Are you giving employees opportunities to shine?
As technology reshapes work, it's a critical question. To explore the answer, you need to start with a working definition of what “shine” means; and the definition has gotta be universal and inclusive, so it can be applied, adapted, and adopted across an entire organization. Here’s how we're defining it for this blog:
Shine opportunities give workers a chance to venture outside the scope of every day job duties, and beyond the realm of comfort zones, so they can interface with different team members, work on different tasks, and practice different skills.
Shine opportunities have three primary objectives:
- to increase self-awareness (via self-discovery)
- to uncover talents, skills, and knowledge that you already have on the team.
- to acquire new skills that are tied to to strategic business goals
Self-Awareness
What do you love to do?
How can you do it here?
Talent Management
How can you use different skills?
How can you learn new skills?
It may sound like training, but there's a big catch.
Shine opportunities take place outside of the training classroom, and they’re not the same as sitting through hours of computer-based courses where you press the ‘Continue’ button a bunch of times and take predictable quizzes. Shine opportunities are real. Employees get to work with real team members to solve real business problems. There’s strategy being executed. There's accountability. There's relationship-building, and accolades. One of the most effective ways to create shine opportunities inside an organization is to identify and solve business problems cross-functionally.
What are cross-functional teams?
A cross-functional team is a group of people from various departments within an organization who work together to achieve a common goal.
Cross-functional teams are effective because they blend diverse points of view, skills, and experience to solve business problems and make improvements. Cross-functional teams are a platform where employees get to make organizational contributions in a different capacity.
What are the benefits of cross-functional teams?
Employees who participate get to see operations, challenges, and stakeholders from a different angle, so they ultimately gain a deeper and more wholistic understanding of the business. They get more exposure within the organization, and they develop a more expansive perspective and voice. They’re working on different objectives with different people, and going beyond the everyday job duties that they’re already rocking. They are “in the know” and part of something. For employers, cross-functional teams are a chance to innovate and manage change more inclusively. In the process, they discover what team members are interested in, and what they're great at. Cross-functional teams are a people strategy with the potential to drive organizational change and promote excellence. Here are just some of the opportunities:
Business Opportunities
- improve communication and culture
- deeper understanding of business model, operations, & business challenges
- increased engagement with the right stakeholders
- internal relationship development
- remove silos
- evaluate redundancies
Talent Opportunities
- utilize & develop different skills
- identify skill gaps and requirements
- uncover meaningful work opportunities
- promote increased self-awareness
- promote internal job mobility
- identify internal experts
- identify leadership successors
- create custom roles team members love
Spotlight on Talent:
Is there a person in Accounting who is a brilliant and experienced event planner? Does the Help Desk Manager love to dabble with interface design?
When you know what your people are naturally interested in, and you know the breadth of their skill set, it’s easier to fill positions internally, transfer team members to different functional areas, keep key contributors engaged, and design custom-fit roles for people.
Cross functional working groups are an internal platform where employees can gain exposure and showcase the value that they add to a team. This might mean they get an opportunity to manage a process, lead an initiative, or manage resources - something that isn’t typically required in their day-to-day. It’s an opportunity for Business Leaders and HR to be more objective when identifying internal experts, potential candidates, and leadership successors. It’s a vehicle for internal talent mobility. You get to scope potential, and amplify the energy that you’re putting in to retain key contributors, up-skill them, and preserve institutional knowledge.
They go by many names.
Working groups, focus groups, steering committees, task forces, clubs…the list is long. That’s because cross-functional teams are a popular strategy that’s completely adaptable. Many companies have cross-functional teams implemented already, in some shape or form. Here are some examples:
Implementation
Teams
Diverse teams are assembled to roll-out large-scale change that affects how work gets done and the people who do it. Think new systems, revamped policies, and simplified work flows. Employees who are responsible for an implementation are typically subject matter experts from different functional areas of the business. They have different frames of reference, different soft and technical skills, and they work together in many phases throughout the project to accurately scope requirements, design, test, implement and manage change.
Corporate Giving
& Volunteering
Employees at all levels, from different departments and locations, work together to raise funds and donate goods, time, or services in support of charities and causes that are aligned with business values. Corporate Giving programs are diversity initiatives that get your brand and your team into the heart of the communities where you do business. It’s a way to show the marketplace that you care about people and society. These types of initiatives may include corporate-sponsored volunteer opportunities and donation drives. They feel good, plus they’re natural PR & marketing opportunities. Employees are able to bond, have fun, and make a difference. If you're looking for an out-of-the-box fundraising platform, get in touch with our team.
Culture
Task Force
When it comes to culture, team members are the #1 stakeholder. And by definition, culture is pervasive. It plays a major part in how employees experience your organization as a whole; encompassing many touch points throughout the employee lifecycle, and during major life events. With so many components that are so far-reaching, it is practically a requirement to get a cross-section of employees involved in pilot programs, focus groups, and culture promotion. You want to gather diverse feedback, uncover what employees really need to thrive, and discover the best ways to drive program utilization.
Mentoring Programs
Mentoring programs compliment a traditional skills-training curriculum and they forge strong, supportive, and diverse employee relationships. They are an opportunity to pair up employees who have diverse generational perspectives, skill-sets, and experience levels. Mentoring programs are effective because they offer employees situational guidance to tackle real business challenges, resulting in optimal knowledge and culture transfer.
Take the time to shine
To achieve desired results, cross-functional teams require more than a diverse group of participants who meet regularly on zoom. They take effort and thoughtful planning, but when they’re executed well, the return on investment is worth it. Here are three tips that lead to success:
- Be sure to include stretch opportunities. While cross-functional work is different than training, it should be designed as a growth opportunity that employees find rewarding. Participants should have the chance to solve business challenges at a different scale, and go beyond the scope of their everyday role. Arrange scenarios where they are learning something new or doing something different when they participate. Perhaps they get to present information, manage resources, or train others.
- Management is key! Cross-functional teams need to be managed, so they're a great way to give emerging leaders a chance to take charge, put their skills to use, and establish a comfort-level leading their peers. Teams also require sponsorship, specific business objectives, and depending on business goals, participants might go through a selection process. Aim to assemble a group who has an optimal mix of skills, knowledge, and experience. Remember: there’s a business problem to solve, and the team needs the right resources onboard to be successful.
- Keep it real. When there is a real business challenge to solve, there’s a meaning and intensity that’s hard to reproduce in a training class or simulation. Cross-functional teams come with real deliverables and due dates. There’s accountability, experimentation, re-work, email to answer, information to disperse, feedback, success, and real rewards. Employees are working on real strategic initiatives and adding real-world career experience to their repertoire. When cross-functional teams are positioned this way, they are more engaging and effective.
Elevate your Talent Strategy with Nielsen Associates
For over 35 years, Nielsen Associates has built, developed and nurtured a network of talented professionals and business leaders. We can quickly present the most progressive, capable, trustworthy candidates in the Human Resources, Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain and Tech industries. Request a free consultation with our team of specialized recruiters to learn more about our services.
