Leveraging Organizational Culture to Address Employee Wellbeing in Times of Crises
Co-written with Randell Aranza for Shaping Minds Hong Kong, a hub project of the Hong Kong hub of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers Community.
Mental health has been the most relevant trending buzzword of 2020 for obvious reasons: Anxiety levels have reached an all-time high due to the impacts of the global pandemic, regional politics and economic instabilities. Down at organizations, employees are also feeling the heat due to prolonged work-from-home arrangements, burnout and performance-related worries. Certain sectors went through massive retrenchment programs for businesses to weather the pandemic storm and that’s just the beginning.
With all these heavy loads embedded in present-time struggles, most of humanity now asks: When will all this end? How can I survive? What’s next?
These topics have been explored in an organizational context in late 2020 at a virtual fireside chat with Grace Lau, a chartered psychologist and a Culture Transformation Partner at Atrain. Organized by Shaping Minds, an initiative by the Global Shapers Community Hong Kong Hub, Grace and Michael Chan, moderator and Vice Curator of the Hong Kong Hub, delved deep into the impact of recent events and how organizational culture can play a role in providing concrete solutions to the pressing struggles of the human psyche.
These are our takeaways:
The Pattern
“The narrative we explain about those behavioural patterns, in the end, forms culture.”
Look at the patterns in your organization: Is there a lot of overtime? Are projects always delivered late? Endless meetings? If these are stressing you out, then the challenge to shift these patterns is to start with small, critical actions. Try alternatives if the first action fails. It’s all about the small changes and finding leverages to provide tangible solutions in breaking the cycle.
Throughout this process, existing barriers in communication may make it even more difficult. Oftentimes, people may stop providing feedback because they do not see any action after the feedback. If that’s the case, it’s time to step up your game and be reachable to your team by not only listening, but acting on those small, critical steps to keep everyone engaged and cultivate a much supportive organizational culture.
The Sub-Culture
“For organizations that already have trust, they are thriving with more autonomy now.”
A running joke within leadership circles is that the best learning for managers during the height of the global pandemic is how to micro-manage even more remotely. Trust is essential in running an organization and the lack of it erodes further development and strategic actions to build a more robust, open and productive environment.
In the realm of organizational culture, sub-cultures also exist. Pockets of sub-cultures can be different from the core things that the company is trying to portray. When that happens, the thread of communication becomes narrower and those on top of the hierarchy may experience a certain level of “power blindness”, where things do not reach their ears because of the position they hold. Planting trust within these sub-cultures can prove vital in not only passing the message across, but also personifying the culture that the company intends to foster.
The Policy
“It’s not a wellbeing topic; It’s a business topic!”
Wellbeing is as much a people topic as a business topic. It’s not a nicety that is offered to an employee. If employee wellbeing is addressed seriously, studies show that it would improve business overall. With that in mind, wellbeing policies may prove challenging to formulate and really depends on the vision and direction of the management. It may be hard for companies to get it right, but as they say, it is never an excuse to not try.
There will always be a light at the end of the tunnel. With the current emotional and mental state of individuals within organizations, it is important to openly discuss and highlight wellbeing as a whole: the patterns it revolves around, the sub-culture it personifies and the policy from which it is anchored. Only then can we fulfill the mission in shaping minds — with one small action at a time.
About the Global Shapers Hong Kong Hub
With 10 different nationalities represented, the Hong Kong hub is diverse and comprises 37 young leaders passionate about making both local and regional impact.
Current hub projects include Learning Together, which provides asylum seekers and refugees with education and scholarship opportunities; Purpose Exchange, which enables youth to foster purposeful business for sustainable development through training workshops and social media; Shaping Minds HK, which aims to raise awareness about community and employee well-being and to normalize the discussion on mental health; and SUSTAINHK, which convenes forums and events on climate change awareness and environmental sustainability corporate strategies.
Through various hub supporting projects, the Hong Kong hub also contributes to initiatives on entrepreneurship, smart cities, mental health and more in the capacity of mentors, speakers and organizers. We are proud to have hosted the first Greater China Retreat for hubs in the region, promoting collaboration and exchange across hubs on governance, projects and impact.
