Laura Hoppa – Principal Performance Consultant The idea of organizational transformation isn’t new. Chances are, within the last three years, your organization transformed in some way. Successful companies are constantly innovating and reinventing. The traditional path for organizational transformation required operational changes, better processes, digital platforms and tools, and a full re-organization of teams to realign talent accordingly. The conversation is generally framed as, “We’re changing nearly everything within the organization. How will we help our people adapt?”
This is in stark contrast to today’s need for transformation, where the conversation sounds more like: “Our people are changing our whole landscape. How will our organization adapt?”
That’s the flip we’re facing. The labor market is putting employees in a position of power, and they’re seeking new paths. They’re taking stock of what’s working in their lives and what’s not, and traditional workplace norms are simply not making the cut. Today’s talent now prioritizes quality of life over many things they previously valued. The desire for inclusion, access, and equity—for all people—is bubbling up in every way.
This is about the need for more humanity at work: people want to bring their whole self to their jobs, connect to others in a high-trust environment, and do their best work. They want to know that they matter, that they have value, and that someone cares about their whole situation, not only their work. As we’re seeing in current labor trends, many don’t think they are finding that to be reality at their current employers.
They want change. Getting work done shouldn’t feel like slogging through mud; needed resources like information and tools shouldn’t be hard to come by. The culture shouldn’t be tinged with fear and shame, prompting a constant need to protect oneself against social politics, microaggressions, or interpersonal power-plays.
In response, most companies are saying, “Fantastic—we want that too!” But getting there, or even knowing where to start, is challenging. The change requires a deep analysis to understand exactly what it means to bring meaningful transformation to life. In many ways, existing organizational systems, structures, processes, and cultural norms fly in the face of the desired transformation. Most large-scale, corporate organizations have unknowingly institutionalized significant barriers to this shared desire to be a place of humanity, well-being, and high performance. Transforming means re-thinking long-held assumptions—yet we know that, when we intentionally involve our people, it’s a transformation that is achievable. Here are some tips to make it happen:
The companies who seize this moment of disruption, read it correctly, and then emerge ahead are those that think differently and question some fundamental truths. It starts by listening—primarily to employees, but also to the organizations that already started this revolution, are seeing success, and are forging the way forward.
A great reference on this subject is Brave New Work by Aaron Dignan. He highlights successful, innovative companies that embraced concepts like full transparency, putting all needed information in reach of employees so they have both the big picture and the small data they need to do their jobs. They found the right, authentic way to be driven by their purpose and values, which involves de-emphasizing profit and prioritizing impact. It means adopting a broad stakeholder mindset, not only a focus on shareholders.
A growing body of research is showing that trust is the key ingredient of an engaged, high-performing organization, and we can learn from organizations who are proving that revelation. These companies find themselves with resilient talent that’s equipped to operate in a VUCA world (one defined by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity).
Trust is certainly not easy to build; we can’t wave a wand and influence people to offer it. But we can create an environment where it’s able to flourish and grow, especially when we think of trust as “a felt sense of safety.” The organizations that work to offer their people a strong sense of security—by fostering deep connections within teams, as well as between the organization, its leaders and all employees—are seeing their companies thrive.
These organizations emphasize contextual hierarchy over traditional, command-and-control, top-down hierarchy. In fact, their leaders position themselves as the foundation of the organization, not the pinnacle. This might mean moving toward a system of fluid-forming teams, verses rigid reporting structures. High-security, high-trust organizations also embrace adaptability and agility by becoming a place of constant experimentation and evolution, building systems and structures that mirror their belief in human transformation. That may mean becoming role-based and project-based, even democratizing career growth through talent marketplaces.
The trust-filled, attractive, effective employee experience (EX) you desire can be designed. It should reflect a candid, honest employee value proposition (EVP) that everyone can use for alignment. Taking the time to document and intentionally draft your EVP and design your EX is a critical step in transforming the organization.
At TiER1, we designed our organization on the human-centric belief that organizations exist to serve people, not the other way around. Our mission is to improve organizations through the performance of people to build a better world. We wanted to create a place where people could do their best work and help other organizations do the same. This required a design that was decidedly different from many workplaces. From a decentralized, role-based org design that we call “dynamically distributed authority” (there are no bosses here), to a fully transparent, trust-filled leadership approach, our mission and values are apparent in our systems, tools, technology, and cultural norms. It’s not a free-for-all; it requires guardrails, which are based on principles. The key is that we established guiding principles to provide the right balance of structure and space to make great, situationally appropriate decisions.
It also requires a culture where these operational decisions both reflect and drive our beliefs. We believe TiER1ers exist to serve; we’re led by that central, noble idea. We serve our clients, each other, our communities, and the world. That means we pride ourselves on creating an environment of love, relationship, trust, connection, authenticity, and FUN. This commitment to people must be balanced with an equal commitment to high performance, which can of course, create tension. We continue to learn that transparency and company-wide conversation are critical in navigating that tension. This also requires fostering ownership as a mindset among all employees. Trust is our greatest asset, and we gain more of it when we own and correct our missteps rather than pretend we’re flawless.
We know from experience that it’s not always easy to go against the grain in the way we operate and lead. However, to recruit and retain the next generation of talent—and make an impact as an organization—we believe organizational transformation is required.
If you want to discuss how you may transform your organization—in small or big ways—to compete in today’s challenging and changing talent landscape, let’s chat. Reach out to us by calling (859) 415-1000 or drop us a note in the form at the bottom of the page.
For more from Laura on this topic, check out this article: