Building Human-Centric, Growth-Oriented Organizations

Called to Coach Webcast Series -- Season 12, Episode 16

Below are audio and video plus a transcript of the conversation, including time stamps.

What will workplaces look like in 10 years? And how can organizations foster cultures that better allow their employees -- and managers -- to thrive, as they look to the future? How can strengths fuel that journey? Join Gallup's Jillian White and Jim Collison for an engaging discussion of the future of work and the role of strengths in creating thriving workplaces.

If we know that technology is playing a bigger and bigger role in the workplace, it means that we have to build cultures that bring out the best of what makes us human.

Jillian White, 1:43

[Managers are] huge levers of change inside of an organization. But it's not only helping them understand the strengths of their people, it's also helping them understand their strengths.

Jillian White, 11:18

Jim Collison:
[0:00] Hello, everybody. My name is Jim Collison. I'm Gallup's CliftonStrengths^® Community Manager.

Jillian White:
[0:04] And I am Jillian White, Gallup's Lead Subject Matter Expert on CliftonStrengths.

Jim Collison:
[0:09] Jillian, great to be with you today. We are spending some time talking about the role of strengths and the future of work. Great to have you with me, and welcome!

Jillian White:
[0:18] Thank you, Jim! It's good to be back. I realize this is my first time to join you as Jillian White. I got married since the last time I joined the show. So, great to connect. Excited to dive into the day, the topic for today.

The Future of Work: Thriving Organizations

Jim Collison:
[0:28] Yeah, I love that. And congratulations on that as well. Let's talk a little bit about this. When we think about organizational culture, what does it look like to thrive, when we think about the future of work?

Jillian White:
[0:40] Yeah, Jim, that's a fun question. And to me, I think the best way to picture this is, let's just place ourselves for a moment 10 years out. So imagine for a minute, it is 2035, and we are in an organizational culture that's actually allowing us to thrive. What does that look like? And when I think about what I'm seeing in the research, what we're seeing in our Gallup insights, what we're hearing from our clients, that kind of a culture is human-centric. It's growth-oriented. It's effective at agility. And it's also an organization that provides both autonomy and accountability.

Jillian White:
[1:16] So let me dive into those for just a minute. Jim, I told you beforehand, I've got Input^® and Learner^®. So I've got stats we can bring into each of these things. But essentially, you know, folks who are listening in might say, "Jillian, you say human-centric, you know, let's look at the data. Isn't there a global spending for AI projective of approximately $632 billion by 2028?" Yes, there is, right? "So why aren't you saying a technology-based organization?" Well, if we know that technology is playing a bigger and bigger role in the workplace, it means that we have to build cultures that bring out the best of what makes us human. And so, how do we bring out the best of humanity and help us actually understand how to partner well with technology? So human-centric -- that's our first one.

Jillian White:
[2:03] Second one that I like to talk about, growth-oriented. And Jim, the data on this, if we look, 7 in 10 employees say their organization has experienced some level of disruption or change in the past year. So any individuals even listening in on this, think about what you've experienced in your own organization. We actually know, when people go through that kind of disruption, they're more likely to get burned out, especially -- bring the connection back to strengths here -- especially if they are taking on additional responsibilities that don't play to their strengths. That's a recipe for getting to burn out faster. So disruption is going to continue. We have to expect it. We have to build in a mindset of resiliency. And Jim, anyone listening in to this, you know, who has the biggest influence on resiliency for a team, coaching a team? We know, if you've been around Gallup, 70% of the variance in engagement comes back to who your manager is. And so, if we can help managers know how to understand the strengths of their people, build resiliency for walking through disruption, create effective coaching, effective feedback, that's going to be a powerful culture that helps bring about that growth mindset. And then the third one that I mentioned -- effective agility.

Jillian White:
[3:15] So bring in all of this disruption that's happening. We have more data than we've ever had accessible at our fingertips before. It's requiring us to be more agile. I think organizations that are going to thrive in this environment are organizations that know how to have systems for listening and quickly responding. If you look at our data, since the beginning of when the pandemic hit, we actually see increasing demands from customers. So that's something organizations are having to face. If we can do things like have agile teaming that comes around customer demands and have greater empowerment at a local level, think about the power of that, right? We can actually help take gig-like work in this current environment. We can bring the right people together to quickly solve that and to quickly step in. So how do we bring people together in a way that they can quickly team and collaborate? That's going to lead into some of what we talk about today and in some of the rest of our connections together. And then the final one, Jim, it sounds like a paradox -- autonomy and accountability. So for me, I see it in the data. I hear it with the clients that I'm working with. You see employees want autonomy. So the No. 1 thing we know people are looking for out of their benefits in their workplace is flexibility.

Jillian White:
[4:31] Think about the world we're working in. We've got 53% of remote-capable workers who are actually working in a hybrid way. And so, we're finding flexibility in our new ways of work. We know it helps support overall wellbeing, and people care about that, right? But on the flip side of this, think about what we're even seeing organizations make decisions around. You've got companies -- you can read the news and see it -- who are saying, we want employees back on site 5 days a week in the office, with your face showing up to the person next to you. And you go, what's driving that? Yes, maybe some of that is helping to solve for what we're calling the great detachment, so people less likely to feel connected to their cultures. But I think a part of that is also accountability, and saying, How do we make sure that workers are actually performing? So I think the companies that are going to figure this out have to live out that paradox.

The Future of Work: The Manager

Jim Collison:
[5:23] Yeah, you mentioned the manager, and you mentioned 70% of the variance of the engagement depends on them, and yet we're asking them to be agile, give autonomy, and also accountability. Talk a little bit about, How does the manager of the future, we're talking about the future of work, but what's the future manager look like, to be able to do all those things, and how can we equip them better so that they can manage in that way? Because it's not impossible; it's just a skill that's going to take some time to develop, right?

Jillian White:
[5:54] Yeah, 100%. And Jim, I think about what you just said, and you understand why managers are actually feeling higher levels of disengagement themselves and more burnout in the role of manager. You know, there's a lot -- that's huge responsibilities. I think part of solving that to start with is putting people in place that love managing and have great manager talent. Those are the people who are going to thrive in that space. Think about how the talent of that role is even changing. You know, you need people who are better at resourcing people on their teams, who are better at individualizing and, to your point, who can balance competing priorities for their team. They've got to be able to straddle that line of saying, OK, how do I help my team feel like I'm caring about their wellbeing and maybe individualize to what flexibility, autonomy looks like for individuals on their team, but also hold the hand of accountability in a way that doesn't feel micromanaging to team members. But that says, oftentimes how we get there is managing to the outcome and the metrics, and then finding ways to coach people to get to those outcomes and metrics in ways that plays to their strengths and honors who they are.

The Future of Work: The Role of Strengths

Jim Collison:
[7:01] Yeah. Let's talk about that playing to your strengths, because I think that's a big part of this. How does that role of strengths play into this idea of the future of work?

Jillian White:
[7:10] Yeah, and we wouldn't be here if we didn't believe in the power of strengths. And, you know, we're talking to people here who are listening in, likely strengths enthusiasts, activists, practitioners across organizations. And, you know, our research is so, so powerful behind this. And if I put it simply, I think strengths is an enabler and an accelerant of future work. What do I mean by that?

Jillian White:
[7:32] Enabler -- go back to our data, go back to what the future of work is looking for. We have to bring out the best of what makes us human. And so anything that helps us have a language around that, helps us understand that, helps us coach to that, is going to make us more powerful and more resilient for the future of work. So look at even our data. Anyone who's been around strengths, you know, if we're helping people play to their strengths, 6 times higher engagement, 7.8% higher productivity, 3 times higher likelihood to have a great quality of life. So it enables us to bring out the best in humans. But I also like the accelerant word. And I think this comes into even just looking at agile teaming, the power of strengths as a collective.

Jillian White:
[8:17] So as we start to think about that future of work, imagine a world where we're quickly assimilating almost gig-type workers around an issue with our customers, right? If we're pulling together a cross-functional team, we're looking at data from all sorts of inputs, we're bringing in different talent that's perhaps more diverse than it's been in the past, different skill sets, right, to be this agile team. Imagine a world where in this future of work, we're able to quickly cut through the clutter, have relational shorthand to understand how we work together, what each person brings. That's why, and I love to just reinforce, strengths is not just fun to talk about; it's not a good team exercise. If you're really helping teams get there, 12.8% higher productivity for teams that are playing to their strengths. And when we help organizations focus on this, it's a part of your business strategy for resiliency in the future. We see up to 29% higher profitability, 7% increase in customer engagement. So there's a lot of power in thinking about that human side of the future of work, that agile side of the future of work, making that be strengths-based.

The Future of Work: Strengths and Teams

Jim Collison:
[9:27] We see this all the time when individuals take CliftonStrengths, and they have this emotional response to it because someone's identified in them things that they knew they were good at, things they've had success in before, and it's been reinforced. And there's this moment. Then, but it's not a, it's not a solo sport, right? We have to take that into teams, right? In that moment when teams -- and this doesn't, I think, happen as often as we'd like it to, and I think it needs to become more prevalent -- where teams begin then to understand. That's your accelerant, right? Where the teams come together and say, Oh, you have that. OK, I get this now. I think there's an exponential factor.

Jillian White:
[10:12] And I would even take that a step further, if you will. So imagine team to team. So part of what we even look at, you know, some of the coaching that I love to do is when you help, let's say, a leadership team who knows their strengths collectively look at the strengths of their entire organization or a function that they're working with. Or you say, How does our HR function partner with this part of the business? And you can look at the collective makeup of a group as well. So I think we'll actually use more big data and even understanding human behavior in that future of work, using our strengths insights.

Jim Collison:
[10:45] Yeah. Yeah. I love that. Teams understanding team strengths. How powerful is it when the manager knows the strengths of those individuals, though, who has a direct impact on the work that they're doing and can guide them in a way -- I think about that, the Q^12® question, "I get the opportunity to do what I do best every day." How powerful is it when that manager knows? It's got to be the key to the accelerant, right?

Jillian White:
[11:07] 100%. And, you know, add to that everything we know from, in our strengths certification training, right? What do we do when we're working with managers? We're working with them because they're huge levers of change inside of an organization. But it's not only helping them understand the strengths of their people, it's also helping them understand their strengths and say, you know, How are you showing up to the people who you are leading, bringing the best of who you are, but also aware of where your blind spots might be for your team, and having some strategies to help address those so that you're truly effective in that management role?

Preparing For the Future Now

Jim Collison:
[11:41] Love that. Let's think now, OK, so we've got everybody all fired up about, I want to, I want to do this. So, as we think about doing this in the future, how do organizations start to get ready? What could they be doing? We can't go back to the past. What could they start doing today or in the coming days to start getting ready for this for the next 10 years?

Jillian White:
[12:01] Yeah. And, you know, it's fun, because I think about -- I think across even the clients that we're working with, and there's, there's different approaches to this, even just bringing in a strengths-based mindset into companies. And one simple starting point is giving people the language of strengths, giving them a way that's -- go back to how Don Clifton initially did the research behind the assessment. He was looking for a way to give people a language to talk about what's right with them. And so even giving people that language as a starting point is a starting point. But I think we miss the boat if that's where we stop, right? We have to take it further than that. We have to, to your point, help managers and leaders be really good strengths-based coaches. So do we have learning in place that helps with that? Do we have systems that recognize that? Are those the stories that we're telling, right? Are we helping create those great strengths-based coaches in our leaders and in our managers?

Jillian White:
[12:56] To our point of agile teaming, are we giving people ways to talk about how they're coming together as partners and how they're coming together as teams? Can we intentionally bring in practices that help people quickly look at their strengths and talk about what they bring and what they need in partnership, and how they work together? I think we'll spend a little deeper dive on that in one of our future connects. And then, finally, one of the, one of the fun things I've been getting to do right now is go around to a lot of our clients and spend a day just strategizing around what it looks like for them to be a truly strengths-based culture. And usually in those days, what we're doing, and if I think about our clients who are doing this best, it is integrated. It's not just a tool, right? It's integrated into the mindset, the DNA of the company, the rhythms of the company. So you're looking at things like, How do we do performance management? Is that truly strengths-based and giving people ways to talk about what they're focused on, how they're partnering with people, how they're resilient, right?

Jillian White:
[13:54] Is it baked into our learning and our development for leaders and managers? Are we truly enabling people to be those strengths-based, agile coaches that are giving feedback that help our people learn and grow and listen and respond to what's going on around them? And are we telling the story of this in a way that it doesn't just feel soft, but we're connecting it back to the business outcomes and helping leaders and even how we're positioning things in the marketplace be in a way that our culture is actually what allows us to be resilient, to be future-ready and to be strengths-based?

Overcoming Obstacles to Becoming a Future-Oriented Organization

Jim Collison:
[14:31] Jillian, you spend your days on the front line, working with organizations doing this every single day. And as we think about the future, today, what's, what's tripping people up? What are they struggling on? What are the things today, if you were to maybe find a common thing or two that they're really struggling with today to kind of help them push, that you're helping people push through, what is that?

Jillian White:
[14:57] Yeah, I go back to what I shared earlier, with even what we're seeing in the data around what we're calling the great detachment. I think one of the true challenges that organizations are facing, especially as you have this battle for autonomy but accountability, is that, you know, you're allowing people to work more hybrid and remote. But we're seeing a decline in things like people feeling connected to the mission or purpose of their organization. Yet we know that humans want to find a sense of mission, purpose, contribution in the place that they're working. So I think that's a common thing that every organization is facing. And there's a true threat in that, because there's a threat of losing talent as a result of that. There's a threat to productivity if people feel less connected to your company as a whole. And, you know, that threat will play out in the future if we don't do some things to help create a little bit more of that connectivity. I think that's why partnership and collaboration is even more important in this current context, and doing that in a way that helps people feel not only connected socially to people within their company, but connected to the culture and the mission of what that company is doing.

Jim Collison:
[16:07] Love that. There's always challenges, no matter where we are in the timeline, no matter what we're doing, there's always challenges. Jillian, I'm going to ask you to wrap this up. Maybe just a sound, if you were going to, if you had a minute to encourage somebody -- you know, you're in the elevator, and they're like, "Oh, I'm really struggling with this," what would you tell them in a minute?

Jillian White:
[16:26] Start simple. If there, if there is anything that's going to help us be prepared for the future of work, it's simply allowing people to have more strengths-based conversations in the context of relationships. And so, the more we can help people think about how they're partnering, how they're teaming, how they're working together, that's the simple starting point. So the next time you have a connect with someone one-on-one, ask them what their strengths are, share what yours are, share what you bring, what you need. The next time you have a team meeting, have people have an opportunity to talk about what they do best as a part of that team and how to work together. So simply bringing strengths conversations into the context of how we are collaborating and partnering, that's an easy starting place that helps us be ready for the future of work. I

Jim Collison:
[17:11] Love that. Jillian, thank you for your time in this time together, and appreciate your knowledge and your expertise in all the things that we do. Thanks for coming out today to be with me.

Jillian White:
[17:21] You bet. Look forward to next time.

Jim Collison:
[17:24] For everyone listening, if you've got any questions, you can always reach out to us. We'd love to hear from you. Thanks for listening today. With that, we'll say, Goodbye, everybody.

Jillian White's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are Achiever, Input, Learner, Belief and Responsibility.

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