How can we Make Work AWESOME?
This is the question that we strive to answer every day. Over the years, we’ve absorbed employee engagement research from Great Place to Work, Harvard, Gallup, Dan Pink, Josh Bersin, Deloitte, Google, and many, many more. We also reviewed the elements of our very own Blueprint for Workplace Reinvention, which was created in 2013.
Highlights from Leadership and Employee Engagement research:
Over 30 years and 100 million people surveyed globally, Great Place to Work found that TRUST is the most essential factor in engagement. They also identified elements of building trust from the Employees and Management role. Employees build trust by taking Pride in their work and building Camaraderie with colleagues. Managers build trust through being Credible and treating people with Fairness and Respect.
Google studied 180 teams to find out what impacted team effectiveness. They found that it was less important who was on the team and much more important how the team worked together. The five things that helped teams be highly effective, in order of importance:
- Psychological safety
- Dependability
- Structure and Clarity
- Meaning
- Impact
In Dan Pink’s book, Drive, he shares a multitude of studies and ultimately concludes that Purpose, Autonomy, and Mastery are the things that truly motivate people.
Josh Bersin’s 2021 “Big Reset Playbook: Human-Centred Leadership” outlines much of what we’ve been practicing for years, including Leadership behaviours of:
- Being humble, empathetic listeners, with growth mindset,
- Driven by purpose, mission, grit and passion,
- Creating a sense of safety for new ideas,
- Focus on power (human) skills as important as technical skills,
- Building relationships, treating people issues as part of their job, coaching and developing leaders
Our Blueprint for Workplace Reinvention identified Organizational Trust and Agility as the two essential elements of a reinvented workplace. We’ve seen many of the principles and competencies we outlined come to fruition as the pandemic forced companies to work differently. As we designed our Make Work AWESOME model, we pulled some specific techniques and practices from essential Workplace Reinvention capabilities.
Based on everything that we’ve practiced and learned for over more than a decade helping leaders at all levels Make Work AWESOME, we’ve developed Blue Rebel Works’ Make Work AWESOME model.
The Make Work AWESOME Model:
Accountability defined:
Everyone takes personal responsibility for themselves and their work.
A few ways to get started:
- Organizations: Ensure you have a clear vision and focused objectives
- People Leaders: Provide recognition for results, not time or attendance
- Everyone: Strive to do your best
Whole Self defined:
Diverse people feel like they belong, are valued, and can be themselves at work.
A few ways to get started:
- Organizations: Invest in creating a culture of equity and inclusion
- People Leaders: Value everyone’s diverse strengths and idiosyncrasies
- Everyone: Be your best self at work
Empowered defined:
Employees are free to use their strengths to do great work.
A few ways to get started:
- Organizations: Enable people with tools, resources, training
- People Leaders: Provide autonomy & start from a place of trust
- Everyone: Act with intention and integrity
Safety On Team defined:
Everyone feels safe to speak up, share ideas, and challenge status quo.
A few ways to get started:
- Organizations: Focus on learning from mistakes
- People Leaders: Admit your own fallibility
- Everyone: Model curiosity, creativity, & openness
Opportunity defined:
People receive development and feedback to help them grow.
A few ways to get started:
- Organizations: Communicate learning opportunities transparently
- People Leaders: Provide coaching and work that challenges people
- Everyone: Actively seek out informal learning
Meaning defined:
Everyone knows how they contribute and make a difference in their role.
A few ways to get started:
- Organizations: Communicate the organization’s purpose and values – better yet, engage them in creating them (we can help!)
- People Leaders: Link team’s work to mission and strategy
- Everyone: Work in alignment to values
Emotional Resilience defined:
Employees connect with compassion, and are resilient and adaptable.
A few ways to get started:
- Organizations: Provide connection opportunities
- People Leaders: Practice active listening and empathy
- Everyone: Accept circumstances and focus on what’s in your control
- And of course – have fun!
Which elements are most essential to Making Work AWESOME for you? Please share in the comments below!
And sign up for our email community to get 10 Ways to Make Work AWESOME – Hybrid Edition, plus more tips on Making Work AWESOME.
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