Leaders today must embrace a more communicative style of leadership: Yeshasvini Ramaswamy

 

Great Place To Work is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, they have surveyed more than 100 million employees worldwide and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust. Their employee survey platform empowers leaders with the feedback, real-time reporting, and insights they need to make strategic people decisions. 

The Institute serves businesses, non-profits, and government agencies in more than 95 countries and has conducted pioneering research on the characteristics of great workplaces for over three decades. In India, the institute works with more than 1,400 organisations annually to help them build a High-Trust, High-Performance Culture. 

Great Place To Work India founded its health and wellness practice with a vision of making India a healthy place to work for all. Their research-based framework and the public study on workplace wellness to identify the best workplaces in health and wellness is the first of its kind in the country. 

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In this interaction with Adgully, Yeshasvini Ramaswamy, Serial Entrepreneur and CEO, Great Place to Work India, speaks at length about the paradigm shifts happening in the field of employee management, what constitutes a great workplace in today’s market ecosystem, and much more. 

What makes for a great workplace in today’s volatile and uncertain market ecosystem?

A great workplace is characterised by employers who are passionate and committed to their employees’ growth and development. It is believed that organisations should act as catalysts for their employees’ aspirations, rather than limiting them. To achieve this, it is important for employers to invest in creating structures and processes that foster innovation and creative thinking. In addition, a great workplace must also embody a culture of belongingness and inclusivity. A workplace cannot be considered great if it is exclusive and does not make employees feel like they are part of a larger community. Employers must strive for equity and be conscious of their moral responsibility towards both their employees and society as a whole. Furthermore, a great workplace must also be financially healthy. 

What are the new paradigm shifts happening in employee management as well as keeping their morale high?

A significant change in employee management is the transformation of the workforce model. There has been a shift in the ratio of full-time hiring to gig workers, and many companies are adopting policies to manage and engage with this segment of the workforce. Companies are becoming more flexible in engaging with freelancers and hiring talent as needed, which aligns with employees’ desire to work on meaningful projects. 

Additionally, the hybrid work environment is here to stay. It is important for organisations to be mindful of the language they use, such as avoiding the term “remote working” to prevent creating bias and stereotypes. Instead, organisations should focus on intentional collaboration to create a sense of belongingness, which should be a top priority and a key metric, along with employee engagement and recruitment models. 

With massive layoffs happening across industries, especially in the tech industry, how can the top management create an environment of reassurance for its workforce? 

The current situation is observing the unfortunate consequences of rapid hiring. Organisations should carefully consider the purpose of hiring, especially in uncertain growth conditions, as it can create instability in the workforce. Layoffs should be a last resort, and leaders should explore alternative options such as cutting discretionary spending or tightening budgets before making such a decision. 

The decision to lay off employees is a difficult one, and leaders should be more responsible and humane in their approach. The reputation risk associated with layoffs is high, and the follow-through of such decisions must also be handled with sensitivity. Cutting off access abruptly without proper communication is not a humane approach and should be avoided. These practices harm the reputation of the company and make it a less desirable place to work. 

How can organisations strategise to maximise human potential in the hybrid work environment?

It is believed that there are two trends currently happening in the industry. The first is called ‘career building portfolio’, in which an employee actively seeks opportunities to build a diverse portfolio of skills and talents, making them more employable in the job market. The second trend is ‘career cushioning’, which refers to employees obtaining additional skills while still in their current job, as a plan B in uncertain markets. This approach is a departure from the traditional method of building a career, which was primarily focused on productivity in a single job. Nowadays, being productive in a job is important, but it is not enough. 

What does it take to build a human-led data-powered culture in an increasingly digitised ecosystem? 

It is believed by some that humans cannot be replaced by machines. The role of data is to provide information for decision-making, but ultimately, decisions are emotional and require a human touch. To develop a human-centered approach, it is important to be mindful of inclusion and invest in ethical AI practices. This will lead to a humane approach to data. 

What are the leadership traits that have become must-have for today’s top management?

It is believed that the concept of leadership has undergone a shift towards community-based leadership. A recent publication showed that traditional leadership styles, such as compassionate and authoritative leadership, have given way to a more communicative approach in response to the challenges posed by the pandemic. Leaders today are facing the task of leading multiple communities simultaneously and must embrace a more communicative style of leadership, rather than relying on preconceived notions of leadership. 

 

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