flew into NYC from more than 12 different nations. Our staff was based in Ukraine who took trains, planes and automobiles to travel to the airport. We didn't want the traditional party confetti, and went for the informal look and an extremely tight budget. It was one of the most fun and important investments I've made.

It's much more efficient when the leaders take a flight and get your team together wherever they are. We have an entirely geographically dispersed executive team, with eight offices that span from Seattle until Switzerland. Most of them were recruited over the last 12 months, meaning that we're at an infancy stage as we're just getting to know each other as teams. In order to speed up the process of gelling We started offsites in each leader's home city. Our CFO's mom invited us to her home in Vermont. The Head of Sales at the time was wearing his apron, as were we who made frittatas for breakfast. The meetings were conducted at our Head of Product's table.

The outbreak provided us with a glimpse into others' homes and personal life . If we make the most of that and integrate it into our day-to-day activities it is possible to develop stronger, more connected and effective teams.

     4. You can switch between "lean back" to "lean forward" encounters.

One of the most important communication skills will soon be the ability to design "lean forward" activities and not "lean back" broadcasts. Attention spans for humans are becoming shorter (now just 8 seconds and less than that of a goldfish!). However, we still communicate through one-to-many messages, whether via an email you click or an extremely produced town hall you can are able to watch.

We can see this cost on engagement appearing within our own statistics, in which the average time to stop watching the video is decreasing over the past few years. If we don't alter our approach, the habit of having people shut off is going to seriously hamper the ability of our teams up-to-date and efficient.

It is crucial changing our mindset and willingness to accept the new. A new generation of people are that is entering the workforce and has advantages over us with their ability to create as well as gather authentic and rich data. They're ahead of us due to the fact that they are not subject to the limitations that we experienced for decades in conventional communication methods in the workplace.

They say that employees don't leave their jobs. They just let managers depart. They're the best supervisors. And as per an study of more than 113,000 executives The most important factor for effective management is the trust of their employees. Leaders must demonstrate to ourselves how to show up with more genuine, engaging and authentic methods. I'm betting on the CEOs who embrace this brave modern world to be better at directing the future generation of employees. They'll have better information and collaborate with teams across the globe, align them to greater productivity and develop long-lasting relationships that produce extraordinary results. They'll cease communicating and will communicate better.

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