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Policy Will Not Kill Us.



I got into leadership roles quite early in my work life. In one of such roles and whilst working with a team of creatives, it was a great struggle understanding why coordinating their activities was such an herculean challenge. For one, they were clearly not given to working under climates many of us ‘sane’ people term ‘Structured’. Plus they would choose to walk in late or even sleep (meaning work) in the office overnight! These patterns of behavior completely messed up my sense of what an office setting should look like. It was so frustrating and of cause we butted heads a lot on account of our misunderstandings.

After a while, I decided to change my approach; to really understand why all of these creatives behaved alike. My discoveries was what allowed me to reframe my understanding of what productivity really means…

So when again in another leading role [now as #HR] at another organization [this time in Media], And yet again I had to engage with a set of creatives, I already knew the drill. I settled in fast. Focusing on viable work arrangements was priority. Generating results around such arrangements was now front and center. I could fall back on my experience haven worked with such talent. I had experience! Lol.

Fast forward 2021 and listening in on many talent related conversations around flexible work and all, I get the sense that many Business and HR are still stuck in that place where ‘structure’ means that every employee within the business has to comply with the exact same rules and conditions! The question to ask is, what does business outcomes really mean? and are these leaders really vested in results as they claim they are? Maybe not.

Today and with workplaces consisting largely of diverse demographics with associated work preferences, pray why is it hard for business to apply themselves to models that really work vis-a-vis the particular realities on the ground as opposed to some preconceived and outdated norms that does no one any good?

You see, one of the many things I like about #AGILE as a philosophy is the ability to shift and redirect course in the face of evolving needs…

Being open to change and figuring out what that means for their #business outcomes as opposed to blindly following outdated #policies is what businesses need devote their effort to. Anything contrary would mean undue exposure to the risk of losing/attracting critical talent that have inherent capacity to challenge status quo, deliver value and ultimately turn their fortunes around.

I just pray that policy will not kill us.

NB: Let me jostle you a bit. @PWC just released a public statement concerning her workforce: ‘Start when you like, leave when you want’ https://lnkd.in/dA52Hjm

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