How Healthy Are Your Work Teams?

Posted on December 30, 2014 by VITAL WorkLife

Updated April 21, 2020

Millenials-WorkplaceIt's fall—and everyone is back from summer vacations and (you hope) focused on their jobs, planning for 2015 and looking at ways to help their organizations succeed.

Do you believe that this is what is happening in your workplace?

The Hay Group, a major HR consultancy, issued a report late last year called "Preparing for take off" which cited research they had done that indicated an anticipated increase in employee turnover as the economy continues to recover and job opportunities grow. They predict an annual turnover rate of 23% in the 2013-2018 period.

One of the main drivers of employee retention that they found was creating an environment for success. The report states, "Engaging employees is not enough. To sustain commitment, firms also need to enable them to perform at their best. This means placing the right people in the right roles, creating efficient work processes, enabling collaboration and providing a supportive working environment."

Yet, in their survey of employees, they found that 46% were unhappy with the amount of collaboration and support between departments in their organization.

Helping Teams Become Stronger and Perform Better

We have done a lot of team-building over the years, helping our clients identify issues within and across departments and work groups, and then improving performance by strengthening team cohesion and functioning.

We work at the individual level to help employees better understand their roles in the teams they are a part of, and the factors that they can control which will contribute to their own success. At the same time, we work at the team or group level, addressing multiple factors which impact team performance.

We use a variety of tools and methods, depending on the situation. In some cases, conducting Myers-Briggs assessments is a good starting point to help teams better understand individual strengths and approaches and how they impact team function. For some organizations and teams, we may focus on specific issues such as improved communications and conflict resolution.

Better Engagement—And Better Retention

The benefits of helping your teams are multiple. As noted, employees who are happy with their work teams are less likely to leave. And, as they feel higher levels of engagement, their contributions at the individual and team levels increase, as well. With the economic downturn, teams took a beating. Now is the time, as your organization looks forward to a successful 2015, to give your teams the support they need to meet your goals and objectives.

We typically start our work by speaking with leadership and key managers to identify issues and perceived gaps. We will then come up with an approach that meets your needs, whether it's trainings (onsite or by webinar) or more focused consulting projects to identify and address specific needs. We also recommend periodic pulse checks to monitor progress and help teams which are still struggling.

We Can Help

To learn more about how we can help your work teams prepare for a more successful year ahead, just Contact Us  .

Interested in learning more?

Contact Us

 

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