Last month, I wrote about eight positive outcomes that come from hyper-committed, mission-driven employees like the ones found throughout the cannabis industry. I also wrote about the unique challenges that can occur from all that passion and alignment that may arise in such groups.
This month, let’s look at remedies to these challenges:
- Emotional investment: Successes are celebrated intensely, and failures can be deeply disappointing. Encourage people to always focus on “lessons learned” after any problem or setback—and always broadcast the growth that comes out of mistakes.
- Intense workplace relationships: Close bonds form between colleagues, and conflicts can also become more personal. Provide training on conflict resolution, communication, and setting boundaries. Enforce professionalism policies. Amplify fun facts about employees’ lives outside work: stories about their hobbies, successes, families, etc.
- Difficulty in work-life balance: The line between work and personal life may blur as the mission becomes all-encompassing. Set clear expectations around hours and organizational priorities. Discourage overtime unless absolutely necessary.
- Resistance to change: If changes to the external environment (e.g., consumer tastes, regulations) seem to threaten the mission, there may be strong opposition about how to handle them. Elect employees to serve as “disruptors” by tasking them to research and present new processes, trends and technologies that might affect the business in the future. Have an open forum with lots of diverse input during such information sharing.
- Potential for groupthink: Strong shared beliefs might lead to a lack of diverse perspectives or critical thinking. Actively solicit diverse perspectives, including from outside the organization and especially from people with “no skin in the game.” Assign “devil’s advocates” during meetings and idea generation.
- Competitive atmosphere: While united in the mission, individuals might compete to contribute the most. Tie rewards to collaboration metrics. Celebrate team wins, not just individual performances.
- Difficulty attracting or retaining diverse talent: The intensity, enjoyed by many, might not appeal to everyone, leading to a homogeneous workforce. Broaden recruitment channels. Offer employee resource groups. Make inclusion part of the mission and culture. Spotlight unique employee characteristics.
- Strong organizational identity: A powerful culture develops, which can be both unifying and exclusionary, especially when different interpretations of the mission develop amongst the team. Involve everybody in creating and revising mission, value and vision statements. Offer opportunities in which employees share their interpretations and definitions of your workplace culture in order to create a “collective meaning.”
By implementing these strategies, organizations can harness the power of their employees’ commitment while mitigating the potential negative effects of a hyper-committed culture. The goal is to create an environment where passion for the mission coexists with sustainable, healthy work practices. To find out more actionable behavior to meet this goal, join us for the next Rockin’ Your Supervisory Role.
Guest Blog by John Mancuso
