Describe an occasion when you observed group think.
One of our organizational key initiatives is our global engagement survey, which takes place every 2 years. The survey is comprised of 43 questions that fall into one of 12 categories. One of the categories is “reward and recognition”. Typically, this is one of the lower-scoring categories with our associates.
Two years ago, the organization assigned a team to identify ways to improve this category. The team was made up of associates in our Corporate HR Department, and they began their work by doing research on what other organizations were doing in the space of R&R. I was a part of the meeting where this project team reported out their findings and made recommendations based on their work. The main recommendation included the implementation of a very complex “points” system for reward and recognition. There research indicated that these types of programs are very effective in engaging associates and making them feel recognized.
However, the project team was questioned on whether they had received any feedback from the field associates on whether this program would be considered valuable. The team needed to admit that they had neglected to gain any insight from the field associates. However they were certain that this “points” platform would do the trick.
Before the organization decided to implement their idea, they tasked another team with obtaining feedback from field associates via focus groups, in order to determine if we should make the investment in the program.
The focus groups were conducted and overwhelmingly, their feedback indicated that they were primarily interested in feeling appreciated by their supervisor with just a simple “Thank You”. This verbal recognition was not a regular practice and was clearly not a part of the culture.
The decision was made to forego any investment in a R&R “points” program, and to dedicate time and training for managers on how to provide meaningful recognition to their associates, verbally, with a “thank you”.
It was interesting how the initial project team operated under “Group think” and was pressured to make a decision based on their assumptions.