Cross Categorical Conversations – Progress In The Face Of Organizational Unrest
Many human resources professionals are now finding that they are in charge of the unrest, the anxiety, the uncertainty and dis-equilirbium that has manifest itself at disproportionate levels within their own organization. It seems for many in the field, there is no one else left who is either willing or able to take on this type of assignment and the resulting imbalance is more than most organizations can withstand and still continue to produce either goods or services on behalf of the customers. For some organizations, the human resources department or division has been downsized so severely that there is no one skilled in this areas of strategic reliance so the work is being outsourced, often to less than an ideal outcome. For other agencies or professional teams despite best efforts, remediation of their organization’s emotional sustainability is not readily achieved. What then, is the best next level of effort when the burden weighs heavy and you as a mid or executive leader are charged with collaborative work in this area? The following guided questions may assist you in this effort:
- Who has been designated to design and deliver on the culture of your organization post ‘economic recession’? Is this individual/team skilled in environmental design and culture/climate control (are they respected professionals both internally as well as externally for their technical skill sets?)
- Is your organization’s designated conflict and climate team/individual an active and advanced listener in all circumstances (able to drill down into the real meanings of shared conversations despite highly charged environmental dynamics?)
- Do you have skilled individuals to assist in the climate redesign within your organization who are not operating from a basis of fear regarding their own longevity of employment?
- Have you designed a ‘map’ for deliverables for your organizational climate development? How will the outcomes be measured? Will this measurement be documented and reported out in a truly transparent fashion to all primary and secondary stakeholders?
- Are all employee groups embraced, recognized and encouraged to bring forth all levels of their skill sets for use in the ‘new normal’ of today’s marketplace environment? Who has determined which ‘new/newer’ leaders might be given the chance to excel and really lead in the new climate of your organization?
- What methods, ideas, decisions, processes or approaches has your organization truly let go of? Why? How was this communicated? What is the long range plan for continued explanations as these changes impact daily life for each member of the entire workforce?
- Do you have internal ‘rituals’ for mentoring, training and developing each employee on a regular basis? How are these rituals communicated? How is an employee selected for this type of effort?
- Does your organization continually find ‘common areas of passion’ to serve as the foundation for the work that you have underway?
- How many members of your workforce are over employed? How many members of your workforce are underemployed? In how many cases, does your organization not really know the answer to the two previous questions?
- What are the current greatest barriers to sustaining a high performing work environment for your organization?
Cross categorical conversations include aspects of all of the ten items listed above. The human resources division or department in your organization has the privilege to lead these types of conversations. When was the last time that your HR team/you took this on as a current assignment?