THE PANDEMIC has brought to the fore the importance of managers who can combine a focus on results with responsiveness to employee needs, a consultant said.
Joseph Folkman, co-founder of leadership development consultancy Zenger Folkman, said during the general membership meeting of the Philippine-Swiss Business Council Wednesday: “We found in our studies that the engagement of employees was up during the pandemic because people are getting more attention and they were being given a lot of support.”
Mr. Folkman added that executives need to be able to operate in a collaborative environment because of remote work arrangements, and to engage employees is a manner that unlocks their enthusiasm.
“It is hard to rally the troops. But employees want their leaders to be inspiring, to give them energy and to get them excited about their work,” Mr. Folkman said.
He said executives should prepare for the resumption of face-to-face work by highlighting the advantages of human connection.
“People will suffer from the lack of collaboration and the lack of innovation” if they remain away from the workplace, Mr. Folkman said. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
