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Key Changes Companies Should Make

Key changes companies should make in 2022

Josh Bersin, the founder of an HR research firm, says that “you have to run your company as if every employee has one foot out the door.” And he is right because employees today demand fast, positive change from their employers.

Let the data talk: 

  • 8 out of 10 employees feel ‘more empowered’ to hold leaders accountable for workplace changes in 2022. 
  • And 56% of workers said they will only wait 30 to 60 days for employers to make needed changes before they consider leaving. (Human Workplace Index)

So what can companies do?

Well, every company is different and has its unique challenges. But one thing is for sure: now is not the time to let up on the gas (despite today’s prices, har har).

A universal principle is companies must deeply understand what their employees want and then take action to deliver. By collecting employee feedback, companies will unlock a treasure trove of opportunities to improve retention, productivity, and workplace happiness.

How can they take it a step further? Companies must double down on improving the employee experience end-to-end. To start, that means:

  • purging any signs of toxic culture (one way is to create a set of strong company values and reward the right behavior)
  • hiring the right people for the right roles
  • giving employees a meaningful mission and purpose to work toward
  • training managers to listen and support employees (versus telling)
  • creating and communicating legitimate career paths (only 11% of companies offer formal career pathing programs). 

The MIT study also revealed four short-term strategies companies can use to increase retention.

  1. Identifying lateral career opportunities
  2. Offering remote work arrangements
  3. Hosting company-sponsored social events
  4. Offering predictable schedules
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Organizational Development Team Effectiveness Uncategorized

Where do we go from here?

Where do we go from here? As we emerge from the last 16 months of the Covid-19 pandemic many people are asking this question. Workplaces have changed forever. We were forced into experimenting with different ways to work. It was quick, due to necessity, Just like the vaccine. I know for me, although I experienced some major stresses, I personally and professionally discovered growth. I have learned some new skills and changed a few paradigms of mine about work, its purpose and meaning to each of us, and what our future might look like.

I for one believe that we will continue to thrive. These changes are inevitable as technology continues to create options for how we get things done. The next couple of years should be interesting to see how we evolve. Certainly being aware of the consequences of change can help us get ahead of the 8 ball in how we design the “New Workplace”. Facilitated dialogue with your teams is and will continue to be critical to the success of your change journey.

This linked article by Jack Kelley in Forbes Magazine from May 25,2021 “The Unintended Consequences Of The Hybrid-Work Model” is an interesting read and food for thought. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2021/05/25/the-unintended-consequences-of-the-hybrid-work-model/?sh=1317dedc3b69

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Help Managing your Stress and Anxiety in these Uncertain Times

Wow! who would have imagined this time we are in with business shut down, the threat of severe illness with every interaction and no idea when it will end. If you did not have symptoms of stress and anxiety before I am sure you are experiencing them now. Over 21 percent of adults will have diagnosable anxiety in a given year. That is 42.5 million people! and that is in normal times. Imagine what that number must be now.

Stress and anxiety affects our body (heart palpitations, nausea, headaches, etc), our thoughts (worry, what if thinking, self doubt, “spaciness”, irritation, etc) and Behavior (startle easy, avoidance of people and places, short fuse, etc). All of these symptoms of stress and anxiety are disruptive to your life both personally as well as affecting your relationships, especially now that we are quarantined in our homes with very few options for distraction and no real end in site.

There are some very helpful things you can do to help cope in these unusual times. Thanks to technology we can still reach out for help from wherever we are hold up. I am an MSW clinical Social Worker as well as an ICF Certified Coach.

If you need help I am offering coaching and counseling sessions via Zoom, Skype and FaceTime. This way you will be able to get the support you need from the comfort of your home while still meeting with me face to face. I have over 30 years of experience counseling and coaching individuals, couples and groups. If you or someone you know could use some help and someone to talk to I am offering my Coaching and Counseling services via live video sessions and would welcome the opportunity to offer you support. Couples focused coaching is available as well.

Sessions are 30 minutes long and I am offering them at half price during this crisis, $50 for 30 minute session. If you would like some help contact me at 812-345-7519 or bhodge@oecleadership.com for information and scheduling.

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Why is Teamwork so Challenging?

Most of us work in teams or at least work environments that call for high levels of collaboration. Hopefully you have experienced success in teams but no doubt you also have experienced the challenges. Why can working in teams be such a challenge at times? in a 2016 Harvard Business Review titled “Collaboration overload”, Researchers found that there has been a 50% plus increase in collaborative activity in our work over the past decade. With this increase comes a new set of skills and conditions necessary to be successful. Teamwork has gotten more complex with people working on multiple teams at once with sometimes very different focus and different members. Trust is the foundation of effective teamwork and is often left to chance, as with all of our relationships trust must be worked on and discussed in order to create and maintain it. How we create, kickoff, and maintain our teams is critical to long term success and overall team member engagement. In the attached article Bev Attfield talks about 5 common Challenges teams face in todays work environment. https://blog.jostle.me/blog/5-challenges-of-teamwork-and-how-to-overcome-them

Visit http://www.oecleadership.com 812-345-7519

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Does Team Training Really Work?

Do you wonder if investing in Team Development actually works?

In the attached article research was done on the effectiveness of team development efforts as well as research on which approaches are actually effective. I think most of us have felt that in our gut team development made sense but have also questioned its actual effectiveness and so its value in investment of resources. As I shared in my last blog, practice has always been the foundation of teamwork outside of work but not so much in the work world. The article attached goes into the science and research findings behind the effectiveness of team training and which approaches are the most effective. What the research finds is that “classroom” lecture and didactic training is the least effective and simulation and experiential training with review are the most effective.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0169604

Visit http://www.oecleadership.com 812-345-7519