The power of trust and appreciation: the keys to a thriving workplace?
Lau Hesselb?k Andreasen
I empower leading bright minds to build better work practices, more successful careers and happier working lives through sharing insights, exploring their network and learning from each other.
This is about the role of emotional intelligence and trust in effective employee management.
The always insightful and?Edelman Trust Barometer, have published a special report on trust and health.?
One of the things participants were asked to do was to complete the sentence: ‘when I think about being “healthy”, I think about…’ by choosing from this list of four dimensions:?
91% answered ‘Mental health’ (feeling happy, can manage negative emotions);?
88% Physical health (can do important activities, no sickness or injury, can manage my physical health);
83% Social health (have a person I can speak freely to, people care about me, not discriminated against) and
79% Community livability (Clean, safe, peaceful community + Healthy planet)
66% say all four components are dimensions of my “health” and only 1% answered "it's only abut physical health"
They were also shown a list of “institutions” and were asked to indicate whether they “expect each to play a meaningful role in making sure I am as healthy as possible”.?
The list - with the percentage of respondents who agreed that the statement applied to the respective institutions:
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When asked to confirm whether “this institution is doing well in making sure I am as healthy as possible”, 55% responded that their employer was indeed doing a good job in this area.
So: mental health is top of mind for the vast majority of respondents and apart from one’s local healthcare provider, which unsurprisingly tops the list of who should take an interest in one’s wellbeing, employers rank a close second and only just over half of respondents find that their place of work is doing a decent job in providing providing a setting in which they ensure employees are as healthy as possible.?
The report does drill down into the various sectors and slice and dice the data to demonstrate variations from region to region and between one industry and another, but none of the charts or columns illustrate a pretty picture.?
I find it bewildering that these figures are so bad. At a time when we constantly hear about the shortage of workers and companies fighting for talented people; both how to attract and retain them, creating a better work environment in which all the talented people could thrive and feel empowered, supported, appreciated etc. would seem like a no-brainer to me. Empowerment, support and appreciation are just three of the most obvious components required in a workplace that wishes to not just live up to its productivity and profitability goals, but also ensure that the people who make the business thrive are themself thriving and feeling satisfied that they work in a place where they can see themselves stick around for a while.
There are many factors in play; many moving parts that create a good work environment in which employees feel they can thrive mentally; feel safe and secure, appreciated, listened to etc. As an employer, it’s hard if not impossible to get them all right at all times. Which ones to prioritise?
Well, I have spent 15+ years brokering knowledge, insights and experiences between professionals in large complex organisations from across every sector and industry. One constant observation I've made is that the most important ones to get right; the ones making the greatest impact when it comes to making employees feel good at work are the ones that cost the least to fix and don’t require big investments - in monetary terms.
Why? Because they are not to do with things you can buy or build or upgrade; rather, they are about attitudes and behaviours; they are about how you treat people; about respect, acknowledgement, appreciation and trust. It’s about atmosphere, environment and the culture of a place.
Naturally; great physical surroundings and an adequate number of people sharing the workload contribute to fostering a stabile and stress-free environment, but they don’t do it on their own. I have visited several hyper modern corporate palaces filled with state-of-the-art equipment and lots of highly paid people where it was obvious in so many ways that many of them were not thriving and the employee churn often confirmed it.?
What’s it like where you work? And why is it so hard for employers to get this right? Do the folks in charge express the kind of sentiments I listed above; respect, acknowledgement, appreciation and trust? -And do you agree with my observations?
Share your own thoughts!?