How to Build an Engaged Team (During Times of Uncertainty)
Building an engaged team, especially during times of uncertainty, takes focus.
As a leader and small business owner, it takes the ability to set goals, leverage support from experts, and take consistent action.
As a Virtual HR Consultant, I’ve had the absolute pleasure of working with Francesca Crispo Evans, Owner of Prism Behavioral Consulting, this past almost-year to be a part of the amazing work she’s done to grow her team and build team engagement - from setting up the employee handbook to ensuring best practices for hiring and retaining engaged employees, Francesca’s approach to leadership and the action she consistently takes to empower her team is inspiring.
Francesca was gracious enough to talk with me to showcase our work together in the hopes that it will help other purpose-driven leaders or small business owners.
Here’s what she had to say….
1. (Skye) Prism Behavioral Consulting is a Seattle based company, celebrating neurodiversity and providing compassionate, individualized behavioral therapy services to children and their families. I find that neurodiversity is a term/concept that is new to some people . Will you talk for a moment about what neurodiversity is and how you serve the clients you work with?
(Francesca) I think you're right that neurodiversity is probably a new term to some folks, but the concept is simple: people have different brains and the variances in the way we think or learn aren't deficits! In fact, they can be beneficial and pretty cool. Prism hopes to serve clients by celebrating and supporting these differences. We use the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis to help our clients more easily access a world that, to put it bluntly, isn't built with disabled or neurodiverse people in mind. ABA can be used to teach skills, like self care, or social skills, or functional replacements to behaviors that perhaps are unsafe or don't serve the individual as well as they can. Because ABA has a dark past, a lot of what we hope to do involves providing trauma-informed care that greatly involves our clients' decisions and input. We really want to honor the individuality of each person, family, and brain.
2. (Skye) On top of the important work you’re doing with clients, you’re a leader of a team of 14 as the owner of a small business. As an HR Consultant with 20 years of experience, I can truly say your team is engaged. What does employee engagement mean to you and the success of your business?
(Francesca) Employee engagement is everything. The wonderful people I work with make Prism run the way it does! Without them, we wouldn't be able to provide high quality services to as many families as we do. Because our work can be sensitive, emotional, and requires a high level of "presentness," it's crucial that the members of our team feel connected. Part of that, I think, is feeling supported by each other and myself as well, especially in a field that can be very demanding mentally. When we are all engaged, it seems that employee morale goes up, they feel more willing to come to me with any challenges or requests for support, and are willing to tackle new projects!
3. (Skye) When I was looking over your recent accomplishments, I am astounded by all that we’ve implemented with HR/employment practices this past year. From Prism’s handbook to a hiring toolkit to implementing Bonusly, an online peer-to-peer recognition system- it’s been a lot! What are 2-3 things you’ve done this past year that you feel has had the greatest impact on employee engagement?
(Francesca) We've really made some big moves this past year, Skye! If I were to pick only a couple, I'd say the biggest tools or changes definitely include Bonusly, which allows the team to connect, provide reinforcement to each other with words, GIFs, and points that lead to tangible rewards like gift cards. It's really neat and browsing through our team's notes to each other brightens my day! Revamping our meeting style to involve more conversation and team building, even if the topics feel heavy, has also really helped us connect as a team. Finally, I think leadership coaching with you has been invaluable. I know that learning how to have hard conversations and be consistent with my team isn't nearly as fun as ice-breakers during a team meeting, but I think my new skills instill confidence with the Prism team.
3. (Skye) One of the first projects we worked on was Prism’s employee handbook. How has the employee handbook benefited you and your team?
(Francesca) The handbook has been such an incredible tool. I think having all of this information in one handy location is useful to everyone on the team. It helps me ensure that I'm covering all of my bases as far as employment laws/requirements; really outlines our mission, values, and ethics; and keeps information consistent from employee to employee. It makes onboarding easier! It also gives staff access to this information at all times, so they have the power to look up answers to some of their questions.
4. (Skye) Before we close out, what do you think has been the biggest benefit of working with an HR Consultant to achieve your leadership and business goals?
(Francesca) Oh, it's hard to pick just one! As a new business owner, I think there is pressure to feel like you have all of the answers or can "do it all." We know that's impossible for one person, especially as a business grows the way that Prism has. I suppose the biggest benefit of working with an HR Consultant had been not having to know everything, but having this incredible fountain of knowledge available to help our team on so many fronts - team building, leadership, benefits (like the EAP we are about to implement), hiring, staff development, systems within our business… it's never-ending and I'm so grateful for your skills and support!
To learn more about Prism Behavioral Consulting, visit www.prismbehavioralconsulting.com
✨Do you want to learn more about how working with an HR Consultant will help you build an engaged team and achieve your leadership goals? Schedule a complimentary HR discovery call today!
Ways to Work with Skye
HR Consulting: On-demand, project-based, and monthly retainer services available. Customized services so you can quickly offload HR tasks to an experienced HR pro..
Leadership Training: Interactive in-person or online training tailored to your organization. Build leadership skills with relevant HR & leadership training.
Employee Handbooks: Handbooks tailored to your organization’s unique values and focused on reducing State and Federal compliance risk.
HR Strategy Session: Get quick answers to your HR questions from an HR pro. Receive expert guidance and a clear plan of action to resolve your immediate HR issues.
Leadership Coaching: Individualized, results-oriented coaching to help you achieve your career goals. Plus Career Coaching & Resume Writing for job seekers.
HR Special Projects: Impartial personnel Investigations, on-demand recruitment & onboarding, compensation planning, & more.
