Old fashioned Anti-Discrimination/Workplace Bullying Training - Don’t Waste Your Time!

On a dark stormy day in December 1996 I was faced with the challenge of doing some ‘team building’ training with a group of disenchanted, disengaged and dispirited employees from a major corporate organisation. They didn’t want to be there and neither did I. I delivered the first training of two days with a strained nervous smile on my face. It went ok.

The second day started slowly but then took a turn when an aggressive and angry young woman started to question what the purpose of the program was when their manager was a ‘serial corporate womaniser’. The discussion became more and more personal and animated as different employees poured out tales of corporate and management ‘misdemeanours’ that had left them apparently with no good reason to work. “Why should we give ourselves when they treat us like crap!” -said the young angry woman. (Maybe because they pay you 30% higher for processing pay than most other industries?). She continued – “Anyway, why do you think none of the bastards treat us (the team) with any respect?” At that moment I realised that she didn’t get it. She didn’t see how a three year long record of appalling behaviour from team members had alienated them from the other seven processing teams and made them the bane of senior management. Neither could she see how her team had contributed to a culture of mistrust and antagonism. This was blindness and somehow I needed to lift the blind fold. Lunchtime arrived and I had forty minutes to build a strategy.

Over lunch I wrote a role play; the script was set about a disaffected employee who treats other peers badly when under pressure. It was a script about an employee who behaved like a bully. It was a revelation. That afternoon, after a team member and i performed the script with gusto and commitment, we talked deeply about bad behaviour. We explored the reasons why this disengaged and dispirited team felt the way it did. We talked about how their behaviour with other teams on the floor should be to make things work. We even rewrote the script to show what engaged behaviour could look like. That was the afternoon I decided that any serious training about the impacts of behaviour could not be facilitated using overheads and manuals.

A few months later I met with an operations manager from Pilkington Australia. He was keen to train his supervisors about preventing and managing workplace bullying and unlawful discrimination. “I want something that won’t send them to sleep” he said firmly, then adding “I don’t know whether that’s possible”. Six weeks later iHR Australia ran its first anti-discrimination / workplace bullying training using actors and a facilitator. Pilkington’s commitment was exceptional and they maintained regular training sessions over the next 3 years with iHR Australia.

These days I am convinced that if you are in the business of changing or aligning team or organisational behaviour, you would be wasting your money and time with anti-discrimination/workplace bullying briefings or other traditional training methods. In fact many employees and managers resent sessions run by lawyers and theorists that come from a legal or ‘social equity’ view.

On the other hand, when managers and employees observe behaviours acted out that breach government acts and, just as importantly, destroy work cultures, productivity and brand, they tend to take notice. There is a business and personal reason to watch. They see aggressive, humiliating or belittling behaviours that once looked nothing more than banter or a joke, for what they really are. Furthermore, they begin to distinguish between old fashioned healthy banter and behaviours that are potentially going to result in statutory fines or damages claims.

These days I don’t train in leadership or anti-discrimination/workplace bullying without my actors. I just don’t see the point. And my clients agree!

For information on iHR Australia’s training programs, please visit iHR Australia’s website.

Workplace Culture and Leadership - Not doing Business with Mates

The other day one of my team members informed me that we had lost out on winning a major account. She believed that one of the major reasons for our replacement was due to the winning provider having a friendship with one of the Directors of this company. My team had been through a rigorous process to win the account, tailoring solutions to meet the client’s specific needs. Upon deciding we didn’t want to play games anymore, we withdrew and the account was lost. My team and I agreed that the relationship did not present a values alignment and after some short lived disappointment I spent some time contemplating a question I haven’t for a long time. ‘Are there still organisations winning business through boys clubs and ‘old school and society connections’? I am so naive! Of course there are.

iHR Asia/Australia is now 11 years old. We are experts in building leaders, workplace relations and specialist outsourced HR services across Australasia. I look at the iHR client list; great organisations that are leaders in technology, the petrochemical industry, government bodies, media and advertising, retail and wholesale, emergency services, health services, education, telecommunications, not–for-profit, manufacturing and personal services. Most interestingly, each of these organisations seem to have chosen iHR on its merits. No previous relationships, no major networking efforts and no boozy lunches. However, all of them have had one thing in common: a resounding commitment to workplace culture.

Is this a whinge? No, it’s a fact. I think I am proud of it! But the truth is I could never have started iHR on the basis of connections because I didn’t know that many people who were connected or wanted a friendship based on sharing connections. I have a close network of friends from very diverse backgrounds. Musicians, story tellers, doctors, unemployed nurses, directors, academics, gardeners, lawyers, judges, sales people, masseuses, CEO’s and teachers. If I had ever asked them if they could please suggest a good business contact they would have probably looked at me in disgust and never asked me for dinner again. Of course so many people legitimately start businesses on the back of long corporate lives, but I never really kept in touch with those from my past professional endeavours.

Actually, I think I am a lousy networker. Good friend but a lousy networker.

One thing I can say is that the iHR culture is one that ‘values good clients’. It has created a culture which still exists today; a culture where good professional relationships are valued. Nothing is taken for granted. We cherish every good relationship but are also welcome to let go of poisonous relationships because there are no personal feelings at risk. My people are not second guessing whether or not the Managing Director will be furious because they have conveyed a difficult point (in a nice way of course) to his best friend.

iHR also drives a culture that values honest achievement. A culture where a piece of work is won on the basis of a great training program or demonstration, a strong recommendation, a fine speech or some great advice over the telephone. This means that when we market we do it on the basis of performance which in our game is everything.

Some weeks ago iHR Asia won an account to work with a major US petro chemical firm based in Bangkok. I didn’t have much time to meet with them because I was required back in Sydney for a meeting. I offered to have a working lunch with them. Professionally and in the kindest of ways it was refused. Why? The organisations’ policy is not to engage external companies in ‘indulgent relationships’ that have the potential to compromise quality and professionalism. It was a breath of fresh air. A moment to cherish! A moment to say maybe those years of working hard to prove that we are so very competent will hold us in good stead for the future. What ever the case, I am sure we have lost plenty of work along the way given the MD’s lousy networking record.

Please feel comfortable sharing your comments regarding the importance of business networking as a means of winning the golden prize in 2009. We love reading your responses.