I have worked with over 4,000 frontline managers as they trained their attention from noticing who turns up to noticing who generates deliverables.
These leaders and teams transitioned from work-is-a-place-I-go to work-is-what-I-do. I brought neuroscience, leadership theory and psychology. They brought their day-to-day challenges.
What frontline leaders need
Together we learned that just three things make the biggest difference. Frontline managers need a toolkit to drive connection, care-factor and conduct in the local and remote workforce.
Connection
Connection is vital for workforce wellness and performance. Social isolation has known negative impacts on cognitive performance, immune function and pro-social behaviours. This toolkit educates frontline managers in effective connection strategies for individuals and teams. The toolkit embeds key skills to support a thriving workforce capable of giving their best intellectually and emotionally. Download short, sharp podcasts to understand the brain-body science behind social connection and to boost your staff wellness and performance. Learn how to use technology to build rather than fray relationships. Support teams to connect without concerns of mutiny.
Care
Care-factor from your workers (or discretionary effort) is the key to organisational success, however it is notoriously difficult to achieve. Even before the challenge of the COVID-19 crisis, studies show up to 87% of the workforce report being mildly or actively disengaged in their jobs. This toolkit supports frontline managers to quickly spot and address disengagement. Step-by-step guides, weekly planners, factsheets and micro-podcasts support frontline managers to enable their workforce to ensure large projects, day-to-day tasks and regular ways of working are related to their own strengths and values to create performance, satisfaction and engagement.
Conduct
Conduct predicts the quality and the amount of work that gets done. This toolkit includes brain-based strategies to build self-awareness regarding the types of thinking required in any particular job. It shows managers how to skill up staff to prioritise the best times of day to do particular types of thinking and to dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes to get into the zone. The toolkit shares how to effortlessly move from a state of flow (deep concentration and high productivity) to mindfulness (to note what you are doing and check that you are working on the most important thing, right now). Physical tips for the body that enable high cognitive performance, and the strategic use of space and visual cues are also included. Line managers learn how to mine the energy economy and gain higher productivity from workers who are not just managing time but learning about and managing their own best ways of working.