Why a VUCA Approach is More Relevant Now Than Ever
VUCA leadership has become more relevant than ever. The term VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) originated from the end of the Cold War when America realised that the Soviets weren’t the sole cause of the turmoil. In other words, the world isn’t all black and white, and there were lots of grey areas in between.
While VUCA has been around for a while, it is only with the recent pandemic that leaders see the need to implement its counteractive ideologies. COVID-19 has resulted in adverse change unlike any within living memory, with economic reshuffling, stock market volatility, displaced jobs, and threatened lives.
Now is a critical moment in the world stage for leaders to embrace and practice VUCA leadership. Leaders can effectively manage short-mid term challenges through its theories and concepts while navigating tumultuous external storms (uncontrollable events like the unstable economy and market swings).
Employees Seek Direction More Than Usual
VUCA scenarios cause fear and uncertainty as jobs get affected, and the silver lining is nowhere in sight. As such, employees will hanker for support, vision, and direction from organisational leaders. A leader’s influence accounts for much of an employee’s workplace engagement under normal circumstances. A Gallup research states that Managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores across business units.
With VUCA, more employees will turn to leaders for a semblance of meaning and direction to understand their position during and after the crisis. There are various strategies available for leaders to impart a sense of hope and sustainability — providing employees with the assurance and confidence required in facing a VUCA situation.
Employees face an existential crisis through VUCA, and leaders need to ensure they don’t feel alone handling the unexpected clamour. For example, leaders may provide employees with the most advanced tools and support to fulfill a task. The strategy could include assigning a mentor, positive reinforcement (i.e., openly acknowledging individual employees’ achievements), and establishing a clear work order.
Ambiguity is one of the obstacles in VUCA (the “A” in the acronym). By providing direction, leaders can overcome dual-meanings and situations without standard solutions. Performance specialist Rick Gibbs shares the three golden ingredients in work — setting specific goals, leveraging individual strengths, and enabling autonomy to complete tasks most effectively and intuitively.
There is No Precedence
VUCA environments usually throw prior experience out of the window. Leaders need to discover new ways of solving problems, which forces them to improve their decision-making processes. COVID-19 brings about new challenges such as specific hygiene practices, remote work capabilities, and communication disruptions on a scale that few expected.
Leaders can stay vigilant and well-prepared for VUCA scenarios by deviating from a standard approach to problem-solving. Rather than subscribing to a rigid X-plus-Y-equals-Z mindset, leaders should experiment with “permutations.” There are four powerful characteristics common in creative leaders: perseverance in the face of obstacles, openness for growth and new experiences, tolerance for ambiguity, and a risk-taking attitude.
It is still possible to rely on accrued data as predicators, but leaders should not consider them the be-all-end-all in decision-making. Outliers like the COVID-19 crisis will throw everything out of the water, with months of organisational preparedness rendered futile. With VUCA environments, leaders must quickly adapt according to the latest economic and market trends in the most practical fashion.
Frequent brainstorming sessions can help leaders come up with a series of highly dynamic contingency plans. VUCA functions like a chess game, where leaders need to think seven to ten or more steps ahead of the immediate challenges. Consider the ramifications in every decision, what will happen if plan A goes awry.
What are the anticipated responses from customers and workers during times of uncertainty? What are some ways to expedite a process during disrupted communication? How can technology automate or mitigate manual operations and processes? Address these questions often with the team and formulate tentative solutions to exercise creativity in tackling volatile environments.
All Hands Should Be on Deck
Human resources are vital in handling VUCA issues, especially communication among co-workers. Leaders should discover the most effective way to tap on each individual’s strengths and be open to all suggestions, feedback, and contributions. Frequent check-ins during remote work operations encourage leaders to maintain quality communication with employees and provides them with a platform to clear all doubts.
Additionally, it is necessary to create a comfortable digital communication space to promote open communication. Leaders should provide adequate opportunities for each employee to voice his/her concerns without rushing along to the next item on the agenda.
Ultimately, organisations can better overcome VUCA situations by promoting employee engagement — keeping individuals committed and satisfied in their postings. Employee engagement provides many organisational perks, including improved productivity, reduced employee turnover, and a boost to professional reputation (it is always ideal to associate with a reputable organisation).
The art of employee engagement begins right from the hiring process, leading to onboarding and talent management. Onboarding processes should go beyond teaching the ropes to include the familiarisation of positive workplace culture, ideally reinforcing work-life balance and autonomy. Organisational leaders can help employees overcome nagging concerns in the VUCA world through a listen, respond, and act approach.
Listening enables leaders to understand and authenticate the source and topic of concern. It is common for rumours and fallacies to circulate when there is the brevity of information. Leaders must stay abreast of the latest discussions that may cause panic and disengagement among employees through casual meetings or focus groups.
Upon establishing the issue, leaders need to dole out responses in the most empathetic manner. Avoid sugar-coating the severity of a problem, but rather, phrase it in a way that encourages employees to contribute to the solution. Leaders may also take the chance to quell baseless rumours that may adversely affect company morale.
Finally, leaders need to work out an adaptive plan with employees through consistent and open communication. VUCA may overwhelm the uninitiated leader and workforce, but with adequate practice, agility, and innovation, organisations will function at their best in the worst situation.
A VUCA world presents huge challenges for both leaders and employees, forcing us to be prepared to deal with constant evolution and change. StrengthsAsia has helped many individuals and corporate clients continue to survive and thrive by enabling breakthrough experiences for leaders, teams and organisations. If you wish to learn more about the Strengths Leadership Program, please reach out to us here.
