Building the Trust-Based, Change-Embracing Workforce of the Future
Building the Trust-Based, Change-Embracing Workforce of the Future
Our blog last month stimulated conversations around how to survive and thrive through the headwinds created by the pandemic and take advantage of the tailwinds that are stirring now and sure to grow.
Our view from the irony tower and from the trenches is that the leaders, teams and organizations that succeed through times of great change are forming trust-based, change-embracing workforces for a future nobody can predict. The visual above portrays the importance of nurturing a culture of trust, while embracing the inevitable challenges and changes to come.
High-trust, change-embracing companies are the STARs, as they are efficient and resilient enough to adapt collaborative, communicative, and innovative strategies which would set them up for success.
Change-embracing companies with low trust might have high productivity and high engagement in the short term, but these results may not be sustainable. If the team feels unsafe or unsupported by coworkers or management, they may feel disempowered, dispassionate and disengaged, and may not have the fortitude to persevere, and may leave for more attractive work options.
Companies that are high-trust and low-change might have a great group of people whom they trust, but are not making the changes needed to stay competitive and relevant in a fast-changing, demanding world. This heart-centered leadership may be noble and comfortable but is not sustainable and cannot deliver on expected outcomes without expressly embracing change.
Low-trust, change-resistant companies continue going through the motions, but cannot succeed without shifting their outlook on change and trust. Since they lack the cohesion and innovation needed to bring them into the future (with or without headwinds or tailwinds), they will need a major intervention to change their course if they are interested in surviving these times of accelerated change.
For companies committed to building a more trust-based, change-embracing culture:
Take an inside-out perspective of your organization through assessments of everything from people to organization, from roles to products.
Take an outside-in perspective of your organization by adopting a top-down, macro-trend approach, an ecosystem/alliances approach, or a technology-led approach, or a combination of the three.
As always, what gets measured gets attention, so focus on driving the quantitative and qualitative measurements that build the high-performing, committed, and resilient workforce of the future. Contact us for more information about how to build the change-embracing, trust-based workforce of the future.