Case Study
Client's Challenge:
Sun Life Philippines, the country’s first and longest-standing global financial services company, reached out to Management Strategies to develop and execute a tailored culture transformation program to positively change their Client Experience. To achieve this, it had to start internally with its Advisor and Staff Experiences. The program must be anchored on three focus areas: Client Centricity, Innovation, and Agility.Both Sun Life and Management Strategies recognized the importance of integrating Psychological Safety into Sun Life’s work culture. Psychological Safety is defined as a team’s collective belief that the environment is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. in a space where it is practiced, people feel safe speaking up, challenging the status quo, asking relevant questions, sharing new ideas, and venturing new ideas.
Our Approach
We tapped into Google’s Project Aristotle research, did our own studies and found that Psychological Safety is the single biggest correlate to a team’s success.We developed a program based on the work by Amy Edmonson, an authority in Psychological Safety and author of the book, The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth.The program looked into WHAT psychological safety is and its benefits, WHY we need it to build high-performing teams, and HOW we can improve psychological safety in our teams. The program included interactive workshops where participants were able to learn, discuss, and reflect on the topic. It included a deep dive into the Psychological Safety Toolkit provided easy-to-implement tips and techniques for the participants.With the support of top management, the culture transformation program is currently rolled out in phases. Phase 1 was a leadership development program for their 250-300 leaders. The secondary target audience was the 50+ intact leadership teams they belong to. As agents of critical changes, they were expected to drive the cultural transformation in the organization.
Results
Overall, the program was highly interactive and delivered positive results. Participants had the opportunity to discuss and reflect on Psychological Safety helped the participants understand the concepts and how to apply these at work.
The culture transformation program is currently rolled out in phases. Phase 1 is a leadership development program for their primary target audience of 250-300 leaders across their various offices in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The secondary target audience was the 50+ intact leadership teams they belonged to. As agents of critical changes, they were expected to drive the cultural transformation in the organization.
The culture transformation program is currently rolled out in phases. Phase 1 is a leadership development program for their primary target audience of 250-300 leaders across their various offices in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The secondary target audience was the 50+ intact leadership teams they belonged to. As agents of critical changes, they were expected to drive the cultural transformation in the organization.
Building Psychological Safety Workshop for Leaders
The first leg was the Psychological Safety Workshops for Leaders. This was conducted from January 2020 to April 2021. A total of 17 batches—2 were 8-hour in-person workshops, and 15 batches were 6-hour virtual workshops (split into three sessions of 2 hours each). Each batch had 15-25 participants each.
At the end of the workshop, leaders were able to:• Discover how the VUCA world needs us to evolve from leaders to high performing teams
• Describe how psychological safety is a requirement to create high performing teams
• Identify action steps to build an environment of psychological safety as leadersAs we rolled out the workshops, Sun Life’s leaders realized firsthand the power and benefits of psychological safety. They recognized how critical it was in transforming their culture and clamored for the program to be extended to their direct reports.
In response, a new program was launched in March 2021—Psychological Safety and Power of Voice. This is currently being conducted for the 1,000++ individual contributors in Sun Life until November 2021.
At the end of the workshop, leaders were able to:• Discover how the VUCA world needs us to evolve from leaders to high performing teams
• Describe how psychological safety is a requirement to create high performing teams
• Identify action steps to build an environment of psychological safety as leadersAs we rolled out the workshops, Sun Life’s leaders realized firsthand the power and benefits of psychological safety. They recognized how critical it was in transforming their culture and clamored for the program to be extended to their direct reports.
In response, a new program was launched in March 2021—Psychological Safety and Power of Voice. This is currently being conducted for the 1,000++ individual contributors in Sun Life until November 2021.
Team Assessment and Team Conversations
Session 4 covers Team Assessment and Team Conversations for the intact teams only. In total, over 50+Team Assessments and Conversations were held. Team Assessments will be administered again 6-12 months after the Team Conversation to monitor progress.As a result of the assessments and conversations, intact teams were able to:• Practice key skills learned in the workshops
• Explore and discuss their team psychological safety assessment results
• Agree on team norms to increase the level of psychological safety in their teamsThis shift in participants’ knowledge of psychological safety concepts is further validated by the responses to the feedback survey. Some key insights and learnings from the participants include how it helped them give clarity on developing a high-performing team as leaders, plus the importance of creating a Psychological Safe culture and its impact in providing consistently good service to its clients.The results proved that the team feels safe to discuss problems and challenges. It is easy for members to ask for help from the team, as seen in the two major themes that emerged from the qualitative survey: Innovative Behavior(speaking up about concerns/mistakes) and Inclusivity.
• Explore and discuss their team psychological safety assessment results
• Agree on team norms to increase the level of psychological safety in their teamsThis shift in participants’ knowledge of psychological safety concepts is further validated by the responses to the feedback survey. Some key insights and learnings from the participants include how it helped them give clarity on developing a high-performing team as leaders, plus the importance of creating a Psychological Safe culture and its impact in providing consistently good service to its clients.The results proved that the team feels safe to discuss problems and challenges. It is easy for members to ask for help from the team, as seen in the two major themes that emerged from the qualitative survey: Innovative Behavior(speaking up about concerns/mistakes) and Inclusivity.
Here are the responses we gathered from the survey:
1. Innovative behavior – speaking up about concerns/mistakes
Being open to my colleague and immediate manager for any concerns/issues/challenges I have for assistance.
We openly discuss issues related to work. Each member is encouraged to share their ideas on topics being tackled by the team. The team listens to each member and collaborates well with each other given the presence of a psychologically safe environment.
During huddles, encourage the team to share experience in CSC and each member to provide feedback, creating solutions to help with the problem. If team members raise concerns, schedule time for a one-on-one to better understand the problem, assure staff keep confidential, and give options to resolve the issue.
Listen to what they have to say. – Disagreements are ok as long as it promotes productive discussion and exchange of ideas – Let people speak, get their inputs – Acknowledge can be wrong – Respond to move forward how to fix/make better
More open conversation and no judgment on opinions that are different from mine2. Inclusivity
I ensure each team member has time to speak, whether about work or just by sharing non-work ideas.
Listening intently to team members to hear and validate them. Being able to share my thoughts/ideas without fear or worries.
I encourage my team members, my one-downs, that every question they have is valid and whenever we have meetings, each member has her own turn to speak.
Humanity first, be respectful, encourage contribution, provide emotional security, practice radical candor.
Involving everyone in finding a solution. Everyone can share his piece. Making every member a part of the solution.
Furthermore, most of the Leaders responses revealed that Enhance Collaboration and Open Communication is how Psychological Safety helped the team substantiate the positive changes from Baseline to 2nd Assessment of the Team Psychological Safety Assessment:3. Enhanced Collaboration
Delegation and collaboration became easier among the team.
Staff are more comfortable in escalating concerns Increased work efficiency resulting from shared fast failures and successes
We coordinated better and the exchange of ideas is free-flowing now.
Promoted teamwork and strengthened courageous team culture.
Allows the team to work well and able to show one’s self without fear of negative consequence4. Open Communication
It allowed us to be more open to each other. It created an environment of open communication and collaboration
Better alignment and open communication that brought about improved transparency and accountability
More members now speak up.
It has improved the way we communicate with each other
People are not afraid to speak their minds
Being open to my colleague and immediate manager for any concerns/issues/challenges I have for assistance.
We openly discuss issues related to work. Each member is encouraged to share their ideas on topics being tackled by the team. The team listens to each member and collaborates well with each other given the presence of a psychologically safe environment.
During huddles, encourage the team to share experience in CSC and each member to provide feedback, creating solutions to help with the problem. If team members raise concerns, schedule time for a one-on-one to better understand the problem, assure staff keep confidential, and give options to resolve the issue.
Listen to what they have to say. – Disagreements are ok as long as it promotes productive discussion and exchange of ideas – Let people speak, get their inputs – Acknowledge can be wrong – Respond to move forward how to fix/make better
More open conversation and no judgment on opinions that are different from mine2. Inclusivity
I ensure each team member has time to speak, whether about work or just by sharing non-work ideas.
Listening intently to team members to hear and validate them. Being able to share my thoughts/ideas without fear or worries.
I encourage my team members, my one-downs, that every question they have is valid and whenever we have meetings, each member has her own turn to speak.
Humanity first, be respectful, encourage contribution, provide emotional security, practice radical candor.
Involving everyone in finding a solution. Everyone can share his piece. Making every member a part of the solution.
Furthermore, most of the Leaders responses revealed that Enhance Collaboration and Open Communication is how Psychological Safety helped the team substantiate the positive changes from Baseline to 2nd Assessment of the Team Psychological Safety Assessment:3. Enhanced Collaboration
Delegation and collaboration became easier among the team.
Staff are more comfortable in escalating concerns Increased work efficiency resulting from shared fast failures and successes
We coordinated better and the exchange of ideas is free-flowing now.
Promoted teamwork and strengthened courageous team culture.
Allows the team to work well and able to show one’s self without fear of negative consequence4. Open Communication
It allowed us to be more open to each other. It created an environment of open communication and collaboration
Better alignment and open communication that brought about improved transparency and accountability
More members now speak up.
It has improved the way we communicate with each other
People are not afraid to speak their minds
Client's Message
In today’s day and age, Psychology Safety plays a significant role in today’s work environment, where employees will feel safe collaborating and communicating more openly. CEO and Country Head of Sun Life Philippines Benedict Sisonshares the same sentiments. In the video, he mentions that Psychology Safety is not an option, but a necessity today for organizations.This is due to the drastic changes in technology and evolving needs of the clients, together with the company’s shifting priorities and increasing competition in the industry. “Transformation is key for continued success for Sun Life. We need to constantly test and learn, be agile and innovative, and build a culture of high-performance across the company,” Sison says.This case study won the Outsourced Learning & Development Organization of the Year Award in the 5th Gawad Maestro Awards from the Philippine Society for Talent Development Inc. (PSTD). The PSTD is the foremost authority in the field of Learning and Development in the country.Management Strategies continues to carve a remarkable track record in invigorating company cultures and enabling organizations to grow and thrive in the face of ambiguity and volatility. For Sun Life Philippines, we successfully conceptualized and implemented a culture transformation program that has created a collaborative, open and psychologically safe work environment.
Contact us today and let’s discuss what we can do to transform your company culture.
Contact us today and let’s discuss what we can do to transform your company culture.