5 Things Every People Manager Should Keep in Mind in 2021

2020 was a hard year for most of us. Never before has a global event impacted everyone within an organization, from CEO to individual contributor. And whether physically, spiritually, or emotionally, every client we spoke with faced new levels of challenge.

To help you navigate what’s sure to be a brand-new year of change, here are 5 trends we think will be shaping work lives in 2021 – and what they’re likely to mean for you as a people manager.

1. Mental health will finally get the attention it deserves

Last year’s challenges introduced more empathy into the workplace than we’ve ever seen before. And as top business leaders continue to acknowledge that their organization’s success depends on the wellbeing of their employees, that empathy is allowing the conversation around mental health to flourish.

With new conversational ground being broken, you can expect to see an increased focus on wellbeing topics in the workplace, along with a re-structuring of employee benefits to include more generous amounts for offerings that impact mental health (like various forms of therapy, for example).

What does this mean for you?

With most traditional office places remaining closed or partially closed in 2021, there’ll be an increased need to check in with your employees beyond the level of regular work activities.

For example:

·       Even if staff are physically present at your company, you should make time for a pulse check each week with a focus on normalizing the conversation around how people are doing emotionally

·       It may be worth educating yourself on the best way to conduct difficult conversations about mental health - especially if you feel someone on your team is struggling

·       If your organization has a health and safety committee, you may want to ask them to prioritize wellbeing resources and company-wide training on resilience and mental health support

Don’t forget to also look after yourself personally by making time for whatever helps keep you in balance.

2. People managers will be more important than ever

Despite companies like Gallup showing that free snacks, nap pods, and “bring your pet to work” policies don’t lead to employee engagement, many companies have banked on such perks to recruit talent at the expense of focusing on what really matters: direct people management skills.

The days of office-based incentives are over. With large portions of the workforce now working from home, organizations can no longer count on a flashy company culture to attract or keep top talent.

What does this mean for you?

Your organization will need to re-focus on training and developing people managers, so they better understand:

·       What employees expect from them

·       How to create valid connections, even when team members work in different places

We recommend looking at Gallup’s Q12 survey as a good place to start.

3. There’ll be a heavier focus on outcomes

With people managers having little ‘visual’ insight into what remote employees are doing all day, many organizations will be putting a greater emphasis on managing results.

What does this mean for you?

You may need to get better at:

·       Setting SMART goals with your team

·       Using KPIs to monitor progress as action plans are implemented

·       Helping employees prioritize when a goal changes or distractions pop up

You should also be prepared to advocate for an improved understanding of how your team’s work fits into the bigger corporate picture.

4. Vacation and rest periods will take a front seat

2020 was tiring. And by the end of the year, most of the organizations we worked with had a buildup of unused vacation time.

Given how important rest is to employee mental health and productivity, we believe organizations will be placing a greater priority on making sure staff take time off in 2021, even if much of the world remains relatively closed.

What does this mean for you?

In addition to setting a positive example by taking time off yourself, you should make it a point to:

·       Stay on top of your employees’ vacation time

·       Prompt them when they seem reluctant to take time off

·       Step in and make it easy for staff to take vacation by assuring them their work will be covered

5. Greater investment will be made in team development

Even as the lack of a commute for many workers increased individual productivity in 2020, connections between colleagues became more difficult to maintain. Managers will need to spend more time creating and encouraging opportunities for collaboration in the year ahead and beyond.

What does this mean for you?

One of the best ways to invest in team development is by building a culture where employees voluntarily share snippets of their home or personal lives with their colleagues. At MWTW, for example, we typically spend 30 minutes of each weekly team meeting talking about non work-related events.

Your organization might also benefit from assigning more projects to pairs or groups (even if the work could technically be completed by a single staff member), or bringing in outside facilitators like MWTW to lead team development workshops.