Page 14 - JUNE 2022

Survive & Thrive in

The Great

Resignation

Managing Your Growing & Changing Teams

ow, more than ever, the workplace is a tempera- Whereas an employee who was not involved in hiring
mental ecosystem; and managers must conduct may see the task of supporting the transition of a new
the delicate dance of overseeing ever-changing employee as a burden, an employee who helped choose
teams. With a great surge of employees leaving and a selected candidate will be more invested and moti-
entering organizations, existing teams are in a con- vated to ensure that the new employee is successfully
Nstant state of instability as relationship dynamics, onboarded and supported. In fact, 70% of individual
workflows, and hierarchy are all under the strain of change. contributors who had some involvement in the hiring
Managers must walk a shaky tightrope as they steward process stated that their teams had high competency in
the successful transition of new workers, maintain team transitioning new team members.
morale and productivity, and manage the growing work- Additionally, 79% of these respondents also had high
loads of remaining workers. To help, we’ve outlined a few confidence in their team’s ability to manage team changes
tips for a smooth transition when handling changing teams. in the next two years. Teams whose members are invested
in the growth and development of each other will also
Tip One: Include your employees in decision-making. increase the agility of their organization
This tip may seem obvious to some, but our research Overall, having 23% of individual contributors regu-
indicates that only 23% of non-managerial employees larly involved in the hiring process is not enough. This
have some involvement in the hiring process. We find this discrepancy needs to be rectified as individual contributors
statistic alarming, considering the important role existing play a crucial role in the adjustment of new employees into
team members play in helping new employees successful- the workplace. Processes like the development of team ex-
ly integrate into a team and the larger organization. pectations, criteria for hiring, interviewing of candidates,
This includes responsibilities like creating a positive and and the creation of onboarding plans can all be greatly
welcoming environment, teaching new team members about ex- improved by their involvement.
isting organizational and team structures, assisting in onboard-
ing, and providing other supportive needs. These responsibil- Tip Two: Have open and consistent conversations about
ities are the foundation of the team culture that will continue stressors and options for support.
long after the new employee is successfully transitioned. The loss and consequent addition of new team members
From an organizational perspective, the inclusion of is a stressful process that results in more work for the
team members in the decision-making process has many employees caught in the middle of this transition. 53% of
benefits. It gives existing employees a sense of control that our surveyed individual contributors identified an increase
may have been lost when their colleague chose to leave. in workload after experiencing some sort of team change,
This ability to influence the hiring decision of a candidate like the loss or addition of a team member, change of man-
shows existing employees that their opinions and views ager, or moving teams. Specifically, individual contributors
on the needs of the team are valued and important. It also that experienced the loss of a team member were 1.5 times
gives them a sense of ownership and responsibility in more likely to experience an increase in workload than
ensuring the success of new employees. those who have not lost a team member.

14 NBIZ ■ June 2022