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  LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES IN REMOTE WORKING

  Contents

  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.. 2

  Introduction. 3

  Area 1: Motivating Employees during COVID-19. 3

  Leadership Challenges. 3

  Recommendations for Change. 7

  Area 2: Ensuring Employee Productivity and Performance. 9

  Leadership Challenges. 9

  Recommendations for Change. 12

  Conclusion. 15

  List of References. 15

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  Leaders are facing difficulties with motivating their staff during the time of unprecedented change. What individuals encounter currently in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic is beyond panic and fear, but grief and pain following the significant losses. Today, most employees have lost their sense of normalcy and comfort, which is a significant factor in triggering grief and anger. Thus, leaders need to incorporate better working ways to ensure all employees have engaged adequately and motivated to keep the ball rolling amid the tough financial times. COVID 19 has had effects on performance management dynamics, strategy execution, change management, and organizational design management, all of which require top-notch management skills to handle. Company executives have, over time, pointed out that the pandemic will bring a significant effect on overall organizational performance efficiency. Uncertainty pushes the organizational workforce into losing focus, a trend that affects their ability to thrive in a highly competitive environment. The paper details the various leadership challenges faced in core organizational areas of enhancing employee motivating and assuring employee performance and productivity amid the growing pandemic, and best measures to adopt to reduce the severity on organizations.

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Leadership Challenges in Remote Working

  Introduction

  In the wake of advancing global health and economic pandemic, leaders are obligated to ease the developing fears and deteriorating morale to work among employees by leading them appropriately through the uncertainty phase (Daim et al. 2012, p. 72). During these unprecedented times, leaders are expected to remain respectful and attentive to the diverse needs of the workforce, clients, and stakeholders at large (Kniffin et al. 2020, p. 6). Thus, leading such a broad crown amidst uncertainty comes with several challenges. Leaders are facing different issues today that never existed in history (Donthu & Gustafsson 2020, p. 32). Thus, this paper will highlight the diverse leadership challenges from the pandemic in line with motivating work and ensuring employee productivity and performance in the wake of unprecedented changes. It will also highlight strategic measures for managing the situation. 

  Area 1: Motivating Employees during COVID-19

  • Leadership Challenges

  Although remote working is not a new trend, it has never been deployed on such a massive scale before within such a limited period. Companies that have never paid heed to the remote workforce have it rough than ever before because they are pushed to transition to virtual operating (Donthu & Gustafsson 2020, p. 284). Similarly, firms that only had a small section of their teamwork remotely have been pushed to go entirely virtual. In my organization, the most challenging aspect was that productivity and communication were taking a downward trend due to employees’ limited monitoring from their home settings. Further, the COVID-19 has drastically upended the working world, causing unanticipated challenges in the leadership and business worlds (Dwivedi et al. 2020, p. 102211). For instance, our leaders are currently pivoting hard to n channels of product delivery, new services, products, and different operating models without getting a chance to think through the options and understand their impact on performance. 

  Besides, the unprecedented shift to remote working has incurred diverse challenges for organizations. Leaders in my organizations find it difficult to effectively measure employee performance, management of logistics, and accountability measures. Employee motivation level has done down the drench because the workforce can turn out invisible in the suddenly whole virtual world. According to Kniffin et al. (2020), leaders have shifted their patterns in recognizing and rewarding great performance, and yet it was the most useful source of motivation for employees a while back.

  Leaders are finding it hard to manage issues properly, which causes performance challenges for employees due to feelings of neglect and unrecognition. Remote working in my organization has also rendered it difficult to attune to the workforce’s needs, a situation exacerbated by the growing pressures and stresses of their lives during the pandemic period (DasGupta 2011, p. 24). Thus, these underlying cold conditions have made it hard for employees to remain motivated to work and stay productive (Dwivedi et al. 2020, p. 102211). The crisis period offers organizations a critical chance to re-evaluate the effective distribution of decision-making procedures at local and global scales. 

  Whereas remote working and videoconferencing programs have attained steady progress over the past, several other conversations and significant business relationships are better managed in person (Donthu & Gustafsson 2020, p. 284). Trust and transparency are core factors in organizations that propel effective communication, healthy information sharing, and related follow through on commitments are only developed and maintained on face to face basis (DasGupta 2011, p. 28). The incapacity to gather external and internal stakeholders in-person to discuss the foreseeable future and employees’ welfare makes it more difficult to achieve effective decision-making derails employee motivation to commit to productive working, thus increasing the likelihood of conflict among involved parties (Donthu & Gustafsson 2020, p. 284).

  For my organization, the critical challenge within the contemporary environment is how top leaders choose to engage in virtual decision-making procedures with employees and other internal teams. According to a study established by Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG (2020) virtual decision-making fails to address the workforce’s pressing concerns, hence, affecting their morale to work smarter (Ware & Grantham 2010). Thus, the uncertainty affects critical productivity factors, including teamwork, transparency, and trust at large. 

  Leaders in my organization have also faced the challenge of managing the psychological pressure on employees to ensure that they do not encounter burn-out or lose the motivation to steer ahead. According to Flood (2019), although the idea of working at the comfort of homes was broadly positive, dissatisfaction has also been on a steady rise. In a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) (2020) study, the situation has pushed leaders on leave and are anxious about their job’s uncertainty and security and positions in the company. Employees who work from home have had to juggle numerous demands at their time and are denied a chance for physical contact with their colleagues (International Labour Organization 2020).

  Thus, our leaders are left with no option but to engage the staff members throughout the crisis period, which is psychologically, emotionally, and physically draining. Some employees are not open and transparent with their responses through calls or videos on online social events, making it harder for the leaders to comprehend the underpinning issues (Daim et al. 2012, p. 72). Leaders face difficulties in running and managing strategic planning meetings on online platforms, which creates a disconnection between employees and managers, thus reducing motivation and morale to grow better.  

  The escalating COVID-19 crisis has increased uncertainty and doubt to unprecedented levels. There is a significant rise of existential fears among employees. Such downward trends are particularly challenging for the leaders in my organization because there is scarce reliable information for improving the situation. Leaders face the big challenge of keeping the workforce connected and highly motivated because it is hard to fix quick solutions to manage unfamiliar situations (Donthu & Gustafsson 2020, p. 284). Such elevated leadership challenges can be a burden during these unusual times as no one anticipated these trends. It is almost difficult to strengthen the growing need to cooperate in the current systems; hence, gaps in managing responses to diverse workforce challenges. 

  As the pandemic cases progressively escalate throughout the world, all leaders in government sectors, private businesses, and other significant spheres of life are subject to unprecedented challenges. The pandemic has encroached on public health and overall economic stability of modern society’s most effective practices. COVID-19 has generated extreme levels of anxiety while exacting the increasing human toll. These trends have pushed virtually all firms to reinvent its internal procedures to cope up well in a world where employees do not feel good about staying in the same space all the time.

  The crisis has affected and overwhelmed even the most dynamic leaders by presenting unexpected and highly complex scenarios evolving quickly and in diverse directions (Donthu & Gustafsson 2020, p. 284). Leaders are subject to more challenges because even in scenarios where organizations have contingency plans, there is still a need for readjustment and quick response to rapidly changing conditions. Thus, in as much as employees were the most affected by these bad times, leaders have had a rough patch trying to balance work procedures and ensuring that their workforce does not give up (Ware & Grantham 2010, p. 18). Navigating through the difficult path of a pandemic is not an easy task to carry. 

  • Recommendations for Change

  However, there are possible ways that the organization can incorporate to manage the leadership as mentioned above challenges. All these encounters appear as opening questions on the functionality of systems. They invite leaders to create new solutions because organizational leadership structures create both external and internal systems. The leaders in my organization should manage employee development by remaining intentional about feedback. They should be purposeful about developing the space and time to deliver feedback on employee progress and introducing check-in conversations about 15 minutes regularly with the workforce and team members. 

  In a PwC (2020) study, leaders should also recreate organic sessions to hold conversations with employees where they can open up about their issues and strategize how best to operate moving forward. Another effective approach would be filling up the wide social gap from missed information interactions between leaders, managers, and employees. The approach is anticipated to enlarge the surface area for interpersonal interactions in the work environment by driving a quicker action rate (Watson 2007). It is important to create such forums and open up about their pressing issues at work and in remote environments. According to Watson (2009), leaders should manage associations and enhance the frequency of touchpoints beyond existing regular circles, and remain deliberate about reconnecting with team members. 

  Effective leadership amid the pandemic requires a balance between centralized and local decision-making. Before the pandemic happened, most organizations relied primarily on the ability of senior leaders to frequently travel to national or global headquarters to get work done and have meetings with employees, customers, and suppliers. However, Watson (2007) insists that most of them have been forced to shift their strategic measures. It is essential to create space for local employees to participate in decision-making interventions to enhance developmental opportunities. Leaders should find strategies of integrating employees into meetings and decision-making procedures while delivering necessary stretch opportunities and broadening bench strength. 

  For specific decisions and effective organizational procedures, leaders should incorporate the ideas put forth by the workforce to create a culture of inclusivity. Although done virtually, such approaches help employees feel valuable assets and boost their creative thinking skills (International Labour Organization 2020). It also boosts their productivity because they get a platform to voice their most critical and pressing issues at work. Thus, expanding the pool of individuals to accommodate employees is a strategic measure of breaking existing silos while identifying end-to-end process improvements. 

  According to a study established by KPMG (2020), it is also essential to enhance professional development for individuals within the pipeline of leadership. The current global crisis has generated a flurry of organizational activities, and the workforce is taking in an enormous amount of work all at once. The supply chains of most businesses have endured various dramatic disruptions. For instance, my organizations have experienced their primary revenue strategies go down the drench in a matter of minutes, and new business models need to be pivoted all at once. Therefore, leaders in these organizations should consider increasing its primary capacity to distribute tasks evenly and ensure every employee is well represented (Kniffin et al. 2020). Allowing the workforce to handle core assignments such as managing operational challenges in terms of efficiency, quality, and customer services help them stay on top of their game. 

  Providing employees with adequate employment opportunities is an opportunity to prove that they are a valuable part of the organization. Although all global organizations have, in one way or another, been disrupted by the prevailing crisis, leaders are left with no choice but to embrace the opportunities and seizing advantages amid the pandemic (Dwivedi et al. 2020, p. 102211). They should introduce strategic ways of working, better systems of leading, and practical interventions for growth. It is an opportunity to prioritize the tasks that are truly essential to organizational productivity and engage employees to the best of their interests (International Labour Organization 2020). Employees should be encouraged and trained to utilize the moment and rethink their operating models and future strategies.  

  Area 2: Ensuring Employee Productivity and Performance

  • Leadership Challenges

  Leaders are facing diverse challenges in ensuring employee productivity and performance. Although they are putting in the effort to ensure everything stays aligned and in perspective, our professional workforce is subject to economic uncertainties. The workforce is subject to stressful and draining situations. The drastic shift in the organizational culture has resulted in significant challenges for all leaders, with their top priority creating strategic measures to respond to and manage the crisis (Donthu & Gustafsson 2020, p. 284). Nonetheless, it is practically hard to ensure all employees are managed and engaged effectively through appropriate communication channels. Employees are subject to mental health instability because the drastic work culture shift took a heavy toll on their overall wellbeing. Thus, leaders are forced to incorporate strategic measures to ensure wellness, guarantee workers high-level security, and flexibility to overcome the hindrances and maintain productivity. 

  Leaders and the management desk if having it rough because employees’ mental issues are in the front seat (Donthu & Gustafsson 2020, p. 284). When leaders have their workforce operating in an office place, it is much easier to understand their issues and how these sensitivities influence performance. In such an environment, it becomes easier for leaders to navigate and manage complexities. However, in the remote context, communication channels have been compromised significantly, and these scenarios leave leaders clueless and less conscious of their response mechanisms (Donthu & Gustafsson 2020, p. 284). Productivity and performance are thus affected when leaders are unable to manage employee issues and pressing concerns. From an analytical point, leaders face diverse challenges in lien with recruitment, training, engagement, development, and performance appraisals. Altogether, these inconsistencies render it hard for leaders to maintain a strategic balance between the workforce and management, which is detrimental to their overall productivity. 

  Additionally, my organization leaders are having it rough to manage employees working remotely because the transition is not as seamless as it sounds. Before the pandemic outbreak, close to 50% of organizations did not support remote working programs (Donthu & Gustafsson 2020, p. 284). Today, 80% of the firms are rushing into establishing remote work strategies, including my organization. The new normal is a serious challenge for our leaders because several undiscovered and unsolved issues affect employee wellbeing and, consequently, organizational performance and productivity. Strategies are designed in real-time instead of the periodic manner, which shifts the managers’ focus on employee engagement and productivity. 

  Another issue as to why leaders at my organization are struggling to maintain workforce productivity is their lack of agility. Many leaders are not primarily designed for agility, and this affects them big time. During the pandemic period, leaders and managers must respond swiftly to diverse organizational issues (Martin & Kowsalya n.d). However, different approvals need to be considered before adopting any action, which slows down their capacity to incorporate immediate measures of managing the crisis demand (Kniffin et al. 2020). Now that the workforce is operating from a home context, most leaders at my organization are less agile in their strategic approaches to diverse concerns. 

  Besides, leaders at my organization face difficulties in managing effective employee communication, making it hard for them to voice their performance concerns; hence, poor productivity and engagement. Communication is a core challenge on the priority list that my organization should take into consideration. Leaders are having a challenge in managing the workforce due to a lack of effective communication channels because the remote working tools do not support our organizational culture (Martin & Kowsalya n.d).

  Although our organization uses Slack and Zoom to meet the company workforce’s growing demands, they are certainly inadequate to get every employee on the same page (Dwivedi et al. 2020, p. 102211). When such scenarios arise, it is hard for leaders to understand their points of weaknesses and address them in good time. In scenarios where teams are cross-functional, leaders have limited power to regulate their activities and manage their priorities (International Labour Organization 2020). Failure to consistently update the employees in my organization impacts their morale to work hard and smart; thus, their overall engagement, productivity, and efficiency. 

  The growing uncertainty has paralyzed leaders. The daunting and detrimental effect of not understanding what to anticipate about the future can be draining. It is also difficult for our leaders to execute strategic measures for sustaining diverse organizational procedures. Such positions restrict leaders from understanding how their workforce is affected mentally, which renders it difficult to align each process (International Labour Organization 2020). The incapacity to respond well to these gaps affects employee engagement and productivity. The ultimate objective of any organization is to maintain high employee productivity. According to Flood (2019), leaders find it critically challenging to ensure the workforce remains engaged while working remotely amid a crisis. These challenges affect internal communication mechanisms because it is hard for managers to keep every individual on the same page. Leaders find it pretty hard to adhere to a specific routine or a systematic workflow with remote working. 

  • Recommendations for Change

  The COVID-19 crisis remains a troubling trend for all global businesses. While diverse economic factors are beyond the regulation of entrepreneurs, leaders need to incorporate strategic measures to manage the uncertainties and challenges to reducing the cost of productivity (Martin & Kowsalya n.d). Leaders and managers should consider operating within a strategically defined and aligned framework through every phase of the pandemic to deliver effective workforce resilience. The aim is to initiate and align leadership capacity to evaluate, plan, decide, manage, and further communicate employee strategies (Dwivedi et al. 2020, p. 102211).

  Leaders should also be clear on the core values that align with the organization’s long-term purpose and introduce operational procedures of safeguarding these employee values amid these testing times. Leaders need to embrace a top-down system of governance to deliver decisive and creative leadership to manage the challenges. Leaders should be clear on the “must-have” “results expected of employees and consistently communicate them to the organization. Setting standards of operation and expectations at the organizational level can help employees stay focused and focus on the organization’s bigger goals.

  Further, leadership should empower and mold the art of leadership in the workforce. Productivity is bound to shift during lockdown because employee expectations and requirements are adjusted automatically (Martin & Kowsalya n.d). Thus, to maintain a higher level of productivity, all managers and leaders at the organization must reassess and understand how their leadership approaches are different and shift their mindset towards changing the strategy and allowing employees to thrive in terms of performance. 

  The organization should also embrace mid-level management and team leadership procedures to allow employees to open up freely concerning performance matters. Team management should embrace better employee communication measures and policies that favor open communication and overall support (Dwivedi et al. 2020, p. 102211). Additionally, it is essential that leaders readily identify and manage existing workforce gaps. First, managers should assess and align significant business functions, essential job roles, high-value assets, and other critical elements within their supply chain and understand how these resources can boost employee performance and morale to remain relevant in the industry (Dwivedi et al. 2020, p.102211). It is important to activate policies and protocols that help identify existing gaps within the current workforce model by assessing qualitative and quantitative effects. Good leaders learn the need to introduce a potential response mechanism to manage crises and all underlying triggers. 

  Further, the leaders in my organization should establish structured daily check-in for employees purposely to track their performances and understand home-based hindrances affecting their capacity to deliver quality (Kniffin et al. 2020). Several successful leaders and managers develop a daily call with their employees working remotely. It can be in the form of a series of one-on-one calls, and in scenarios where the workforce is more independent, a team call would do to assess their levels of collaboration and partnership amid the crisis (International Labour Organization 2020). The calls should be predictable and regular to create an enabling forum where employees understand that they can approach their managers or leaders for assistance and consultations.

  Their pressing issues and questions of concerns will be heard (Dwivedi et al. 2020, p. 102211). Also, leaders should assess options and provide employees with strategic and compliant communication technology measures. Using email alone is quite insufficient. Remote employees show high productivity levels when given access to ‘richer’ ‘technology like video conferencing. The approach guarantees participants diverse visual cues enhances mutual knowledge concerning employees, and helps eradicate isolation and loneliness among the team members (International Labour Organization 2020). Employees can use these video platforms to express sensitive concerns or issues affecting their performance to their leaders, who incorporate strategic options for managing these challenges. Leaders should consider establishing rules of engagement to inform practice. Employees tend to enjoy remote working when their leaders and respective managers set realistic expectations for means, frequency, and ideal team communications timing (International Labour Organization 2020). Managers should acknowledge stress, mental health stability, and create platforms for listening to employees’ concerns and anxieties and readily empathizing with individual struggles.

  Conclusion

  In conclusion, diverse business leaders are subject to economic and operational uncertainty about the COVID-19 unprecedented changes. Leaders face a rough patch because they have to embrace a different meaning of compliance now more than ever, adjust employee expectations, strategize, renew their focus on performance, and focus on the idea of repositioning in the wake of the incoming normal. Leaders have to maintain employee motivation to work and remain productive, monitor their engagement levels, and ensure their ultimate goal is on performance dynamics. Thus, good leadership calls for the need to improve underlying communication channels with employees and offer virtual pieces of training on the best ways of remaining productive and relevant amid these tough times.