Pushback seems to be the hallmark of the times. Whatever the reason and how it manifests, workplaces need to address the conflict between preferences for required work in the office, total remote and hybrid arrangements.

Choices can be attributed to generational or gender differences, personal style or cultural preferences, individual reluctance to stray from their comfort zone, or work/life pressures and necessities.

If it was not clear before, pandemic conditions exposed the truth that the mindset of only one way – no options – is neither fair nor ultimately workable. Leaders need the ability to manage people with unique identities, from difference generations and performance capabilities, and then customize interactions to each person’s uniqueness.

In the past, changed norms have happened most quickly when clients demanded it, such as having women in firms on client teams and in leadership, or flexible work arrangements. In general, with notable exceptions, clients have tended to be more open to flexibility on how and where professionals work and diversity and inclusion factors, including generational preferences, than their outside firms. Carefully thought out approaches by practice leaders, managers, and supervisors and managers of matter and engagement teams within law and tax and accounting firms fuel the feeling that each individual belongs in the organization.

Working through challenges of hybrid work

Hybrid work adds complexity to internal relationships to serve and also build connections with clients.  Physical limitations, such as not being seen in the room and less opportunity for casual and spontaneous conversations, will limit opportunities if not proactively dealt with. In particular, limits on physical proximity can lead to “familiarity bias” and “proximity bias,” which essentially means out-of-sight, out-of-mind, when assigning work. Those working virtually also can have fewer opportunities to share their perspectives. Intentional effort must be made to ask for their feedback during team and group meetings. Norms around professional standards can also get murky over time.  In addition, without intentional scheduling of coaching, training, mentoring and apprenticeship for business development, expectations and resulting upskilling can suffer with fewer informal opportunities to develop relationships internally at the firm and with clients. Perhaps the most needed firm role is a Chief Scheduling Officer for hybrid and remote work.

Actions for Leaders and Aspiring Leaders

How leaders and managers can resolve the tendency to push back to former norms and mindsets that no longer serve personnel and firm goals is a necessary question with complex answers. I am hearing a variety of related concerns that cover the spectrum of positions on the work in the office and work from home options. Some differences on what has proved to raise strong emotions include: parents vs. non-parents needs and desires; people who want and like the camaraderie of being around others and nurturing relationships vs. those who don’t care about that as much and don’t consider (or want) co-workers as “friends.” Also, of course, is the question of how people new to the firm, especially newly minted lawyers, can acquire the needed orienting and mentoring to law practice and the firm culture norms. Also vital is becoming known personally and for their skills to the more seasoned lawyers. For many, it’s not mostly a generational issue as much as being driven by motivations and the other factors mentioned earlier in this article.

To create better outcomes, firms need to increase investment in development of managers at all levels. Daily actions of supervisors, such as using team norms for engagement, seeking multiple viewpoints during group settings, and ensuring team members are accountable to each other should be daily behaviors that go a long way to establish productive connections and effective micro-cultures of collaboration and respect.

Rather than pointing to a strictly generational divide, it’s time for abandoning easy assumptions and to prioritize meaningful conversations and listening.

Seek feedback about needs to find out what and why the individuals in the firm want to work a certain way. Giving and receiving feedback across differences is a key ingredient in the firm’s performance and the success formula for belonging.  Yet, these skills are a foreign concept to many in a hybrid work environment.

 Tips for Leaders and Managers

• Ask questions to establish a more accurate view of preferences and needs without making assumptions of one size fits all.
• Internal research on expectations and wants of each generational cohort and level of hierarchy is vital. As much as possible accomplish this with one-on-one conversations. Short pulse surveys are useful too.
• Don’t avoid cross-generational discussion – in fact, encourage it. The time spent will pay off in many essential ways.
• Assemble a multigenerational group of leaders and high potential professionals to have candid discussions in an environment of psychological safety.
• Agree on a short list of desired leader attributes.

Importantly, realize that leadership is situational and revisit the needed leadership attributes and policies every few years if not more frequently. More certain than the state of the economy is that the pandemic is not over or in view, and adjusting to live with it long-term requires a mindset from all generations that demanding everyone back in the office full time is not workable to retain most desirable talent. Openness to changing needs is most likely to produce the kind of work environment that sustains and retains valued talent that is productive and profitable long-term.

Note:

The insights in this article apply to all genders, races and generations, and with diversity increasingly growing will give a business a competitive advantage for attracting, retaining and profiting a workforce.  We may hate to contemplate it now, but someday it may apply to AI agents too!