Must-Know Team Culture Trends [2020 Global Culture Report]

We’ve seen in our Organizational Ombuds work with teams that there are as many kinds of workplace experiences as there are possible dynamics within any group of individuals who gather around a mission or goal. Sometimes trying to fit a growth-ready business into an old-school corporate structure just doesn’t cut it.

As often, the leadership can’t figure out why it isn’t working, which leads to a disconnect with their employees that can result in valuable talent turnover, burnout, and less-than-successful business results. 

It’s clear that we are in rapidly-changing global times with brilliant, creative minds doing innovative things and fresh young professionals boldly changing the expectations and rules of doing business. This is why I so enthusiastically welcome the newly-released 2020 Global Culture Report published by employee-engagement powerhouse, O.C. Tanner Institute. 

This organizational culture research “looks at current culture trends, company culture statistics, and how employees feel about their workplaces.” The report draws from a 2018-2019 research study where more than 20,000 employees and leaders across 18 different countries shared their everyday experiences with the cultural norms, values, and behaviors of the corporate culture where they work.

The authors make a compelling case that “the modern workplace and the experiences and relationships employees have with their organizations are constantly evolving. Employees, especially younger ones, have higher expectations that will put pressure on organizations in 2020. Companies that can keep up with the rapid changes in the workforce will flourish, and companies that cannot will lose their best people, their competitive edge, and ultimately, their customers.”

The full report is a crucial (and accessible) read for all leaders; I’m going to focus here on some gems that particularly speak to our expertise on teams... 

Perspective on Teams

Among respondents in this study, only 26% of employees feel their team works seamlessly together. What’s missing for them? Two essential needs for a team to thrive are a strong sense of autonomy, and a strong sense of psychological safety. From our experience, the common thread in both is the presence of trust in teams, starting with leaders and built into an organization’s culture. Let’s dive into this a little more...

1. A strong sense of autonomy

Autonomy here means “to be able to act independently.” Not necessarily that “each individual works independently from the others. Instead, the team is granted autonomy as a whole. They can set goals, make decisions, and decide what projects to do and how to do them with little or no leader involvement.”

The authors go on to state that when employees are given more freedom and choice, they feel a “stronger sense of ownership, are more motivated, and more likely to innovate,” and that “this type of trust in employees is powerful.”

We agree! I would add that freedom and choice work only if there is trust between the two parties. Trust is something that is typically seen in the workplace as “soft,” unquantifiable and not worth measuring as a business tool. We say, not so! In fact, trust is a trait that a leader can develop, nurture, and improve upon. Being trustworthy oneself is a first step a leader can take toward instilling the kind of trust in team members and employees that will engender a strong sense of autonomy. 

2. A strong sense of psychological safety

“When employees feel emotionally safe at work and with their teams, they can take risks, innovate, share new ideas, and be themselves without worrying about being criticized by their peers.”  Not feeling safe looks like this: team members are hesitant to speak up or share new ideas that might be rejected; some members dominate the conversation and the group misses out on what the more silent ones have to contribute; the team falls into ‘groupthink’ which stifles new ideas and quality decisions; and, in extreme cases, bullying and harassment can occur. 

The authors point out that “a lack of peer-to-peer recognition is also a detriment to culture - when employees don’t feel their opinions or ideas are valued, there is a 37% decrease in feeling emotionally safe at work.”

Here again, trust is an essential factor in helping team members feel safe enough to speak up and share their expertise, ideas, and creativity, perhaps the first step in creating a team that has a strong sense of psychological safety. I’m often asked by leaders, “So, how do I actually go about creating that trust?”  My answer is to start right out of the gate to create a space for open, honest interaction in a team meeting. Here is an easy conversation starter tool to grow trust in your team. 

Recommendations and impact

The authors share valuable insights on how leaders “can build thriving teams by ensuring their people feel safe, empowered, connected, and valued.”  Their recommendations include:

1. Create a sense of autonomy by connecting employees. Leaders must cultivate strong relationships with and between each team member; connect employees with opportunities to grow, develop, and work on special projects; and make others aware of employee accomplishments.

2. Foster transparency, openness, and team identity. Leaders actively work to ensure all team members feel a healthy sense of team identity; know thoroughly the roles of every individual on the team; guide the team in deciding themselves how tasks are distributed and prioritized; hold an honest review as a team after every major project, successes and failures alike.

3. Utilize peer-to-peer conversations. Encourage peer-to-peer conversations, individual or with the whole team, to increase trust and authenticity among team members; invite a wide variety of topics that help employees share knowledge and expertise, helping each other grow; ensure that the environment is safe, positive, and open to change and creativity.

“Teams that thrive feel a strong sense of autonomy and psychological safety. Their leaders allow them to be themselves and feel free to go out and share their greatness. As the workplace evolves and organizations change, autonomous, psychologically safe teams will be quicker to successfully adapt.” 

The 2020 Global Culture Report leaves us with an important and often overlooked piece of advice...To organizations: Enable your leaders!  Companies have an important role to play to provide direction and support to allow leaders to become successful. “Craft a workplace culture that helps both your leaders, and their people, thrive at work.”