Human Experience Excellence May 2023

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Focusing On Employee Experience Equates To Employer Success

A positive employee experience can also boost productivity

Diana Dix, Business Partner, Strategic HR Advisor, Influencer and Risk Mitigator, Cavignac & Associates

Burnout: A Failure And An Opportunity

How to lead with empathy and build a healthy workplace culture

- Heather E. McGowan, Partner, ImpactEleven and Chris Shipley, Co-founder, Constituent Connection and Board Member, rocket50.io

Performance Myths: Do Goals Get Work Done?

The simple 3-step process to boost productivity

- Amy Leschke-Kahle, Vice President of Performance Acceleration, The Marcus Buckingham Company, an ADP Company

Top Picks 09 15 23 32

Fighting Employee Burnout In The Modern Workplace

How to build workplace resilience and increase productivity

- Dr. Ryan Todd, Psychiatrist and Technologist, Headversity

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The Path to Productivity: Balancing Technology, Well-being, and Growth

Intoday's fast-paced and rapidly evolving world, employee productivity has become a top priority for businesses of all sizes and industries. With technological advancements and increasing competition, employers are constantly seeking ways to engage their employees to boost morale, performance, and efficiency. The global pandemic has highlighted the importance of productivity as remote work became a norm, and employers had to restructure their management and productivity strategies.

As we move into the future, employers will need to adopt new approaches to manage and motivate their employees, keeping in mind each generation's unique needs and preferences.

The rise of artificial intelligence, for example, has led to the automation of certain tasks, freeing up employees to focus on more complex and creative tasks. Employers must learn to leverage such technologies to improve employee productivity while simultaneously addressing fears and concerns about job security.

Another crucial factor in employee productivity is mental and emotional well-being. Employers need to understand that their employees' mental and emotional states can have a significant impact on their work performance. The pandemic has brought mental health to the forefront, highlighting the need for employers to provide support to their employees. It’s critical for companies to invest in employee wellness programs, provide resources for mental health support, and encourage a healthy work-life balance to ensure employee well-being and, in turn, productivity.

The articles in the May edition of Human Experience focus on how employers can create a productive and sustainable work environment that fosters growth and benefits both individuals and the organization as a whole.

Marcus Mossberger's (Future of Work Strategist, Infor) article, The Productivity

Paradox, explores the need for worker well-being in today's economy and offers strategies for combating and avoiding burnout.

Diana Dix's (Business Partner, Strategic HR Advisor, Cavignac & Associates) article, Focusing On Employee Experience Equates To Employer Success, emphasizes the connection between employee experience and productivity and provides tips for improving work-life balance, recognition, and overall satisfaction. Heather E. McGowan (Partner, ImpactEleven) and Chris Shipley's (Co-founder, Constituent Connection) Burnout: A Failure And An Opportunity examines the role of organizational structure in burnout and highlights the importance of empathetic leadership in alleviating disengagement. Amy Leschke-Kahle's (VP, Performance Acceleration, The Marcus Buckingham Company) Performance Myths: Do Goals Get Work Done? challenges traditional performance goals and suggests focusing on priorities, leveraging strengths, and engaging with team leaders for better results.

In today's dynamic work environment, it is crucial for employers to keep in mind the diverse expectations and requirements of their workforce across generations. By adapting to the latest technological trends and prioritizing the mental and emotional well-being of their employees, businesses can create a productive and sustainable workplace that fosters growth and benefits both individuals and the organization as a whole.

We hope you find the latest edition of Human Experience Excellence, featuring expert articles on employee productivity, valuable and informative. Your feedback and suggestions on our articles are always welcome.

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In a world of unparalleled challenges (global pandemic, racial injustice, political rivalry, digital 4.0, emotional malaise), uncertainty reigns. Finding opportunity in this context requires harnessing uncertainty and harnessing starts with reliable, valid, timely, and useful information. The Excellence publications are a superb source of such information. The authors provide insights with impact that will guide thought and action.

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Excellence publications are my ‘go-to’ resource for contemporary and actionable information to improve leadership, engagement, results, and retention. Each edition offers rich and diverse perspectives for improving the employee experience and the workplace in general.

I regularly read and contribute to Leadership Excellence and Talent Management Excellence. I use many of the articles I read to augment my own presentations and I often share the articles with my clients. They are always quick, right on target for the latest issues in my field, and appreciated by my clients. If you want to stay up to date on the latest HR trends, choose a few of the different issues from the Excellence series of publications.

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The Productivity Paradox: Why We're Working More And Producing Less

Exploring the need for worker well-being in today's economy

By Marcus Mossberger, Infor

RecentlyI was reading through a report by McKinsey, and I learned that productivity growth in the US has averaged a meager 1.4% over the past 15 years, with the rest of the world experiencing similar slowdowns. This struck me as strange considering the deluge of digital tools that have been introduced to the workplace over the same time period. Speaking of strange… the US added 311,000 jobs last month and is still experiencing unemployment rates close to 50-year lows (3.6%) despite slowing economic growth, high inflation, and soon-to-be even higher interest rates. What gives? If employees are working more and producing less, what can we do to reverse this concerning trend both now and in the future?

There are a wide variety of hypotheses that attempt to explain why productivity has suffered recently, but I am going to focus on one so we can explore possible solutions.

My speculation is simple: people are tired, and there are not enough of them Another McKinsey report suggests that nearly half (48%) of people are abandoning their jobs for entirely new industries. During the height of the pandemic, healthcare organizations experienced 30%+ turnover as nurses clearly communicated they were burned out and bolting. Today in the US there are approximately 6 million unemployed and 11 million job openings. I am no mathematician, but a shortage of 5 million seems like a pretty significant problem.

And if all that is not enough, the labor participation rate is also down from 67% in the 90s to 62.1% as of January.

So now what? I would argue that the tactics needed to address our exhausted employees are the same ones that will lure the elderly and others back to work. These plans and policies all focus on the same thing: worker well-being. To be clear, this is not another wellness program that offers yoga classes or discounts on health insurance premiums for participating in health screenings. I am talking about foundational shifts in how work is structured, executed, and measured by giving people flexibility, freedom, and control. In other words, we need to redesign almost everything.

Henry Ford was a pioneer in this way of thinking and astonished many when he adopted a five-day, 40-hour work week back in the 1920s. His reasoning was not necessarily altruistic… he believed that his people would be more productive if they spent less time at the factory each day, and had more time for leisure each week. He also made it a point to break the work down into manageable elements, and was quoted as saying “nothing is particularly hard when you divide it into small jobs”.

Almost 100 years later, a recent report by Deloitte suggests we may be witnessing the “end of jobs” as organizations would be better served by hiring people with transferrable skills that allow them

to be productive and efficient in a constantly changing environment. In short, maybe we should focus on doing less with less.

Today, most companies have adopted a hybrid environment that allows at least some remote work and flexible scheduling, a number of industries are experimenting with distributed authority and self-management structures, and several governments and organizations have been piloting the 4-day week (with remarkable results including an increase in productivity). Technology including AI and other advanced capabilities will undoubtedly play an oversized role in empowering contemporary companies and their employees in the future.

Leading organizations invest 2.6 times more in technology and make it a point to free up their top performers to address their biggest challenges. Whether or not you want to join them is up to you.

Marcus Mossberger is the Future of Work Strategist at Infor

Focusing On Employee Experience Equates To Employer Success

A positive employee experience can also boost productivity

By Diana Dix, Cavignac & Associates

Employeeexperience is a crucial factor that can impact the success of a company. It refers to the sum of all interactions and perceptions that an employee has with their employer throughout their employment journey. This includes everything from the recruitment process, onboarding, training, work environment, management style, benefits, and opportunities for growth and development. Employee experience is important for several reasons, but its impact on employee retention and productivity is perhaps the most significant.

A positive employee experience can significantly impact employee retention. When employees feel valued, appreciated, and supported by their employer, they are more likely to stay with the company for the long term. High employee turnover can be costly for businesses in terms of time, resources, and money spent on recruiting and training new employees. Therefore, investing in employee experience can help reduce turnover rates and improve retention, which can lead to greater stability and sustainability for the company.

Moreover, a positive employee experience can also boost productivity. Employees who are engaged and satisfied with their work are more likely to be productive and motivated to do their best. They are more likely to go above and beyond their job requirements, take initiative, and contribute to the success of the company. A positive work environment, clear communication, and supportive management can all contribute to higher levels of employee engagement and productivity.

In addition, a positive employee experience can help attract top talent to the company. Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool, and when employees have a positive experience with their employer, they are more likely to share that with their network. This can help attract other talented individuals seeking a positive work environment and culture.

There are many strategies that employers can take to positively impact employee experience. Here are a few:

1. Prioritize Employee Well-being

Employee well-being should be a top priority for any employer. Employers can offer wellness programs, flexible schedules, and access to mental health resources to support employees' physical and emotional well-being.

2. Promote Work-Life Balance

Employers can encourage work-life balance by offering flexible schedules, remote work options, and time off policies that allow employees to take care of personal obligations.

3. Provide Opportunities for Growth and Development

Employers can provide opportunities for employees to learn new skills and advance their careers through training, mentorship, and career development programs.

4. Foster a Positive Workplace Culture

Employers can foster a positive workplace culture by promoting open communication, inclusivity, and respect among employees. This can be achieved

through team-building activities, diversity and inclusion training, and creating a culture of feedback.

5. Recognize and Reward Employees

Employers can recognize and reward employees for their hard work and contributions to the company. This can be achieved through performance-based bonuses, promotions, and public recognition programs.

6. Provide Competitive Compensation and Benefits

Employers can provide competitive compensation and benefits packages to attract and retain top talent. This includes fair pay, comprehensive health and retirement benefits, and other perks like gym memberships or transportation subsidies.

Overall, the impact of employee experience on a company's success cannot be overstated as it is essential for a productive and engaged workforce. It can lead to better retention rates, increased productivity, and attract top talent. In contrast, a negative employee experience can lead to high turnover rates, low morale, and decreased productivity. Therefore, it is important for companies to prioritize employee experience by creating a positive work environment that supports their employees’ physical, emotional, and professional well-being, providing opportunities for growth and development, and offering competitive compensation and benefits. Investing in employee experience can pay dividends for the company in the long run, leading to a more engaged, productive, and successful workforce.

Diana Dix is the Business Partner, Strategic HR Advisor, Influencer and Risk Mitigator at Cavignac & Associates

5 Steps To Increase Psychological Safety In The Workplace

A guide for leaders

By Joyce Heckman, A.J. O’Connor Associates

Asafe workplace is an engaged and productive one. Employees want to come to work every day feeling appreciated for what they do and comfortable

sharing ideas and strategies with those with whom they work. A safe workplace, both physically and psychologically, has been shown to have a greater likelihood

of success and innovation because employees are more likely to voice their opinions and share their thoughts, even on highly charged subjects.

The Value of Psychological Safety

Psychological safety refers to a belief that individuals can voice their concerns, ask questions, speak up, or make mistakes without the risk of punishment or shame. It is an increasingly important inclusion issue that employers cannot afford to ignore. Psychological safety has been shown to drive commitment, group dynamics, innovation, and decision-making.

In fact, industry studies compiled by Accenture have found that workplaces that engineer high psychological safety experiences realize valuable benefits, including 76% more engagement, 27% turnover reduction, and 50% more productivity. These outcomes deliver real and tangible value to the business, its employer brand and employee loyalty.

When psychological safety in the workplace is lacking, it can have far-reaching consequences. A culture where employees are afraid to speak openly about failed efforts creates a stagnant environment where the organization cannot learn how to avoid the same mistakes in the future. It also creates an environment where employees aren't totally dedicated, limiting the organization’s ability to fully utilize all its resources. Industries with a strong safety culture will strive to create psychological safety to support a culture where employees are comfortable speaking up to avoid any potential operational failure.

The Leader’s Role in Psychological Safety

Leaders set the example by creating a psychologically safe place for their employees, underscoring that this truly has

a bottom-line impact. That said, people leaders need to recognize it can take time for the culture to shift and should be willing to continue to nurture it as it does. Following are five steps leaders should take to create a “safe place” for their employees:

Step 1: Encourage Employee Engagement

Engaged workers feel emotionally invested in their jobs. Leaders need to take time to invite questions, feedback, or requests for help from employees and be open to them. They must address responses without judgments, otherwise, employees may receive the message that it’s safer to remain silent and avoid the risk of being humiliated or criticized. There are real costs for companies that miss out on ideas because employees are not comfortable speaking up.

Step 2: Model Vulnerability

Inviting engagement is critical but receiving that type of engagement is impossible to achieve unless leaders are willing to show their vulnerability by being open with their teams about their own mistakes and challenges. This is not by any means a sign of weakness, but rather an opportunity to show employees they do not know everything and are willing to learn from their employees. Being vulnerable will extend trust to employees and encourage them to share their questions, concerns, or mistakes.

Step 3: Foster a Listening Environment

Effective leaders pay close attention to what their employees have to say and then act on it, but leaders must first create a space for their employees to feel safe. It’s important for leaders to ensure employees that they will not be hurt for sharing an idea or raising a concern. Leaders must listen well and with real intent. It’s important to consider what their employees are saying and to show understanding by repeating what was said. They should ask questions and then offer help freely. If help is not offered, employees may shy away from asking for help in the future even when it is badly needed.

Step 4: Express Gratitude and Appreciation

People want to be appreciated for the work they do and for what they contribute to a larger purpose. Leaders can help to encourage

that behavior by showing appreciation for employees who raise questions, concerns, or ideas by thanking them. They can applaud employees willing to take a risk, especially if they are typically quieter and more reserved. Psychologically safe employees who feel their thoughts and ideas are appreciated by their leaders and co-workers will not only be more engaged but will become more productive and invested in their work.

Step 5: Forging Productive Relationships

Healthy and productive relationships can have a huge impact on the overall psychological safety of any company. Relationships are not merely a matter of compatible personalities and common interests, but rather the core of productivity and success for any team. With the expansion of remote work and hybrid work arrangements, there are added considerations with psychological safety that may require an updated and creative approach, including the following:

● Make sure to check-in with employees regularly

● Allocate time for employees to connect outside of work

● Do something to help learn and grow together as a team

● Take time for employees to share key learning moments with one another

bold and unafraid. Hall-of-Fame hockey player Wayne Gretzky once said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” That does not mean every shot – or idea – will be a good one. But if employees do not feel free to share their thoughts and ideas at work, their organizations may miss out on valuable opportunities to achieve their goals and get left behind in the process.

Joyce Heckman is Vice President, Talent Development for A.J. O’Connor Associates, a specialty HR consulting firm offering HR, talent development, coaching, and career transition services. An accomplished human resources executive who has held broad and progressive roles in Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, and Organizational Effectiveness in the global financial services and public utility industries, Heckman has led initiatives to address the needs of thousands of corporate associates.

Organizations that are psychologically safe encourage people to be

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Burnout: A Failure And An Opportunity

How to lead with empathy and build a healthy workplace culture

By Heather E. McGowan ImpactEleven and Chris Shipley, rocket50.io

Mayis mental health awareness month and thus time to evaluate how we are doing with wellness at work. American workers are spent. Emotionally and physically exhausted. Running on empty. Burned out. Decades of “do more with less” have reached its logical conclusion. There is no “more” to give.

That feeling of exhaustion and exasperation you no doubt have felt yourself, in your colleagues, in your subordinates and superiors is not just the tiredness of a hard run through a tough period. Burnout has been on the rise for decades, and there is no end in sight, making that feeling of helplessness even more burdensome. Around the world, 42% of people today say they are burned out, according to a recent survey by the Future Forum. That number eclipses the pandemic high of 38%, reported in May 2021.

In parallel, Gallup has been tracking employee engagement data for more than 20 years and

now reports that engagement has declined to the lowest levels ever, while disengagement has reached its highest level in the past decade. Why should leadership care? Because the cost of this disengagement and burnout is estimated to exceed $320 billion annually in lost productivity and employee turnover.

It would be easy to point to workers and blame them for their own dissatisfaction. How often have you heard the refrain, “No one wants to work anymore”? Or maybe we can lay what Microsoft’s Chief People Officer Kathleen Hogan calls a “global human energy crisis” at the feet of the three-year Covid crisis.

Navigating a pandemic no doubt has exhausted everyone. These assessments have driven many organizations to roll out new perks and wellness programs, substituting meditation apps and on-site yoga classes for actual employee care, and worse, laying the onus of self-care at the feet of workers.

What if, instead, we understood burnout and disengagement for what they are: a failure of organizational structure and an opportunity for real leadership to emerge from a crisis of its own making?

The Slow Burn of Disengagement

Very real structural problems with work have been building

for decades. Every industry consolidation and economic downswing puts new pressure on workers to amp production while scrambling for resources. The revolving door of hiring booms and layoff announcements leaves workers stressed and worried for their livelihoods. Rapidly advancing technologies threaten the jobs of humans. All the while managers and workers squabble over return-to-office mandates and a very real desire to work flexibly. These conditions are unlikely to change anytime soon - if ever. Business is facing unparalleled challenges from persistent labor shortages to stubborn inflation and a murky economic outlook to generational and attitudinal changes in the

workforce and a skills gap that can never be fully bridged.

If you hone your leadership style in the era of command-and-control management, you are likely struggling to engage and support your exhausted workforce. The profile for effective leadership has altered dramatically. Where effective managers once drove processes as unquestioned experts making decisions with clear information, today’s managers prove most successful when they activate the intrinsic motivation of their team members through inspiration, caring, anddare we say it - love. The humble, curious leader is no longer a tour guide; she’s an expedition leader.

This is a nearly -180-degree change from management practices of the past, no doubt practices you toiled under as you climbed your career ladder, enduring long days at the office, putting in time on the weekends, missing family events, and quite possibly reporting to an unforgiving boss who dismissed your needs, if he acknowledged them at all. But the reality is that the leadership style that got you to where you are today is not going to get you and your team where they need to be now and in the future. The talent you lead now is only as effective as their ability to perform, and burnout is the new kryptonite.

What Are the Signs of Burnout?

In May 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) categorized burnout in its International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as an occupational phenomenon, defining it as a “syndrome” resulting from “chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” It goes on to list three characteristics of burnout:

● feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;

● increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and

● reduced professional efficacy.

Because burnout has become perhaps the most critical leadership challenge today,

we interviewed Michael Leiter, coauthor of The Burnout Challenge, for our book, The Empathy Advantage: Leading the Empowered Workforce. Burnout, he said, “is treated as an individual problem when in reality it is an organizational challenge. Burnout is a relationship problem where the relationship, and especially the expectations, between the individual and the organization, are misaligned.”

In The Burnout Challenge, Leiter and his co-authors identify six factors that contribute to burnout:

1. The amount, intensity, and complexity of one’s workload

2. The control and autonomy they have on the job

3. The intrinsic and extrinsic rewards

4. The community and relationships that allow one to feel belonging

5. Fairness and justice as one perceives it

6. Alignment of values

Leading A Healthy Team

Leiter’s list serves as a blueprint for your healthy leadership style. These, then, are the building blocks:

Spot the Burnout Contagion

Cynicism is the earliest warning sign of burnout, and the most dangerous because cynicism is contagious. Take note when your team members become persistently negative, overly defensive, disillusioned, or skeptical. Pay attention to

business setbacks that come in waves and that may lead your team to believe their work is not effective or impactful to the business. When these signs emerge, it’s time to bring your team together to air concerns and grievances.

Make It Okay to Not Be Okay

Create opportunities to really talk with your team. Make it okay for people to safely (and even anonymously) tell you when they are feeling overwhelmed. Share your own relationship with workplace wellness and what you do to avoid burnout. Your candor and vulnerability make it okay to not be okay and to ask for help.

Strive for Clarity

Uncertainty is fertile ground for burnout. Employees who are anxious about the future, unclear of what is expected of them, and doubtful that their work matters are more likely to disengage and burn out.

Communicate with Candor

Explain what you know, what you don’t, and how you will approach changing conditions. Make your expectations clear and draw a direct line to connect those expectations to company objectives and performance outcomes and future opportunities. Make your team's work matter.

Make Time to Take Time

Working to exhaustion serves no one. Not the company. Not the manager. Not the employee.

Burnout: A Failure And An Opportunity

Sure, long hours are sometimes necessary, but time away from work is rejuvenating. Make time off the rule, not the exception, and lead by example. During the height of the pandemic, we interviewed an executive of a publicly-traded biotech startup. They were working around the clock to find treatments for Covid-19. And everyone was burned out. Even as critical as their work was, the company shut down all non-essential parts of the business for two weeks and insisted people stay home. That fortnight break brought the organization back to life. If a biotech company racing to find a cure for Covid can do this, perhaps we can all look differently at our business.

Sharpen the Saw

In his Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey relays the story of a man who comes across a lumberjack

feverishly sawing down a tree. Noting that the woodsman looked exhausted, the man asked how long he’d been at the task. “Over five hours and I’m beat! This is hard work.” The man suggested the lumberjack take a break and sharpen the saw to make the work faster and easier. “I don’t have time to sharpen the saw,” the man says emphatically. “I’m too busy sawing!

It’s easy to fall into that trap, feeling so overwhelmed by work that we can’t take the time to stop and assess the factors that are overwhelming us. As a leader, you need to take the time to “sharpen the saw”. Stepping back to evaluate what is driving your teams’ burnout, and what is causing them to disengage. Only then can you address the issues and put your team on the track to greater wellness, engagement, and success.

This is no easy checklist, yet the work of an empathetic leader is more critical now than ever before. Managers who lead with empathy - and that is, after all, what we prescribe here - put people above process and productivity. They build a trust that vaccinates teams from cynicism and burnout. And in the end, they create higher-performing teams. By how much? The research firm Gartner claims that managers who are highly empathetic have three times the impact on employee performance than those who are not.

Even more importantly, these higher-performing teams are resilient to burnout and the damage it does to their health and the health of their companies.

Chris Shipley has documented, influenced, and predicted the impact of technology on business and society for more than 30 years. Chris focuses her work on human and organizational challenges in the face of technology and economically-driven disruption.

Future-of-work strategist, thought leader, researcher, and author Heather E. McGowan is one of the leading voices on the Future of Work. McGowan is a sense maker, a dot connector, a deep thinker, and a pattern matcher who sees things others miss. Heather gives people the courage and insight that illuminates their path forward.

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Four Building Blocks Of A Successful Corporate Culture

Communication, flatness, problem-solving, and following the golden rule

By Christopher H. Volk, Tenet Equity

Whenit comes to corporate culture, business leaders often spend too much time focusing on the trappings instead of the main event. The trappings can include anything from employee recognition programs to inclusive corporate charity efforts to sports leagues and more. Trappings tend to center thematically on inclusion, team building, and making coworkers feel good. They are important. But they are also like a house paint job. They are what we see on the surface but are not the essential foundation of a culture designed to enable and maintain corporate success.

The Goal of Corporate Culture

The goal of any corporate culture should be to help the business succeed. The components of success will be company specific. Indeed, the act of defining success is the very start of defining corporate culture.

While the precise definition of corporate success is not universal, businesses tend to share success attributes. Most want to achieve some measure of financial success. Most want to see that success shared with other stakeholders, principally our employees and communities. Most want to make a positive difference in the lives of our many stakeholders. For customers, that positive difference is central to a company’s value proposition and its business growth potential.

Corporate success also pertains to longevity. Most business leaders would like their companies to have the potential to outlast them. This requires that they hire smart, motivated staff, making a commitment to the training, development, and continuing education of their potential successors.

With corporate success centered on degrees of financial, value proposition, charitable, and corporate development criteria, corporate culture building blocks begin to take shape to help make this vision of success possible.

The Four Building Blocks

Across companies, the components of defined corporate success share similarities. Meanwhile, the building blocks underlying a corporate culture fostering sustained success are more universal.

Communication

Poor communication is frequently blamed for corporate failings. In fact, communication failure is a natural state. Most of us seek to avoid confrontation. When it comes to telling others how we really feel, we often hold back. So, companies having strong communication characteristics must work hard at it.

The lesson of communication’s importance as a cultural building block was bought home to me after we sold our 200-employee company to a well-known, much larger business having many thousands of staff. What was immediately striking was how positive everyone was. When asked how my day was going, there was basically a single mandatory response. “Great!” Beware the common culture that seeks this daily affirmation, because it is a near-certain sign of poor communication and leadership.

Cultures that aim for perpetual positivity do not set themselves up for success. But positivity can be alluring, creating a superficial aura of overall employee satisfaction. The failure is that positivity rarely empowers employees. Instead, power tends to be centralized within a small, insulated leadership group. Taken to extreme levels, mandated positivity can reflect a fear-based underlying culture, with staff afraid to speak out. Meanwhile, team members accord one another and their leaders’ unquestioning bobblehead nods.

Flatness

Having guided and grown three companies, I have learned that size is the enemy of communication culture. The smaller the company, the more hats we wear and the less defined our organizational structure.

With growth comes structure, fewer hats, and departmental lines. A common result is the dreaded “S” word – “Silo.” Like cultures of demanded positivity, silos are an enemy of corporate communication.

As a CEO, I attended regularly scheduled department meetings. The goal was to maintain some organizational flatness. I wanted to hear from as many sides of our business as possible while also sharing ideas with them. Once a year, to further encourage flatness and communication, we would arrange an employee offsite meeting to collectively collaborate and openly discuss corporate challenges.

The biggest problems faced by companies universally cross multiple departmental lines. Within extremely large organizations, the problems can cross divisional lines. Large problems invariably contribute to business model failings resulting in lost corporate value.

There are many tools designed to facilitate corporate problem-solving. They include Management by Objectives, Six Sigma, Lean Business Planning, Work-Outs, and more. Commonly, companies train staff in the use of these devices. But an organization with inwardly focusing silos and poor communication characteristics can doom such efforts to failure.

A prerequisite to addressing large problems is getting the right stakeholders in the room. The less flat an organization is, the harder this is to attain. In my view, this common failure is a principal reason large companies engage outside consulting firms. With poor communication or a siloed hierarchical structure, they lack the cultural foundation to do this alone.

Problem-Solving

Empowering employees to point out broken processes without fear of appearing negative is an important first step in creating a communication culture. The second step is to encourage employees to come forth with proposed solutions.

Early in my career, I saw what I believed to be a large problem that needed to be addressed. So, I went to our chief executive officer and explained the matter. He asked for a suggestion on how to address the problem and I had none. At the time, I remember thinking that pointing out a problem was

enough. His response colorfully made the point that pointing out problems went hand in hand with considered solutions. I have never forgotten this important lesson.

It is one thing to encourage co-workers to feel free to say what’s on their minds. It is another to elicit ideas for process improvement. Many of us are naturally shy when it comes to saying how we feel, wishing to avoid the appearance of being negative. We want to be seen as team players. But most of us are even more reluctant to share ideas. We never want to appear stupid.

Problem-solving is a path to corporate leadership and allows us to make a positive difference in the lives of others. An important cultural building block is to nurture and encourage problem-solving, reducing fear by never passing adverse judgment. As the saying goes, “There are no bad ideas, just bad execution.” We are all on the same team.

The Golden Rule

Starting small companies that grew into larger companies, I felt an extra need to care for our staff. Attracting intelligent, motivated people to take the risk to work for us, when they could have chosen to work at larger, established businesses made me want to do more. Part of doing more was in offering competitive pay, together with expanded personal growth opportunities. But we also consistently offered attractive benefits, from generous health plans to rapid-vesting, matched 401-K plans, and more. We wanted our co-workers to know we care about them and their families.

An important measure of golden rule leadership rests in how errors are addressed. Over my career, I never fired an employee for making a mistake. While I have a low tolerance for mistakes, I have learned to have a high tolerance for team members that make them. For one thing, once having learned from their errors, employees often become more valuable. For another, tolerance and empathy reflect how we would like to be treated.

The golden rule is powerful. Treating employees like family entails patience, tolerance, and understanding and is rewarded many times over. Golden rule leadership lowers turnover and is essential to encouraging communication, flatness, and problemsolving. All these positively impact corporate results.

The Tone Starts at the Top

I believe that communication, flatness, problem-solving, and golden rule characteristics are the foundation on which the best corporate cultures rest. These cultural building blocks elevate staff empowerment and inclusiveness while raising job satisfaction and promoting performance.

The tone for corporate cultures starts at the top, requiring a solid dose of leadership humility. Leaders should be accepting of communication and problemsolving, together with accompanying occasional disagreements and debates. I believe this to be essential for continuous business model refinement, sustained corporate relevancy, and long-term success.

Corporate cultures can be fragile. A few leadership changes can damage the foundation on which a corporate culture rests. Strengthening the foundation requires corporate cultural elements to be incorporated into corporate value statements while becoming the collective responsibility of leaders, employees, and directors. The best, longest-lasting corporate cultures reside on ingrained building blocks.

With building blocks in place, reflective enhancements can be added. This is often what the outside world sees first, from recognition programs to team-building activities, compensation benefits, and much more. Like the underlying cultural building blocks, they promote employee satisfaction and corporate success. But their effectiveness is all the stronger for the foundation on which they rest.

Christopher Volk, the author of The Value Equation: A Business Guide To Creating Wealth For Entrepreneurs, Investors And Leaders, has been instrumental in leading and publicly listing three successful companies, two of which he co-founded. The most recent is STORE Capital (NYSE: “STOR”) where he served as founding chief executive officer and then as executive chairman. He is on the Board of Banner Health and is the Chairman of the Board of Tenet Equity.

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Performance Myths: Do Goals Get Work Done?

The simple 3-step process to boost productivity

By Amy Leschke-Kahle, The Marcus Buckingham Company, an ADP Company

Ifgoals aren't the answer, what is? The super simple secret sauce to getting work done.

In my last post, I talked about why goals were created – and more importantly, why goals aren't doing what we wish they would. Creating alignment, getting the right work done, and measuring performance is tricky when we acknowledge that so much of our work is in the right now, is ever-changing, and even somewhat undefined. It's no wonder that goals, SMART or otherwise, aren't the be-all-end-all to getting work done. This, of course, begs the big giant question,

what is the secret sauce to productivity in the real world?

The secret sauce to getting work done is to focus on the work that matters most, give that work visibility to the people that can help you most, and keep it simple. The intent of every HR tool ever created is spot on, but when the work planning method is so complicated you need a book to learn it, it's probably not going to be the long-term answer in today's increasingly fast and complicated world of work. The solve? A consistent framework to focus on near-term priorities with a strengths-based twist.

The term "priorities" is very intentional. It implies urgency and today, our world of work is all about urgency. You could call it fast-moving but it's really about what's my next fire drill. While tasks tend to pile up, priorities get done, because they have to. Let's lean into that, the real world – and what actually gets done.

means priorities update frequently, at least once a week. And priorities aren't some made-up list, they are the short list of the difference-making work that they actually need to get done now.

3. Engage: What help do they need to get their priorities done? They are not asking for feedback; they are asking for real help, guidance, and support. The person who's got the best shot at making sure they have what they need is their team leader.

Of course, now that we identified the "what" it's equally important to discuss the "who." While individuals do work, most individuals don't do their work alone sitting in a bubble. There are others they need to work with and most importantly, others that need to support and guide their work. If we look at how work today is structured, the most important person to help get the right work completed are team leader(s).

The team leader's job is to help team members get more extraordinary work done. If team leaders are going to help team members do more of their own best work in the context of their jobs, there are 3 critical things they need to know. These 3 critical things are distilled from years of studying what the world's best leaders do to achieve outstanding results – and ultimately serve in focusing conversations around near-term priorities mentioned above.

To effectively create a framework focused on a strengths-based conversation about near-term future work, team leaders need to know, focus and engage their team members. This starts by being able to answer the following questions:

1. Know: What an individual's unique best work is. What are their strengths? What is that work that they can do that no one else can do quite like them?

2. Focus: What are their priorities right now? Work happens in sprints and changes frequently. This

When you put this simple approach together, it looks like this: at least once a week, have team members pause to write down their priorities and what help they might need to accomplish those priorities. Share those priorities with their team leader, every week, and have a quick conversation about the most important work, right now. And do it through the lens of an individual's own unique best work. What you'll find, is that when you look at the world through the way work actually happens, you can get a lot done. But you can't try to neatly organize or package work. Work has to be accepted for how work happened.

The way to focus on priorities, on big chunks of work, and on actual alignment requires doing the right thing with the right people. These "rights" are summed up by uber frequent light touch conversations between team leaders and team members about near-term priorities through the lens of the team member's strengths. While "goals" try to do this, the simple, consistent agility of "check-ins" takes goals to the next level, so work gets aligned, the right work gets done and people move towards doing more of their best more of the time. Real-world, real work, real results.

This story was originally published on SPARK, a blog by ADP®.

Amy Leschke-Kahle is the Vice President of Performance Acceleration at The Marcus Buckingham Company, an ADP Company, where she collaborates with clients to transform engagement, performance and leadership development based on the unique culture of each organization.

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The secret sauce to getting work done is to focus on the work that matters most, give that work visibility to the people that can help you most, and keep it simple.

Loneliness On The Rise: How It Is Affecting The Workplace

What can companies do about it

By Ada Le, Ph.D. BEworks, Erick Roat, Ph.D. BEworks, John Breen, kyu

Weare living through an epidemic of loneliness. By some estimates, the rate of loneliness has doubled since the 1980s in the US alone.[1] According to the US Surgeon General, addressing this crisis of loneliness and isolation is going to be one of our generation’s greatest challenges.[2]

This loneliness epidemic is pervasive – it is affecting people’s lives outside of work, and at work as well. Outside of work, the loneliness epidemic is fueled by several factors, including the fast-paced nature of modern life, increased technology use, and the effects of increased globalization. The Covid-19 pandemic has further exacerbated the situation, with many people having developed insular habits that shift them away from group hobbies and community engagement to more solitary activities.

At the workplace, employees are reporting recordbreaking levels of loneliness. In a global survey conducted in 2022 with over 5000 employees in organizations around the world, 82% of the respondents reported feeling lonely at work.[3]

Addressing loneliness at the workplace matters because loneliness hurts people, and it hurts organizations. Employees who are lonely and disengaged at work tend to deliver far less discretionary effort than those who have a support system or a go-to person.[4] Studies show that this

lack of connection and disengagement can result in reduced productivity, absenteeism, and high turnover rates.[5],[6]

It is not surprising that business leaders are becoming more concerned about this issue. In fact, in a survey conducted with 800 C-Suite executives in the US, 66% of them believed that their employees would seriously consider leaving for a job where they feel more connected to their teammates[7]. The need to create a sense of belonging and connection in the workplace is palpable.

The challenge, however, is that with increasingly global, matrixed, and distributed workforces, simply increasing face-to-face interactions will not be enough to create strong feelings of connection and belonging among colleagues. Companies must now intentionally fuel a culture connection by design.

So, how might we design a workplace that supports deep meaningful human connections?

Creating a Culture of Connection: The Four Dimensions of Connection and How to Foster Them

To address loneliness in the workplace, we first need to understand both loneliness and what it means to feel connected.

Broadly speaking, loneliness is the negative feeling we experience when our needs for rewarding contact or relationships are not met.[8] When we feel lonely, there is a mismatch between the quality and/or quantity of interactions we have versus those that we desire. Social goods, such as feeling appreciated, understood, or supported, are not met[9].

Connection, on the other hand, involves feeling like you are authentically seen, appreciated, cared for, or valued as a person. In general, connection can be broken down into four dimensions: functional, social, emotional, and intellectual.

Functional connections are those that involve communications related to work, such as scheduling meetings or sharing files. Social connections, on the other hand, involve a mix of shallow and deep experiences, from small talk to concerted efforts to share meals or coffee breaks. Emotional connections involve feeling supported and cared for by colleagues. Intellectual connections revolve around shared interests and stimulating topics. It is essential to create a workplace environment that nurtures these types of connections.

How to Foster Better Functional Connections

To foster better functional connections, we can think about how to better structure the physical environment. Efforts can be made to shape the physical and virtual environment and how it is

used, to support increased social contact or deeper interactions. Even simple and quick functional connections can have immense benefits for employee well-being[10].

This can involve: Creating spaces to allow for simple ‘weak tie encounters’ (saying hello to someone you pass, making small talk) which can significantly increase a sense of belonging, especially for those who aren’t “ready” or able to participate in deeper connections. We can also create spaces that allow people to slow down. This can look like areas with more common areas, or “threshold areas” (e.g., lobbies, food courts, green spaces, other places to gather), that can deepen connections because it gives people more time to do so. With some creativity, we can make this work in a virtual environment as well.

Of course, changing the environment is not constrained to merely changing the physical space. Changing the environment can also mean changing the time people have. In research conducted by BEworks, we have found that when people are “overscheduled,” carry too heavy of a workload, or have unconsolidated workdays where time and tasks are not chunked, it is hard for them to make time for better connections. It is important to address this scarcity of time.

How to Foster Better Social Connections

Next, to create better social connections, organizations need to provide opportunities for employees to socialize and bond with each other. This can include social events, team-building activities, and shared experiences. It is essential to encourage employees to take breaks and have designated downtime, allowing them to recharge and connect with their colleagues.

But beyond this, better social connections need to be role modeled by senior leaders[11],[12]. This can be done by:

● Being open: Listening to all voices on the team

● Being transparent: Having transparency about their own values

● Being vulnerable: Sharing personal stories

● Being there: Connecting with employees across the organization

This leadership tone can be further carried out by managers by:

● Connecting to people’s achievements: Praising and publicly crediting employees for their contributions

● Connecting to people’s growth: Providing regular, honest feedback, responding to employee concerns, and empowering team members to make decisions

● Connecting to people personally: Checking in, and listening

How to Foster Stronger Intellectual and Emotional Connections

Creating better intellectual connections can involve encouraging employees to pursue their passions and interests. This can include offering training and development opportunities, providing access to books and resources, fostering time for improvisation and creativity, and encouraging collaboration and brainstorming moments.

top predictor of stock market success is whether employees feel appreciated[15]. Companies for which this is true consistently outperform the S&P 500. That is to say, employees that feel “seen” directly correlate to a company’s financial success[16].

Note that both intellectual and emotional connections require a culture of psychological safety, which means that employees feel comfortable being themselves and expressing their thoughts and ideas without fear of being judged or criticized.[17] This involves creating a supportive work environment where employees know that they can share their opinions and be heard, and they know what the expectations are of them (e.g., what they can or cannot say, what they can and cannot do, and knowing what would happen if they violated those expectations).

From Functional to Emotional: Building Connections Leads to Deeper Engagement

Note that working in parallel or merely passing the baton from one teammate to the next is unlikely to create many opportunities for true intellectual connection, compared to more integrated forms of collaboration where there are high levels of interactivity and there is a regular exchange of resources and thought partnership.[13]

Lastly, creating better emotional connections involves enabling employees to socially share their emotions with each other.[14] Employers can also promote emotional connections by showing empathy and care toward their employees. This can involve checking in with employees regularly, offering support, recognizing their hard work and contributions, and acknowledging the emotions that employees can have with respect to their work.

This social sharing of emotions should not be undervalued. As it turns out, recent research shows that this method has protective effects for employees against burn out.14 This protective effect has direct benefits for organizations: According to Irrational Capital, creator of the Human Capital Index, the

Building better human connections in these four dimensions within the workplace will reap huge benefits for employers. High feelings of belonging are linked to a whopping 56% increase in job performance, a 50% drop in turnover risk, and a 75% reduction in sick days[18]. Moreover, employees are 3 times more likely to stay with an employer if they have an improved feeling of social belonging and engagement.

Loneliness is a growing problem in the workplace that can have significant implications for people's well-being and performance. By focusing on building a culture of connection, companies can create a positive and supportive work environment that helps employees feel valued, connected, and engaged.

It is important to note that these four types of connection are not mutually exclusive. Instead, they are interconnected and build on one another. Building functional connections can often be the gateway to establishing deeper connections. Social connections can then be established, leading to deeper intellectual and emotional connections.

Notes

[1] https://hbr.org/2017/09/work-and-the-loneliness-epidemic

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/30/opinion/loneliness-epidemic-america.html

3] https://www.ey.com/en_gl/workforce/belonging-barometerapac-2022

[4] Ozcelik, H., & Barsade, S. (2011, January). Work loneliness and employee performance. In Academy of management proceedings (Vol. 2011, No. 1, pp. 1-6). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.

[5] https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/ people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/great-attritionor-great-attraction-the-choice-is-yours

[6] https://hbr.org/2019/12/the-value-of-belonging-at-work

[7] https://www.getairspeed.com/blog/execs-believe-workers-quitbecause-they-feel-disconnected-the-1-reason-workers-say-theyllleave/

[8] Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2010). Loneliness matters: A theoretical and empirical review of consequences and mechanisms. Annals of behavioral medicine, 40(2), 218-227.

[9] Wax, A., Deutsch, C., Lindner, C., Lindner, S. J., & Hopmeyer, A. (2022). Workplace loneliness: The benefits and detriments of working from home. Frontiers in Public Health, 10.

[10] Martino, J., Pegg, J., & Frates, E. P. (2017). The connection prescription: using the power of social interactions and the deep desire for connectedness to empower health and wellness. American journal of lifestyle medicine, 11(6), 466-475.

[11] Kennedy, J. T., & Jain-Lin, P. (2021). What does it take to build a culture of belonging. Harvard Business Review.

[12] https://www.forbes.com/sites/allbusiness/2022/01/31/howany-business-can-create-a-culture-of-belonging-in-the-workplace

[13] https://www.forbes.com/sites/dedehenley/2022/08/07/how-tohelp-your-hybrid-team-feel-less-lonely

[14] Delroisse, S., Rimé, B., & Stinglhamber, F. (2023). Quality of social sharing of emotions alleviates job burnout: The role of meaning of work. Journal of Health Psychology, 28(1), 61-76.

[15] https://www.irrational.capital/

[16] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/ articles/2021-06-03/transcript-how-dan-ariely-applies-behavioraleconomics-to-investing#xj4y7vzkg

[17] Newman, A., Donohue, R., & Eva, N. (2017). Psychological safety: A systematic review of the literature. Human resource management review, 27(3), 521-535.

[18] https://hbr.org/2019/12/the-value-of-belonging-at-work

John Breen is the Executive Director of Health Strategy at kyu, a global network of change making creative firms that includes IDEO, SYPartners and BEworks. In his role, John drives kyu’s efforts to imaginatively explore, define and address the big questions that will shape the future of health by harnessing the talent and experience of the kyu health community.

Erick Roat, Ph.D. is an advisor at BEworks and a psychologist whose work focuses on developing solutions that would solve psychological and behavioral challenges that patients and physicians face within healthcare. Throughout his career, Erick has been interested in translating research in psychology to achieve concrete positive changes, and has worked with hospitals, community health agencies, and private organizations to develop programs and policies that support mental health and wellness.

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Ada Le, Ph.D. is the Vice President, Healthcare Strategy at BEworks. Ada is a seasoned expert in behavior change. She uses an understanding of the human mind to solve complex organizational challenges and to bring a different way of thinking. At BEworks, Ada works with Fortune 1000s on innovation, market demand, consumer adoption, and communication strategies. Ada oversees engagements primarily in healthcare but also touches on the financial services and retail sectors.

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Fighting Employee Burnout In The Modern Workplace

How to build workplace resilience and increase productivity

By Dr. Ryan Todd, Headversity

Companies in the U.S. have long struggled to find the balance between business productivity and employee health. In some industries and regions, hustle culture dominates. People work long hours with little rest in hopes of accelerating professional success. In others, employees are doing the opposite and adopting approaches to work like “Bare Minimum Mondays” and “Quiet Quitting” which prioritize self-care over employer expectations. One Gallup article found that quiet quitters may make up over half of the U.S. workforce right now. Neither path is an indicator of a healthy, sustainable workplace.

Employers are searching for answers. One study conducted by Colonial Life found that more than half of workers believe they lose between one and five hours of work to stress every week. And employees with poor mental health have four times more unplanned absences per year, leading to enormous productivity loss for businesses. Companies pay roughly $3,000 more in healthcare costs annually for employees with anxiety or depression. Beyond the health implications, it’s clear that unhealthy workforces are costing employers dearly.

To combat mental health issues experienced by their staffers, many organizations are exploring different solutions. Some have embraced remote-friendly

cultures. Others are experimenting with four-day work weeks or six-hour work days. The problem with these solutions, however, is that they don’t address the underlying issue in many situations – that employees don’t have the skills or support they need to cope with inevitable workplace stressors.

Although shorter work weeks may be the right answer for certain businesses, improving workplace resilience is the key to addressing the core issue. Rather than ask employees to sacrifice their self-care or conform unnaturally to a truncated work week, there is a middle ground – one that takes a more proactive and empowering approach to workforce management.

How to Build Workplace Resilience

Building workforce resilience requires acknowledging that some stressors inevitably exist in the workplace, regardless of how many hours people work.

Employees need help learning how to navigate stressful situations that won’t suddenly disappear with a shorter work week. These stressors may include preparing for important meetings, dealing with difficult relationships, and working effectively with remote teams. They can also include non-work stressors, like money, family, and physical health.

Business leaders have to focus on both the physical health and emotional well-being of their workforces from a preventative posture. The easiest way to do this is to make mental well-being an intrinsic part of workplace culture. This can mean providing more ways for employees to learn about stress, mental health, and proper self-care. For some employers, the answer may be to provide access to counseling or create more awareness about helpful resources. But we now see that absorbing content only goes so far, and counseling isn’t for everyone. Real change goes through experiences and building skills actively.

The responsibility falls on employers now to give workers the tools for facing these challenges head-on as a reality of their daily lives. But these tools can’t simply be provided in the midst of a crisis, as that’s already too late. While many employers offer an employee assistance program (EAP), it typically comes at the point where the employee’s productivity and mental health has already been severely impacted. Once an employee hits the point of burnout, it’s too late to mitigate many of the cost impacts mentioned above. Therefore, what businesses need to do is adopt a vision and strategy for supporting employees more holistically and continuously.

One way to do this is by intervening with these challenges more proactively through a Preventative Assistance Platform, or a PRE.A.P. Unlike an EAP, a PRE.A.P. steps in before the point of need and equips employees with the previously inaccessible clinical

and behavioral tools needed to build resiliency and handle stress before issues escalate to crisis-levels. This is technology-led and empowers employees and teams to handle the challenges in real-time, available 24/7.

HR teams should also create messaging that destigmatizes mental health and encourage the use of on-the-job mental health training tools. The right solutions equip people with mental health practices that enable them to prepare for adversity in the workplace and life in general. And much of this development can happen with just 5-10 minutes a day of training, rather than consuming generalized EAP resources or waiting weeks to get connected with a counselor.

At a time when employers and employees are exploring ways to make work better for all involved, building workplace resilience may be the answer. Shorter work weeks aren’t a one-size-fits-all answer, and the status quo isn’t working. Improving resilience, however, is one way that employers can improve employee happiness and productivity while meeting their deeper health needs.

Ryan Todd is a psychiatrist and technologist, founding the workplace mental health and resilience platform, headversity. His work at headversity brought together a team of psychiatrists, psychologists, and educators to build a training platform that is pacing the industry in preventative mental health solutions, working with leading employers such as Shell, TELUS, and the Denver Broncos. Dr. Todd is also an award-winning documentarian, a Top 40 under 40 recipient with Avenue Magazine, a published researcher, and the host of the popular HR podcast, “Beyond the Checkbox”.

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The Next-Best Steps For HR Leaders To Improve Employee Experience

Exploring the impact of the Great Resignation on employee retention strategies

By Amy Mosher, isolved

Great employee experience (EX) doesn’t happen overnight. It’s the culmination of myriad investments and steps taken to fix processes, fill gaps, and determine what will help employees (EEs) engage, feel that they belong and have the right tools and resources in place to be the most successful

– today and tomorrow. New data continues to suggest that the Great Resignation is far from over. Leaving HR leaders seeking the “next-best step” they can take to keep and support their star performers and prevent burnout within their workforce.

Let’s look at the data to understand the state of the workforce and then address what HR leaders can do to navigate a challenging (at best) labor market. To start, according to a recent survey of full-time EEs in the U.S., 49 percent of respondents say they plan to explore their job options in 2023 – proving the Great Resignation, despite economic uncertainty, is far from over. Additionally, 47 percent of employees were tempted to apply for a new job in 2022.

Of the 37 percent of respondents who did follow through and applied for a new position last year, 60 percent changed their jobs. The number one reason? The majority (62 percent) wanted a higher salary. Not to worry, a company’s “next-best step” to improving the experience that current employees are having –even when they’re being relied on more and more due to exiting employees – doesn’t rely on compensation alone. As part of a robust EX strategy, here are the“next-best steps” organizations can take to reduce

resignations and their impact and recognize current employees.

1. Get Your Company Goals Out, Now

One of the main indicators of burnout is a lack of recognition. People want to know that the work they are doing is not only recognized but also aligns with the bigger picture. Managers should be enabled to not only recognize individuals for the work they are doing (e.g., 1:1 calls, broader company recognition, thank-you gifts) but also empowered to tie their team’s goals to what matters most for the company. Organizational goals may not be the cure for the Great Resignation, but they are certainly the next-best step to take to ensure current employees feel the work they are doing matters, that they know what they will be measured by, and that they’re moving in the same direction as the company.

2. Schedule Those Engagement Calls, Now

Employees who are taking on more and stepping up, want to know it’s being noticed. They want to know that investing more of their selves in the company, means the company is going to invest more in them too. They want to know there’s a reward at the end. HR leaders should encourage all people managers to schedule engagement calls to see what’s working for that employee, what’s not, and how the company can properly support them in their career development. And, ultimately, to recognize their work.

3. Finally Cut Out “a” Manual, Paper-Driven Process

HR teams drowning in paper or bumping into filing cabinets can save themselves stress, save their companies resources, and save their employees from outdated processes, by considering one, yes one, process they can modernize. If the company invested in digitizing just one process, HR teams could save many hours a month to invest in taking yet another “next-best step”.

How does this improve retention? A couple of ways:

(1) top employees don’t want to work for a company that seems archaic and

(2) by freeing up HR from outdated/time-consuming tasks, they can spend that time improving EX through programs that help employees engage, feel that they belong and know where their career is headed.

Modernizing performance reviews, onboarding, benefit selection and employee records management are all examples of a “next-best step” for companies relying on outdated processes for them.

4. Tackle the Areas with the Most Errors

If there’s an area – benefits, onboarding, payroll, performance reviews, PTO balances, time cards – that is seeing continuous errors, this should be considered as the next-best step. While HR may feel they are impacted the most by an error in, say time punches, it’s the employee feeling the most frustrated. Narrow in on an area with the most mistakes and put resources behind fixing it to avoid top performers leaving and to avoid further compliance or cost concerns.

5. Educate Managers on an Agile Mindset

Whether a recession hits or it’s a further continuation of the Great Resignation, employees’ workloads will be impacted. One of the most critical conversations to have during this time is how managers can help employees navigate change and how having an agile mindset amid change can help EEs further their careers. When change happens, it’s the agile employees, who are willing to step up, who can learn more, become more competent and really lean into opportunities they might not have had otherwise. This takes manager training to communicate why agility matters.

While a robust employee experience strategy isn’t created or delivered overnight, taking the next, most logical step can help companies retain employees, who may be at risk of leaving, and support employees who may be filling the burden of increased workloads and responsibilities. What’s your next-best step?

Amy Mosher is the Chief People Officer at isolved. With more than 20 years of global human resources experience, Amy has contributed to the success of multiple public and private companies across various industries, including software, biotechnology and hardware. For the last decade, she has served as the Head of Human Resources with Accel-KKR SaaS software portfolio companies, including HighWire Press, Inc., KANA Software, Inc. and, now, isolved – enhancing cultures and building positive employee experiences at each.

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