Setting boundaries and managing expectations
Managing this tension is therefore one of the challenges leaders face. It is essential that CEOs set clear boundaries and manage staff expectations, while acknowledging their agency and power to foster and encourage the safest cultures possible.
Leaders can feel acute pressure to compensate for the challenges staff are experiencing, but in many cases this compensation is just not possible. There is a danger that leaders can assume a ‘parenting’ role, striving to provide staff with security, which can place emotional pressure on leaders without the organisational resource to follow through. Particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, leaders found increased levels of anxiety in staff made their behaviour at times unpredictable, compounded by burnout due to cancelled annual leave.
While leaders cannot compensate for everything, it is important that they use their senior position to change culture and ensure clarity of communication to staff. Leaders can play a significant role in introducing appropriate channels through which staff can seek help. If certain things are unaffordable or out of scope, this should be acknowledged and explained to staff; the frameworks for reporting mental health difficulties should be clearly explained; and opportunities to contribute ideas and feedback on the kind of support on offer should be well-publicised. This is a tricky balance; the pressure should not always be on staff to articulate what they need or explain themselves, particularly in organisations with high levels of lived experience within the workforce, where these conversations can be draining. A good approach is to provide regular opportunities to feed in via existing structures such as staff surveys, for example. Ensuring honesty and transparency can help avoid cases where staff felt entitled to support which has been denied without proper explanation.
As leaders, modelling good behaviour can also be an important element of culture change, and leaders should speak regularly to their workforce about the importance of taking annual leave and utilising flexible working policies. Nonetheless, the inherent power dynamics of any organisation can make this challenging; staff may feel that there is a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ culture. Leaders should acknowledge that they know they can influence culture without intending to or even knowing that they do. Placing a consistent emphasis on healthy working cultures and showcasing how the organisation is working to enable them, can help change assumptions about power structures and employee access to flexibility.
This is complex and challenging work. Juggling business interests with staff health and their personal lives, especially given the acute instability of recent months, is never easy. It is important that any programme of well-being support includes clear avenues through which CEOs can also seek support, which we explore in the next section.
