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Terri Woods and investing in social capital
By Nicole Zummach
October 16, 2006
SASKATOON, SK // Most of us spend a good chunk of our waking life with colleagues. The relationships we forge with those around us can be supportive, stimulating, or in some case, downright frustrating. We know how relationships with our colleagues can affect us personally, but what about how they affect the organization we work for? Could water cooler gossip or a lunch out with the executive director actually impact organizational effectiveness and success? Absolutely, according to Terri Woods, clinical director at Family Service Saskatoon.
Selected as a Muttart Fellow in 2004, Woods spent a year researching social capital to better understand what it is and how it can strengthen nonprofit organizations. CharityVillage spoke with her about the concept of social capital, its importance in the workplace, and what organizations can do to nurture it.
CharityVillage: The term social capital can be interpreted in different ways. How do you define it?

Terri Woods: That certainly was the place where I started when I began my research during my fellowship year. One of my goals for myself was to develop a thorough understanding of the concept of social capital. Basically, social capital is the assets inherent in relationships. So if you think about any organization, we typically think about the physical capital - the desks, the office space - and the financial capital. In more recent years, you hear people talking about the human capital, intellectual capital - what people bring into the organization in terms of their expertise and experience. The social capital, I think, really captures another dimension of organizational life. It is present in all organizations, but people often don't pay attention to it unless they are invited to do so.
Because social capital is largely invisible, there are a couple of aspects of it that are useful to keep in mind. First, unlike other forms of capital, the more you use social capital, the more you generate. When a group or organization has a good stock of social capital, almost everything is easier because people can turn to each other for information, support, etc. Trust, engagement, reciprocity, cooperative action tends to generate more of the same. Secondly, most forms of social capital are generated and disappear as a byproduct of other activities. There is an underinvestment in social capital because we don't recognize it nor value it as an asset for both individuals and for organizations as a whole.
So, it is worth nurturing healthy relationships in a variety of different ways in organizations because individuals benefit from that, and the organization as a whole benefits in terms of increased productivity and more effective work. Really, when we talk about social capital we're talking about networks; we're talking about relationships; we're talking about shared values. It's nothing new or magical.

CV: So, what was the goal of your research?

TW: I was particularly interested in the elements that are part of a healthy organization. In my years of practice, I have become aware of how organizations have been impacted by interpersonal conflicts, by a lack of trust between, for example, the executive director and the staff. When you look at the interpersonal dimension of an organization, you see people leaving not because they don't enjoy their work, but because they don't feel valued, they don't feel like they can trust their colleagues, etc. I was interested in the well-being of organizations and I thought that social capital might be an interesting framework from which to examine that more carefully. I wanted to explore the relationship between human capital, social capital, and organizational productivity. I also wanted to identify and describe practices that support and enhance both personal well-being and organizational social capital.
CV: What advice might you give to nonprofits that want to foster social capital?

TW: Social capital is a very real organizational asset, and it's worth nurturing in organizations. We can recognize social capital by paying attention to organizational culture, the various networks of relationships - formal and especially informal - that exist in the organization, and the role that we play in fostering these relationships. These days, I think most organizations recognize people as their key resource. A social capital perspective focuses attention on people and their relationships with one another.
Social capital is a very nice framework for thinking about a dimension of organizational life that is very important, though often gets neglected and often is the reason why good people leave organizations. I think the starting point is to recognize that social capital is there. On a very practical level, a tool that organizations can use is an employee survey. It's an opportunity for people to reflect back to the organization their sense of connection to the people they work with, how supported they feel, whether they are getting the information they need to do their work, whether there is trust and fun, how long they envision themselves staying with the organization...that kind of thing.
CV: Did you notice a difference when you returned to your own workplace with a renewed awareness of the importance of social capital?

TW: I have noticed a difference, and I do think it's about awareness. I think about how I might bring it into the workplace in a more practical way. In terms of implementation of some of these tools, I think there is certainly room to do that. And I certainly have a heightened awareness now of the interactional processes. Of course, I am a social worker and some of this has been part of my frame of reference for many years. As a family therapist, for example, what was interesting for me was just applying some of those same ideas to the organization, taking it to another level.
CV: How did your sabbatical year impact you personally and professionally?

TW: I had a wonderful year until the last month. I just feel so privileged to have had that opportunity to read and play with ideas and then try to weave them together into something that made sense to me, and which I hope will be useful to others. Then, in the last month of my fellowship, my dad got sick. He contracted West Nile Virus and died last September. That, of course, impacted everything. My manuscript, which I had hoped would be finished when I returned to work, wasn't. I put it on the shelf when my dad got sick. But life happens. Things happen that we can't predict and can't control and you just have to roll with it.

Terri Woods has been with Family Service Saskatoon (FSS) for fourteen years. In her role as clinical director of the agency, she is responsible for the clinical program at FSS, overseeing counselling services, providing supervision to counselling staff, establishing policies and practices, and much more. Her manuscript is currently in the editing phase and she hopes to have it published in the next six months.

To learn more about the Muttart Fellowship program, visit: www.muttart.org/fellowsprogram.htm.