Benefits of developing a Connection Culture: Leadership lessons from PR
Companies
can get the Competitive Advantage of Shared Identity, Empathy, and
Understanding at Work by bringing in social connection
The impact of coronavirus on working people who
are already suffering loneliness and disconnection. There is a need for
prioritizing organizational belonging and connectedness to improve
workers’ health and productivity. There will be an alarming consequences
of ever-increasing isolation. There is a case for “social connection” is a
fundamental human and workplace need. Leaders can learn from Public
relations department and profession of staying connected.
Executive Summary
·
People are suffering an
epidemic of isolation, which COVID-19 exacerbates.
·
Connections among people improve
their health, happiness and resilience.
·
Leaders must take the initiative
in building a “connection culture” by combining “vision, value and
voice.”
·
The notion of servant
– or connected – leadership reigns within connected organizations.
·
Science, psychology and
economics provide evidence that relates connectedness to health and
productivity.
·
With COVID-19, millions more
employees began working remotely. Most expect to continue working from home
indefinitely.
·
Organizations with connection
cultures lead their industries and have better outcomes in challenging times.
·
To develop into a leader who
helps others connect, take care of yourself first.
People are suffering an epidemic of isolation, which
COVID-19 exacerbates: The coronavirus pandemic increases the
challenges of maintaining workplace connectivity and belonging. Employee stress
and isolation now affect more than two-thirds of workers across the globe.
Countries around the world are experiencing an epidemic of loneliness. Leaders
must take deliberate steps to build a “connection culture” for the sake of
their organizations and the health of their workers.
Connections
among people improve their health, happiness and resilience.
Socially connected people more effectively fend off
illness and stress, worry less, stay more alert and suffer fewer
heart problems. At work, sound relationships lead to higher engagement and
productivity. Organizations that forge a connection culture enjoy
significantly greater productivity and profitability than those with control
cultures that emphasize hierarchy, or even laissez-faire cultures
that grant wide autonomy while focusing on outcomes.
“When it comes to the relational aspects, there is a
best culture: a culture that has a high degree of human connection.”
Over a century of research shows that employees have
seven specific and immutable needs at work. Each one derives from research
spanning more than a century, including discoveries by A.H. Maslow, Edward
Deci and Holocaust survivor Dr. Viktor Frankl.
Humans at work need:
- Respect –
They need to be treated well and to treat others as they’d like to be
treated.
- Recognition – They
need regular praise and specific acknowledgment of good work.
- Belonging – They
need to be included, have a voice and work with people who care for
one another.
- Autonomy – They
need to determine for themselves how to work and should be allowed to
complete their tasks without micromanagement.
- “Personal growth” – They
need work that matches their strengths and interests, so they can find a
pace and level of challenge that leads to a state of flow.
- Meaning – They
need to connect their work to a higher purpose.
- Progress – They
need to experience steady results and growth.
Leaders must take the initiative in building a connection
culture by combining “vision, value and voice.”
Vision unites individuals into a team with a common
purpose, mission and values. A connected company’s primary values are
interpersonal, including the expectation that leaders and colleagues
will genuinely care for, respect and appreciate each other. For example, after
the Mumbai terrorism incident in 2008, the Tata Group, which owned one of
the hotels that the terrorists attacked, took care of all affected
employees and their families throughout the ordeals that followed. Founder
and CEO Ratan Tata attended every employee funeral and created a company
trust fund to provide those who lost a spouse with a salary for life. Due
to values that emphasize generosity and caring, Tata ranks as one of the best
companies in the world to work for, and is among the most successful and
profitable.
“Social connection is a primal human need that
appears to improve the performance of the body’s cardiovascular,
endocrine and immune systems.”
Leaders can combine voice with vision and value by soliciting
and listening to employees’ opinions and ideas, and including them when they
make decisions. In a connection culture – with support from leaders,
supervisors and colleagues – employees take responsibility for building their
character strengths and those of their colleagues. Leaders serve the
greater purpose and the organization’s mission rather than their own careers or
enrichment, and they support the workers who are responsible for accomplishing
the firm’s goals. Leaders who involve, include and care for their teams build a
lasting foundation for success.
One such leader, Admiral Vernon Clark, revitalized a moribund US
Navy by emphasizing people and their connections. As chief of naval
operations (CNO), Clark instilled pride in the Navy’s mission, and
insisted on continuous learning and development for all sailors and officers.
He valued everyone, regardless of rank. By investing in his personnel
with better pay and more training, and by encouraging them to speak
up and challenge conventional wisdom, Clark built a more resilient Navy.
In five years, between 2000 and 2005, he dramatically improved battle readiness
and increased re-enlistment by 50%.
At Ford Motor Company, CEO Alan Mulally transformed an
ailing company into an industry leader through the concept of “One Ford.” By
building relationships with major stakeholders and rewarding leaders who help
each other rather than only themselves, Mulally and Ford set a new standard for
US auto companies.
Other organizations with inclusive, caring leaders – the
Girl Scouts under Frances Hesselbein, Texas Christian University (TCU)
under Victor Boschini and the Duke University men’s basketball team under Mike
Krzyzewski – have enjoyed sustained brilliance or miraculous rebounds by
emphasizing connection, inclusiveness and caring throughout their ranks.
The notion of connected leadership reigns within
connected organizations.
Connected leaders demonstrate an
unwavering commitment to employee enablement through every layer of
leadership. Connected leaders learn everyone’s name and who their employees are
as people. At TCU, for example, Chancellor Boschini teaches a freshman
seminar to stay connected to his university’s purpose. He gets to know each of
his students.
“Connection is what transforms a dog-eat-dog
environment into a sled dog team that pulls together.”
At Starbucks, senior executive Howard Behar worked with founder
Howard Schultz for more than 20 years to put employees first by rallying
them around a vision, eliciting their ideas and listening to
them. Behar, who demonstrated servant leadership, helped instill the
company’s emphasis on connections – between staff and customers, and between
leaders and everyone else in the organization.
Science, psychology and economics provide evidence
that links connectedness to health and productivity.
The long-running Harvard Grant Study, which
began in 1938, found clear links between social connectedness and stronger
relationships, career success, health and longevity among the 238 people
it has followed for decades.
In 1979, researchers studied the residents
of Roseto, a small town in Pennsylvania where citizens enjoyed
better health and longer lives than the average American. The townspeople’s
better health was due to their unusual – by US standards – levels of
connectedness and their high degree of community involvement. These
findings led to the term “Roseto Effect.”
Despite mounting evidence of a causal link between connections
and relationships with health, happiness, success and longevity, people suffer
greater isolation than ever – particularly in the United States. Across
the nation, relationships and community have deteriorated dramatically since
1990. Increasing isolation stems from more single households and single
parents, dual wage earners, mobile devices, longer commutes, more engrossing
technology and extended work hours.
With COVID-19, millions more employees began working
remotely. Most expect to continue working from home indefinitely.
The impact of isolation, disconnection and
loneliness shows up in alarming American statistics on low engagement, drug
abuse, divorce, harmful addictions, and even suicide or other forms of
early death. The psychological impact of coronavirus quarantines and
separations heightens these issues.
Isolated employees report higher stress, leading to a host of
health and social problems, including substance abuse and physical assault.
Connected organizations have healthier, more innovative employees who engage
more productively with their work and other people.
Connections at work link more strongly to employee engagement
than any other factor. Self-control and wellness reflect the degree that a
person connects with others. Engaged employees exert more effort, perform at
higher levels, align more tightly to the corporate mission, make better
decisions, innovate to a greater degree, and prove more agile and
resilient.
Organizations with connection cultures lead their industries and
have better outcomes in challenging times.
Connectedness is among the top indicators of
long-term organizational success. However, too few leaders build
connection with and among employees, thus harming worker health and their
firms’ success. Only about 33% of Peoplein the workforce experience connection
at work. For the other two-thirds, work drags and productivity suffers.
Leaders should note the work of infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci and New
York governor Andrew Cuomo, who seized the initiative to connect with the
public and hold themselves and their governments accountable for
addressing the coronavirus pandemic crisis through unity and
shared purpose.
“Both individually and as a team, set no more than
five challenging but achievable annual priorities that are aligned with your
organization’s mission.”
Engage with your workforce to identify your core, connected
values. Choose no more than five yearly goals that you align to your
values and mission. Build stories that you base on your employees’ embodiment
of your organization’s values, and reward and recognize their success.
Adjust your hiring, training and incentive programs to
select, develop and reward connected behaviors. Where possible, match
workers’ strengths and interests to the tasks they perform, and engineer
opportunities for people to connect. Track your progress using
engagement and connectedness surveys.
Spend time with your team members. Get to know them, and connect
with them. Meet regularly – formally and informally. Listen carefully, focus
your attention on the person you’re with and avoid distractions. Discuss
work and non-work topics. Share your personal and career stories. Help
them plan their careers, make progress on their goals and become better
connectors themselves. Don’t micromanage. Support and serve
your team members by giving them space to work their way. When possible,
bring your team together to discuss their goals and mission, to gauge
their progress and to celebrate their achievements.
To develop into a leader who helps others connect,
take care of yourself first.
Deepen your connections with your family and
friends, share vulnerabilities and worries, exercise, get enough
sleep, eat well, spend time outdoors, nurture a creative hobby and
substitute a good habit for a bad one.
“Sixty-two percent of employed People worked from
home during the pandemic, and three in five indicated they would prefer to
continue working remotely as much as possible once public health restrictions
are lifted.”
Remote work will only expand, given COVID-19, employee
preferences and evidence that it boosts productivity. Within that
framework, meaningfully connect off-site workers to one another and to you and
the company. Leaders on any level can change their micro-culture to create
a more connected team. Fortunately, the new generation of workers may help
reverse the trend toward isolation. In surveys, they prioritize their need
for connectivity above all else.
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