Jarred Consulting

If safety, belonging and recognition are suffering, and what you can do to shore them up

To achieve business growth you need people – in this climate even to stand still, you need people. Your company will not survive without this lifeblood. In times of transition, change and uncertainty you need them even more, and so getting the very best out of them may mean looking at how you behave as a leader, evolving the behaviours of the leadership teams around you and developing your culture so that everyone feels included. How do you gauge how well you’re doing? It involves getting your ear to the ground and using your senses, leveraging compassion and insight to understand what you find, and then caring about the impact your behaviour (and that of your leadership team) has.

It’s the right thing to do – it’s the only thing to do

Treating your people with genuine compassion, understanding and kindness will drive efficiency, performance and innovation. Ignoring gnawing issues won’t make them go away; they’ll only impede your progress while your competitors pull ahead. Here we look at seven signs of dipping morale and what you can do about them. Some subtle, others more obvious, the key is to look beyond behaviours to see the root cause. Remedy will take brave introspection, conscious mindset shifts and behavioural change, but it all starts with you.

Seven areas to look for

Remember, this involves genuine curiosity about how culture, environment and the behaviour of others affect the way people think and act. It’s not so much about single events either – it’s about patterns of behaviour, requiring a higher level of commitment, awareness and interaction from you.

1. People withdrawing and distancing themselves from the team. If they choose to walk away altogether it’s not the same as healthy personal career development or a valuable step in someone’s journey. We’re talking about a reaction to a wider culture or trend rooted in a lack of safety. The sentiment driving this will be a negative perception that things won’t get better, office politics have run amok or a sense of hopelessness has set in.

 

2. Gossip, rumours and spreading fear. It’s natural that a team will share their opinions, feelings and experiences – what matters is the underlying narrative. Someone who feels safe, understood and seen will be able to express their needs, challenges and insecurities in a supportive atmosphere. If no such avenue for expression exists, however, these feelings may seep out in another form. The negative impact of gossip and rumours may be draining and fear-inducing, but it’s vital to see it objectively as a symptom of something else in order to fix the root cause.

 

3. Disconnection and ghosting. When someone drops out of normal contact with you or other colleagues, it can signify their sense of belonging is ebbing. Team members need to share information in order to work well together, so an individual who doesn’t feel like they’re an integral part of the whole may withhold details from other team members in order to regain a sense of importance. Trust is eroded in this way, which then feeds into further isolation and a self-perpetuating problem develops. It’s within your power to break the cycle and restore a healthy sense of community.

 

4. Forming rifts. Office politics are often fuelled by hearsay and a lack of something healthier to align with. Everyone feels passionate about something and has their own personal wounds to heal, which means if a void opens up where team belonging should be, it’s easily filled with the effects of fear. Drawing a team together involves acknowledging individuality and being observant of underlying currents. Who seems to have a voice and who doesn’t?

 

5. Isolation and hyper-independence. Closely related to the point above, lack of belonging can give rise to an I’m OK on my own This goes beyond a healthy sense of autonomy and personal decision-making, as the individual puts up protective walls to keep them safe against a perceived threat. This mindset is infectious in nature, as others feel like they have no choice but to withdraw to protect themselves. No longer feeling part of a cohesive whole, it can give rise to defensiveness, limiting beliefs about what they’re capable of doing and resource guarding.

 

6. A lack of willingness to understand, listen and connect with others along with tiredness, intolerance and minimal patience. Everyone needs to know that they matter and that they’re a unique and valuable part of the whole. In order to counter a lack of inclusion, someone may become pushy, overbearing and even condescending. Unable to give the floor to a colleague, their unanswered needs become louder than those of the rest of the team. This can give rise to resentment, dislike and unpleasantness. It leaves others feeling emotionally deflated and energetically depleted, affecting performance, resilience and morale.

 

7. People express how undervalued they feel. Seeing and acknowledging personal worth is paramount to working at your best. When you find purpose and meaning in your job, you work harder, are more willing to take risks and are more open to opportunities. When someone feels like they don’t matter and haven’t been given the chance to work out where they fit in, their high level of frustration may spill over into everyday conversation. Also an infectious behaviour, it may impact the wider team as others express dissatisfaction without a belief that something can be done about it.

 

What does the dream look like?

In an environment where you’ve nurtured safety, belonging and mattering, people feel comfortable:

• Asking for help.
• Challenging decisions or the status quo.
• Sharing suggestions.
• Making decisions.
• Meeting their well-being and work–life balance needs.
• Giving feedback.
• Being themselves.
• Voicing their concerns.

Without fear of facing a direct or more subtle social or emotional fallout, team members who feel safe are more likely to be adaptable, innovative and committed. The benefits of diversity are embraced, experimentation is encouraged and feedback is enriching. You don’t just want to encourage people to stay; you want them to thrive. How do you do this?

Behaviours to bolster belonging

• Model desirable behaviours and do not underestimate the impact that your energy has on those around you.
• Focus on possibility and potential and not in a way that makes team members inadequate. Build upon and draw from past achievements to reveal how much they’re already capable of.
• Be honest and vulnerable when you don’t know all the answers. You show that it’s OK to not be OK and that you trust your employees to support you and each other.
• What are your sticking points? Is there an issue that comes up time and again? This is a powerful opportunity to get everyone involved in sharing their perspectives and finding a solution together. It's time to step back and see what evolves.

Behaviours to foster safety

• People need to be seen for who they are and how they contribute. What stands in their way? What hurdles can you personally remove or help them to nudge?
• Share what excites you and encourage others to do the same. Give them the floor.
• Model asking for help and that the world doesn’t fall apart when you’re vulnerable. ‘Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change,’ Brené Brown famously said. How will you tap into this powerful source if you don’t allow safe spaces for it to arise?
• Demonstrate that you don’t know everything. That you value the spectrum of perspectives that come from diverse voices and their backgrounds. People who are heard feel like they’re a valuable part of the team and you get the best decisions, ideas and know-how. It’s a win-win.

Behaviours to nurture mattering

• Those who are there day in and day out, show them how much they mean to you and the company. Their contribution may be so consistent that it has become invisible. Uncover it and let it shine.
• It’s the leader’s job to make sure that everyone is recognised in a way that means something to them. It’s not one size fits all.
• The person who shouts the loudest may not have all the answers, which will feed into a sense of disconnection and even rejection. How can you develop speaking and listening skills at all levels so that everyone has a voice? Is there anything you can personally brush up on?
• Get a grasp of what motivates people but also what stands in their way. What have they had to overcome, and how does that level of commitment and skillset show up almost unconsciously in their day-to-day work? Subtle recognition of the details leads to greater trust and understanding.

Points to remember

When someone feels in a place of emotional safety, you get the best of their logical, rational and intuitive capabilities. Being in fight, flight or freeze mode because of their surroundings or the behaviours of others is likely to block the brilliance you hired them for. Behavioural training, development and change have to happen at all levels. A McKinsey report stated that ‘According to the data, fostering psychological safety at scale begins with companies’ most senior leaders developing and embodying the leadership behaviours they want to see across the organisation.’ This permeates all levels of leadership and goes way beyond lip service to have an effect on values, attitudes and behaviours. The same McKinsey report found that leadership behaviours had the most significant impact when a ‘positive team climate’ is already in place. As leaders show concern for others, not just as employees but as human beings, it fosters a climate of trust where everyone is encouraged to do the same.

The way you lead (and lead leaders) is elementary

Everyone feels the effects of transition, change and uncertainty. This is not a time to sit tight and hope that everything and everyone will be OK. If unhelpful behavioural patterns arise, don’t see them as problems to be solved or even canker to be removed. Rather view them as guidance on how you can take action tailored to what your people are calling out for. Be the powerful starting block everyone needs.

The needs of your company are unique

It can be difficult to stand back and view things objectively. Effective, efficient transformation happens when you work alongside an outside partner who really cares about you and the people who show up for you. We’re a team of humanly grounded experts with years of experience behind us and a wealth of skills to choose from. We create space for you to voice what you and your company need and then we put together just the team required to unlock your potential with your purpose in mind. It all starts with a conversation with Kerry. Pick up the phone or drop her a message today.