Impact Of The Pandemic

I just returned from an annual Business Development and Leadership Conference. What an excellent, inspiring experience. I always learn so much from everyone. Interestingly, one of the undercurrents of almost all of our discussions was the ever-present impact of the Pandemic on firm life. Leading a firm today is more complex than ever before and firm leaders are busy reshaping their firm’s environment.

For instance, across the globe, the last couple of years has produced a significant life reset. What began as the Great Resignation has turned out to be more of a Great Reshuffle. People initially left their jobs by the hundreds of thousands worldwide; some for extended periods. But most have reentered the market at some point. It seems that they didn’t leave the workforce; they just reconfiguring their careers.

What Is Important?

In their reshuffling, what do people think they want that they didn’t have? The first and typical response is more money.  Consequently, salaries and benefits have increased at an unsustainable pace.

Also, while shut down and working at home, workers want to work remotely or hybrid. Pre-pandemic, people had to earn the right to work remotely by demonstrating their ability to produce efficiently. They learned the boundaries, routines and practices that made them successful when working out of the office. But now everyone wants work remotely, even though too many do not have the skills and disciplines to do so.

Money and flexibility will get workers interested, but we know that those two are not enough to produce career satisfaction. There are other factors that are more important. More than money and flexibility, what do people really want? What do YOU really want?

Motivational Drivers

There are various theories and models on motivation. One that I like is by Daniel Pink in his book, Drive, where he identifies three drivers very well: Mastery (learning and progressing in your craft), Autonomy (freedom to choose when and how you work), and Purpose (doing work that is important and meaningful). In addition, there is the Social (connecting and working with others toward a common goal or purpose). These four drivers, MAPS, are the factors that matter most to career fulfillment. If these motivational drivers were satisfied in their previous settings, workers never would have left.

The problem is that in the pre-pandemic work setting, the firm’s leaders controlled and directed these factors through policies and practices. Workers were left with very few options. Now, leaders are struggling to make the managerial and operational adjustments that are acceptable to workers, while protecting the client experience and firm sustainability.

Activate Your Drivers

We could expand this idea for several Messages. But the question remains: to what degree does your work setting satisfy your motivational needs? How can you increase the behaviors, activities and practices that energize you in your career? In most situations, there are opportunities to do so—you don’t have to leave. But you do have to speak up. After all, it’s your career, and your firm leaders will value your thoughts as they reshape the firm’s environment.