Go Beyond Satisfaction: The Human Experience
The human experience is a term we use to describe a collection of basic emotional needs that all humans desire within a community. These emotional needs are essential to a person’s sustained commitment and loyalty to a community and become even more crucial when participation in that community is voluntary.
The human experience, as we have defined it, is comprised of three fundamental elements:
These three elements are basic human needs that are foundational to all other work-related needs (i.e., opportunity, DEI, compensation, etc.), and this is what differentiates the human experience from employee engagement and satisfaction data.
240Solutions measures the human experience in organizations and teams, working alongside leaders to develop a tailor-made, data-informed impact strategy.
What is Organizational Belonging?
Organizational belonging is comprised of two parts: 1) employees’ sense of community in their team, and 2) employees’ belief that they have a future with that group, and both are of equal importance in the human experience at work.
What is the impact when Organizational Belonging is absent?
The obvious impact is low morale, but this is the least of your concerns when team members feel they do not belong. When this basic human need is absent, there is a constant internal questioning that produces unnecessary stress and increased mental health issues. These things then become distractions that lead to lower productivity, reduced collaboration, higher mistakes, and increased turn-over. Each one of these have both direct and indirect costs associated with them, and those costs quickly reach tens of thousands of dollars.
What should we do to increase Organizational Belonging?
That is a complicated answer, which is why we have dedicated our careers to understanding it, but in short it begins with giving a damn. Genuine care for people cannot be faked, so impacting this basic human need begins with care. If you do not genuinely care, do not be ashamed. Instead, be grateful that you are aware of that so that you do not waist your money and our time.
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Additionally, moving the needle on Organizational Belonging requires attention to the other components, too. In our journey to improve the human experience in teams, we have learned that while belonging is comprised of the two distinct parts described above, those two parts are greatly influenced by the human need for psychological safety and purpose and vise-versa. Aiming to improve one area of the human experience, if the others are also suffering is like playing the game Wack-a-mole…you’ll spend a lot of energy for little gain.
Measuring Organizational Belonging with the 240 Diagnostic
The 240 Diagnostic was created to measure organizational belonging in two ways: 1) employees’ sense of community in their team, and 2) employees’ belief that they have a future with that group. When only one side of this equation is addressed, it leaves employees conflicted, and that conflict will always default to “I don’t belong here.”
What is Organizational Vulnerability?
The term vulnerability regularly returns a furrowed or raised brow in our initial conversations with potential clients. The term itself makes us leaders uncomfortable, and we often do not nurture it in our personal lives, so it is exceptionally foreign in our professional lives. Organizational vulnerability is the ability to be human amidst the need for and presence of SOPs, policies, goals, and expectations.
What is the impact when Organizational Vulnerability is absent?
The impact in full and sustained absence is active disengagement, a term used by Gallup to distinguish between apathy (disengaged) and cynicism (actively disengaged). Numerous studies estimate that actively disengaged employees are as much as 17% less productive and 21% less profitable. These are significant numbers that we believe are only the beginning of loss, as the absence of organizational vulnerability over time eliminates the ability to innovate. Jim Collins established that innovation is essential for sustained existence, let alone greatness. If you want your company to be around in 5, 10 or 30 years, you must foster and protect organizational vulnerability.
What should we do to increase Organizational Vulnerability?
It starts with you; vulnerability produces vulnerability. Edgar Schein, the “father” of organizational culture said, “ALL organizational issues are leadership issues.” If you desire the humanity of your employees to be felt, protected, heard, and seen, then you desire organizational vulnerability. That desire means you must lead vulnerably. However, organizational vulnerability does not stand alone. It is ultimately interwoven with belonging and share purpose. Don’t chase your tail with a hyper-focus on one element of the human experience. Much like our humanity, each component is interdependent.
Measuring Organizational Vulnerability with the 240 Diagnostic
The 240 Diagnostic was created to measure organizational vulnerability by measuring the presence (or absence) of empowerment, psychological safety, humility, and collaboration. Measuring organizational vulnerability, or scaled vulnerability, is unique to 240Solutions, and we believe that it is the most critical of the three fundamentals. Consider the difference between how you feel as a patron at a mom-and-pop shop vs. a big box store. That feeling is your humanity being acknowledged, and that is predicated on vulnerability.
How do companies like Disney and Chick-fil-A still acknowledge your humanity? We are confident that it is the presence of organizational vulnerability.
What is Shared Purpose?
Now more than ever, employees value purpose over high compensation. Today’s workforce is now predominately comprised of Millennials and Gen-Z, who ranked purpose and meaning above compensation as primary motivations for work. With more remote options available to them after COVID, employees threw off the chains that once bound them and sought to choose work that aligned with their values. These purpose seekers took their skills and sought to join likeminded individuals to engage in collaborative, meaningful work.
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This doesn’t mean that your business needs to become a non-profit or launch large-scale, mission-impact programs. It simply means that your organization needs to place the mission and vision at the forefront of every role, moving the almighty $$-metrics to a close second.
What is the impact when Shared Purpose is absent?
Simply put, higher turn-over, which is higher cost, reduced productivity, weak customer service, and potential volatility in team and organizational culture.
What should we do to increase Shared Purpose?
The most immediate thing you can do is determine how to consistently articulate the company’s mission and vision in a meaningful and practical way to each department. The key is consistency, as the moment a leader grows tired of saying something is the very same moment employees begin to hear them.
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Additionally, including employees in goal setting processes, recognizing and celebrating achievements, and cultivating a collaborative and inclusive environment will all create gains toward improving shared purpose. Just don’t forget…aiming to improve one area of the human experience, if the others are also suffering is like playing the game Wack-a-mole…you’ll spend a lot of energy for little gain.
Measuring Shared Purpose with the 240 Diagnostic
The 240 Diagnostic was created to measure shared purpose by measuring both the consistent articulation of vision and mission, and metrics which are direct drivers to that vision and mission. As the old saying goes, “what gets measured gets done.” Employees know what is most valuable in their roles as it pertains to mission fulfillment, and they also know that what gets talked about most in their team meetings is the true king of the board room.
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