Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve heard about leaders who have put their people first, radically upped the agility of their companies and made bold decisions that benefit staff.

Recently, historic British brand Dr. Martens confirmed that, after seeing an upturn in business since COVID-19 hit, the company would repay all money granted by the UK Government to cover the wages of furloughed staff. Elsewhere, the likes of food giant Whitbread and Unilever not only retained as many staff as possible but agreed to ensure that those on furlough would be paid 100% of wages.

However, not all companies have had a strong leader at the wheel, making decisions that benefit those within their ranks. In fact, some made the change to a primarily remote operational model begrudgingly and failed to ensure that communication remained strong. As much as 40% of leaders were completely unprepared to deal with the crisis, according to data discovered by Cartridge People, whilst McKinsey data found that the majority of leaders lacked the skills to make ‘strong and educated decisions’.

So, where have bad leaders failed in ensuring that their company continues to operate well throughout the course of remote working?

A deluge of ‘status reports’

It’s unsurprising that many of the prominent mistakes made by leaders centre on the concept of trust – or a key lack of it, as the case may be. As such, demanding that staff send through constant ‘status reports’ evidencing that they are working hard has risen. Of course, this only serves to frustrate staff who are already under pressure. Recent research from the University of Illinois found that “requesting reports in a high frequency serves to increase an individual’s tendency to focus on avoiding unfavourable judgments of competence, rather than on developing competence for the work at hand”.

Constant monitoring

Whilst the traditional open-plan office gives hovering bosses a chance to monitor employees throughout the workday, research has found that as a result, employees are less productive. Yet, when workers are remote, bosses don’t have this oversight. So, what do they do instead? Incessantly monitor remote computer usage. As research from the University of South Florida stated: “Under high monitoring situations, potential employees consistently rate the ethics of the organization as poor.”

Refusing holiday

Yes, the pandemic has highlighted just how much investment it takes to ensure that companies survive the fallout, and that may mean that allowing holiday simply isn’t viable at certain times. However, refusing to allow staff to use their holiday allowance at all is not only morally questionable, but it’s also illegal and leads to a lapse in productivity. According to The New York Times, “those who failed to take annual vacations had a 21% higher risk of death from all causes and were 32% more likely to die of a heart attack.”

Insisting on video ‘check-ins’

This is yet another way of monitoring employee productivity and it takes time away from completing work – actively damaging productivity. Whilst good communication is key, going too far with video meetings can be just as harmful. LinkedIn research found that employees are happiest when they have the option to attend townhall meetings once a week and had check-ins with their manager twice a week.

Treating remote working like a holiday 

Employees may be remote, but that doesn’t mean that they are any more relaxed or unproductive than they would be in the office. In fact, ONS data stated that 53.1% of workers believe that the pandemic has affected their wellbeing and overall mental health. So, when employees are remote and struggling mentally, making snarky comments about how being at home ‘isn’t a holiday’ will only serve to deepen these feelings of anxiety and poor mental health.

Kieran Howells

Executive Grapevine

17/08/2020