If you’re anything like the famous Mathematician Archimedes, you might find that you do some of your best brainstorming in the bathtub. And you wouldn’t be alone in this!

Last month, we conducted a poll on our LinkedIn page which sought to discover where employees were doing their most productive thinking.

It might be surprising to hear that 89% of respondents said that they had their most productive thoughts outside of their work office, with the responses ranging from their home offices, their morning showers, and even when they were walking the dogs!

There are many explanations for this; for example, there are studies that highlight a direct link between nature and wellbeing. Being in nature not only reduces feelings of anger, fear, and stress, but also contributes to your physical wellbeing too. Therefore, it might not actually be such a stretch to hear that people have some of their most productive and innovative thoughts when outside.

However, when I saw these results it got me thinking – is pressure, or even the implication of pressure, the root of the productive thinking problem?

An overwhelming amount of respondents are doing their most productive thinking outside of the work office – even though the work office is where employers hope that their staff are being most productive! And Gallup’s State of the Global Workforce Report reinforces this alarming notion, as only 23% of the global workforce are actively engaged at work.

What we’re seeing is that productive thinking is happening in places where there are not connotations of pressure and stress and where no interpersonal risks have to be taken. For instance, when brainstorming in person with fellow colleagues and managers, a person will be less likely to contribute an idea (even if it is a productive one) because of the fear of it not being thought out enough. Whereas in settings outside of the formal workplace, there is less pressure to contribute immediately, and this allows for time to assess different factors before pitching the idea.

So, how can employers reduce these feelings of pressure and access their team’s most productive thinking?

The first and most obvious suggestion is having flexible working policies. Most companies now offer some form of hybrid working, but it might be worth taking this one step further. If our most productive thinking is happening outside of the office, then why not take your team outside? Try working in some more ‘untraditional’ spaces, or creating a more untraditional space out of your office, to see what this might inspire.

The second suggestion is normalising dissent at work. If one barrier to productive thinking is the fear of seeming silly, then tackle this fear at its root. Strive to create a psychologically safe space in the office that encourages people to actively challenge ideas, and one that doesn’t punish anyone for contributing. This allows for more productive innovation to take place, and leads to some of the best creative thinking!

Lastly, it is important to recognise that a little bit of stress and pressure can actually be a good thing. Not only have studies proven that a little stress is interpreted by your body as a ‘survival strategy’ and therefore improves cellular health and longevity, but it can also be reframed as a drive to make someone want to be the best version of themselves. Managers should be coaching this reframed mindset so that their team can leverage feelings of stress. Some stress at a job is going to be inevitable, but it can be wielded to their advantage!

If you would like to discuss how we can help introduce policies around flexible working and shake things up to get people thinking more productively, please get in touch with us!

As the workplace landscape continues to evolve in the digital era, a focus on learning and development is now more important than ever. Technological advancements are seeing the culture of work begin to change and grow at an exponential rate, and so now more than ever employers should be focusing on their younger talent.

This notion is reinforced by a recent report which found that Gen Z are very keen to develop digital skills for their future careers, with 36% planning to acquire new digital skills and 40% viewing tech skills as essential to their future careers.

As conversations around the effects of AI in the working world continue to be had, recognizing the potential of Gen Z employees and investing in their upskilling could be the key to staying ahead in an ever-changing world. So, why are younger workers worth investing in?

1. Technological Aptitude – Gen Z are often referred to as “digital natives” as they have grown up immersed in technology. Because of this, they possess a natural aptitude of digital tools, social media, and emerging tech. By harnessing this technological aptitude and placing a focus on upskilling it, employers can leverage their skills to create potential for innovation and digital transformation, which will help drive the growth of their organization
2. Adaptability and Agility – as mentioned above, Gen Z has grown up in a fast-paced, ever-changing world. They are therefore more accustomed to adapting quickly to new environments and technologies. By investing in their upskilling, employers can harness this adaptability and agility. This invites the contribution of fresh perspectives, creative problem-solving, and a willingness to embrace change, enabling organizations to stay ahead of the competition.
3. Bridge the Skills Gap – the rapid advancement of technology has resulted in a significant skills gap in the workforce. A global survey by Equinix discovered that 62% of IT decision-makers viewed a shortage of personnel with IT skills as one of the main threats to the sustainability of their business. Upskilling Gen Z is the way to bridge this gap and ensure a steady supply of talent with the necessary skills for the future. Training programs that focus on emerging technologies, data analysis, communication, and critical thinking can equip Gen Z with the skills required to tackle complex challenges and drive innovation.
4. Collaboration and Diversity – members of Gen Z are more racially, ethnically and sexually diverse than any other previous generation. Due to this, they embrace collaboration and cohesion, and have a tactful understanding of morality and cultural sensitivity. This means that their perspectives are fresh, inclusive, and socially relevant, and bringing this into the workplace can do wonders for innovation and for accessing new consumer markets.

Investing in the learning, development, and upskilling of Gen Z employees can make all the difference for employers trying to get ahead in a corporate world that is constantly in a state of flux. And by placing importance on the growth of their younger employees, they will also demonstrate how valued they are from the offset of their careers, fostering a sense of loyalty which will result in higher retention rates.  

To discuss how you can unlock the full potential of this new generation in more detail, please get in touch with us here.

Dissent in the workplace is a delicate thing. Challenging the status quo can be seen as a rebellious and necessary act, but normalising dissent is a lot easier said than done. People get defensive, or begin questioning their own judgement. There is a sense of discomfort in dissenting which has to be navigated sensitively.

That being said, those employers that are creating a space for constructive criticism to take place are the ones unlocking all of their innovative potential.

So, what does this space look like, and how can employers create it?

The first step is by ensuring that the space in which the team are discussing and debating is a psychologically safe one.

Firstly, leaders should clarify openly that they are welcome to opposing opinions. A manager or executive who is leading the discussion will carry natural weight in their words, so they should use this to their advantage; ask for contributions, ask for debate, ask for challenges to the status quo. Establishing the space as one where employees can contribute freely will immediately boost engagement in the topic being discussed.

It is then great to follow this with establishing that ‘there are no wrong answers’. Asking employees to take an interpersonal risk is a vulnerable thing to do; nobody wants to be deemed ‘incorrect’ or ‘silly’. The encouragement of dissent is all about the encouragement of innovation – in the right space, ideas that may have seemed far-fetched can ignite a domino-effect of thought from another employee and so on. Leaders need to actively make the space to be a bit wacky, as they may strike gold in unlikely places!

Once the debate is in full swing, the chairman (in this case, the manager in charge) will naturally notice who is more willing to be honest and open. They should actively engage with these people and ask them directly for their opinions – if others around them see that they can truly dissent without repercussions (within socially acceptable boundaries, of course) then this will likely entice and embolden the rest of the team to get more involved.

This is also a fantastic diversity and inclusion strategy, as it pushes for divergent thinking. For those employees who are more neurodivergent, they will feel much more comfortable and valued sharing their perceptions and ideas in a psychologically safe environment.

Dissent can unlock a wealth of opportunities for employers, it just has to be managed correctly. And it’s no secret that many contemporary companies have been wildly successful by challenging the status quo.

If you want to discuss coaching and training options for encouraging dissent in a productive way in your workplace, please get in touch with us here.

‘Hustle culture’ is a buzzword that’s become quite popular over the last year. With some dubbing it as ‘burnout culture’, it is the idea that you have to work extra hard and put in extra work to get recognised for promotions and opportunities at work – in short, you are always hustling.

Since the pandemic, employers have started to become more in-tune to helping their staff achieve a better work-life balance. However, the remaining prevalence of hustle culture suggests that there is still a way to go for employers to normalise happiness above hustling.

For instance, there has been a rise in hustle culture amongst the youngest generation of workers, partly to demonstrate how they reject this preconceived notion that Gen Z are prone to ‘quiet quitting’ (although, our previous article explains why this term is actually a misnomer). But by this logic, it seems that in order to successfully hustle, one must forgo personal time, boundaries, and essentially their happiness overall.

And yet, our own poll found a stark contrast to this conclusion, with 77% of respondents measuring their success by how happy they were, in comparison to just 11% stating they measured it based on how much they earned. So, while there seems to be a shift happening in favour of doing something that makes you happy, there is still this belief that working unpaid overtime and devoting yourself to your job is what you should be doing if you want to be successful.

This idea of being ‘always on’ and always hustling has been around for years – with the rise of Thatcherism and Yuppie culture in the 1980s came the normalisation of hard and constant work to contribute to your country and become a young, affluent person at the same time. But, rather ironically, those who partook and perpetuated this ideology are now, for the most part, measuring their success based on how happy they are. Recent data from Rest Less found that almost half of the self-employed workforce across the UK are over 50. This highlights how those who were once hustling like no tomorrow did, in fact, realise there was a tomorrow, and they wanted to be happy at work rather than hustling through it.

So, what we’re seeing here is a pattern of ‘hustling’ in the early stages of your career in order to be ‘happy’ later in life. And while this seems quite transactional, it raises the question: why shouldn’t employees get to be happy from the very beginning of their careers? Adhering to this old-fashioned idea of what work should be only perpetuates it more. Employers play a huge role in breaking this cycle of over-hustling, and this is rooted primarily in how they measure the commitment of an employee.

Hustle culture remains because employees are still led to believe that working more equates to being a better worker. When, the reality is, employers should be rewarding their teams based on the quality of their output, not the quantity of their input.

At the end of the day, people measure success on an individualised scale. Some people may thoroughly enjoy working overtime and throwing themselves into their work, and that is completely fine. Just as it is also fine to set and expect boundaries from your employer so that you can have a life outside of your job. And there is even a middle ground here, what some are calling a flexible hustle culture, where you can hustle here and have more time off there. But as an employer, it is key to remember that no matter how your employees define their success, the playing field for opportunities and promotions must have a set criterion. That way, employees are free to hustle where they see fit, but do not feel pressured to do so in order to get ahead.

If you would like to discuss how you can design and implement strategies for work-life balance and measuring quality of output, please get in touch with us here.

If you’re wondering what ratatouille has to do with employee engagement, here’s an alarming statistic … in their State of the Global Workplace 2022 report, Gallup discovered that only 21% of employees were engaged at work.

Flipped on its head, this means that almost 8 out of 10 workers worldwide are actively disengaged.

So, time for employers to start being more innovative in their approaches to increase engagement levels.

Which is where we need the ratatouille.

Because unlocking engagement is rooted in an organization’s Meaning, Values, Goals, and Responsibilities.

Or, more memorably, by Making Very Gooey Ratatouille!

Meaning – As Simon Sinek famously said, “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why do you it”. While he was talking about consumers, this ideology is very applicable to employees, too. As a leader, knowing how to demonstrate the purpose of your work to your team highlights its importance. Motivating and inspiring passion in people about what they do is the best way of engaging them. This rings especially true when you look at the results of one poll which found that 90% of respondents said that work should bring a sense of meaning to their life. If leaders are actively supplying that meaning, and highlighting the value of what each individual employee does and why they are doing it, this will no doubt lead to a more engaged workforce.

Values – This is in reference to the way in which leaders train people to create and deliver output. Leading with purpose requires a methodology that reflects the values that the company holds, and so it is important to ensure that the way the products and services are created and delivered highlights their purpose and need.  

Goals – Employers need to be able to depict the bigger picture to their teams, and this means being clear and concise about how the company is going to achieve its goals. This requires leaders to be mapping out what needs to happen in order to get from point A to point B smoothly. By doing so, they will be instilling faith in their abilities and bring their ‘leading with meaning’ mindset to life as their staff will be able to see the end result.  

Responsibility – Lastly, members of a team need to know who is responsible for doing what. Each employee will play an integral role in the success of an organization, but in order to do so their responsibilities must be made clear. Leaders have to make a point of ensuring everyone knows what is expected of them, and then apply this ‘meaningful mindset’ to those responsibilities. This will result in each member of staff being fully engaged and prepared to do what is needed of them in order to fulfil their part in reaching the end goal.

By combining these four ingredients together, employers are sure to be making very gooey ratatouille that will see employee engagement skyrocket, as well as the production of high-quality output, and an increased likelihood of retention!

To discuss how you can start implementing this strategy into your leadership team, please get in touch with me at andy@orgshakers.com

It might surprise you to discover that according to estimates, half of all premature male deaths are considered preventable. This is largely influenced by the fact that men are up to 50% less likely to seek medical attention in comparison to women, and this normalization of neglect is reflected in a higher mortality rate.

And what’s even more alarming to learn is that the leading cause of death in men under 50 is suicide. All of these statistics highlight how men’s physical and mental health is still deeply rooted in outdated ideas of toxic masculinity – that you need to ‘man up’ and not cry as this is connotated as ‘weak’ and ‘feminine’.

But it goes further than this – while there is disparity between men and women when it comes to being neglectful, there are also disparities to be found amongst different groups of men and their health. Research has found that men who belong to racial and ethnic minority populations have the poorest health due to being exposed to a broad range of social and environmental factors that adversely affect their physical and mental health. So while for white men there is a culture of neglect around health, for those men of color, there is the added disproportion of accessibility to healthcare in general that leads to an increased likelihood of health issues.

So, what role can employers play in helping to tackle these taboos?

• Talk about it – it may sound simple, but talking about and acknowledging men’s health and the disparities within it is a great way of helping to normalize and address it properly. Having posters dotted around the office, for example, that act as little reminders to get prostates checked, are a great way of offering a small nudge without having to directly broach a potentially awkward conversation. But for more systemic issues, this would require actually highlighting that you are aware of these disparities and are actively trying to supply support that is more tailored to the individual rather than a ‘one size fits all’ approach.
• Training and workshops – having external training arranged, and/or a workshop, for your managers will educate them around all facets of men’s health. This will also enable them to be able to correctly discuss and direct any concerns to the appropriate places, either in-house or to an external body. This is a great way of instilling this sense of openness into the workplace culture and breaking down the walls of stigma around men’s physical and mental health.
• Benefits – the benefits that an employer offers can help to promote a message of good health. This could take shape in the offering of health insurance – recent data has found a great disparity in people of color who have health insurance in comparison to their white counterparts. 19% of Hispanic people and 10.9% of black people are uninsured in the US, compared with only 7.2% of white people. Offering health insurance as a benefit is a great foundation for helping to tackle the systemic racism that exists in the healthcare system, while still prioritizing the health of all your employees.  An additional measure is to personalize the message to your Hispanic and black team members and encouraging them to take advantage of the preventive healthcare offered.  The data shows that these employee groups tend to under-participate in preventive healthcare. Moreover, employers could consider gym membership discounts, or there are also some great group life insurance companies that promote physical and mental wellbeing; YuLife is an example of this, as they use a gamified app which employees can use to complete challenges related to physical and mental health, and are awarded with gift vouchers of their choice. As well, having employee assistance programs to support the mental health of all employees is a great way of helping to reduce feelings of burnout, stress, and pressure that work can sometimes bring.
• Business Resource Groups – as an employer, it can be a great idea to reach out to your internal affinity groups and stress the importance of emphasizing healthcare disparities from a gender-based perspective and from a racial/ethnicity point of view as part of their annual educational offerings. This ensures that the topics are being addressed formally, and will see these groups strategizing with leaders to enact the best ways of embedding actions to overcome the disparities into the workplace culture.

The fact is, the health of employees should always be a concern for employers, as a healthier and happier workforce are a more productive and engaged one. It is equally important to challenge taboos around health issues that affect men and women in order to be able to properly support and optimize your employees to the best of their abilities. To discuss how OrgShakers can help you do this, please get in touch with me at marty@orgshakers.com

When I left the corporate world and started my own HR Consultancy, I had to adjust from being part of a team to working on my own. While I was excited to be taking this courageous step, I would find myself running out of steam as the afternoon progressed. I’d usually find myself ringing my husband at about 3:30pm to see what time he’d be home. I missed human interaction.

Now, several years later, I have strategies for preventing myself from becoming lonely. Ideally, I try to schedule my projects so that every few weeks I’m delivering a workshop in-person as that is what will really boost my energy!

As we head into Loneliness Awareness Week, I found myself reflecting on my experience as the pandemic and consequent remote or hybrid work models have brought the challenge of isolation to so many more people. I chose to work by myself; a lot of the people now feeling lonely did not choose this workplace environment.

And it’s not just a problem specific to remote working, in-person employees can also experience loneliness.

It’s easy to say that companies should focus on encouraging camaraderie in the workforce, but let’s not forget that everyone is different, so it’s hard to provide a simple solution. Even so, it’s worth organizations continuing to focus on this, as a recent survey by SHRM showed that 85% of workers say that having a close friend at work has positively impacted their career, and 76% say that this makes them more likely to remain at their employer.

A good first step is to ask people what they would like. Many leaders have realized by now that simply asking people how they are isn’t going to necessarily generate the insight that they are after. Instead ask something more specific, such as:

• What’s one thing that makes your day instantly better?
• What do you wish you did more of today?
• What non-work-related activity could we make time for as part of our next team meeting?

In addition to encouraging elements that focus on team building and social connection, there are also plenty of ways of building relationships through work tasks. These questions will also produce thoughts on those aspects.

I encourage leaders to explore approaches such as ensuring everyone has the chance to be a part of a cross-functional project, regularly celebrating successes (no matter how small) and encouraging mentoring and/or buddy relationships. If you have a multi-generational workforce, this last one can be particularly wonderful at supporting an inclusive workplace culture; multiple research results have shown that the combination of experience and new thinking leads to great outcomes and a less stressful workplace environment.

Above all, one thing I will always advocate for is leading by example. If you are a leader, make sure that you take the time to stop and engage in genuine, social conversations!

To discuss how we can help support you with this topic further, please get in touch with me at anya@orgshakers.com

Many workers are leading a double life that employers may not even know about.

Harvard Business School Professor Joseph Fuller conducted research which found that 73% of all American employees have some type of caregiving responsibility alongside their ‘day job’. However, due to a lack of support, benefits, and policies, this has resulted in US businesses losing $35 billion annually from failing to attract, support, and retain these working carers.  

And the data for the UK paints a similar picture; a report issued by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that 72% of carers in the UK are providing care in addition to full-time paid work. And 28% of these full-time workers are supplying at least 30 hours of care a week – that’s 700,000 people working over 75 hours a week!

These double lives are causing these working carers to experience difficulty concentrating at work, as well as 36% of them refusing job offers and promotions – or just not applying for a job in the first place – because of their caring responsibilities.

It is clear from this that if employers know how to better support those employees who are doubling as carers, they can help increase attraction, retention, and overall engagement. So, what can companies be doing to optimize these team members?

• Encourage employees to identify themselves as carers – this starts from a cultural perspective. Ensuring that, as leaders, you are building a culture of honesty and openness that invites your staff to confide and seek support. As well as this, formally acknowledge that as an employer you are aware of this and actively want to help, so that employees can come to you privately to discuss what assistance they may need.
• Be flexible – with some workers essentially working a second full-time job with their caring duties, it is important to be as flexible and understanding to their time as possible. Scheduling meetings around potential appointments and offering ‘carers leave’ are great examples of how you can optimize your working carers and ensure that the time they can put in will be 100% focused. This will lead to higher engagement and stronger output overall.
• Training line-managers – having line-managers undergo a training course/workshop to be able to gain a deeper understanding of how they can recognise and support working carers on their teams. If employees know that their managers are well-versed in this area, they will feel much more inclined to confide in them and seek assistance.
• Mental health support – being a full-time worker and a part- or full-time carer can take its toll on anyone. As caring can sometimes be a sensitive topic, it’s not surprising that it may have an effect on the caregiver’s mental wellbeing. Making sure these employees know what mental health support is available to them, either in-house or externally, is a great way of demonstrating support.  

By striving to create policies and offer benefits that can help ease the weight of being a working carer, employers are able to get the best out of their employees while also helping to eradicate the taboo around caregiving.

To discuss the workshops, training, and policy crafting services that we can offer you, please get in touch with me at andy@orgshakers.com

Looming fears of a recession, as well as the effects from record high inflation rates, have seen a surge in layoffs over the last year. And while navigating the legalities and sensitivities that accompany laying off employees, employers also have to think about how they can effectively manage the ripple effects that these reductions to the force will have on their remaining team members.

If you are a company who finds themselves feeling the pinch and getting ready to downsize, there is a lot that will need to be considered. Having the proper HR support to help strategize with all the sensitivities that come with legal compliance, increased responsibilities, new leadership appointments, and anxiety over restructuring will ensure that your workforce remain informed, engaged and productive.

To do this, we divide the process of layoffs into three parts:

1. Executing the Layoff(s)

Conversations around layoffs are never easy, and it is important to approach them with as much care and compassion as possible. Employees may respond differently to this news, so it is important to know what to expect and how to respond appropriately. The legal implications then need to be considered: does the company offer a severance payment? Has the proper period of notice been given? Could this dismissal be at risk of infringing against a person’s right to not be discriminated against?

The legal compliance can be tricky, especially in the US. Aside from seven states, federal law says that a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) must be given to employees when a company has over 100 workers and is laying off 50 or more staff members during a 30 day period in a single location. There are some caveats to this, so it is important for organizations (especially larger ones) to know exactly what is expected of them to avoid any potential legal action, while also supporting their departing employee in every way they can and should be.

2. Communication Strategy

The period that directly follows a set of layoffs can be particularly sensitive, but with the right communication and planning strategies, this experience can be executed with delicacy and precision. Our biggest recommendation is transparency – with those remaining staff, leaders need to be open and honest about why these layoffs have taken place and how they are going to set the business up financially for the future.

This should then be followed up by highlighting the plan for moving forward, and taking care to ensure that each staff member understands if there have been any changes to their responsibilities and what support is available to help them adapt to those changes.

3. Supporting Your Remaining Employees

Speaking of available support, this is where employers need to be managing the potential long-term effects of layoffs. These can take shape in those employees who have absorbed the responsibilities of their departed colleagues, or those who have been placed in a new managerial role.

For the former, it is important to be clear about the new expectations of their role to avoid falling into the trap of ‘quiet promotions’. And to mitigate risk of burnout, ensure that these employees have a direct report who they can go to if they need support and further training to manage this increased workload. It is also very helpful to be able to offer a sense of how long they may have to do this, and whether or not it is for the time being until someone can be brought back on later down the line. Setting expectations is going to be key to keeping engagement and productivity levels up.

And for those who have been promoted to managerial roles, they may need to be rapidly upskilled to manage a group of people successfully. We would either align them with a coach, or facilitate training sessions on coaching, feedback, and performance development so that they feel prepared to manage and will do so effectively.

OrgShakers have a lot of experience in supporting clients through a layoff period, and so if you are an employer who finds themselves needing assistance in change management, please feel free to reach out to me at Brittany@orgshakers.com to discuss the services we can offer you.

With June comes the promise of sunshine (if you are situated over in the Northern hemisphere, that is), the longest day of the year, and, of course, international Pride Month!

As we all know, Pride is a celebration of inclusivity, aiming to recognise and celebrate all members of the LGBTQ+ community. In this month, it is important for employers to be demonstrating their support for this cause. Not only does it reinforce their stance as an ally to their LGBTQ+ employees, but it also offers opportunities for innovation and expansion into untapped markets.

It is proven that diverse teams are 70% more likely to capture and penetrate new markets. This is not surprising when you look at the current generation of consumers; they are significantly more morally conscious, and so will be much more likely to support companies whose social agenda aligns with their own.

So, how can employers celebrate Pride in the workplace?

• Inclusion Workshop/Training – Pride is the perfect time for employers to arrange inclusion workshops around LGBTQ+ topics to ensure everyone on the team knows how to make their queer colleagues feel accepted at work. They are also a great tool for tackling unconscious bias; although everyone in a company might be supportive of gay rights, many may be unaware of internal biases that have come about through systemic homophobia and transphobia. Having workshops to discuss and reflect on these issues are a powerful way of creating an inclusive workplace culture.
• Organizing a Fundraiser – this is a great way to demonstrate commitment to the cause. Many employers will no doubt give their logos a dash of rainbow throughout the month of June, which is a fantastic gesture, but it can also seem tokenistic. To avoid that, follow this with some good old fashioned corporate social responsibility by organizing a fundraiser to raise money for fantastic LGBTQ+ charities such as Stonewall and MindOut.
• Flexibility for Pride Events – another way for employers to show support for Pride Month is by being particularly flexible in June to allow employees to attend some Pride events (such as processions). Certain members of staff may feel very passionate about getting to raise awareness for Pride, and so employers who can be flexible to these needs are going to be the most attractive.
• Refresh Discrimination and Diversity Policies – All organizations will have policies around having a diverse workforce and not discriminating towards anyone, but these are policies that should be continually reviewed. The boundaries of acceptability are always shifting, and so with this comes the need to be diligently reviewing and refreshing current policies to ensure that they are reflective of your company’s values and beliefs.
• Get Colorful – Bringing a little color to your office (or your Zoom backgrounds for those remote workers!) is always a nice way of brightening up a space, as well as showing support for those LGBTQ+ members of staff.

Employers who make this conscious effort to truly highlight their support during Pride Month are creating a space for openness and honesty. A positive working environment allows employees to bring more of themselves to their job, which leads to opportunities for innovation and diverse thinking.

If you would like to discuss inclusion workshops, training and/or policy reviews to help you unlock the power of diversity and inclusion, please get in touch with us!

There are over 16 million Veterans in the US, as well as almost 2 million in the UK, and while many of them are of working age, the transition from special forces to the world of work can be a gaping and daunting one.

For those who are coming out of service, finding, applying, securing and doing a ‘regular’ nine-to-five job can be an arduous process – but with the right support, this group of people have an abundance of technical skills and power skills to offer to the corporate world that are productive, innovative, and profitable.

There is existing stigma around the recruitment of ex-military personnel – one survey found that almost a third (31%) of recruiters said they felt reluctant to employ someone who had previously served as they were more likely to struggle with mental health problems. However, if Veterans are properly supported in this transition, then the skills and experience they have to offer can be utilized and optimized by employers.

So, what can HR professionals be doing to offer support?

Firstly, helping with decision making. A noticeable leap from military to corporate is the fluidity and choice that one suddenly has. Veterans are used to having very rigid job descriptions and are offered set roles which remain consistent. Because of these set roles and guidelines, Veterans often struggle to connect and translate their service experience to other jobs on the civilian side (outside of contracting or law enforcement, for example). And upon leaving the forces, suddenly they are faced with having to actively seek out work, and this requires knowing where to look, how to look, and what to be looking for. In enabling Veterans to understand their skills from their past careers and translate them into a marketable corporate structure, we can help prepare them for their next mission. So in this sense, we would coach Veterans on how to approach this challenge, how to look at their experience in a different light, and aid in finding the right career for them.

This then brings us onto CVs. CVs can sometimes be a tricky thing for ex-military to grapple, as a military CV is vastly different from a corporate one, yet are the first thing an employer will base their opinion on. Veterans will be conditioned to having to write out in great detail all of their experience in the forces, and so resumes end up being pages and pages long. But in the working world, a CV has to be concise, distilled and to-the-point to even be considered. So, having support crafting a CV can be so beneficial, especially for those who have served for most of their lives and may not have a traditional education. Helping to identify and translate their leadership skills, their strengths, and polishing success stories from their time in the service in a “proper” civilian CV will concisely highlight what they can be offering to an employer.

Lastly, helping Veterans understand and follow ‘business etiquette’. For those of us who have worked everyday jobs, it is common knowledge that there are norms and values of most workplaces that most of us just come to know as we progress in our careers. But for those who have just emerged from the military, their norms are going to be wildly different. For example, in the forces there is less room for error, but more error is likely to occur, and so it is much more normalized and less reprimanded. Whereas in the world of work, repercussions for mistakes are instantaneous, and if they are recurring then you are more likely to lose your job.

But this is a great example of a mindset that employers can learn from, as making conscious room for error also creates space for learning and innovation. Those ex-military will already be wired into this mindset, they just need to be coached to have their skills translated to be applicable to a business setting. Each Veteran’s transition journey varies and can be both exciting and a little scary at first from not knowing what to expect. We hope by coaching through those unknowns, Veterans will be able to confidently enter the civilian working world in their next chapter.

It is no secret that the military are skilled organizers and project managers, and these are all transferrable into the workplace (not to mention greatly sought after by most employers). With the right support, those leaving the forces can make a fantastic impact on the world of work, and prove to be some of our best innovators and most productive workers. That’s why OrgShakers are very proud to soon be partnering with a specialized charity to help support and coach Veterans into the world of work. If you would like to discuss the details of this further, please get in contact with us.

A Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) is a neurodivergent individual who has been born with a genetic trait called Sensory Processing Sensitivity.

While being considered ‘highly sensitive’ often has negative connotations in a workplace setting, one survey found that those who tested as HSP were the best rated managers – however, they were also the most stressed. This highlights a significant finding – a company’s HSPs have the potential to be some of the best employees, but this potential can only be unlocked in the right environment.

So, how do you identify HSP traits and how do you create a workplace to optimize these traits?

Those who are HSP have a more reactive nervous system, and so this leads them to process things deeply, become easily overstimulated, feel emotions intensely, and pay extreme attention to detail. More recent research shows that HSPs have additional brain cell connections when compared to someone with a more neurotypical brain, and these extra cells are mostly found in the region of the brain that handles emotions and memories of emotions.

It is believed that this has developed as an evolutionary precaution to avoiding harm, as it involved thinking in a deep and detailed manner to pick up on potential ‘threats’ that others may have missed. Because of this, HSPs tend to overthink and become overstimulated, and some studies show that these people are more prone to developing anxiety disorders and having anxious thoughts.

However, employers can make adjustments in their culture and approaches in order to create an environment where the skillsets of HSPs are optimized. For one thing, HSPs thrive with structure and clarity, as this doesn’t leave a lot of space for them to overthink and become overstimulated. This means employers should ensure that the employee understands the scope and expectations of their role.

Another great tool for optimizing HSPs is by using psychometric profiling. We work in conjunction with SurePeople, whose WorkforceX program defines the personality traits of individual employees, and gives each of them the ability to compare their profile with other team members, highlighting how best to work with that specific individual. This not only assists with overall cohesion, but the clarity and precision of it removes the risk of a HSP overthinking, as they already know exactly what to expect and how best to work with someone.

And speaking of overthinking, try to offer HSP staff members the time to deliberate and formulate responses rather than putting them on the spot. Thinking things through is a hallmark of high sensitivity, and so giving them that extra time to do so will help to avoid any anxious flare-ups.

In addition, employers could make accommodations that can help to mitigate the risk of sensory overload. This can take the shape of having audio-only meetings (with cameras off), designating a day which has no meetings, or defining times which are ‘do not disturb’ periods. They could also encourage the use of noise-cancelling headphones and periodic screen breaks.

By shifting their perception of ‘sensitivity’ and making adjustments for it, employers are creating the opportunity for these neurodivergent employees to be leading voices in innovation, problem solving, and people strategy. They are highly skilled at identifying patterns and subtleties, as well as being emotionally intelligent. These power skills are becoming increasingly valued, especially in managerial roles, and so it is important for employers to be nurturing these skills.  

If you would like to discuss how to implement policies to support HSPs, please get in touch with us.