Keynote speaker on all things talent! Founder and CEO of the Qualigence Group of Companies and Principal Partner with The Predictive Index.
getty
How many times have you heard people talk about “when things go back to normal”?
As someone who led a business through the 2008 financial crisis, I can tell you that it’s time to start thinking about how to thrive — not just survive — now. Like many leaders, I kept waiting for when things “returned to normal” to start new initiatives, introduce new services, hire new people and build new teams, etc. But the truth is I waited too long. I actually delayed the rebound of my business.
HR needs to play a key role in ensuring the businesses they support get out of survival mode and start thriving. Here's how.
Show your team that you truly care about them and their success.
Like many Type A leaders, my natural tendency is to go it alone. I didn’t always understand the importance of showing your team that you truly care about them and their success — and the incredible impact this can have on your business.
Last year shook even the strongest teams. To make sure you're best supporting your team, there are three questions every HR leader needs to ask:
1. What’s our real purpose?
The social contract between employers and employees has radically shifted. People no longer work just for a paycheck; they want to work to make the world a better place, lead innovation or otherwise make an impact.
What’s the real purpose of your organization — beyond profits? In times of crisis or change, it’s more important than ever to have a driving mission for your business.
Purpose offers teams stability. It offers a shared goal that doesn’t change whether the economy is booming or in the dumps, whether there’s a pandemic or not. And it reminds team members they won’t be let go the second it affects the bottom line.
People can tell whether you’re truly leading with purpose or just paying lip service. HR leaders can greatly inspire teams by reminding others within their organization about the power of purpose.
2. Who is most important?
Most HR teams recognize the value of developing their employees. But how much time and money do you spend educating emerging leaders or developing skills while in the middle of a crisis? In the wake of 2008, I told myself I didn’t have time to spend on developing others. Now, I realize I can’t afford to NOT develop my team, nor can you.
Within our own organization, I am currently leading five teams through leadership training that are absolutely crushing it. Showing your team who is most important is one of the most effective ways to ensure you can thrive during as well as after the crisis. Better yet, it dramatically reduces your chances of a turnover spike after the crisis.
3. How do we work?
The pandemic has been a nightmare, but one of the silver linings is that it spurred leaders to create a lot of positive changes in the way we work. Smart business leaders took the time to constantly and clearly communicate the state of the business to their employees. They were transparent about their successes and failures — and they earned their teams’ trust in the process.
Likewise, a lot of organizations created smaller teams with greater control over their own decisions. As a result, they were able to move with greater agility and respond to a rapidly evolving situation. These teams grew stronger because they were making decisions for themselves.
Now that we are nearing the recovery phase, HR needs to make sure that businesses aren’t losing sight of these positive changes. Just because the economy is improving doesn’t mean we can stop empowering our teams.
Rethink accountability at your organization.
If HR is serious about helping leaders unlock the best performance from teams, they also need to guide teams from a responsibility mindset to one of true ownership.
Most teams in business operate with a responsibility mindset — they are given responsibilities and held accountable by their leaders. They might do what they’re told, but are they really taking ownership? If things go wrong, they don’t really accept ownership of fixing the situation. It all falls on the leader, which is hardly the most productive way to deliver results.
On a team with an ownership mindset, everyone owns the team’s results, good or bad. If we fall short of our goals, everyone takes responsibility and asks how we can do better. They work toward a shared fate, work together to solve their problems and win or lose as a team, not as individuals.
The problem is that ownership can’t be given; it must be taken. Neither HR nor leadership can make teams take ownership. But they can create the conditions that will inspire teams to take true ownership of their work.
HR must work with leaders to try to create a shared fate for teams. It starts with a singular purpose and clear way of measuring the objective. In team sports, the main purpose is to win and performance is based on adding the most points to the scoreboard.
Creating a shared fate continues by making it really difficult to get on the team. This way, we have a team of highly capable, highly driven individuals who are ready to take ownership together. No one wants to do the hard work of taking ownership when half the team are slackers. Take it a step further by establishing shared deadlines.
HR can’t do it alone.
I recognize that HR can’t achieve all these things on their own. Many of these steps will require the buy-in and active participation of leaders across the organization. HR needs to underline the impact of these talent strategies on the business, and then partner with leadership to make it happen.
You and I both know it’s not easy to shift the way we lead teams and drive performance — but the results are worth the effort.
Forbes Human Resources Council is an invitation-only organization for HR executives across all industries. Do I qualify?
