Digital leadership: an intranet alone does not ensure a start-up mentality

Leadership should be “digital”, “open” and “agile” today – in keeping with modern corporate culture and in line with the hybrid working methods and digital collaboration tools of the New Normal. But although the will is there, companies rarely put modern leadership culture into practice in their day-to-day business. As an expression of an open corporate culture, a social intranet can help systematically empower managers, build trust and establish a positive team culture across all levels.

Demand for a social intranet is often synonymous with the desire for an open corporate culture: moving away from silo thinking and a culture of fear towards more communication and networking. A new corporate culture is thus often implemented along with the technical solution, including appeals for the greatest possible openness, agility and digitization in all areas. In short, companies want to be a start-up, with courageous and open-minded employees willing to take risks – but preferably within the same structures that have evolved over decades and without affecting any existing hierarchies.

This catalog of requirements not only reliably causes employees to frown, but just as reliably causes managers to break out in a sweat. And this is the best-case scenario, since the desire for room to maneuver and personal responsibility is always matched – especially at management level – by the fear of mistakes and uncontrolled growth. This raises the question of what leadership should undertake in times of remote work and how communication can help managers properly perform their tasks and effectively contribute to the company’s goals in the digital environment.

Economies of scale instead of uncontrolled growth

The task of internal communication in a hybrid working world is to network all participants in such a way that synergies and potentials can be leveraged across divisions. If employees are to think and act in an entrepreneurial manner, they also need an environment with a corporate culture that allows them such freedom in line with the company’s overarching goals. 

The decisive factor for this type of environment is thus what employees experience in the company on a daily basis. The term “employer branding” is quite rightly outdated today: rather than trying to “leave their mark” on “their people” and merely talking the talk, managers must courageously and confidently lead the way and also walk the walk. The more the employees sense the commitment of their managers, the greater their own commitment to the common goals. This is a communication challenge – especially when physical distance complicates employee management and collaboration.

Digital words are followed up by personal actions

In a hybrid working world, management’s task is to transfer employer experience into the digital realm. Reaching employees on the social intranet requires a balanced content mix tailored to the target group – as informative as necessary and as personal as possible. Visual communication via video messages, images and animations as well as personal contributions via post and chat functions in the relevant channels can be leveraged to create personal commitment over any distance. The decisive factor is the feeling that the manager is familiar with the day-to-day business and can give the employees guidance and support with their needs.

To avoid any misunderstanding in this context, simply posting a few messages in the intranet between two meetings and leaving the rest up to the “social” functions for comments and interactions does not suffice – this is just the very beginning. It is the responsibility of managers in particular to take things to the next level at this point. Evaluating feedback and comparing it with your own objectives in order to give qualified feedback yourself and enter into a well-informed dialog on an equal basis with your employees. 

Position vs. qualification

And here things come full circle, since in order to enter into dialog with employees, managers must be equipped with the appropriate skills and – almost more importantly – the appropriate mindset. Many managers in medium-sized companies in particular have been deservedly promoted to senior positions thanks to their professional expertise. Many specialist leaders are nevertheless very unsure about what is expected from their leadership role and how to fulfill that role. Three factors are crucial when it comes to coping with this confusion of roles, tasks and approaches:

TRUST:
Managers in particular have reservations about admitting to their insecurities or (perceived?) inadequacies. Protected spaces for an open exchange of views and trust-building measures help managers learn from each other and develop a mindset that contributes to a positive corporate culture

Room to maneuver:
the average manager (seemingly?) never has enough time. It is management's task to valorize the development of personal leadership skills and deliberately create or, if necessary, impose time periods for this. It may take a lot of effort at first, but the organization will be grateful.

It may sound paradoxical at first, but managers in particular want to be taken by the hand and have a very great need for information – and for appreciative feedback on an equal basis. After all, only managers who have themselves understood the big questions in the company can provide credible answers to them and communicate them strategically. And only managers who do not have to fear losing face or competence can transmit confidence, motivation and courage to the workforce.

Take aways

1. A management culture in line with corporate goals and the needs of employees is more important than ever in the digital New Normal

2. A social intranet alone does not make a company more open, agile or digital; instead it is the corporate culture and the everyday employer experience that do so

3. Managers require enablement, trust and room to maneuver if they are to fulfill their role in a hybrid working world