Introduction
The manager has the traditional role of administration and overseeing a business in organisation that included several activities of governance such as employee management, supervision of leadership, focusing on productivity, and identifying different ways to motivate the workers that can further benefit the organisation. However, the roles of managers have evolved with time and requirements. It has been different from what it means to be today. Covid-9 has disrupted every business and employment; it allowed organisation, leaders, and manager to adopt a different approach to work; for example, remote work that can completely changes the roles and responsibilities of a manager.
Changed Role of Managers
Due to the industrial growth and demanding role of manager, the job of a manager has become challenging which requires the managers to focus on the work without engaging in emotions. Therefore, companies also expect that managers should not be emotional with no signs of weakness. Since society is heading towards independence, employers want managers to embrace their own vulnerability, learn from their mistakes, take ownership, and find the solutions themselves. The role of the manager is evolving constantly and there has been a huge change in the last few years. The position of a manager includes responsibilities of leaders and management which require a manager to be flexible and ready to adopt the changes; however, external forces can put more strain on the manager to adapt to different styles of work; for example, recent Covid-19 pandemic that increased the responsibilities due to the remote workforce, and changing work environment such as work from home. There are several practices, and changes that have been adopted by managers and organisation; for example, flexibility, and different approach to communication; all these changes show how the roles and responsibilities of a manager have changed after the pandemic.
The risk of Covid-19 has forced people to maintain social distancing and avoid contacts that have prompted the way of remote working or working from home. Since organisations have adopted the approach of remote working, their expectations have increased in terms of flexibility, and communication. Employers want their managers to be flexible and available for additional support as remote workers work at different times. Although organisations follow their times and schedule; however, concerning productivity, they allow employees to work flexible hours, and some companies in Ireland also follow a similar practice. Thus, for managers, it is difficult to manage the employees who are working outside their shift hours, while organisation expects that managers should focus on all employees irrespective of their timing. Apart from flexibility, communication is a major challenge for managers while working in a remote culture. Managers who have been moved to the remote work culture explained that managers faced challenges when addressing the team members, communicating a message, and motivating employees. A particular approach of communicating or email or text cannot work in all situations; hence managers need to be creative and able to utilise different resources to enable effective communication between employees and managers.
Organisations used to select managers who are able to evaluate performance can manage the entire operation of given work effectively; however, within the last five years, HR has started to hire managers who can coach and teach the purpose of training and development which shows that managers changing work environment expect from managers that they will be able to guide educate and develop the competencies in employees. Coaching and teaching are also the core competence of managers that have been tested during the Covid-19 pandemic; for example, managers have asked to train the employees regarding the changed pattern of work during Covid-19 along with the procedure and guidance to work efficiently. Since the jobs of employees and managers have become distributed, the relationship between them has also become asynchronous. More than 70% of people are working remotely since the Covid-19 pandemic that includes both employees and managers. This shows that either employees or managers would be able to match their time of work if they do not have communication. They have less visibility of actual activities, day-to-day tasks, and real-time challenges. At the same time, managers are also not able to match the time with directors they expect the managers to be available all the times.
Technology also shows how a change in work practice post-Covid-19 has changed the manager’s role. Large organisations have started to monitor the performance of employees during remote work. They have invested more in technology, such as AI, data automation, and real-time auditing tools which have replaced the work of a manager. The assigning of work and monitoring has been completely replaced by the technology that allowed managers to focus on different areas such as coaching, guiding employees, innovation, and developing competencies to utilise the technologies. The expectations of employees have also changed their way of working. As they are less involved in monitoring and distribution of work, employees expect their managers that they should be able to reduce their stress and burden by providing mental health support and understanding their challenges. Thus, managers who have been less emotional in recent years have provided emotional support to employees during Covid-19, and companies expect that the mangers should be able to handle these kinds of situations. The flexibility of working allowed the management of work flexibly while working from home, thus employees require that managers should have an empathetic approach that would allow them work with the flexibility.
Employers who used to have skilled managers who can drive performance and productivity for them have also changed their preferences after the pandemic. The high turnover-over rate and complexity of job roles require employers to motivate the workers regularly and develop a culture of acceptance, and support that can be led by the managers; thus, they require empathetic managers to develop a high level of trust. HR leaders in a survey revealed that their preference for a manager’s role has changed in the post-pandemic period, every organisation demands a manager with an empathetic approach as managers with an emphatic approach are more likely to affect employees’ performance which is necessary during remote work. In addition, large companies have multiple options such as training for the motivations of employees; however, in midsized companies, only managers are there to guide workers; thus, an empathetic approach has been an essential requirement for employers.
Conclusion
Covid-19 has changed the way of working and allowed organisations and management to adopt different strategies to continue the work during and post Covid-19 The remote work that has emerged in Covid-19 has also changed the work preferences and qualities of managers. Managers now need to be more empathetic, except in large organisation, managers should have skills to educate, train and provide coaching to employees. Employers’ preferences also changed as started to demand managers with an empathetic approach which is necessary to work with flexibility. Thus, Covid-19 has significantly changed the role of a manger.
