With the new year comes consideration of one’s future. On your first day back at work after the holidays, you may think about all things business related that will need to be addressed in the new year.
With that in mind, should managers be trained to provide a “New Year’s agenda” to employees so everyone knows from the outset what the key challenges and to-dos will be for the next 12 months, and how those challenges will be approached?
Are There Likely New Mergers or Acquisitions?
If your company is in an acquisition state of mind, it may be a good idea to have managers in each work group talk to employees about the acquisitions that are likely in the year ahead, including any changes to their work routine that may be expected.
For example, is there a good chance some employees in a department may be diverted to new work projects? Is there a good chance one department may merge with another department?
The more of a heads-up you can give employees, the less they will feel they were blindsided. The power of mental preparation for likely developments cannot be overestimated.
What Exciting New Projects Will Be Taken on?
Information in many organizations appears to be doled out on a need-to-know basis. The launch of new projects, for example, often is kept a secret until the last minute.
Like the advantage of giving employees a heads-up about likely mergers and acquisitions, it’s worth letting work teams know earlier rather than later about new endeavors their department likely will tackle.
Bringing employees into the loop earlier than the last minute communicates respect and trust. The manager can make it clear they are awaiting final approval on the project or that they just received final approval but are not yet ready to announce it publicly. It isn’t a good feeling when the employees who will be personally affected by a new project learn about it at the same time as everyone else.
Have the Expectations for the Job Changed?
Sometimes a new year heralds changes in company leadership. Senior leaders may retire or be pushed out (or both), and the new leadership seeks to implement a new approach.
Will employees be expected to step up the pace of their work via greater use of artificial intelligence-powered tools or simply by doing more work? Will cost-cutting initiatives be put into place so that the old schedule of business conferences will get cut back?
It may be that new management will look more closely and critically at employees’ productivity. That’s information employees should have so they can make any changes necessary to put their best foot forward. You don’t want to lose a valued, high-performing employee because they were not informed that their old work pace needed to be accelerated.
Managers also may need to discuss budgeting for the new year. The old travel budget may have been altered so that instead of an entire work group traveling to a conference, just one or two from the group will attend. Open and direct conversations about who will go and who will do what given the new budget constraints can help maintain the peace.
Ask Employees What They Want to See Changed
Employees often have a steady stream of ideas about things they would like to see improved or ended in the new year.
Is there a technology that needs to be updated or eliminated? Is there a new protocol for getting work done that was introduced in the previous year that is going so poorly they would hate to see it continued into the new year?
It may be helpful to have each work group submit to their manager the top three things they would like to see changed or improved in the new year.
Sometimes there is a serendipitous overlap between a technology or other investment that isn’t working for employees and the company’s ever-present desire to keep costs in check.
How do you prepare managers to work with their teams to ensure the new year gets off to a good start?