Social Connection: The Spark that Lights Organizations
(First Published May 2018)
Recently, I attended the WorkHuman conference in Austin, Texas. I love attending this gathering because it focuses on helping employees achieve their greatest potential by bringing their whole selves to work. It reminds me that our workplace is made up of a large tapestry of unique and talented individuals – you know – people! Top researchers, leaders and influencers share ideas on how to improve performance by bringing humanity into the workplace. I couldn’t help but smile each day when greeted with a heartfelt, energetic, “Hello human!” from those I met.
This year’s message that resonated with me was the power of social connection. Each session wove this theme throughout varied topics, including performance management, social recognition, diversity & inclusion, culture and the human workplace.
On day 1, Dr. David Rock, author of The Neuroscience of Feedback, shared the power of connections made via feedback between managers, employees, teams and colleagues. I learned that people do not, in fact, hate feedback. Instead it is only feedback perceived as a threat that is unwelcome. When people seek and receive feedback from a multitude of sources, they learn and thrive. He shared the Big Idea that we should stop teaching people to give feedback and instead start teaching them to ask for it. So simple, yet powerful.
The second day kicked off with a big welcome and further reinforcement of the power of connection. I was struck by Eric Mosley’s point that when organizations focus on process and systems, without considering impacts on people, we can create an environment in which “bureaucracy kills productivity.” It further resonated when he recommended a shift from a focus on data collection to one of human interaction.
One of my favorite sessions on day 3 was Jason Lauritsen’s talk on Making Performance Management Human Friendly. This is one highly debated topic and I haven’t yet found the perfect solution. He described the shift in employee perspective on work from a work as a contract to work as a relationship. He challenged us to put our people processes to the “relationship test” by putting it in perspective of a personal relationship. For example, think about your last performance review and consider, how would you experience it if your best friend gave you an annual “friend review,” ranking you against her other friends in a look back on the year? That friendship just might be short-lived. This got me thinking about how to design people processes that support work relationships and connections.
Each session taught me something new about the power of connection and how it can spark success. It reminds me of a string of Christmas lights and how when one light burns out, the whole string goes dark. I did a bit of research on Christmas lights and discovered that lights wired in this way is called a “series” and lights wired in groups of 5 or 6 is a “series parallel.” Both are like human systems at work. If one person on a team is disengaged, tuned out, unproductive, it can negatively impact the entire team. Similarly, just one person in an organization, who loses their spark, can cause a chain reaction impacting performance. If instead, we create support systems to ensure each bulb is maintained and connected to the rest of the string, the whole system and entire tree shine bright.
In her presentation, Brené Brown said, “Connection is the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgement; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.” In this environment of rapid change, as we implement new systems and processes to keep up with the competition, let’s not forget that human connection that lights a glow across our organizations. Keep in mind the links that support our employees so they don’t burn out.