Imagine a mid-sized tech company, 24-7 Tech, that prides itself on being at the cutting edge of the industry. In response to growing concerns about employee burnout and turnover, the leadership team enthusiastically rolled out a comprehensive wellness program. This program included weekly mindfulness sessions, a state-of-the-art gym, and access to a 24/7 mental health hotline. Initially, the initiative was met with applause and gratitude from the workforce.
However, as months passed, the troubling trends that prompted the initiative—increased call-outs, a high rate of sick days, and rising attrition—continued unabated. In some departments, these issues even intensified. For example, the development team, critical to the company’s innovation pipeline, saw a 20% increase in turnover within a quarter. Project deadlines were routinely missed, and morale was at an all-time low.
The wellness programs, while well-intentioned, were merely addressing the symptoms of a deeper, systemic problem within 24-7 Tech. It became increasingly clear that the real issue lay not within the individual employees' ability to manage stress, but within the organizational structure and culture itself. The relentless push for rapid product development, unclear communication from management about project priorities, and the lack of support in skill development left employees feeling overwhelmed and underprepared.
This realization prompted the leadership to reconsider their approach to workplace wellness, recognizing that true change would require a shift in how they structured and managed their organizational systems to genuinely support their employees' success and well-being.
Increasing Wellness through a Well-Structured Organization
Much like 24-7 tech, attention is often focused on wellness programs designed to alleviate stress. However, while potentially helpful, these programs often implicitly suggest that the responsibility for managing stress lies with the employees, when in fact, the structure of the organization itself can be a significant contributor to stress. As leaders, we must understand that the true efficacy of stress management strategies lies not only in individual efforts but fundamentally in the architectural integrity of our organizational systems.
Understanding Organizational Systems: Organizational systems are hierarchical constructs where each level plays an important role in overall functionality and effectiveness:
Systems: Comprised of various processes that need to align with the organization's core values and strategic objectives.
Processes: A sequence of procedures designed to achieve specific results within the system.
Procedures: Defined steps that detail how processes are executed.
Tasks: Individual actions or series of actions performed as part of a procedure.
Behavior: The smallest unit of measure, where individual actions are performed in alignment with broader tasks.
Good systems are built on values and deliberately designed to not only facilitate the completion of tasks but also to positively reinforce value-added behavior. This reinforcement encourages employees to engage in behaviors that contribute to the organization's goals, effectively reducing stress by clarifying expectations and providing satisfying work.
The Role of Leadership in Organizational Systems
Robust systems are undeniably pivotal for organizational health and employee wellness, yet their efficacy is deeply dependent on the quality of leadership guiding them. Good leadership is far more than positional authority. It serves as a pivotal operational force that breathes life into these systems, ensuring they function as designed. Without adept leaders to influence, implement, monitor, and fine-tune these systems, even the most thoughtfully constructed frameworks can falter, failing to deliver on their promises. Thus, the practical role of effective leadership is vital—it transforms strategic organizational blueprints that enhance the workplace environment in a way that optimizes employee performance and overall employee well-being.
As I outlined in my book Positional Authority Ain’t Leadership (Gavoni, 2024), effective leadership serves the following functions:
Motivating Operations: Good leadership positively influences individual behaviors, aligning them with the organization’s goals. Effective leaders engage in behaviors that have a value and behavior-altering effect. In short, they create a “want” or “inspire” people to move toward valued outcomes.
Ensuring Skill-acquisition through Training: While inspiring people in important, it’s not enough to achieve success. Leaders ensure that individuals have the necessary knowledge and skills to succeed. This involves providing training that is comprehensive, practical, and directly applicable to the tasks employees will perform.
Generalizing Skills through Coaching: Training is an antecedent strategy. While it might get behavior going, it will not sustain it. Beyond training, leaders must engage in deliberate coaching (Gavoni & Weatherly, in-press) employees to ensure the generalization of learned skills into the natural environment.
Maintenance of Skills through Managing: Effective management practices are essential for the maintenance of skills over time. Leaders must continuously assesses performance and provide preplanned consequences for behavior ensuring that employees not only perform well initially but continue to grow and excel.
Conclusion
While individual wellness programs are valuable, they must be part of a more comprehensive approach that includes the development and maintenance of robust organizational systems. These systems should be built on values and carefully crafted to positively reinforce value-added behaviors through processes, procedures, tasks, and individual actions. Leadership plays a pivotal role, not only by designing and implementing these systems but by positively influencing behavior and ensuring the system runs as intended through consistent training, coaching, and managing. This holistic approach to organizational health and employee wellness mitigates stress and creates an environment where both employees and the organization can flourish sustainably.
References:
Gavoni, P. (2024). Positional authority ain't leadership: behavioral science for navigating bull$hit, optimizing performance, and avoiding a$$ clownery. Heart & Science Consulting, LLC.
Gavoni, P., & Weatherly, N. (in press). Deliberate coaching: optimizing teaching and learning through behavior science: education edition. Keypress Publishing.
Kommentarer