HUMAN RESOURCES
MASTERING THE ART OF INTENTIONAL RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING
Contributed by WAHVE ( Work at Home Vintage Experts )
Traditionally workers have measured their value within an organization as a combination of effort and performance ( i . e ., contribution to the bottom line ). For the most part , this is a result of how companies have long assessed their employees . After the Vietnam war , companies adopted a Bell curve formulation to create a fair structure for evaluating job performance . The Bell Curve led to a ranking system that keeps the majority of employees within the “ meets goals ” category , while a select few “ exceed goals ” or “ need improvement .” People who fall to the bottom of the curve are gradually culled from organizations , while those at the high-performance end of the curve grow and are promoted . Now , with more people than ever working from home , it ’ s time to expand how we assess job performance to include communication and relationshipbuilding skills , as it ’ s no longer enough to focus on effort and performance alone .
The in-person office environment naturally created daily opportunities for workers to build communication skills and relationships . It was easy to connect and network across teams , from impromptu meetings to lunch outings and casual conversations . As some employees work from home , the environment that made these things easy has been physically removed . There are no water cooler conversations or people stopping by to catch up , and no one can physically see the time and effort you put in at work . It may be even easier to see your performance as solely tied to output in this new normal . The reality , though , is that communication and relationship building are still critical job skills that help drive business success – but now , you have to be intentional about maintaining and growing them .
A recent study by Fast Company found that workers who communicate with colleagues primarily through videoconferencing are less effective at building relationships than when communication happens face to face . In the same study , workers also reported a deterioration in work relationships . So , while it can be tempting to go on “ Zoom auto-pilot ” day after day , the best way to build relationships and value at your job is to practice being intentional .
HOW TO BE INTENTIONAL Create an intentional cadence of communication with a few people you know in your organization . It doesn ’ t matter if they are seasoned employees or new hires . Reach out by phone ( not video conferencing ) to one or two of these
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