The SIMPLE route for aware leaders: simplifying increasingly complex workplaces

The result is a need for leaders to act as generals in the armies or as conductors in the orchestra to lead and guide their people through this rough journey on to a smoother path.

Before delving into “how” leaders can alter the way they lead to make complexity become simplicity, let’s first take a look at the “what” contributing to these complexities. These are the five common yet intricate factors shaping the way we operate business nowadays.

First, the more diverse workforce – it is obvious that soon we will see at least five generations working together in the same workplace.

The picture will be something like this: Generation Y will become the dominant workforce in 2020, whereas Generation X will move up the ladder to senior management. Meanwhile, baby-boomers will retire and some become advisers. At the same time, we will see Generation Z step into the workplace while traditionalists will begin to step out of the business world, but still be on board to give input for certain critical decisions. 

Simply put, the workplace will become more or less chaotic and leaders will be required to manage employees with massively different interests and life experience from diverse generational, regional and ethnic backgrounds. 

Second, the continuing distribution of organisations – many have already started and more will soon relocate their operation and production bases to other countries to take advantage of lower costs and easier legal perspectives. As a result, when work is conducted across an increasingly broad range of settings, geographies and time frames, the method to manage and engage a distributed workforce will become ever more challenging. 

Next, the change in the economic landscape – as China, India, and Asean and other developing countries increase their presence in the global economy during the next decade, they will have a tremendous effect on business practices, especially when dealing with people with different business etiquette and mindsets. 

The pressure for more sustainable organisations is another factor – some will be pushed by social and environmental activists as well as consumers to conduct business in a more responsible way. An organisation’s new bottom line will not only incorporate profit, but also people and the planet. Thus corporate social responsibility (CSR), already implemented as a pivotal trend in big companies, will be even more crucial over the next five years. 

A survey suggests that 88 per cent of fresh graduates want to work for companies with CSR ideals that reflect their own. As a result, CSR programmes will become one of the most critical elements to attract and retain employees in the near future.

Last, the power of technology and social media – given the fact that mobile devices are now replacing laptops as the main work tools, your mobile device will fundamentally become your office, your classroom and your concierge. However, implementing technology does not necessarily mean working hours will decrease; instead, we will stay more connected – 24/7 to be exact – as these social collaboration tools and mobile devices eventually leave people “hyper-connected” by blurring the boundary between home and office.

All in all, these conditions will be the top issues to wake executives up at night – meaning leaders, as the main driving force in any organisation, must change their managing methods from “complexity” to “simplicity”. The following are SIMPLE moves the leaders must make.

Support – whenever employees need you, you must be “there” for them. The situation is complicated and complex already, so you need to be available to relieve their frustrations.

Inspire – “talk the walk” – visualise an inspiring future for your people so they feel motivated to go there together, despite being surrounded by daunting business competitive storms.

Model – walk the talk – practice what you preach. Trust is important under highly uncertain and ambiguous situations; thus do not just tell the team what to do – be the role model for them. 

Play – create a positive environment where your people can play with creativity, collaboration, and celebrate small wins.

Listen – open your ears together with your eyes and your heart to welcome not only the messages from your employees but their feelings, which are the original sources of action.

Engage – have your employees engage in the planning, decision making, as well as the successful events of the company so they feel valued and cherished as being “somebody” contributing to the success

These SIMPLE rules will make things simple on the condition the leaders truly understand the complexity of business and people, appreciate the diversity, and be on the court to take action no matter how difficult things turn out. As a result, I think it’s about time for leaders to reflect on how they manage or lead by keeping in mind that “complexity” will become “simplicity” only when leadership is made SIMPLE. 

 

Boonchai Pongrungsap is principal consultant of APM Group’s leadership and culture business unit.