The Evolution of Mission, Vision and Values
The Evolution of Mission, Vision and Values
By Staci Hegarty, M.Ed.
We often treat our organizations’ mission, vision, and values as immovable bedrock. In many ways, they are. Yet as the world changes, we must consider that we may need to adjust or expand the goals and aims of our business.
Evolving Envision RISE
This even happens to organizations like Envision RISE, a company that prides itself on offering leading services and training to assist in organizational change and transformation. Founded by IpX, the Institute for Process Excellence, a leader in enterprise transformation, RISE was launched to provide organizational change management (OCM) primarily through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Since 2020, our customer’s found the most success when our partnership kept the lens opened to support all types of organizational change. Of which, successful DEI can become a byproduct of improving legacy policies and procedures along with focused goals and objectives.
Our values have not changed, we believe that companies succeed when their people succeed. That means creating a workplace where all voices are valued, and differences are embraced. Yet the world has changed. The words “diversity, equity, and inclusion” have become a distraction from the core work of centering and uplifting people in the workplace.
Realigning Company Values for Success
Before you start revising anything, it is critical that leaders agree on their values. Not their personal value system, although that will have an impact, but the values of the company. Your values may expand or transform over time. For instance, many companies did not include sustainability as a company value even a few years ago. Now many organizations have begun to prioritize sustainability in their daily operations. The important thing is to verbalize those values in a way that people can understand and support.
Look at your mission statement. Whether it was written one year ago or one hundred years ago, it may need to be updated to better align with your strategic plan. If you need some ideas, this Hubspot blog can get you started.
Your vision statement is about the future, while taking the current state into consideration. Your vision statement will help to guide your strategic plan. If your vision statement doesn’t include your people, your strategic plan will fall short.
You don’t have to do this alone. The experts at Envision RISE can help your leadership team clearly identify the mission, vision, and values of organization through a variety of services, including executive and leadership alignments, assessments, and focus groups.
Going Beyond the Survey: Creating Holistic Change from Survey Results
Going Beyond the Survey: Creating Holistic Change from Survey Results
Envision RISE
Employee surveys continue to be an invaluable source to organizations. They provide numerous benefits, including measuring employee engagement, assessing employee satisfaction, and collecting feedback. But not all organizations are harnessing the benefits of employee survey data. Many organizations collect survey data but are unsure what steps to take next.
So, you administered an employee-wide survey and collected data on the health of your organization. Now what? If your organization has been sitting on survey results for months, with little to no action, you are not alone. Surveys are undertaken with good intentions, with the hope of understanding the needs and concerns of the workforce. Once the results are in, it can be overwhelming to analyze the data and then prioritize and act on the results. Oftentimes the results are compiled without a plan for action. Without a clear action plan, implementation will either not happen at all, or it will be counterproductive, leaving things worse than they were.
When an outside source administers an employee survey, they should provide you with results as well as insights into the data that may not be obvious from the results alone. Were there themes in the answers from a particular demographic or department? Are all of your employees having a similar experience, or are certain groups having vastly different experiences? An effective organizational consultant turns survey data into real-life narratives about the experiences of its employees.
Effective consultants also convert employee survey results into actionable plans. They provide you with a summary of risks and recommendations. If a third party consultant doesn’t offer strategic planning as part of their expertise, your organization will need to be diligent in ensuring that needs are highlighted, prioritized, and included in budgeting and long-term planning. (Pro tip: think twice before hiring a company that does not provide insights, recommendations, and assistance in developing a roadmap for transformation!)
Whether your survey is done internally or through a third-party, your plan before, during and after implementation should include the following:
A Messaging Plan
Don’t just send out a link to the employee survey and hope people will participate. Motivate your workforce to participate by communicating to them about WHY their input is important and what will be done with the information.
Once the survey is complete, decide how you will share the results. Sending detailed data results to the entire workforce is often ineffective. We recommend promoting workforce engagement by providing employees with a summary of the results, along with a plan for action. Your messaging should outline the next steps and inform your workforce the actions that will be taken.
Expert Advice Following the Employee Survey
The results of your employee survey may illuminate a need for services or training that are not currently part of your existing expertise. Consider bringing in experts to transform your survey data into effective organizational change. If your budget currently does not allow for third party training, it may be time to reconsider how your organization views workforce training. Training your workforce has countless benefits and should be seen as an investment, rather than a cost. Many experts can work within a limited budget, so it helps to be transparent about what your company can afford.
Collect Qualitative Data from Stakeholders
Collecting post-survey qualitative data can be a great way to provide context to survey results. Consider holding focus groups to gain a deeper understanding of employee experiences. Individual interviews can also provide insights into organizational culture and employee resistance to change. It is unusual for everyone to share the same enthusiasm or dedication to particular initiatives. Qualitative data collection can be a way to understand what may contribute to employee resistance to change and what steps might be taken to motivate employees to be engaged in the change process.
Executive Alignment Following the Employee Survey
Successful organizational change begins at the top. Change happens when leaders work collaboratively to attain organizational goals. With the survey results, risk, and recommendations in hand, bring the executive leadership team together to forge an actionable plan. Leaders should collaborate to create a shared vision, success criteria, and an ongoing training and monitoring plan.
Progress Measurements and Adaptive Monitoring
How will your organization know when it is making progress? What does success look like? Do not wait until the next annual survey to find out if your plan is having the impact you intended! Effective action plans include a method for measuring progress. Be sure to include quantitative metrics whenever possible. If any action items are more difficult to quantify, determine how progress will be measured. Then, collect and assess data regularly throughout the change process to measure progress and revise action plans if necessary.
Organizational transformation requires work. It does not happen through good intentions and hope alone. Envision RISE can assist with setting a course for your transformation journey, beginning right where you are at this moment. From baseline assessments to executive alignment to strategic planning to training, we have the expertise to help you plan and execute an effective organizational transformation.
References
https://www.driveresearch.com/market-research-company-blog/10-benefits-of-employee-surveys/
https://www.surveymonkey.com/curiosity/storytelling-with-data/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/alignment-leadership-successful-change-management-nikita-shah/
Workforce Training: What is it and Why Does it Matter?
Workforce Training: What is it and Why Does it Matter?
Sara Skidmore, Envision RISE
Change and growth are a part of every organization. That is especially true today, where young employees are changing jobs more than their predecessors ever did and workforces are becoming increasingly more diverse. So how do organizations adapt to these changes and maintain a competitive advantage? The answer lies in well-designed and ongoing workforce training.
The Benefits of Workforce Training
There are numerous benefits of making workforce training an ongoing part of your organizational strategy. Below are just a few.
Talent Acquisition
Self-improvement is an important part of a balanced and healthy lifestyle. We all need to feel that we are being challenged and reaching our potential. For most people, personal and professional development are distinct but intertwined experiences. When we are given opportunities for professional development, we usually grow personally as well.
Today’s employees are seeking opportunities for personal and professional growth. Acquiring new skills gives employees a sense of accomplishment and makes them feel confident in their roles. This, in turn, increases job satisfaction. Offering well-designed and ongoing training opportunities makes organizations attractive to job-seekers, giving them a distinct competitive advantage when it comes to talent acquisition.
Enhance Team Productivity and Collaboration
Among recent changes in workforce dynamics is an increased use of teams. The vast majority of employees today work in teams. Working in teams comes with numerous benefits, but it is not always easy. Team members must learn to communicate effectively, work with people who differ drastically from themselves, provide and receive feedback, and collaborate with one another to bolster creativity and innovation. Consistent workforce training can help.
Training benefits teams in several ways. It helps employees be on the same page when it comes to organizational policies, procedures, and strategic goals. If done correctly, training can improve workplace culture and climate and help build employee relationships. As a result, teams are able to communicate more effectively and resolve conflict. They become more engaged and collaborative. In other words, well-trained teams are effective teams.
Succession Planning
Organizations that don’t plan ahead suffer. An important part of strategic planning is identifying strategic goals and the roles that are needed to accomplish those goals. Effective succession planning ensures those roles will always be filled by competent employees. Preparing employees to have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to fill leadership roles should be an ongoing process in every organization. Workforce development and training programs equip current employees with knowledge and skills needed for successful leadership.
Sustained Organizational Change
Organizational change doesn’t happen overnight. A structured and consistent approach to change is more likely to have lasting results.
Workforce training is a way to get everyone – employees, teams, and managers – involved in the change process. It educates employees about the importance of the change, their role in making the change happen, and it helps them understand the organization’s vision. When employees understand these things, they become more engaged in the change process. An engaged workforce is more likely to bring about lasting change.
Implementing Ongoing Training in Your Organization
Organizational problems are inevitable. Don’t assume your workforce is already equipped with the knowledge needed to manage these problems. Get ahead of the problem. Prepare your workforce to face problems head-on by implementing a well-designed and ongoing training program.
Hiring workforce development professionals is a good place to start. Workforce development professionals work with organizations to develop organizational goals and objectives and come up with tailored training plans to help accomplish those goals. They can help prepare workforces to grow professionally, work effectively on teams, manage problems, and acquire leadership potential. Contact Envision RISE for more information on how to help your organization implement training programs that result in lasting change. Visit our Training page to learn about the RISE Academy, which makes learning accessible and impactful by bringing together exclusive industry certifications and accredited courseware under one innovative platform with self-assessments, self-reflection exercises, course workbooks, and training progress report cards.
References:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/workplace-diversity-retention-recruitment-race-ethnicity-age/
https://emeritus.org/blog/benefits-of-team-training-in-the-workplace/
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/change-management-training
Beyond Awareness: Harnessing the Benefits of a Neurodiverse Workforce
Beyond Awareness: Harnessing the Benefits of a Neurodiverse Workforce
Sara Skidmore, Envision RISE
American organizations are facing unprecedented changes in employee demographics. Within these demographic changes is an increase in employees with neurodivergent conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, social anxiety, and others. Given that 15-20% of individuals have neurodivergent conditions, it should come as no surprise that organizations are becoming increasingly more neurodiverse.
Benefits of Neurodiversity
There are numerous organizational benefits of a neurodiverse workforce. One benefit is that it drives innovation. From Bill Gates and Steve Jobs to Emma Watson and Tim Burton, some of the world’s best innovators have neurodivergent conditions. Having a workforce with diverse ways of processing information reduces groupthink and drives innovation, giving neurodiverse organizations a competitive advantage over their competitors.
Another benefit is that neurodiverse-inclusive policies and practices can boost company culture. In a Microsoft study of 31,000 employees in 31 countries, employees rated having a “positive culture” as one of the most important factors they look for in a job. Organizations that want to attract and retain top talent must foster cultures of inclusivity for all employees, including those in the neurodivergent community.
Promoting Neurodiverse Inclusiveness
So, how can you promote inclusiveness in your workplace so that you can harness the benefits of a neurodiverse workforce? Below are a few ways to ensure neurodiversity initiatives are a key part of your organization’s diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.
- Begin with examining current neurodiverse inclusivity practices. Understanding your current baseline can guide neurodiversity objectives and goals.
- Consider nontraditional selection practices. For example, non-conventional interview settings and specific (as opposed to general) cognitive ability tests can help organizations identify qualified candidates with neurodiverse conditions.
- Incorporate accommodations for neurodiverse individuals. These can include flexible work hours, breaks between meetings, and areas with reduced noise and lighting.
- Hold training sessions that help managers and employees understand their role in promoting inclusivity.
Today’s workforce is more diverse than ever. Understanding how to harness the benefits of a diverse workforce is a necessary component of thriving organizations. Prioritizing neurodiversity is just one way organizations can harness those benefits and gain a competitive advantage. Contact Envision RISE for information on how to make neurodiversity initiatives a key part of your DEI practices.
New Year, New Work/Life Balance
New Year, New Work/Life Balance: 6 Ways to Create, Apply, and Measure a Work/Life Balance
Staci Hegarty, M.Ed, VP of Equity and Inclusion
Achieving better work/life balance is a common, and meaningful, New Year’s resolution, especially if you are a remote or hybrid worker. Many of us have undoubtedly found ourselves still sitting at our desks, dinner in hand, or having a prolonged night at the office beyond the standard quitting time. It is a worthy goal with usually unclear steps or structure to achievement. If this is a goal you have set for yourself in 2023, it’s important to determine a few things:
1. Your definition of work/life balance. It’s difficult to achieve what you cannot visualize. Would that mean working fewer hours? Working different hours? Having fewer tasks or responsibilities in certain areas of your life?
2. The root cause for why you feel out of balance. For example, have your working conditions changed as the results of a new role, staffing issues, new leadership, or a temporary high-priority project that is taking up more of your time? Perhaps there are changes in your personal life, such as a new baby, an illness, or a change in family income. Even a new pet can add additional responsibilities and cause a change to your routine.
3. What boundaries need to be set at work and at home. Most of us struggle with saying “no.’ In some workplace cultures, the word “no” is interpreted as not being a team player or dedicated employee. At home, it may be even more challenging to say “no” to the needs of our family/friends.
4. Where your needs fall on your list of priorities. We may find it difficult to take care of ourselves when we perceive that we are needed by others. It doesn’t take very long to find ourselves trying to pour from an empty cup, then criticizing ourselves for not being good enough when we feel tired, burnt out, or resentful.
5. How to know when work/life balance is achieved. This is a difficult goal to quantify, unlike weight loss or increased exercise or other popular resolutions. We know what imbalance feels like, but we may not truly know what balance feels like.
6. How to adjust your expectations. It is unlikely that you will achieve equality in how you distribute your time between your professional and personal life. Aim for equity, where each part of your life gets what it needs to thrive.
In Envision RISE training, course RISE-06 Harmonization: Demystifying the Entanglement between Work and Life shares:
‘Balance implies that things will become equal, which is not truly what we are attempting. We only have one life. Why would we think we can have a work life that is separate from our home life? We would be better served to find ways to harmonize all parts of our lives with one another, allowing for each to take center stage as needed, and then step back into the chorus when the time comes.’
With a little self-reflection and a willingness to create and enforce boundaries, our lives can become more manageable, more fulfilling, and less chaotic. No one can do this for us, we must be willing to do it ourselves.
For support on creating balance and managing organizational changes in the workspace, contact us at Envision RISE. We work to create a powerful integration and understanding of the relationship between your organization and your workforce.
Travis Shumake to Honor Father's Upset Win with Tribute Car at Auto Club Finals
TRAVIS SHUMAKE TO HONOR FATHER’S UPSET WIN WITH TRIBUTE CAR AT AUTO CLUB FINALS
NEW YORK, NY (November 7, 2022) — 40 years after his father Tripp’s upset Funny Car win at the 1982 World Finals, Travis Shumake will return to southern California with the same goal. In 1982, the elder Shumake was brought in by Funny Car legend Billy Meyer as a “blocker” to defeat championship contenders Don Prudhomme & Frank Hawley. The single-race deal and Cinderella story ended with Shumake in the finals against Kenny Bernstein after taking out both Hawley and Prudhomme earlier in the day at what would be the last World Finals held at the famed Orange County International Raceway. This weekend at the Auto Club NHRA Finals, Shumake wraps up a successful debut season racing the Randy Meyers owned and tuned Top Alcohol Dragster with the support of Envision RISE, an evolutionary platform that utilizes Organizational Change Management (OCM), Human Resource Management (HRM), and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) to create a powerful integration and understanding between organizations and their workforce.
“Our partnership with Travis has created a direct path for us to connect in a unique way with the NHRA fan base and our clients,” said Envision RISE’s founder and CEO, Joseph Anderson. “Travis has been a huge supporter of our mission and has worked hard to demonstrate his commitment to becoming a top NHRA driver and an advocate for opportunity derived from hard work and respect.”
The second-generation driver will be channeling the spirit of his popular father and the surprise success of his 1982 win with a throwback paint scheme, helmet, and crew uniforms.
“I grew up watching a VHS of my dad’s magical day at World Finals. I still watch it. Regularly. I’m just as proud of his other wins and accomplishments like being in both the Cragar Five-Second Club and the 250 MPH Club but having the TV coverage and interviews make this race special. He’s been gone 23 years this Sunday and his finish line interview with Steve Evans is the only place I can go to hear his voice. I get to hear him, see him, and now I’m hoping my own finish line interview with Amanda Busick. Makes the hairs stand up on my neck.”
“I’m not just here to honor my dad, I’m here to win and wouldn’t mind facing off with one of the drivers in the hunt for the championship. We’ve got the car. Between me, Hunter (Green), Fiona (Crisp), and Matt (Sackman), this Randy Meyer “team B” car has been turning on win lights all season long. If the points stayed with the car this beast would be deep in the points battle.
Shumake grabbed a top 3 qualifying spot in Charlotte and posting a career best semi-final finish at historic Maple Grove Raceway where he won the first two rounds on impressive hole shots. This weekend’s Auto Club Finals will be his 4th national event and a chance for the New York City resident to close out his season on a high note and carry momentum into the off-season as he looks to expand his racing schedule in 2023.
“I’m chasing funding for 2023 just like everyone else but am starting to get excited about the future.” Said Shumake. “Right now I’m just enjoying the opportunity to learn from Randy and drive alongside Julie (Naatas). Add all the marketing help I’ve gotten from Megan (Meyer) into that mix, and you quickly realize I’ve been training under the best in the business all season long. I hope bringing big names like Sheetz and Envision Rise into the sport shows folks I am serious, committed, and certainly no flash in the pan.”
Shumake and the Envision RISE Top Alcohol Dragster will be on track twice on Thursday, November 10, running at 1:45 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. and teams will get a final qualifying run Friday at 2 p.m. Saturday will begin Shumake’s quest for victory with the first round of eliminations at 10:15 a.m.
About Envision RISE
Envision RISE was founded as a modern workforce development platform to create a non-divisive integration and understanding of the relationship between the needs of an organization and the requirements of the actual workforce. The platform provides a voice to the individual and a framework critical to long-term business sustainability.
Promoting a Culture of Calm During Chaos
Staci Hegarty, Envision RISE, Vice President of Equity & Inclusion
We are more than two years into the most intense period of change that most of us have ever experienced in the workplace, and for some of us, in our lifetime. After the initial shock, many organizations managed to adapt to life during COVID. Theses adaptations were far from perfect, and we are still working through it and learning from it. There is civil unrest across the US, which will not abate any time soon. The economy is teetering on the brink of recession, with inflation at a 40-year high and gasoline hitting record prices. The “Great Resignation” coupled with low unemployment pushed staffing levels to the breaking point. Many organizations are struggling to find their center. Those that have taken promoting a culture of calm during chaos seriously have been better able to weather the storms.
We are not our best selves right now.
And yet, we have done some of our best change management over the past couple of years. We were so confident in what we believed to be true for so long that we rarely questioned it. When forced to question almost everything, look what we discovered! We can be flexible in our work locations and still get results. We can engage in uncomfortable conversations about topics we were always told were off limits at work, which allows us to learn more about ourselves and our colleagues. The economic issues we experience are not in a vacuum; we are an inextricably connected global economy. Finally, we can demand better from our workplace cultures, or we can find a better workplace.
For those waiting to “return to normal,” I have bad news for you. There is no going back. The last few years exposed many truths about our workplaces and how we are affected by that culture. Crisis shows us our true selves.
Amid chaos, what was the prevailing emotion at your company? Did you find out that your organization is much more fragile than you realized? Or did you uncover innovation and resilience that was just beneath the surface of everyday life?
Understand more about your company by understanding its DNA. Your company’s DNA structures the ecosystem framework. Upon this framework is built the foundation for your culture throughout the employee lifecycle. When the DNA is fragmented, broken, or otherwise unstable, it creates an imbalance that compromises the health of the organization. Unhealthy organizations struggle to overcome the stress of change, especially unexpected change. The RISE Human Resources Management (HRM) DNA analysis helps identify the areas that need attention and strengthening. Combine the HRM DNA analysis with the Envision RISE comprehensive cultural assessment to create an actionable strategic plan for lasting organizational cultural transformation.