Though its merits are still hotly debated by leaders, hybrid working is firmly established as the new way of working. But with teams often physically distanced, and virtual meetings now commonplace, people are feeling increasingly disconnected from one other, and the companies they work for.

The impact of this disconnection on company culture is seismic.When people fail to engage and collaborate with one another meaningfully, innovation suffers, emotional bonds are weakened, and a sense of belonging falls by the wayside.

For all its advantages, hybrid working has changed the shape of the spontaneous connections we all once took for granted – grabbing a coffee in the moment, having ten minutes after a meeting to chat or getting a quick project update in the elevator. Many of these interactions haven’t been replaced, leaving people feeling increasingly isolated, and untethered from each other and the businesses they work for.

Companies need to refocus and look at how they build rebuild trust and loyalty amongst against this complex background. And line managers hold the key to unlocking and creating opportunities for human connection amongst their teams and between functional areas. ‍

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Refocusing the line manager community takes continued effort.‍

But while activating the manager community sounds straightforward, with headcount reductions and absenteeism rates hitting the headlines, being a line manager is tougher than ever.  

Almost 68%of managers have suffered burnout in the last 12 months, which is problematic. When managers are stretched and at breaking point, good behaviour falls by the wayside, poor behaviour is overlooked, mistakes increase, and engagement falls.  

Managers are often the custodians of company culture, so when they aren’t engaging their teams effectively, it matters.

They need to influence, role model expected behaviours, connect their teams, and inspire others to act. They have to power to create an environment where people can reach their potential and thrive or, on the flip side, can hinder progress. And by strengthening bonds between teams and nudging the expected cultural behaviours while bringing them to life themselves, they can help to sustain culture throughout disruption.

But for managers to be able to supercharge culture effectively and drive connection, the behaviours and beliefs you want to thrive within the organisation need to be clearly defined. And managers need to be given the right tools and techniques to engage their teams too.

A recent study of over 4,500 people revealed the damage being caused to the UK economy by the lack of training amongst this manager population. Findings highlighted that those who had training are more likely to proactively counter a toxic culture by reporting concerns or wrongdoing at work than those who have not undergone formal training in management and leadership.

This stark lack of training and development opportunities reverberates throughout a business. For many people, their relationship with their immediate manager is one of the most important they have in the workplace - managers directly impact how they experience work on a day-to-day basis. And when that relationship is broken or tense, the connection between an employee and the company is weakened too. Which is a big problem, particularly when those bonds have already been stretched with the widespread shift to remote and hybrid working. ‍

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So how else can managers support a high-performing culture? ‍

Managers need to help to reconnect people to each other and to the business. They don’t need to engineer friendships, but the way we work is changing and they need to help people move forward together. Whether that’s by by adapting to the new ways of working and making remote and hybrid arrangements work in practice or by rallying people around a shared cause or the business’ purpose.

Because managers are close to the ground, they have the power to identify the root causes of cultural issues and take steps to solve them and make the business better. But for change to happen, they must be given the autonomy and the remit to act and move quickly.

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Creating a sense of belonging‍

To boost culture, managers should also be focusing on creating a stronger sense of belonging while creating safe environments for their teams, where people feel empowered to speak out without the fear of judgement. They need to trust teams to work autonomously.

Reward and recognition are still important, so providing ongoing support, guidance and proactively seeking out opportunities for their team’s development is a must.

It’s widely accepted that culture can directly influence business performance and supercharge growth. So, in an increasingly competitive marketplace and amidst the continued war for talent when renumeration alone won’t cut it, having engaged managers who genuinely uphold culture and create connection has never mattered more.  

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