Post-pandemic, in combination with the global war for talent, we witness the explicit surge in employee power. Employees expect organisations to have a greater emphasis on what is now important to them and have equal concern their wants and needs may not match their employers’. More confronting is the willingness of employees to change organisations if their needs are not met. With the abundance of jobs on offer, this is easily done.
So, who better to assist in understanding and having sway with the collective employee gaggle than your influencer? The workplace influencer now sits supremely at the top of the organisational chart. Perhaps, only visible to those in the know, regardless, they reign.
Change managers advocate recognising laggards and early adopters, for they too are workplace influencers and harnessed adroitly, play critical roles in successful organisational change. Take it up a notch in our distanced, less visible, more informal, less structured, and hierarchal world and these influencers form a pivotal role in your business. Whether you desire it or not, it’s occurring.
How do they do this? Trust. Without the traditional power position, the workplace influencer is a leader without a team. They garner buy-in and support through trust, authenticity, and respect. They are not self-serving, and the genuine interest in colleagues and their success makes them mighty.
The workplace influencer takes many forms. They are the cultivator, who plants the seed and spreads the word, the cheerleader, championing the cause and injecting a powerhouse of enthusiasm, or the counsellor, an enlightened mediator, who acutely feels the pain of both sides and adeptly bridges the gap. Of course, equally, there is the energy zapper, with a disregard for Pollyannas, intent on a ‘higher purpose’, draining and deleting morale and potential.