Dignity AND Respect In The Workplace

Hello again,

Before I get started I would like to thank my friend Alpha for being my Muse this week. In a recent email Alpha asked me what people are looking for…what key words are they using to find my blog? She suggested the following:

• inspiration
• hope
• restoring meaning
• inner peace
• growth

These words are quite different in fact from the key words that usually bring people to my blog. We’ll come back to this in a minute.

At the same time that Alpha and I were emailing back and forth I was searching the www for something else and I came across a reference to DIGNITY in the workplace.

Used in this context the word DIGNITY intrigued me so I decided to dig a bit deeper.

As is the way of the web my search took me first to Ohio State University where Sociology Professor Randy Hodson has done research on Dignity at Work.

Dr. Hodson’s motivation in doing this research was to “look at the deeper meaning of work in our lives”.  One of the key findings of this research will probably not surprise you:

“…mismanagement may be the biggest threat to working with dignity. The thing that undermines dignity more than anything is incompetence and mismanagement.”

In my rambling I also found another university that is supporting research into DIGNITY at work. This research is being conducted at the Strathclyde University Business School and the researcher’s name is Sharon C. Bolton.

Dr. Bolton is suggesting that we need to consider the bigger picture. In fact she argues that,

“work quality must be put into the Dignity at Work agenda and suggests an holistic framework that incorporates pressing workplace concerns, including work life balance, pay and conditions, learning and development.”

Now, getting back to my earlier emails with Alpha and her question about key words.

The typical key words that people are using for find HEALING THE WORKPLACE are bullying, harsssment, abuse, and stress…words that lead me to believe that people are hurting in the workplace.

On the work and society website Dr. Bolton has put into words something that I have been thinking for some time:

“Dignity at work has become dominated by the issue of bullying and harassment and that although these are important issues and must be addressed…they draw attention away from a much broader set of issues.”

What do you think? Let’s continue this discussion next week!

Cheers, Lesley

Healing the Workplace Using Appreciative Inquiry

Hi!

I’m not sure if I’ve ever written about Appreciative Inquiry or AI.

“Appreciative Inquiry is an approach to organizational analysis and learning that is uniquely intended for discovering, understanding, and fostering innovation in organizations.” David Cooperrider

AI is different from most approaches to organizational development in that it focuses on the positive, life affirming forces in organizations.

Now, how did I get here? Most days I like to look at the search words that people are using to find my blog. One day the term ’strength-based organizations’ appeared. This was new terminology to me and so I looked it up on the www.

One thing led to another and I ended up on the site of the International Journal of AI Best Practice which is in the UK. Click on the link and you’ll find an article that links AI and strength-based organizations.

So, what is AI and what does it have to do with HEALING THE WORKPLACE? Plenty!

For those of you still doubting the need to ‘heal our workplaces’ you might want to reflect on the following list of words and phrases that came into common usage during the 20th century:

• Organizational stress
• Theory X (workers can’t be trusted etc. etc.)
• Job dissatisfaction
• Work alienation
• Role conflict
• Bureaucratic red tape
• Low morale
• Group think
• Peter Principle (look it up:)
• Neurotic organizations
• Burnout
• Etc. etc.

Now, if our workplaces were healthy would we have needed  these words to describe what was going on at work?

 My guess is probably not.

These words came into our vernacular because our workplaces were (are) dysfunctional and in need of healing!

In 1987 David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva published Appreciative Inquiry in Organizational Life and this was the first time that the term Appreciative Inquiry had appeared in print.

Up until the 1980’s the focus of Industrial Psychologists and Organizational Development specialists was on PROBLEMS or on the things that were NOT working in organizations.

AI, on the other hand, is based on the assumption that organizations are HEALTHY & VITAL.

The 4 basic steps of Appreciative Inquiry are as follows:

1.  Discover and value the things that give life to the organization.

2.  Envision what might be…envision new possibilities.

3.  Engage people in dialogue. Everyone needs to be included in an open sharing of discoveries and possibilites.

4.  Finally, construct a new future through innovation and action.

If you are interested in giving AI a try you might want to read, Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive Revolution in Change by David Cooperrider and Diana Whitney. Written in 2005 this introductory book describes AI in detail and gives you the steps needed to get started.

Let me know how it goes!

Lesley

Trust Is The Glue That Holds It All Together

Goodmorning!

I’ve just been looking at the “search words” people use to find my blog. In the past week the word trust has been predominant.

Everything begins with trust:

• the success of our relationships
• the success of our teams
• the success of our organizations

Trust is the foundation that makes it possible for us to work together and to accomplish the work we need to accomplish. Trust is the glue that holds it all together once we have begun.

If your workplace is in need of healing it’s a good bet that trust has been broken and we all know that once trust has been broken it is difficult to regain that trust.

How does one begin? I think it depends on a number of different things:

• the extent of the damage
• how long trust has been broken
• who broke the trust in the first place
• the size of the organization
• one’s position in the organization

There are certainly hundreds of different approaches you can take to begin the healing and thousands of consultants who would be happy to help you.

Most approaches don’t work because they are short term and ad hoc. Rebuilding trust takes time and short term interventions probably won’t work. At least not in my experience.

Last year I met a CEO who told me his story: when he became the CEO he ‘inherited’ a VP of Operations. This person had been with the organization for some time and appeared to be doing good work. It wasn’t long before problems began to surface.

The VP was disfunctional and she was a bully. She had created a culture of fear and after she left the CEO began a long, slow process of healing and rebuilding.

I think that I can safely say that it has taken YEARS to rebuild the trust necessary for the organization to grow and move forward. 

So, back to my earlier question about what to do and how to start? Like most things in life…it depends. In my example above the CEO took the lead. I’ll have to ask him if I can share more of his story in a future blog.

Sometimes you will have to take the lead.

I once worked in a fairly large health care organization (large by Canadian standards) and there had been a number of layoffs and cuts to front line staff.  Many of these people had been with the organization for over twenty years.

They described themselves as family and there was a lot of heartbreak and confusion when they left the organization.

Timing is everything in life and at that point in time I had the opportunity to arrange a dialogue with the CEO and a number of staff from the hospitals that had been affected by the cuts. It was a fascinating experiment for me as I had never done anything like it before.

Everyone was nervous! I think the CEO was the most nervous of all us us. We started off with a reflection and agreement on ground rules and then commenced the dialogue which lasted about an hour.

Everyone behaved appropriately and I think that people came away feeling like they had had some of their questions answered and had a better understanding of management’s decision.

But what if you are not the CEO or not in a position to call meetings with people outside your team or department?

Remember Ghandi’s words? “Be the change you want in the world.”

Thich Nhat Hanh says, “We must be the  peace we wish to see in the world.”

Another way to look at this is to approach the work with “a spirit of compassion and curiosity”. This is from the book Gracious Space written by Patricia M. Hughes.

I’ll write more about Gracious Space in another post.

It really does begin with us. Sometimes we can make a difference and begin the healing process  with our colleagues. Sometimes we have to look after ourselves and we need to move on and leave the place that is broken.

Peace!

Lesley

Mental Health in the Workplace

Hi there, Many of you are looking for ways to create healthy workplaces, although you might not think about it that way. A lot of the topics that I’ve discussed on this blog are about the importance of creating healthy workplaces.

Did you know that depression in the workplace is on the rise? Here are some interesting facts that I find surprising:

1. Depression affects people in their working years between the ages of 24 and 44. Not to say that people of other ages don’t get depressed…but the majority are in this age range. Any idea why?

2.  1 in 20 employees can experience depression.

3.  70% of all depressed Canadians are in the workplace. WOW!

So, what does this mean and what can we do?

The good news is that once depression is recognized 4 out of 5 people can be treated successfully.

The challenge is getting people to accept that they need help or that help is available. Whether you are a manager, supervisor or employee there are things that you can do.

First of all you need to know the signs–here’s what to look for:

Personal Changes

• irritability/hostility
• withdrawal from, or extreme dependence on others
• hopelessness/despair
• slowness of speech
• chronic fatique
• alcohol/drug abuse

Workplace Changes:

• difficulty making decisions
• decreased productivity
• inability to concentrate
• unusual increase in errors in work
• being prone to accidents
• frequent tardiness, increased sick days
• lack of enthusiasm for work (disengagement)

If you have noticed a colleague exhibiting these signs OR if you have several of these symptoms yourself seek help.

Here is a really cool website that provides information and tips on how to approach a colleague, and offer them help, in a respectful and sensitive way.  

Remember that individuals who are suffering from depression will most likely try to hide their problem for fear of losing their job. They also may fear being stigmatized and this may stop them from asking for help.

If depression is NOT treated it can least for a long time and the person who is depressed will likely become more and more isolated and unable to seek help.

15% of people with severe depression commit suicide.

Your help may be the key. 80% of people with depression can recover if they get help.

Remember…we are all in this together. Many of you want to create healthy workplace communities. Is there someone you work with who needs your help?

Peace, Lesley

Environmental Values @ Work

Goodmorning! Today I’m going to switch gears and write about some exciting work that David Suzuki is doing to create healthy GREEN workplaces.

Healthy workplaces pay attention to the environment both within the workplace and within the larger environment or community.

Recent studies confirm what we’ve known for a long time–that people don’t leave their values at home when they go to work.

This is especially true of younger generations who are concerned about the environment and want to act on their beliefs.

“People are hungry to act on their environmental values at work.” David Suzuki, Spring, 2009

I am proud to say that David Suzuki is my neighbour: he doesn’t actually live next door to me but we do live in the same city. David is a scientist and a strong, vocal, advocate for saving our environment. 

Not only was David one of the FIRST scientists to sound the alarm about the dire state of our environment but he decided to do something concrete about it.

David created an organization to help us take action.

 The David Suzuki Foundation’s mission is to “

“work through science and education to protect the diversity of nature and our quality of life, now and for future generations.”

So…what has this got to do with Healing the Workplace?

Lots!

In the recent edition of “Finding Solutions” the newsletter of the David Suzuki Foundation I was excited to read about the Nature Challenge at Work.

Let me explain.

“The Nature Challenge @ Work will help you reduce your workplace’s environmental footprint and engage employees in building a more sustainable workplace.”

In order to help you do this The David Suzuki Foundation has created an amazing document to help you out.

 It’s called The Nature Challenge at Work and you can download a PDF copy from the website.

If you are still not convinced…a recent series of polls by Monstor.ca show that Canadian employees care about making their workplaces GREEN! How much?

Given a choice 78% of those polled said that they would leave their current job in favour of a greener workplace AND people looking for work want to know a company’s environmental specs (values) before taking a job.

Neat eh?

Enjoy your weekend! Lesley