Employeeship - The Top 8 Mistakes

Enhancing the way in which people interact in an organisation sounds simple but it's not easy. 

Employeeship (or 'Medarbetarskap' as it's known is Sweden) has taken taken organisations by storm but doing it properly eludes many. The concept is simple. Natural teams come together to discuss subjects that we don't tend to discuss at the workplace: what is loyalty, self awareness, work and life goals, openness and transparency, work fulfillment and pride to name but a few. When it's done properly, the result are astounding with reduced stress and absence, improved customer service and profitability and, most importantly the growth of grounded people.

From experience though, there's a few traps lurking that can hinder progress, here's our experience.

1) Too much fear and cynicism. We wouldn't suggest that anywhere that struggles with cynicism starts with Employeeship....it will feel too much like hard work. The foundations require that people are at least able to reflect on how they are being and are able to articulate it. Cynicism would suggest something in the line of Leadership development would be a best first step.

2) Leadership seeing it as something for others to embrace. Often the most powerful intervention is simply to encourage employeeship conversations amongst the leadership community in an organisation. Imagine if your 'top team' were grounded individuals who were transparent people taking responsibility and accountability and who were open to feedback too! Those that expect it to start 'elsewhere' are missing the point.

3) Seeing it as a quick fix. This isn't about developing a flipchart full of actions or a milestone plan of tactics that the team are going to take. This is about reflecting on who we are as individuals who are choosing to work together as a team, changing the way in which we reflect and communicate with each other. This kind of change is self-organising and unpredictable AND very powerful too. Beware the CFO who is demanding a ROI in the first 6 months, rather celebrate a CEO that wabts to bring about lasting, transformational change.

4) Not listening first. We have always started with some focus group work to explore what's really going on in the organisation. This is critical in deciding what is the priority and sequence in the first dialogues. It's also useful to get advice from a cross section of people what seems to work in the way change is embraced. The key is to find out what works and do more of it.

5) Involving managers from different departments in the first workshops. This process of change requires critical mass. In the words of the complex systems change folks, it requires small 'containers'. Getting a large cross section together will dilute the energy afterwards. Go small but concentrated would be our advice.

6) Not developing effective facilitation skills. The word facilitation comes from the Latin root 'facile' or 'facere' which literally means to make it easy. Well trained facilitators are adept at asking high quality questions that probe the thoughts of a group and take the conversation to new depths...Empoyeeship is not trivial or superficial so this skill is key.

7) Reading from the script. A build on number 6 above is the extent to which the facilitator uses the Employeeship dialogues as a support or a script. The latter produces dialogues in the team that are much like working through checklists. However using the dialogues as a framework can allow the conversation to flourish

8) Not having the logistics sorted out. This requires that every natural team sets aside a 3 hour face to face meeting once every 4 - 6 weeks apart over a 6 -12 month period. With cross functional and global teams this can be challenging but it needs planning and committing too at the outset. There's nothing more damaging than a deteriorating level of participation as the process is underway.

With the increasing take-up of Employeeship as organisations are experiencing trauma, we expect to determine much more learning...and we're also very keen to hear from those who are participating in this type of change too so your comments are more than welcome.

Cheers

Trevor

Employeeship - A Revolution Waiting to Happen

How do you reduce problems like absence and staff turnover whilst at the same time improve customer service? How do you do this in an organisation that has been the same for some time? It's a question that many CEO's and HR professionals have been wrestling with for some time. Usually the answer is more leadership training or some more policies and procedures. But don’t these miss the point? How many leadership programmes result in manuals gathering dust on the shelf with, at best, those that attended the programme saying “Oh yes I remember, it was really good...can't remember exactly what we covered though it was so long ago”. And how many policies and procedures end up lost in the HR manual not really making much difference to the everyday lives of those at work. 

A simple yet radical approach to addressing these challenges is being pioneered in Sweden, delivering amazing results in Sweden’s rail company, SJ. Called ‘Employeeship’ (or Medarbetarskap in Swedish), the concept literally turns ‘upside down’ traditional thinking about how organisations work. Employeeship is a process where the traditional thinking around leadership and subordination is abandoned. The traditional model is replaced by a mindset of partnership, a relationship where both managers and employees take ownership over their work situation. The main objective is to achieve a working environment that stimulates involvement among employees and managers. This creates a workplace where employees feel valued and important. Managers develop their skills in facilitating, involving, revealing and learn to make better use of their employees’ knowledge, ideas and initiative.

When people meet in an atmosphere of mutual trust their loyalty increases and they become more motivated to invest their effort on the job. A further consequence of this approach is that individuals become more grounded – a concept that is demonstrated powerfully using the ‘Weeble’ as a metaphor.

“Weebles Wobble But They Don't Fall Down” is a well-known song that many of the older generation grew up with. The Weeble being a small doll that never fell over because it had weight at its base. If we think of this as a metaphor for employees that are constantly challenged with customer demands, tight deadlines and the ever-increasing rate of change, it's vital that we think of ways of giving weight, or grounding. Grounded people take responsibility and are able to manage, come what may. Leadership development programmes and policies and procedures are simply scaffolding that keep the employee upright...the moment they're gone, the Weeble falls over.

The insight that organisations that embark on this approach uncover is that the characteristics we wish for and value in leaders is identical to co-workers and colleagues. In essence, focussing on Leadership as the skill to be developed misses the point. We all want to work with people that are open, honest, that take responsibility and are trustworthy. The feeling of being a part of things is important; it is a prerequisite for grounded people who enjoy their work.

So how is Employeeship developed?

Sounds common sense so far you could be thinking and paradoxically this is both simple and NOT easy. The key to this approach is for teams to be able to have transparent conversations with their 'leader' regarding things we just don't talk about often. Tricky subjects like

• What is loyalty?
  
• The meaning of work
  
• How it fits in with our lives
  
• Relationships between us in the team
  
• Responsibility, accountability and taking initiative
  
• The service we offer others
  

This takes a great deal of sensitivity, listening and courage from the 'leader' of the group but the results are breathtaking. The key to SJ’s success has been the commitment of the senior team to create time for teams to hold these conversations. Of course the level of take up has been variable but those areas that have embraced it fully have experienced a vast turnaround in measurable performance. In fact SJ recently announced that it’s absence levels have dropped by 25%, bucking the trend in Sweden overall.

The key to Employeeship is that it cannot be considered as a one-off, something that is ‘done’ for 12 months and then replaced by something else. SJ is already asking itself ‘How can we refresh, enhance and sustain what we have already developed’….how many organisations would fall into the trap of asking ‘So what next?’.

At Lorensbergs, we've been helping a number of clients with this powerful approach, so watch this space for tips, learning, pitfalls and results that we experience on the way.

Trevor

trevor(at)lorensbergs(dot)se

Let the blogging begin!

So here goes....a first dabble in blogging.

The trigger comes from having designed a marketing workshop for a client, an organisation that is in the IT sector and looking at ways of sustaining its success, even through the tough times.

A huge insight came to our thinking about the design when we reflected that much of the normal stuff of marketing topics (marketing planning, SWOT, Boston matrix, etc. etc.) might not be exactly top of peoples list right now. What might be of more interest and value is focusing on marketing that is really close to the point of purchase.

The beauty of blogging seems to be that it's a two way communication, not one where seller interrupts potential buyer with advertising but more about potential customers linking up with those who add the value they need. 

And for me, I'm hoping it's a way of connecting with those who have a real interest in helping organisations change with the full engagement of their people - something I'm passionate about. So stay connected to exchange more about employeeship, facilitation, change, team-building and other insights around change that we at Lorensbergs are learning from the field.

Cheers

Trevor

trevor(at)lorensbergs(dot)se