With the two-year mark of the Covid-19 global pandemic quickly approaching, it’s fair to say that we’re still living through the most complicated time of our lives. From a business perspective, those of us in the staffing industry experience, on a daily basis, the complex shifts taking place in the job market, workforce and economy due in large measure to the ongoing impact of the pandemic.
Most notably, companies are seeking to reduce unexpected turnover, reflected by the record number of people who have left their jobs nationwide this year; recruit and retain talent; and accommodate changing employee expectations. Strategies focus on flexibility and include offering more remote work, hybrid schedules, higher wages, expanded benefits and a renewed emphasis on corporate culture.
At the same time, we know that the pandemic isn’t the only factor driving today’s work environment and workers’ mindsets. Other key components include generational differences in priorities and values within a multigenerational workforce (comprised of an unprecedented five generations) and the effects of the pronounced cultural and political divide that’s taken hold in the country.
It all adds up to what can best be described as a workforce in chaos. Indeed, clients and our own team members are facing circumstances unlike any they’ve experienced, and they’re looking to leaders for guidance.
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We realized early on during the pandemic that taking care of our clients requires taking care of our people. An important way that we’re helping leaders in our organization is by providing them with coaching.
Designed for leaders who are called on to deliver counsel, support and solutions, these tailored coaching sessions emphasize the skills, competencies and attributes that are most needed in today’s unique environment. Topics covered may include communicating with empathy, coaching employees in a remote work environment, prioritizing multiple projects and managing through uncertainty. The key, though, is that each leader selects the aspects of their performance that they want to focus on and develop.
Executive coaching sessions also can identify blind spots and determine steps for improvement. This type of self-awareness is especially important for leaders during times like these. Along those lines, one of the greatest benefits an executive coach can deliver is to provide the coping skills and emotional support that leaders need for themselves.
As 2022 quickly approaches, we can anticipate that the tumult in the workforce and work environment will likely continue well into the new year. In fact, the most important question associated with this very different world we live in may very well be, “How much of what we’re experiencing now is permanent?” A leadership coach can be a vital partner to executives as they strive to answer questions like this and help their clients and teams find stability and success in a time of change and uncertainty.
