Just try forgoing the free cookie at the meeting, we dare you.
Let's get right to it. We know you have global human resources. When it comes to assessing the health and engagement of your team, though, your immediate team is the real bellwether.
Think global but act local.
This is important to embedding psychological safety within our teams because of its ability to empower them directly where they are in the organization. Many companies are faced with driving quarterly performance metrics. This puts leaders in the difficult position of filtering critical initiatives down through the organization which may leave other layers of leaders and teams with the cognitive dissonance between these expectations and the actual daily realities of their teams.
As long as we are "clichéing", how about the canary in the coal mine?
Local teams are critically important to the HR health of an organization. They are often the most knowledgeable about details and execution for their area of responsibility. Additionally, they are the ones most qualified to alert other layers of the organization and adjacent groups about the downstream impact of both innovations they are affecting or issues/obstacles they are facing.
Vitality not only belongs in HR but should also be mandatory!
PLEASE! Did you notice how it took you a second to make sure you read the word ‘vitality’ right in the context of this topic? What both the long-term consequences of workplace dynamics post-2008 recession, coupled with the realities of the pandemic have shown us is the prolonged survival mode of many, if not, most workers. Thriving? That's a dream. Teams are made up of individuals, and we have been quietly grappling with maintaining the key domains of life and working as best we can. Vitality, and the ways to infuse energy, laughter, and interpersonal ease, are more essential than ever.
Psychological safety: simple but not easy. Optional but necessary.
Fostering an environment of psychological safety may be optional for some - thinking of it as a "soft" skill but research proves time and time again what gets lost when it's not truly there: trust, connection, ideas and outcomes, including revenue. It is deceptively simple but not necessarily easy to do. And it’s not necessarily where people think to start. But it’s in the intangibles. It’s the nonverbal forms of conveying responsiveness to that team member’s requests for assistance or idea sharing, attentiveness to the interaction, a spirit of encouragement and support, and an appreciation for who they are as a person as well as the contribution they are making as an employee. And so much of it is non-verbal. It’s these quiet qualities that build trust.
The VITAL5 ROUNDUP– All HR is local
1. There is no "HR" in "team" – but there is HR in your team - pay attention
2. Think global, act local – psychological safety connects teams during all types of experiences, serving them and the organization
3. The canary in the coal mine – listen to local teams - they are your focus groups
4. Vitality is key – words are good, actions are better - embed vitality into your interactions as much as possible
5. If you build it, they will come –taking the time and dedication to create true psychological safety results in long-term impact
VitalConex is a connect-and-create company. To learn more about the "peanut butter cup" of successful teams, check us out at www.vitalconex.com