Given the times and today’s business landscape, it’s more important than it’s ever been for work teams to be unified towards a common purpose and vision. That said, a lot of organizations struggle with overcoming silo mentality – something we’ve heard a lot of during our research over the years.
Silo mentality can lead to poor collaboration, communication, diminished trust and morale. It can also prohibit innovation and growth.
So – what can you do to drive business results by ensuring your team is “rowing in the same direction?”
Understanding Your Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
Understanding what employees value most is a critical starting point in breaking down barriers. Today the ability to work flexibly, be paid competitively, feel valued, and experience a sense of belonging are all non-negotiable. Trying to deliver the exact programs that your competitors are offering is not enough. It’s important that an organization understands clearly what employees value most about working for your organization, in addition to the non-negotiables, so that leaders can use this information to create an enhanced and consistent employee experience. The Employee Value Proposition (EVP), when activated internally, is the foundation for how leaders communicate and deliver a consistent culture experience. This removes silos, brands the experience and ensures an organization focuses on delivering the best of what matters most.
Vision, Values, Purpose, Behaviours
Leaders need to demonstrate alignment on the vision, values, purpose, and behaviours of the organization. We know that the current global turnover, branded The Great Resignation, is due in large part to burn out. Organizations need to dig deeper to connect with, and align all employees, contractors, and gig workers on why their work matters. Furthermore, leaders need to look at the behaviours they reward to ensure they’re effective in elevating the employee experience, as well as steering collaboration, innovation, and growth.
Cultivate Interpersonal Communication Beyond Work
Eliminate barriers and build trust by providing opportunities for employees and leaders to get to know each other personally.
Putting together fun events where colleagues across an organization’s departments, regions, and hierarchy get to know each other better allows them to share a more personal side of themselves. This opportunity can deepen and strengthen relationships, in turn bolstering teamwork and performance, establishing a desired culture, and making work that much more enjoyable for everyone.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Once interpersonal communication is enhanced, cross-functional collaboration opportunities are easier to coordinate. Co-creation workshops will yield quicker, more worthwhile results – previously established levels of comfort and trust will allow for more robust brainstorming sessions, and employees will be more relaxed and confident in sharing ideas.
To improve cross-functional collaboration, make sure that overarching goals and department goals are shared across the entire company. Use tools to improve transparency so that employees can readily understand the organization’s top overall priorities by department and region. Provide ongoing updates on these goals, and ensure all goals align to the organization’s overarching vision and purpose.
Skip Level Meetings
A skip level meeting is when a member of senior management meets one-on-one with an employee who is more than one position down from theirs in the hierarchy of an organization. Theoretically, this type of interaction typically allows for greater insights into the organization for both executive and employee. But when silos are no longer a hindrance, these types of meetings can be even more dynamic.
Silos are often an unfortunate by-product of the pace of work and business growth. Remote and hybrid work have emphasized the cracks that silos can cause in the foundation of a company culture. Communication gaps, interpersonal resentment, an absence of trust and a breakdown of organizational performance all result from siloed workplaces. Silos will hinder the success of a business. But with an effective rollout of your employee value proposition and a branded employee experience, they can be dismantled.
About Us
Blu Ivy Group is a global leader in employer branding, organizational culture, and recruitment marketing. We help organizations across the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors build extraordinary employee experiences, magnetic employer brands and high-performance cultures.
From C-Suite to Employer Brand and Talent Acquisition leadership, we partner with our clients to transform their organizations and design the most compelling workplaces of the future.
For inquiries, please contact sparker@bluivygroup.com