‘DON’T RUSH’

Business leader says abandoning remote work in post-COVID times is led by ‘slave driver’ mentality

By Jenique Belgrave

Managing Director of Catalyst Caribbean Rosalind Jackson is warning local businesses against rushing to return to normal work practices in this post-COVID-19 pandemic period.

Saying that companies are forgetting the lessons taught by the pandemic, including the money saved in overhead costs as a result of employees working from home, she suggested that the push by some bosses back to the traditional practice of working in an office was led by a “slave driver” mentality.

“This idea that you only produce when you are sitting in a certain environment is why they used to have slave drivers on the plantation. We ain’t get past there yet,” she asserted on Monday.

Noting that her staff was still working remotely, she added: “Why do I want to rush back to overheads until my revenue is where I want it to be? Even if we do return to [a physical office], it will not be a big office for everyone but a little hub, where you come when you need to meet with clients, have a team meeting or meet on a project.”

Jackson was speaking to the media at the Hilton Barbados about the reasons for hosting the Rethinking Leadership: What Really Works In Today’s Environment panel discussion.

“We particularly wanted to get people’s heads around leading people after COVID, because this idea that ‘if I can’t see what you’re doing, I can’t lead you’ is a bunch of hooey!” she contended

“If I used to have to lead you by looking over your shoulder when you were in my shop, I wasn’t leading you. I was micromanaging you. So now when you’re out on your own, I don’t trust you, or you don’t trust me because we haven’t built any trust, We haven’t taught people how to deliver what we want them to deliver. So leaders have got to take the rap for poor leadership.”

Throughout the morning session of the event, managers from several of the island’s private sector companies were advised on how best to continuously develop their talent pool, understand differences and demonstrate mutual respect and value the contributions of others.

Members of the audience also highlighted the lack of a succession plan as a failure within their own organisations.

Responding to this concern, panellist and the Chief Executive Officer of Digicel (Barbados) Limited Natalie Abrahams said while business leaders are aware of the need for such a plan to be implemented, it is not a simple procedure.

“We are fighting to get things done, but to have meaningful succession in place requires sustained effort and thinking about the skills the people in our businesses need to have to carry on from us. You cannot just write a plan on a piece of paper and have at it. You have to have invested and continued interest that requires time and focus and we are all just trying to get the day’s job done right,” she said.

“On top of that, we have a generational gap. The younger people in our businesses are watching how stressed and frustrated we are and saying ‘I don’t want that, so I am going to stay at this level where the problem is somebody else’s and when I am sick of them I will move onto the next organisation’. They do not feel the need to be in a business for 10, 20, 30 years. Those are the real issues surrounding succession in our businesses,” Abrahams contended.

jeniquebelgrave@barbadostoday.bb