By Patricia Schaeffer, Talent Strategy Partners
Recently, Pat Schaeffer and her colleague Barbara Taylor sat down with Dr. Joanna Vazquez, Executive VP of Strategic Initiatives for Philly SHRM, to record an HR Fresh Take podcast on Silo-Busting Networking. We hope you’ll listen to this enlightening podcast when it drops this Fall 2024! In the meantime, here are some highlights from the session.
How and Why Silos Begin in Organizations
Silos form naturally because we are hardwired to categorize our surroundings. In the workplace, silos manifest as departments, work teams, business units, and even hierarchical structures. The rise of remote working has added another layer of siloing.
Silo-Busting Networking is a strategic approach to creating connections that break down the internal barriers to communication and collaboration that silos inherently create.
Permeating Rather than Breaking Down
People often ask if it’s possible to completely dismantle organizational silos. Our answer is “no.” Silos serve a purpose in organizing the work world. Instead of breaking them down, it’s better to think of them as permeable membranes rather than brick walls. Silo-Busting Networking is about building trusted internal relationships that allow communication and collaboration to flow freely through these silos.
Silo-Busting Skills
Our research has identified three key skills needed to create permeable functional and hierarchical silos: curiosity, connection, and purpose. I previously described these skills (below) in Philly SHRM’s September 2023 Newsletter article titled “Silo-Busting Networking: Three senior leadership skills that lead to better business results”.
- Curiosity is the strong desire to know things. Employees with curiosity learn about
what’s going on throughout the organization, looking for “stretch” opportunities. - Connection is the ability to see the world through others’ eyes. It’s the ability to build
and maintain a network of relationships with colleagues throughout the organization,
no matter their background or position. - Purpose is an intention or aim; a reason for doing something or allowing something to
happen. It’s understanding what drives overall organization results and how one can
contribute to them.
The Chicken and Egg Dilemma
Does silo-busting networking drive cultural norms, or do cultural norms determine how people network internally? The answer is a bit of both. For silo-busting networking to be effective, it must be embedded in the organization’s culture—the way people work. The skills of curiosity, connection, and purpose should be integral to how work gets done.
In cultures where people work independently, rarely interact outside their work unit, and avoid making suggestions to those higher in the organizational hierarchy, a cultural shift is needed for silo-busting networking to be effective. Leaders must set the expectation that people will work differently, making collaboration and open communication the new norm. This expectation can even be built into performance planning and evaluation.
On the flip side, the organization’s core values also influence silo-busting networking. As people network, they adapt to fit in, careful not to violate cultural norms. For example, in organizations that value diversity and inclusion, people will intentionally build networks with those who have different perspectives, challenging their thinking. In organizations where well being is a core value, people will build positive relationships by empathizing with others, considering what it’s like to “walk in their shoes.”
Lessons Learned
Our experience working with organizations to introduce silo-busting networking has taught us an important lesson: Conducting workshops to develop these skills isn’t effective unless the organization’s leadership embraces the concept and fosters an environment where internal networking is the norm, embedded in the culture.
Leaders set the group norm through their words and, more importantly, their actions. They should demonstrate curiosity, connection, and purpose. As organizational behaviorist Larry Senn said, “Culture is the shadow of the leader.” Employees will emulate their leaders because they see these behaviors as the formula for success.
What Can HR Do to Facilitate Silo-Busting Networking?
Whether you are an HR Business Partner or the head of HR, there are steps you can take to jump-start Silo-Busting Networking in your organization. Here are just two examples:
- HR Business Partners can create a Business Partner Forum, bringing together
counterparts from all areas of the organization on a regular basis—monthly, quarterly, or ad hoc, whatever works best. Use the Forum as a safe space to share challenges and solutions, innovative ideas, and successes. If you’ve been focused on your internal silo, you’ll be gratified at how much you have in common with your coworkers and how much you can help one another. Many heads really are better than one. - Heads of HR can bring other executives together around a shared initiative, such as a talent review. Lead a roundtable discussion of high-potential individuals and where these “hi-po’s” might advance within the organization. Encourage each executive to talk about people they know across the organization, not just within their silo. This encourages enterprise-wide thinking, a keystone of Silo- Busting Networking, and helps position talent as an asset to the entire organization rather than just to individual
functions or business units.
Start small. Anything you do to cultivate silo-busting skills and help people become effective internal networkers will contribute to a more connected and collaborative organization.
About the Author
Patricia Schaeffer: Pat is co-founder of Talent Strategy Partners, a consulting practice that helps companies maintain a robust leadership pipeline through succession planning and leadership development. She also co-created Silo-Busting Networking, practitioners whose mission is to ignite employee’s ability to create strategic networks that break down obstacles to growth, productivity, communication, and collaboration.
She has contributed articles to the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (HR Pulse Magazine), Association for Talent Development (TD Magazine), Chief Learning Officer Magazine, World at Work (Workspan magazine), among others. Topics have included organizational culture, silo-busting networking, and training and development.
Pat is Chair of the Compensation Committee of the Board of Trustees of Springpoint Senior Living, a leader in senior housing and care; a Trustee of Tabby’s Place, a cat sanctuary; part of the Membership Committee Leadership Team for Beacon, a premier executive networking organization; and serves on panels for the Advisory Network for Small Business. Pat is also a member of Philly SHRM’s Thought Leadership Team.
Contact Information: Patricia Schaeffer,
Talent Strategy Partners LLC, (http://www.talentstrategypartners.com/),
pschaeffer@tsphr.com, (215) 275-7430
Editor: Dennis Paris
Becoming a Philly SHRM Thought Leader
We are always looking for inspiring minds! If you are interested in learning more about how to become a Philly SHRM Thought Leader, offering your professional views about this or any Thought Leader article, or want to chat about contributing content on a hot or innovative HR related topic, please reach out to Dennis Paris and Evelyn Reed, Co-VPs of Thought Leadership at: thoughtleader@phillyshrm.org
