Are you an #HRProfessional, #leader or #manager looking to build more trust on your team? Join me and Dr. Merv Gilbert for the next MindWell-U webinar.
We’ll discuss:
– Why trust matters in the workplace and how we can measure it.
– The implications of COVID-19 on trust in organizations
– How we can build trust in teams.
– Strategies for recovery and sustaining psychologically healthy and safe organizations post-pandemic
VIEW THE LIVE WEBINAR: https://www.mindwellu.com/trust-and-teams
This Wellness Works webinar, which I presented with Merv Gilbert, can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/wjbO8Tc5Q5o
Description: Trust-based relationships between all personnel are essential for a healthy, safe and productive organization. The unprecedented changes COVID-19 has imposed on workers and employers makes trust even more essential, yet also threatens to erode it as the pandemic evolves. This session explores these challenges to trust, pointing out opportunities to maintain and build trust in your organization.
This new on-line course is offered by the Manufacturing Safety Alliance of BC. I am pleased to have worked with the MSABC team to develop the course.
About the Course:
For more information: https://safetyalliancebc.myabsorb.ca/#/online-courses/dc92cc90-93d9-407a-b77d-f29733cd3800
The following three resources are based on my report, “Wood, Well-being and Performance: The Human and Organizational Benefits of Wood Buildings.” You can download this report here.
A useful insight from the field of health promotion is the importance of a person’s readiness to make changes in their health-related attitudes and behaviors. A person’s readiness to change determines what will be realistic goals and timelines for them – and whether they stand a chance of making any progress at all. Readiness is assessed by past actions, knowledge, and awareness about change benefits, and the motivation to adopt new lifestyle practices.
Organizations also can be assessed for their readiness to change in a healthy direction. First develop a vision that you and your coworkers would like to see your organization achieve. Today, this vision could outline the kind of vibrant and productive workplace you want to create post-pandemic.
Once you have a healthy organization vision that sets out your shared aspirations for how the organization can improve, use that vision to assess to what extent the important components of your organization are “ready” to support or enable changes in the direction of the vision. As a start, use the Change Readiness Checklist on the next page to assess key organizational features, rating each using the following four criteria:
Whatever your organization’s readiness profile, the objective is to leverage the sources of capacity and momentum, find ways to reduce resistance, and break free of the inertia. And for those factors you assessed as either sources of resistance or inertia, think about what you and other change agents can do to move the factor to a state of readiness or momentum.
Conducting this change readiness assessment should be an early step in planning a healthy workplace / post-pandemic recovery strategy. Tailor the change strategy to fit the picture that emerges.
For more on designing a healthy change process for your organizations, see the Healthy Change chapter in my book, Creating Healthy Organizations: Taking Action to Improve Employee Well-Being.
Download the checklist and use it in your organization.
I will be presenting a webinar on this topic at the Psychological Health & Safety Event (VIRTUAL: Thurs Nov 26, 2020 from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM CST.
To register (free): WorkSafe Saskatchewan.
Other speakers include Mary Ann Baynton, Janice Decelles, Joti Samra, and Phil Germain.
My presentation description: During times of uncertainty and unpredictable change – like the COVID-19 pandemic – many organizations are challenged to plan for the post-pandemic future. COVID-19 has not only strained the employer-employee relationship, it also has taken a toll on business performance and employee well-being. Indeed, the future of work arrangements and workplace design are now on the drawing board. This presentation will engage participants by offering practical steps they can take to plan, implement, and sustain healthy change in their organization. Basic principles of healthy change can guide you through the pandemic and beyond. This approach will enable your organization to maintain a healthy and resilient workforce, build trust, and ensure organizational sustainability.
Much debate swirls around the potential for COVID-19 to reshape the future of work.
Before jumping to the conclusion that remote work is one of the unintended up-sides to the pandemic, it helps to view the COVID-19 work from home (WFH) trend in broader context.
Doing so reveals a paradox: pandemic WFH practices were quickly imposed in response to a public health crisis, yet there is solid pre-pandemic evidence of an unmet demand for more flexible work arrangements. The challenge is whether employer’s post-pandemic recovery plans can redesign current WFH practices to meet employees’ need for flexibility in ways that promote worker well-being and organizational performance.
Statistics Canada reports that the percentage of employees doing any scheduled work from home hovered between 10 and 13 percent from 2000 and 2018. By the end of March this year, that figure had jumped to 39 percent.
However, this jump in WFH has not met workers’ pre-pandemic needs. Numerous surveys over the last decade document a pent-up desire for more flexible work arrangements. Many workers want more choice in their work arrangements as a way to achieve better work-life balance.
Pandemic-induced WFH has thrown this balance off kilter. For countless employees, WFH means working longer hours without the resources of a well-equipped office. And for many working parents, particularly mothers, home-schooling their kids made the juggling especially stressful.
Earlier discussions of flexibility didn’t present a one-size-fits-all solution. Successful flexible work arrangements encompass a range of options, tailored to the specific needs of a workforce. These ranged from reduced work weeks to flexible daily start and stop times, self-scheduling for shift workers, job sharing, family or personal care days, and occasional work from home days.
The key to successful flexibility is giving workers more control over their work life, while maintaining face-to-face working relationships. Consider that when Rethinking Work surveys asked Canadians what makes them look forward to going to work, the most common response was the great people they work with. Positive relationships with coworkers and supervisor enable employees to thrive at work, setting the stage for collaboration and innovation.
Employers can do three simple things to strengthen virtual relationships. First, ensure that employees have time to connect with each other on a personal level, making it safe to talk about COVID-19 concerns. Second, encourage managers to reach out in meaningfully supportive ways, starting by asking employees “how are you doing?” and listening to their responses. And third, make all communications sensitive to what employees are going through, inviting two-way dialogue about how to work better together virtually.
These steps are only a start. Many companies have proclaimed that their culture is their strategic advantage. Now’s the test: Employers’ biggest challenge is using core corporate values to help shape healthy and productive pandemic – and post-pandemic – work norms.
Virtual work has big implications for the mutual trust on which strong cultures are based. Tobias Lütke, CEO of Shopify, coined the term “trust battery.” The battery’s charge is either increased or decreased with every interaction. Trustworthy leaders consciously use every encounter to charge up employees’ trust batteries. For this to happen virtually, managers need to reflect on how well they exhibit openness, honesty, caring, fairness, respect, and reliability.
These trust-building qualities can be learned, presenting an opportunity for organizations to develop essential leadership capabilities now. Managers no longer have ‘face time’ to monitor employee productivity. During the pandemic they have no choice but to trust that employees are self-motivated. In future, this could have positive spin offs in terms of a more loyal and high performing workforce. Yes, new office work norms will emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. The same surveys that confirm the need for flexible work arrangements also highlight the importance of giving employees a say in shaping these norms. Employers would be well advised to consult with their employees to find out their experiences with WFH and their preferences for post-pandemic work arrangements. Employees’ trust batteries will be recharged if this is handled well.
I’m pleased to be co-presenting this Wellness Works webinar with Merv Gilbert on December 2. Click here for more information and to register
I am pleased to be co-presenting this virtual interactive session at the annual Make It Safe conference with Nick Reiach, Vice President of Operations at Great Little Box Company. 2 pm, October 30, 2020.
Session Description: What does it take to earn the trust and respect of your team? To build an organizational culture where your people feel confident in your company’s leadership? What steps can you take for maximum impact? In this immersive session, learn new strategies from a leading international expert on work and workplace wellness—and practical applications from one of Canada’s Best-Managed Employers.
Make it Safe is the annual health and safety conference and trade show for manufacturers and food processors hosted by the Manufacturing Safety Alliance of BC.
Read my latest article on Wood, Wellbeing and Performance: How Workers Thrive in Wood Buildings. I advocate the expansion of employee well-being policies, programs and practices to include health-promoting physical workspaces, especially those with wood structure and finishing.