The Human Connection Performance Index: Thriving teams create differentiated performance

In today's world of rapid disruption, companies are in a fierce race to accelerate business transformation. Whilst businesses have become adept at leveraging data and customer insights, the human elements that fuel team performance often remain elusive and immeasurable.

The difference between a good team and a great one can be unclear. And when underperformance strikes, the root causes (related to human connection, collaboration, and change agility) frequently go undetected.

As we evaluated the core challenges, we see our clients navigating, it's increasingly clear that there is an emerging people and culture crisis that we must respond to when reimagining the future of work.

Indeed McKinsey’s 2023 State of Organisations report, identifies that 7 out of 10 significant shifts organisations are now facing are about people, be that the 800% variability in performance in like for like roles, the high failure rate of transformation initiatives, or the current mental health and wellbeing crisis.

Employees and organisations alike achieve high performance when the skills, behaviours and culture is in place that creates positive human connection. However, in a hybrid world, research show us we are currently less not more connected. For instance, 43% of leaders say relationship building is the greatest challenge in remote and hybrid working and 55% of workers feel lonelier at work before the shift to hybrid. (1)

That’s why, we have developed our Human Connection Performance Index. Our research identified four key components of human connection: Belonging, Care, Hope and Energy. All of them are proven to positively correlate with high performance and when cultivated drive increases in effective collaboration and innovation.

The four elements

Belonging

Valuing difference and ensuring everyone feels they matter
A shared sense of belonging is where everyone’s contribution is welcomed and valued, it feels safe to take risks, share ideas, and learn together.

Unless everyone feels that they are valued for who they are and their contribution, we do not pass go in achieving high performance. The best talent cannot come together and feel psychologically safe enough to take risks, learn and innovate.

Belonging unlocks sustainable performance and associated benefits:

• 56% increase in job performance. (1)
• 67% increase in employee promoter score. (1)

Without it:

• Teams decrease their knowledge sharing. (2)
• And low diversity leads to: 19% deficit in innovation revenues (3) and 39% deficit in profits. (6)

Care

Embedding systems of care that underpin effective collaboration
Care is an important value and behaviour, leading to a high level of trust, respect, and wellbeing. This enables effective collaboration based on everyone’s needs and perspectives, (including customers) being understood and appreciated.

Systems of care are what enable us to perform at our best, it's not 'pastoral' or 'reactive', but about embedding reciprocal thriving human relationships at the heart of how you do things.

We see care as a multi-way practice and mindset that impacts all roles and as a lived systemic value improves collaboration and individual and team productivity. For example:

• Toxic workplace culture accounts for 70% of burnout and 'intent to leave. (5)

Whereas:

• Psychological safety reduces employee turnover by up to 27% and increases productivity by up to 12%. (6)
• Inclusivity and a supportive growth environment are the two biggest factors leading to job satisfaction and work engagement. (5)

Hope

Build the will and the way to achieve your purpose in times of great change When hope is active an organisation’s purpose is inspiring and has a positive impact. Everyone knows their contribution counts, and with clear goals and support the purpose is motivating, stretching and achievable.

Our sense of purpose drives everything, yet in uncertain times, hope is needed to give us the confidence to dare to achieve the stretching purpose that matters.

Hope is the ‘psychological capital’ that helps employees be creative, flexible, and constructive (5) and is positively associated with professional success (7) and achieving goals effectively (8).

And we need hope to overcome the ‘capability chasm’ with only

• 5% of organisations think they have the capabilities they need. (9)
• 47% of business executives believe their organisation is resilient. (10)

Energy

Create renewable energy through vitalised human connection
When teams and individuals are energised and habitually find ways to re-energise and thrive inside and outside of work, there is a culture of innovation and enjoyment of solving challenges together.

Accelerating team effectiveness is about being able to respond to change and uncertainty, bounce back from challenges and leap forward through innovation. And yet, burn out and resilience is at all an all-time low:

• 53% of managers are feeling burnt out. (1)
• Gen Z report higher rates of poor mental health than any other age bracket. (11)

Unlocking renewable human energy through creating connecting cultures in hybrid teams builds flow, resilience, and agility through transformation.

Change takes a lot of human energy and therefore as leaders we need our teams to have renewable energy. In our experience energy is generated through ‘head, heart, gut’ leaders who connect in a deeply human way. This is because human energy is not intellectual it is social, physical and psychological.

Human Connection Performance Index in practice

Following a period of significant change and uncertainty, WDI led us through a powerful team building process that utilised the HCPI. With their expert facilitation, the team has grown in trust, co-created a shared vision, increased team spirit and are role modelling new collaborative ways of leading. The insights from the HCPI has given us the support we need to accelerate team development and create our authentic team culture that enables us to perform at our best.

Tarun Kohli, Director Group Delivery Services, Swiss Re

Designed to be used by senior leadership teams or multi-layered functional, remote and hybrid teams, the WDI HCPI identifies the barriers and enablers to team performance.

• The HCPI assessment evaluates current levels of belonging, care, hope and energy at an individual, team, and organisation level.
• This detailed diagnostic of your team’s experience provides clear direction on where you need to focus to improve performance.
• We facilitate highly experiential, virtual and in-person, workshops that build trust, connection, and a shared vision.
• Together your team moves through a process of awareness raising, capability, and strategy development leading to a shared commitment to thriving and high performance.
• The HCPI is available to resurvey at a later date with the option of your team integrating a small number of pulse metrics to create regular feedback loops.
• Depending on the team’s size, the HCPI approach takes 4-8 weeks to complete.

Using HCPI, we work with leaders and teams to measure the practical and motivational aspects of teams to build the pathways that accelerate performance and drive business outcomes. For example, if you:

• Have a newly formed or restructured team who are yet to find their sweet spot.
• Are struggling to get team members to collaborate effectively.
• Need to positively move through a period of change together.

WDI’s HCPI assessment and team engagement strategy provides the common language and approach that drives high performance through thriving together.

References:

1. Microsoft Work Trends Index 2022
2. Sage Journal; Workplace Exclusion Impacts on Knowledge-Sharing via Moderation of Digital Media and Organizational Culture, April 2023
3. Forbes.com article; Diversity Confirmed To Boost Innovation and Financial Results, 2020
4. McKinsey & Company; Diversity matters even more: The case for holistic impact, 2023
5. Avey, J. B., Reichard, R. J., Luthans, F., & Mhatre, K. H. (2011). Meta-analysis of the impact of positive psychological capital on employee attitudes, behaviors, and performance.
6. Gallup article; Employee burnout, Part 1: The 5 Main Causes
7. Youssef, C. M., & Luthans, F. (2007). Positive organizational behavior in the workplace: The impact of hope, optimism, and resilience. Journal of Management, 33(5), 774–800.
8. Wikipedia; Hope
9. McKinsey & Company; The State of Organizations, 2023
10. Forbes article; Resilience; 5 Ways To Build It
11. McKinsey Health Institute article; Heat waves, the war in Ukraine, and stigma: Gen Z's perspective on mental health, 2022