How is your internal climate?
Teams are heralded as the means of success for organisations. Most work indeed happens in or with teams. However, assuming that teams are what drives success is overlooking an important factor.
The unit of change in organisations is the individual. Leaders, managers, customer service people, salespeople and all the other business units are made up of people. Teams are composed of individuals, and each individual is required to be fully present, committed, and function for the team to be a success.
At Chameleon Skills, we see the unit of change in organisational success as the individual!
This is quite scary when you consider what statistics tell us about employee engagement:
53% are disengaged, and 13% are actively disengaged (www.bestcompaniestoworkfor.com), which equals 67%, two-thirds of the workforce.
If organisations want to improve their performance and take their organisations to the next level, they need to harness the individuals who work for them. Richard Branson says that if he looks after his employees, they look after his customers. So why then do organisations not put more effort into engaging the minds and hearts of their employees?
Maybe if they truly viewed these individuals not as ‘assets’ but as significant contributors and community members, they would want to engage them in the organisation’s success.. People, like plants, thrive in a positive environment. Connecting to create a climate of trust within an organisation can make the difference between failure and success.
We have developed our EAGER methodology as the most effective way to work with individuals, teams, and organisations. Recognising it as the way that we have been working with our clients over the years. As we work with people who work with people, so we spend time connecting, getting to know and understanding each other. When working with organisations, we need to understand what is important to them, what they want to achieve by engaging with us, what they have tried, and what has or has not been successful.
If you create a culture where collaboration, learning, and solution focus are the key drivers, you can start building a true learning organisation, which enables the individuals to become part of the organisation’s success, giving their extra discretionary effort to work towards the organisational vision.
If your organisation is struggling with aligning all the individuals and teams behind your vision and strategy, look at the culture. ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast’, said Peter Drucker, a well-known management consultant. He said that strategy is important but that an empowering culture was a surer route to success.
Need help connecting to create a climate of trust? Get in touch