Despite the COVID-19 pandemic winding down and the world returning to a more normal state, certain adjustments that occurred during the last couple of years are developing into more long-term trends. One of these is the shift from the traditional office environment to a virtual workplace. The COVID-19 restrictions forced many employees to work from home and even as the worst of the pandemic recedes, more businesses are adopting a hybrid model that has employees in a physical office space only part of the time. This new arrangement has put more responsibility on managers to create and maintain a company culture than was previously the case.
The increasing importance of company culture
Before the 21st century began, company culture was at best an afterthought. Competitive pay and benefits were the main way that businesses attracted highly desirable employees. As the younger generation of workers entered the workplace, however, company culture took on new importance. Recent analysis has shown that over 75% of all job seekers cite company culture as an essential ingredient in deciding where they want to work. Younger people, especially, consider this vital to the decision-making process, even more so than pay or benefits. Companies today must consider their culture seriously if they want to attract top young talent.
Recognizing the value of a company’s culture
HR officers recognize the value of a company’s culture, with close to half those surveyed listing keeping it alive during the pandemic and beyond as a top concern. Making the culture known to young job seekers is more difficult under remote or hybrid conditions. It becomes harder to show potential recruits how things get done in the workplace if the workplace doesn’t always physically exist. The procedures that shape a firm become so diffused that even HR can’t keep track of them all. This is where managers have become increasingly important.
Why managers are now so important to company culture
Company culture used to be an issue for the human resources department. HR dealt with creating and maintaining programs that encouraged employee engagement and fostered camaraderie. The shift to hybrid work environments has changed this. With the office no longer necessarily the focal point of the work experience, the responsibility for company culture has fallen on managers, and the new situation poses unique challenges. Employees are no longer directly interacting with each other in the office and instead may go significant periods of time without actually seeing each other in person.
Fragmentation of the workforce
Now, companies are experiencing fragmentation of their workforce. People from different teams or departments are no longer meeting up on breaks to catch up. The shift to a remote environment had an isolating effect on many people. It became easier to disconnect with the larger world. This can have a serious detrimental effect upon employee morale. If people do not feel as if they are a part of a larger whole, they begin to care less about their work. Maintaining a strong company culture can negate many of these problems, but HR is not set up to do this now, and so the onus falls upon the managers.
Shaping culture on a micro level
Due to the breaking up of the workplace into small, often isolated, teams, team leaders and department managers are in the best positions to shape culture on this new micro level. They are better equipped to know the needs of their colleagues than HR, who now tend to have less actual interaction with individuals across the firm. Managers are also the leaders of their individual teams and need to make sure that communication is strong between team members. This helps to alleviate the feelings of isolation and disconnectedness that can naturally result from a remote or hybrid workplace. It also creates a greater sense of belonging that was eroded during the height of the pandemic.
Mental health needs
Recognizing mental health needs was a huge issue during the pandemic. It became harder to know if family, friends, or co-workers were experiencing mental health issue that needed addressing. Nearly a third of HR leaders mentioned this as a new problem and one that they were not ready to deal with. In smaller groups, managers are better situated to recognize mental health issues and get help for those suffering from them. Employees also naturally know their immediate team members and managers best and are more likely to confide in them than in HR now.
Takeaway
Managers are becoming more important now in the evolving workplace. Increasingly, their communication skills are being tested. They need to know more about their teams than ever before and must work to make sure that everyone is operating optimally. Along with this increased responsibility is increased influence as managers are evolving into the face of the company for many workers. How they are able to meet their new challenges will determine how efficient companies will be in the future.