At PeopleNotTech we make software that measures and improves Psychological Safety in teams. If you care about it- talk to us about a demo at contact@peoplenottech.com
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Disclaimer: we are well aware that the reality of Covid is no longer fully shared and that some of us are experiencing more acute instances of what is a great human tragedy so to those people, even the talk about saving the planet seems tone-deaf leave alone this conversation about retention of talent, a movement of a new mindset around the new ways of work and humanity in the workplace. That said, while our thoughts are with the most hit places, the pandemic will end -hopefully soon!- but this moment would have still stayed as a very important time in the life of most organisations. How they respond to this instance of their employees having awakened will be recorded in their history as pivotal and whether they remained competitive or not will be directly attributable to it so it isn’t exactly a trivial matter.
As ever, if yesterday’s article on the difference between “resignation” versus “awakening” was a theoretical exploration, today’s video focuses on the practical ways in which you can make a swift difference and start lowering the HumanDebt.
If we were to pick the themes that have become clear to talent in the last 18 months and if we are to agree that said clarity will continue spreading like wildfire and (chiefly knowledge economy) workers everywhere will ask for as a baseline from this moment on, then the things they will need are:
First and foremost – Flexibility. That is flexibility in time and place of where their work is being done but also flexibility in processes and more importantly, flexibility in mindsets, perhaps the hardest to quantify but chances are that all employees will expect the same level of underlying flexibility as workers in Agile environments have done for many years since there is no place for rigid mainframes in the speed offered by the new ways of work. They will not stay in organisations where that level of extreme flexibility is lacking.
The more esoterical one of “feeling valued”. People will no longer remain in jobs where they don’t feel truly heard, respected, really cared for, genuinely entrusted and empowered, cherished. Part of feeling valued is being allowed, supported and encouraged to do the people work at a team level as well as of doing enough for one’s self-care.
Lastly but maybe the most important one – people will increasingly need to work in environments devoid of fear. While living fearlessly should have always been a basic human right it is indeed not so in most enterprises if we take an honest look at the numbers that outline all the instances in which people live with fear. From mere dread to abject fear it’s there in some form of other in all environments where people can’t speak up. People won’t leave teams where they have the freedom to speak up and be their best fearless self and while they may not leave the teams where they are crippled by various worries they will end up unproductive through stress, burnout and ultimately mental health decline. We can’t pretend no one is afraid when heart attack rates are so much higher on Mondays.
So what is there to do? This is a monumental task – comprehending the swell and then reacting to it by attempting to audit and diminish the HumanDebt. More so, what are you to do if you are not in a position of authority and do not feel like you can move the needle at a macro level?
Start small with these two tips:
Step 1: Normalise the human vernacular. Historically words such as “emotions”, “feelings”, “relationships”, “trust”, “empathy” and so on were all but banned in the workplace and bringing them up carried a risk of being seen as “unprofessional” – so that we can do the people work and work on the HumanDebt we need to reverse this. Obviously, we can’t as individuals mandate that the enterprise stops thinking of them as “personal” and has them de facto banished but we can use them. Confidently. Repeatedly. Despite the cringing. That will eventually normalise them.
Step 2: Obsess with the “actionable”. Once the vernacular is accepted and become part of the everyday conversation in the enterprise there is a risk that it becomes empty rhetorics. A further risk, even in the companies where there is genuine organisational permission in place and where there is extreme goodwill is to get lost in the academic exercise of eternally discussing these topics as a theoretical endeavour. To avoid that, everyone has to be on the lookout and prevent empty talk, endless awareness-raising workshops and pieces of training and sterile discussions with no follow-up.
The ultimate shortcut to all of the above is working on the Psychological Safety of teams of course because all of the vernacular is part of creating this healthy team dynamic and none of the work can happen without intentional and regular actions to better behaviours and increase performance.
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This Thursday on the Fundamentals of Psychological Safety Series: “Psychological Safety In Numbers” so be sure to subscribe so you have it in your inbox.
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The 3 “commandments of Psychological Safety” to build high performing teams are: Understand, Measure and Improve
Read more about our Team Dashboard that measures and improves Psychological Safety at www.peoplenottech.com or reach out at contact@peoplenottech.com and let’s help your teams become Psychologically Safe, healthy, happy and highly performant.
To order the “People Before Tech: The Importance of Psychological Safety and Teamwork in the Digital Age” book go to this Amazon link