Today’s workforce is looking for purpose, happiness, psychological safety, appreciation, to be listened to by their leaders, and work-life integration, with an emphasis on their lives. In summary, in the growing era of Artificial Intelligence (AI), they are looking for a more human-intelligent (HI) workplace.
A Human Intelligent (HI) workplace is defined as one where leaders model effective leadership behaviors by creating an organizational culture where the workers’ experience is one of being engaged while collaborating with their diverse team members.
It is a workplace where the workforce feels psychologically safe when raising different perspectives, taking risks, being innovative, and/or being creative. It is a workplace where the workforce feels listened to and understood by their leaders. It is a workplace where the workforce finds fulfillment in the work they do and, in the organization, they work in.
Each of the words underlined have extensive writings and research behind them and the growing importance of each in today’s workplace. Some of these are highlighted in the Great Place to Work organizations. More importantly, organizations selected as Great Place to Work turn out 8.5 times more revenue per employee.
So if being a Human Intelligent or Human Focused organization is good for the workforce and bottom line, just how should an organization pursue this? I would suggest taking a holistic approach. The following highlights them for consideration.
- Make an assessment of a present state of your organization from the workforce perspective.
Identify how your workforce feels about their workplace experience. Assess if they are an HI workplace or a potential Great Place to Work. Do this by conducting an employee survey to gain insights and a baseline.
In addition, consider checking out how your organization is being thought of on Glassdoor (if it’s on it). - Assuming there is work to do, then begin creating a communication strategy that includes:
- Your findings.
- What do you plan to do about it and why?
- Communicate the information to respective audiences.
- Create a leadership and employee development initiative that educates leaders and employees on expected behaviors.
- Ensure you create an accountability system for which both leaders and employees will be held accountable.
This should include a 360 performance management system. - The accountability piece should also include a reward system for the behaviors expected from all in the organization.
- Last, you should assess on a yearly basis to ensure movement in the direction of a Great Place to Work and a Human Intelligent Workplace.
While this is just a high level set of steps that organizations might consider, it is more complicated and comprehensive than the bullets highlight. It does however address some of the key components that will be needed to help organizations create more human-centered organizations.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Edwin Mourin᷁o – Ruiz, Ph.D.
Dr. Edwin Mouriño is an Air Force veteran, author, Human Capital, and DEI practitioner and speaker. As a human capital practitioner, Dr. Mouriño’s focus has been on helping leaders and organizations help themselves. He is an experienced professional with many years of leading and/or supporting key elements of organizational change projects. Dr. Mouriño is an Air Force veteran who began his career in Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) as a graduate of the DOD-Defense Equal Opportunity & Management Institute (DEOMI) and has also been a speaker.
He brings broad industry experience that includes Fortune 100 companies. He is the founder and president of Human Intelligent (HI) Workplace, an organization focused on helping leaders help themselves through leadership, team development, and executive coaching. He has been and continues to serve as a college professor. He is also a Senior Fellow with the Conference Board on the DEI and Leadership Steering Committees.
He has extensive experience and thought leadership on Human Capital issues and supported organizational change efforts through Leadership Development, DEI, Executive Coaching, Team Development, Executive Retreats, Personality Assessments, and Organizational Change. He has spoken at numerous professional venues and written numerous articles on human capital trends impacting organizations, specifically addressing DE, and is the author and co-editor of several books.
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