Restoring collective performance through psychological safety and organizational clarity
In a context of deep and rapid organizational transformation, our client a leader in future mobility faced a paradoxical situation: despite having expert, committed, and lucid teams, collective performance was being hindered by interpersonal tensions, growing psychological fatigue, and a progressive loss of shared milestones.
The observed signals (disengagement, defensive behaviors, diffuse conflicts, and mental overload) were not due to a lack of individual skills, but rather a systemic misalignment between the organization’s structure, human needs, and modes of cooperation.
The leadership team sought to go beyond a traditional audit to understand the actual inner workings of the collective, identify priority levers, and recreate the conditions for sustainable engagement.
Our approach
We designed and deployed a "TeamUp" initiative centered on 2 key principles derived from our research and years of experience as HR executives:
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Psychological Safety : The bedrock of sustainable performance and an essential condition for collective learning, cooperation, and innovation (based on the work of Amy Edmonson, Harvard Business School).
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Self-Determination Theory: Recognizing that observed behaviors are adaptive responses tu unmet needs rather than individual failings ( Deci & Ryan).
The program was built upon:
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Preliminary individual interviews to capture diverse perspectives.
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Collective workshops focused on real-world dynamics.
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Visual and experiential tools (Wall of needs, Flashcards).
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Explicit articulation of the human mechanisms at play (defensive ego, disengagement, passive-agressive patterns, mental overload).
The objective was not to produce an artificial consensus, but to make real tensions ans their systemic causes visible, understanding their impact on the group in order to take decisive action to resolve them.
Diagnosis
Our analysis highlighted 3 structural findings:
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Persistent Organizational Ambiguity
The coexistence of diverging cultures (Industrial, Agile, Start-up) without explicit shared rules created contradictory expectations. This led to blurred roles & responsabilities and a progressive weakening of managerial legitimacy. -
Unmet Collective Needs
Fundamental needs for safety, recognition, clarity and autonomy were not sufficiently adressed. This gap triggered various protective behaviors, including withdrawal, irony, opposition and overcompensation. -
Silent Disengagement
Without intervention, teams were at risk of drifting toward organizational disengagement: maintening a physical presence while experiancing a significant decline in energy, initiative, and emotional involvement.
Key Drivers
The TeamUp program enabled a shift perspective: from individuals to the system, from behaviors to needs, and from tensions to concrete levers for action.
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Clarifying the "Rules of the Game" Who decides? On what? With what level of accountability?
Inspired by the work of Elinor Ostrom, we redefined the framework not as a constraint, but as a facilitator of cooperation. -
Re-establishing a Safe Relational Framework
This involved naming "at-risk" behaviors, setting explicit ground rules, and restoring management's role in team regulation and conflict resolution. -
Transforming tensions into material for collective work
The workshops allowed the teams to connect causes and effects, move past individual interpretations, and co-build realistic action plans by the teams themselves. -
Re-impulsing engagement through concrete action
Each group formalized short-term commitments fostering "Quick Wins" to build immediate momentum and visible progress.
Results
Following the program, several improvements were observed:
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Conflict Resolution : A significant reduction in tensions, replaced by more constructive and transparent communication.
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Ownership & Belonging: A renewed sense of belonging and a stronger commitment to collective responsability.
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Adaptive Capability: An increased ability to express needs, disagreements, and adjust work practices without over-personalizing issues.
Beyond simple "Team building", this initiative established the foundations for a sustainable shift in cooperation, an essential prerequisite for high performance in complex and evolving environments.
Key Takeaways
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Motivation cannot be mandated: It is co-created through the quality of the psychological climate.
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"Toxic" behaviors as signals : So-called "weak signals" of systemic imbalance within the organization.
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Psychological safety is not a "soft" topic but can be a strategic driver for performance, engagement and collective resilience.
Dual-career excellence
Performing at the highest level: balancing elite sports objectives with academic excellence.
We have designed and implemented a bespoke support program tailored to the unique needs of elite student-athletes.
Their objective: to achieve athletic excellence while maintening personal well-being and academic success.
Our approach is built up on 4 complementary pillars:
Career assessment : clarifying and implementing a strategic academic and professional roadmap.
Emotional assessment : analysing emotional patterns or state of mind to achieve balance under high-pressure conditions.
Mental performance coaching : building focus, resilience and self-confidence to ensure consistent performance.
Personalized workbook : a dedicated tool to track progress & success and also maintain momentum.
The results
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Strategic Roadmap: A clearly defined path supported by a 12-month integrated action plan ( academic, professional, athletic).
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Emotional Resilience: Increased stability, significantly reducing the risk of burnout or dropout.
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Performance Consistency
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Carreer Security : Maximised employability and "carreer pivot"
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Stakeholder Reassurance: Peace of mind for the athlete's support network (family, coaching staff and academic advisors).
Review of the compensation and benefits policy to ensure the consistency, competitiveness and international compliance of the group’s compensation package.
In a context of structuring and harmonising its HR practices, our client wanted to review its compensation and benefits policy to ensure its consistency, competitiveness and compliance.
The group already had an internal policy in place, but its application to existing contracts revealed potential gaps between the principles defined, the practices actually observed, and local and European regulatory requirements.
Management wanted to go beyond a simple document review in order to assess the relevance of the framework against market best practices, identify risk areas and secure the application of the policy across all relevant employee populations.
Approach
We designed and deployed a structured analysis process built around three key objectives:
To verify the consistency of the compensation and benefits policy with the group’s HR strategy.
To test its practical application on existing employment contracts.
To assess its compliance with local and European regulations, as well as with market best practices.
The process was based on:
a detailed review of the compensation and benefits policy,
an analysis of a sample of existing contracts,
a comparison between internal rules and applied practices,
the identification of gaps, risks and inconsistencies,
a benchmark against relevant market practices,
an analysis of applicable regulatory obligations according to the countries concerned.
The objective was to secure the existing framework, identify the necessary adjustments and enable the group to rely on a clear, fair, compliant policy adapted to its development challenges.
Diagnosis
The analysis highlighted three key findings:
Heterogeneous application of the internal policy, particularly across German employment contracts within the group’s different entities.
Some contracts showed differences between the principles defined by the group and the conditions actually granted to employees, particularly regarding variable compensation, benefits or specific contractual conditions.
A need to clarify and harmonise the rules.
The existing policy needed to be clarified on several points in order to limit interpretation, strengthen internal fairness and facilitate its application by HR and management teams.
Local and European compliance challenges.
Certain practices needed to be verified or adjusted to ensure alignment with local legal obligations, European requirements and regulatory developments relating to compensation, equal treatment and transparency.
Levers activated
The assignment made it possible to move from a one-off review approach to a broader process of securing the overall compensation framework.
The main levers addressed were:
Clarifying the compensation and benefits framework: formalising the rules, eligibility criteria, application procedures and approval levels.
Harmonising contractual practices: identifying gaps between existing contracts and the group policy, then defining the adjustments to be made.
Strengthening regulatory compliance: verifying local and European obligations in order to reduce legal and social risks.
Aligning the policy with market best practices: analysing the competitiveness of the framework and identifying areas for improvement to strengthen attractiveness and retention.
Securing operational implementation: providing concrete recommendations to facilitate the application of the policy by HR teams, managers and support functions.
Observed results
At the end of the assignment, several improvements were achieved:
A clear view of the gaps between the group policy and its application to existing contracts.
A better identification of risks related to non-compliance or internal inconsistency.
A compensation and benefits policy that was clearer, more structured and easier to apply.
Concrete recommendations to harmonise practices, secure contracts and strengthen internal fairness.
A more robust HR framework, aligned with market best practices and local and European regulatory requirements.
Beyond the technical review of the policy, this assignment helped strengthen the group’s HR governance and laid the foundations for a more coherent, secure and attractive compensation system.