Trusted Leader Blog

An interesting comment that I often get from leaders is that employee engagement results often don't explain team performance.  Some teams have high employee engagement, but don't perform so well.  

Thanks to bad experiences, a cynical society or even the way we were brought up, we tend to search for people’s faults.  Without being aware of it, we act like surly teenagers automatically finding the negative in anyoneand anything.

In today’s fast-paced world, we often don’t have the luxury of time to build trust for time-sensitive projects.   The ability to react quickly and adapt is critical.  Teams must be put together quickly, decisions made and deadlines met.

Every single moment our brains are scanning our environment and calculating whether we can trust the people around us.  At work, we need to feel confident that speaking up or making a mistake isn’t going to be a career-limiting move. Our brain asks regularly – Am I safe to be myself? Do I belong to this team? Do we share a meaningful future together?

“Organisations learn only through individuals who learn.”  Peter Senge, MIT

Humans are designed to avoid conflict.  Employees fear speaking up about issues in case it makes them look stupid or unpopular.  Having the courage to be vulnerable in a high stakes situation takes a lot of guts.

Thousands of years ago, when humans roamed the African savannah, it was in our best interests to live in tribes. Being part of a tribe allowed us to sleep soundly knowing that others were looking out for man-eating sabre-toothed tigers.  

We are biologically programmed to want to be with people and work together, as we instinctively know it helps our survival.  We feel alive when we are with other people.  Yet, there is a dark underbelly to this need to be with others - we also fear rejection.  In fact, neuroscience studies have uncovered we experience social rejection like physical pain.  

Today’s ever changing workplace, features increasing speed, complexity and dense interdependencies.  Over the last century, work has transitioned from labor intensive, repetitive work to today’s knowledge based economy.  

Back in 1975, 83% of a company’s value was through tangible assets such as equipment, buildings and inventory.  In 2020, intangible assets such as intellectual property and goodwill now make up 90% of a company’s value.  

As Abraham Maslow taught in his Hierarchy of Needs, we can’t concern ourselves with higher goals (self-mastery and purpose) until we have the necessities of life.  These being physiological (food and water), physical safety and social connection.

In the workplace, employees need confirmation that their fellow co-workers are looking out for them.  They need to feel connected and that colleagues really care about them.

At the same time, employees need to believe the work they do matters, that they’re making an impact and others appreciate their work.  And that they have a clear future within the organisation.