Three Actions to Build Collaborative Momentum

I’ve previously shared HireRight’s commitment to our core values, and Seven Steps You Can Take to Build a Collaborative Team. But let’s say you’ve taken those steps and started the process – what comes next? How do you fan that spark of collaboration into a roaring fire??And how do you know if you are on the right path towards building a collaborative work environment?

As HireRight’s General Manager of India, I oversee an inclusive and motivated team united by the shared goals of helping our customers make informed hiring decisions and elevating understanding of background screening in our region.?We believe being collaborative means valuing diversity of thought, focusing on solutions instead of problems, lending expertise and personal experience when appropriate, bringing the right people to the table and creatively working together as a team.

As a leader, there are three concrete steps that you can take to keep these collaborative fires burning. They are:

1)?????Conduct 360 Feedback

Formal or informal, feedback is critical to sustaining transparency and collaboration. As a leader, you should be asking basic questions to help you understand how the process is working, and how your team members view any changes or programs. This is important for you to not only assess the success and progress of the initiative, but the overall level of engagement with your team.

2)?????Avoid Complacency

Once you’ve done a lot of the groundwork setting up a collaborative work environment, it is important to not become complacent and actively work to keep that collaborative fire burning. You can do this in many ways, including:

·????????Encouraging teams to work on solutions or process improvement projects

·????????Re-emphasising the importance of teamwork and common vision/goals

·????????Recognise collaboration success within your teams and the leadership

·????????Promoting and recognising employees that are living the culture

These elements should be baked into your company’s global and regional corporate culture at regular intervals, providing a recurring cadence of moments to spotlight and celebrate contributions from your teams.

3) Rinse & Repeat

Ultimately to sustain a collaborative environment you must keep repeating Step 2 until these processes are fuelled and driven entirely by your employees rather than you as a leader. Once collaboration has become a habit, each employee can become a “lighthouse” to guide more employees into the collaborative work culture.

Some of the outcomes you may notice due to this process are:

·????????A greater focus on team wins vs. individual wins

·????????Challenges being solved collaboratively as a collective team

·????????Team members working towards building solutions

·????????Team members feeling empowered to drive goals and objectives with little direction

·????????Higher organisational health survey scores

Building a winning culture is critical for an organisation to meet its goals and should be a top priority. As a leader, you need to be adept at identifying where your organisation is in the process of collaborative growth so that you can support continued success. It takes time, but when collaboration is a core part of your culture, it’s a win-win for both your organisation and its employees. After all, as HireRight President and CEO Guy Abramo often says, “When we work together, we win together.”?

To learn more about HireRight, including our commitment to our core values, visit HireRight.com/apac.?