How design thinking solves complex people problems

Are you struggling with complex people problems like disengagement, poor performance or low morale? Understanding the root cause is no easy task. Often there are numerous jarring factors to work through.

Stepping back and looking objectively at your whole company culture is a diagnostic process. Looking at all its cogs and moving parts reveals the dust, grime and failing pieces that require reassembly.

It’s not always comfortable, but design thinking equips you to evolve in an empathic way: it’s a game changer for ensuring employee wellbeing, respect, and retention.

At fluxfutures, we use design thinking in all we do.

What is design thinking.

Design thinking is a collaborative way of thinking and understanding the people who engage with a product, service, or experience. It’s about working with stakeholders to analyse a whole process or system, identify the biggest pain points, and co-design a tailored solution.

At its core, design thinking is about understanding the whole while keeping the user at the centre of the process.

Personalised employee experience is increasingly vital in today’s labour market. Designing your employee experience with your people will place you strides ahead of your closest competitors. 

As industry leaders, it’s our responsibility to design employee experiences around our people: consumers of the workplace.

Design thinking is insight-driven personalisation.

Your people are your biggest asset. But how many companies can say they fully understand their teams’ needs, motivations, and behaviour? 

Brands invest millions in identifying and understanding their customers. They know them inside out, down to the smallest of details and adapt their marketing and consumer experience accordingly. 

They invest significantly less in understanding their people. Employees are considered one group, and their experience is generic, based on assumptions, not facts.

Assumptions are opinions disguised as truth. At best, they should be considered hypotheses for testing. The trouble with assumptions is that they’re easy and are often used to plaster over uncertainty.

Applying an assumption as fact is one of the leading causes of complex people problems. A one-size-fits-all approach when designing your employee experience is the most significant assumption of all and is an exercise in indifference.

Design thinking, on the other hand, is applied curiosity. 

You analyse your people, really get to know them, and fully understand their needs, interests, and pain points in the same way you do with your customers.

Jenn in Accounting has vastly different needs and wants than Amir in Logistics, and both should have the opportunity to be involved in decisions that affect them directly.

You could assume that you know why your employees are disengaged (for example), but we guarantee you’ll get better insight if you ask them.

Furthermore, doing so shows you appreciate your people individually and are committed to understanding their frustrations.

Design thinking builds trust and improves wellbeing. Listening and finding the best solutions to real issues shows that you intend to give your team the tools they need to do their best work.

It empowers you to redefine work within your company and create a culture that fosters innovation and encourages development. You can use your data to attract, curate and engage your employees in a way that’s not possible when based on assumption alone.

It enables you to be outcome-oriented. Focusing on something other than traditional notions of value (KPIs, cost and efficiency) allows you to approach the problem from a different, immensely valuable perspective: the human experience of your team. 

With their buy-in, you can assess their experience as it is now, use that information to co-design your ideal outcome, and develop a roadmap to get there.

Design thinking is honest collaboration.

Collaboration is the action of working with someone to produce something. It’s the cornerstone of design thinking. ‘With’ levels the playing field. Collaboration encourages participation and demonstrates that ideas and feedback are welcome.

In the corporate space, employee experience is often restricted to their particular function. Communication across teams and ranks enable employees to look beyond their role to the system they operate within.

Furthermore, acting on the shared experiences of your team gives your employees ownership of the solution and builds resilience for future challenges and complexity. 

Design thinking nurtures psychological safety.

We are social creatures hardwired to ‘belong’. 

Design thinking with your employees, rather than imposing change, shows your company values diversity of thought. 

Only when someone feels respected, valued, and supported are they confident enough to speak openly and challenge the status quo. Fear of failure, rejection or reprimand is sufficient to stifle their creativity. 

Design thinking is a great way to inspire the confidence of your team. Creating a community around the problems they face and working together to find the best solution for all stakeholders creates a supportive, unafraid, and innovative culture. 

A brand that values its customers creates loyalty. So does an employer that respects and enhances its employee experience.

Design thinking is the future. 

Consumers increasingly demand more personalised offerings from brands. It’s not surprising that employees, your workplace consumers, want and deserve equal investment, care and attention. 

Applying design thinking to your employee experience is your logical next step to create a fear-free, engaged, empathic culture.

Design thinking productises your employee experience.  Much like Nike’s esteemed product campaigns attract new consumers and satisfy brand fans, an authentic and stand-out employee experience attracts new employees and retains your best talent. The key to success is in the design thinking process and keeping your employees at the centre rather than at arm’s length.