Recognise This! – The way work gets done is changing. Century-old management structures must change to keep up.

Do you ever wish you had a crystal ball that could show you what you need to be doing now to create leaders equipped to handle the rapidly changing world of work?

Hay Group has provided just such a glimpse into the future and the guidebook to prepare in their Leadership 2030: Building the New Leader report. I’ve identified three clear themes in the report where a culture of appreciation built on strategic recognition fosters just this kind of leader needed to meet the challenges of “globalisation 2.0.”

Global management requires flat, matrix organisational structures.

“Organisations will have to radically adapt their cultures, structures, systems and processes in order to survive the new world order – and managing in matrix structures, where information flows around the organisation and around the globe in a way that renders traditional hierarchies and reporting lines redundant, is one of the biggest challenges. …

“In practical terms, this means that international companies need to adapt their global strategies for local markets – a process that will be helped by … encouraging more cross-country and cross-functional collaboration. They will also need to be more agile, as the best global companies operate like a flattened matrix, where information and authority flow in all directions.”

Traditional hierarchical management structures in which decisions flow down from the top will no longer work. Instead, organisations must encourage employees at all levels to build deep relationships across these traditional hierarchical boundaries as well as across teams, divisions and geographies.

One of the most effective ways to achieve this is through encouraging employees to notice and formally recognise the efforts, achievements and contributions of colleagues regardless of physical proximity. Nothing builds stronger relationships than successful collaborations based on appreciation and trust.

Employee retention morphs into personal loyalty.

“Additionally, they will need the ability to lead diverse teams over which they may have no direct authority and to find new ways of engendering personal loyalty in an environment where the old loyalties between employer and employee are declining due to the distance between them.”

Managers will truly become “leaders” of teams with members who report to other people in the organisation. To get the best performance out of all team members, leaders will need to foster horizontal loyalty between team members regardless of position, level or reporting structure in the organisation.  Research has proven simply saying “thank you” increases the likelihood of people willingly helping again in the future – the foundation of loyal and productive teams.

Recognition and Values-Driven Engagement Become More Entrenched “Hard” Management Practices.

“Individualisation has an enormous impact on employees’ loyalty and motivation to perform, with ‘soft factors’ such as recognition, self-development, self-direction, values-driven engagement and work-life balance often taking precedence over traditional factors like pay and promotion.”

My CEO, Eric Mosley, and I wrote the book on how to move recognition from anecdotal morale-booster to data-driven business discipline. Key to that is values-based recognition proven to increase employee engagement.

Read through Hay Group’s research. How else do you see these megatrends impacting your organisation over the next 15 years?