As the Summer is now over it’s a chance to collect our thoughts as leaders, think about the next few months and some of the challenges ahead.

The number of available job vacancies now outstrips the number of unemployed people in the UK for the first time in history, according to ONS data. It’s a candidate’s market – job seekers of all ages are being more selective than ever before!

Much has been said about the “great resignation” and the fact that employees of all ages are reassessing their purpose, role, ambitions and work/life balance. According to data from Gartner, the experience of the pandemic made 65% of people re-evaluate the role that work plays in their life.

I think it’s inevitable that when people return to work in January 2023, which has traditionally been the time when they start looking for a new job, there will be even more pressure on leaders of all types of organisations to prove why their employees should stay. So what should you be thinking about aside from pay and benefits?

1 – Your Culture

  • What is the culture you want? Is it clearly promoted and exhibited by everyone working there, starting with you?
  • Does it need to change to reflect the new way of working?
  • Do you need to make it more formal as your business has grown?

2 – Living Your Values and Purpose

  • Does everyone, starting with you, live your values and understand your purpose for doing what you do?
  • Will this attract new employees who are looking for a shared purpose above anything else?
  • Are your purpose and values strong enough to retain your current employees? If not, what must you change?
  • What behaviours do you demand from your team? Perhaps in terms of mutual respect, clear communication, inclusivity or dealing with differing views?

3 – Personal Development and Growth

  • What have you changed to keep your employees engaged and constantly growing?
  • People are no longer joining companies for the money; they want to be developed and they will probably move on more quickly – how will you deal with this new dynamic?
  • Do you have a clear development path for your employees? How about those that don’t want to lead, how will you promote them and leverage their individual talents?

4 – Finding the Work/Life/Me Balance

  • There is no playbook for this virtual or hybrid working environment, there is no right or wrong approach. You need to provide guidelines that work for everyone but make clear that these will adapt as the business learns to cope with the new style of working. How will you communicate this and try to keep everyone happy?
  • Work and life have become blurred, presenteeism is an outdated concept, how do you measure the output of your team?
  • How do you take care of yourself, and in turn how do you ensure your team are doing the same? Making sure everyone can have some “me” time and totally switch off and recharge?

5 – Your Leadership Impact

  • We all know that people love to work for great leaders, and they leave if they have poor leadership…so how great is your leadership? Have you asked anyone recently about how you’re doing as a leader?
  • Does your leadership reflect all of the previous points mentioned? Not only for your team, but your partners, investors, suppliers?
  • How are you helping your team deal with anxiety during this “perma-crisis”?
  • What steps have you taken to improve wellbeing and reduce the risk of burnout for you team?

If you’re worrying about answering any of these questions, why not get in contact with my team at getreal@realleadership.consulting, and they will arrange a free 20 minute (no obligation) discovery session with me.

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