Is Remote Work Here to Stay?

As the home office replaced “the office,” we learned that personal priorities and professional happiness sometimes conflicted; as a result, our industry realized the Great Resignation (or Great Opportunity) depending upon your view. 

Nearly three years into the pandemic, Bryant Group continues conversations with industry leaders about their thoughts today on the work environment and its impact upon culture, productivity, retention, and promotion. **  

Investing in the team is the path to retention and promotion. Candidates today assess the level and outcomes of work-life integration each position offers. They’re asking: “How will I enhance my skills if I accept the role?” “Do I believe the potential employer will invest in my career path?”   

“Your team is only as good as the investment you make into each person who is a part of it. You cannot expect to get optimal performance with little to no investment in building culture, connection and metrics. With that culture comes an openness to ideas that allow for difficult questions in the context of improvement- this can only happen when there is established trust and mutual respect,” says Fred Najjar, Executive Vice President, Chief Philanthropy Officer, President of CommonSpirit Health Foundation. 

“Specific to philanthropy,” Fred added, “we have not seen an erosion in our employee satisfaction scores in philanthropy; these scores remain some of the highest across our organization—I credit this fact to our intentional efforts to be a learning organization. We strive to provide proactive training and communication on important topics. We also work to create those magic collaboration moments via tech tools that historically have happened by chance at the watercooler or in passing through a hallway, etc.”

Trust is a tangible commodity. Candidates today want to trust and to be trusted that work can be completed regardless of physical location; however, building trust via in-person interaction does not lose significance.

“COVID has been a novel professional experience for every organization and leader. In our business of Higher Education Advancement, where long term, trust-based relationships are our most important asset, I believe that in-person activities and face-to-face relationship cultivation will continue to be critical,” says Derek Dictson, President New Mexico State University Foundation and Vice President, University Advancement.

While currently NMSU Foundation is fully “in-person”, the entire organization worked remotely for 17 months when COVID arrived, Derek added. They also experienced the “great resignation,” and mentioned the difficulty in getting to know people and build trust-based relationships over Zoom. Most of their high performers were challenged in maintaining a healthy work/life balance when they were always connected virtually. 

“Trusting people to do their work and trusting their ability to decide where they can be most efficient in completing their work is one of the biggest impacts of hybrid work environments. People feel empowered when leadership trusts them; trust sends an amazing signal,” Ed O’Malley, President & CEO Kansas Health Foundation and former President, Kansas Leadership Center.

Being mindful of where leaders are investing their energies is important, O’Malley says. If you’re getting into the minutia of how long your employees are working, number of hours, days in the office/days out of the office, etc., you’re focused on things that don’t inspire or empower your team. “If the organization’s culture breeds trust between and among leaders and team members, does it matter where employees are working on any given day?”

Virtual engagement is effective; however, when it comes to networking or the casual, spur of the moment conversation where people share their passions, in-person engagement can’t be beat.

“People give to causes, to people and the aspect of that personal interaction and in-person interaction (group or 1:1), can’t be replaced. My career has been defined by this—walking the hallways on campus and developing relationships and the energy that comes from that. If we did the next 20 years in a hybrid work mode, we wouldn’t be as productive as we’ve been in the last year. Also, I probably would find it less than engaging,” says Bill Littlejohn, Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, Sharp HealthCare Foundation.

“From a professional standpoint, there’s nervousness about long-term productivity and relationship development if more continues to be done virtually. Can someone be productive doing fundraising for a hospital system by working 80% (or more) from home? Fundraising and relationship building is the same everywhere. The networking that occurs in the 30 minutes before a board meeting can’t be replicated virtually. You impede the fundraising process by not showing up,” Littlejohn added. 

In your role as team lead, you can meet employees where they are and meaningfully enhance their career path (and that of your institution) by embracing flexibility. Get comfortable in uncomfortable conversations; it frees you to think differently about roles, the org chart and talent development.

“When employees ask what’s next for their career, I recommend the conversation be an intentional one—centered around the employee’s impact upon the organization, their willingness to grow and their value to their role within the organization. Organizations may find greater opportunities to retain employees, I believe, with this type of dialog as opposed to, “I met my goals” or “I’ve been in the position for X years, so what’s next for me?” and other box checking/time served benchmarks which can lack inspiration and meaning,” according to Walt Edwards, President of Graham-Pelton and former Assistant Vice President for Talent Development at UT Austin.  

While at UT Austin, Edwards and his team instituted a career conversation protocol centered around three questions: 1) Do you excel in your current role?  2) Do you lean into the trainings and professional development opportunities provided? 3)Have you talked with your manager/supervisor about your career and what you’re looking to do in the future? These questions are central to retaining good employees within the organization—not necessarily retaining them on a particular team. Leaders who are willing to be flexible and lean into conversations (sometimes uncomfortable ones) with employees about their futures realize that new opportunities which enhance the organization can be uncovered and explored, Edwards added. 

**Similar topics and solution driven ideas are shared each month at Bryant Group’s Talent Development meetings. You’re invited to join us the fourth Thursday of each month for the conversation (3pm Eastern, 2pm Central, 1pm Mountain, Noon Pacific).  Email Brandy Shillings at bshillings@bryantgrp.com to receive the zoom meeting link for the September 22 meeting. We look forward to having you participate.