Your Caring Team is the heart of a strong, caring company culture and building a strong Caring Team is a process. That process starts even before you have Caring Team Members join the Caring Team.  

Since most Caring Teams are formed by a group of employees elected by their peers, the first step to building a strong Caring Team is to educate your employees about what traits they should be looking for in the person they’re voting for to represent them on the Caring Team. 

Some traits we recommend in a good Caring Team Member are: 

1. A heart for the people they will be serving
2. Good communication skills
   • Caring Team Members must be comfortable sharing with their group about the Caring Activities and upcoming events in the company. 
   • Caring Team Members should also be approachable and be great listeners so that the employees they represent will feel comfortable bringing their needs to them. 
   • Remember, every person communicates differently. Encourage your Caring Team Members to embrace their God-given strengths and talents (more on that later).
3. A strong example of your company’s Core Values
4. Eagerness to engage in the Caring Activities and Caring Team Meetings
5. What other traits do you look for in a good Caring Team Member? Share with us in the comments. 

The next step in building a strong Caring Team is to onboard your new Caring Team Members. Your onboarding process should educate them about your company’s Caring Vision and Strategy as it was developed by the Vision Team in your Company. Your onboarding process should also help to bring your team together and encourage them to get to know one another and the employees they represent.

Your work in building a strong Caring Team doesn’t stop there! This is an ongoing process that is never finished. In each of your meetings, you’ll want to set aside time to communicate with your Caring Team Members about what how to be a good Caring Team. We encourage you to bring a new topic to each meeting and when possible, use a video from RightNowMedia @ Work or another activity to help illustrate the topic you’re highlighting in that meeting. 

            Some helpful topics might be: 

1. How to lean in to difficult conversations (we’ll cover this in more detail in our June article and Membership call).
2. Ways to communicate based on their personality type
3. How to identify a person in need
4. How to engage the company’s leadership in Caring Activities and Events
5. Open forum – Encourage them to bring forward any challenges they’re feeling in their role on the Caring Team. As your Caring Team matures and you bring in new Members, your more tenured Caring Team Members will be a great resources for newer Members and new Members may bring a fresh perspective to the team. 
6. What topics do you cover in the ongoing development of your Caring Team Members? Share with us in the comments. 

And finally, encourage each of your Caring Team Members to utilize their strengths and that any personality (as long as they have a Caring heart) can be a great Caring Team Member! God has given each of them a purpose for their lives and each of them has talents and strengths that equip them to do His work in different ways. 

Remember – 

1 Corinthians 12:17-20

If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?  If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?  But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body.