Corporate Culture Matters. How management chooses to treat its people impacts everything for better or for worse. [SIMON SINEK]
The Vitality study has tracked global trends on emotional intelligence and performance for the past 15 years.
This Vitality report covers the period 2019 – 2022, identifies 4 Top Trends in high performing teams, and looks at comparative outcomes in this period.
Interestingly. the Vitality scores for 2022 were higher than the 2019 scores, particularly in Teamwork and Execution drivers.
The outcome that increased the most was Agility, with increases also seen in Satisfaction and Results. The only outcome to decrease was sustainability, indicating that work forces have become more short term and tactical, and adapted to the short-term survival needs.
Not a surprising result considering the turmoil and uncertainty that came with Covid, but a distinct risk is now Burnout. What worked in a time of crisis isn’t sustainable in the long-term indicating that Leaders need to start to pivot in this new environment and ensure long term value and sustainability.
The 4 trends that were identified were:
Trend 1: Teams are rebuilding and Rallying
Trend 2: Joy is at the heart of high performance and job satisfaction
Trend 3: Trust remains critical for engagement and performance
Trend 4: Celebration and Reflection are key to a team’s long-term success. …
In other words …
Teams that feel genuine joy, trust each other, and celebrate each other’s successes do best. [SIX SECONDS]
So often, companies misinterpret what ‘Joy’ means. It isn’t about having a ‘fun’ room with a table tennis table or dart board in a room where staff can enjoy themselves at lunch time or in their breaks. Joy in the workplace is about a genuine feeling of enjoying work and being in the workplace.
Humans are wired to be social, and joy is a biological signal of connection and thriving. Neurobiologist, Candice Pert proved that humans are wired to feel good, so if people don’t have fun doing what they do, they will only use part of their potential and brain.
Creating a safe space for people is critical if they are going to achieve their full potential.
As stated in the Vitality Report …
Teams that prioritize joy and excitement have a distinct competitive advantage, especially in difficult times. Joyful teams are 10x more likely to be high achieving and satisfied. [6sec.org/vitality]
Joy is about having passion for the work you do, so the challenge to managers is to create an environment where people can love what they do. This does not mean alack of discipline or no rules, it’s about creating exciting challenges for staff who are engaged and want to participate.
Look for passion not just technical expertise when selecting your team members. When people love what they are doing they engage more deeply and interact better. Allow them to experiment with new ideas and to innovate and wherever possible allow physical movement so people aren’t desk bound all day.
This Vitality report once again highlighted that …
Trust was at the heart of performance.
This is something we all know but may at times forget. I have covered Trust in previous articles as it is central to the Vital Signs Model, but just a reminder that part of Trust as a leader is that people are watching more of what you are doing and not just what you are saying
So make sure you are earning and giving Trust, as this is critical to psychological safety and team success. To be a Trusted leader, you need to be open and honest, walk the truth, and genuinely care for your team.
Last but certainly not least, is Celebration. This Vitality report shows that …
Teams that celebrate are 25 x more likely to have long term success.
One of the key findings was that the key to sustainable success is to celebrate what worked, and take time to learn from mistakes and failures. In the fast-paced world we are living and operating in, so often we don’t take the time to reflect and celebrate what we have accomplished.
Celebration is a pulse point of Change, and we know that Change is critical to survival and sustainability. We need to invest time in acknowledging the efforts of our teams and appreciate what they have achieved. We also need to learn to evaluate mistakes without judgment or blame, with the aim of learning from these failures.
Start allocating time to debrief projects and how people are feeling about them, share key learnings from failures, and acknowledge and appreciate your people and the effort that they put into their work. Celebrating also generates energy to keep everyone moving forward.
If you’d like to read the entire Vitality Report for 2022, you can download it here.
Remember that emotions have a significant impact in the workplace, so take time to connect with your people; focus on building Trust, being Joyful and celebrating and reflecting!