Less Talk, More Action: Skills For a Thriving Workplace
Helen Babb-Delia, development partner at FORWARD — The RMIT Centre for Future Skills and Workforce Transformation — writing with director Peter Thomas and in collaboration with RMIT FORWARD Industry Fellows May Samali, Katie Wyatt and development partner Sally McNamara, and with development partners Pete Cohen, Inder Singh, Kate Spencer, Daniel Bluzer-Fry, Soolin Barclay and Courtney Guilliatt — on why action is more important than talk in creating thriving workplaces.
As professionals in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, futures of work and leadership, we find ourselves constantly having the same conversation about what makes a thriving workplace.
There are plenty of great ideas but what’s often missing is how to translate these ideas into tangible actions, practical skills and impactful results.
Bridging the gap between ideas and application, between theory and practice, and between knowing what should be happening and how to make that happen is essential to harness the best of our increasingly diverse teams in a rapidly changing world of work that requires us to be adaptable, curious and constantly learning.
While these conversations finish with ‘that’s a great idea’ what’s missing is identifying and developing the skills take action and then aligning these skills with an organisation’s processes, procedures and other structures to produce results.
In part two of this series of stories (part one at this link), we have decided to highlight five ideas for how to create a thriving workplace and then give some practical examples of how to translate them into real-life actions and impact.
We are not claiming that this list is exhaustive, that we have all the answers or that once you tick these things off the list you’re ‘done’. In fact, we’re saying the opposite. These examples are based on our own workplace and on our work at RMIT FORWARD as Development Partners and Senior Industry Fellows, practitioners, consultants, facilitators and coaches.
Our suggestions include actions at the level of the individual, team and organisation. Many of them are skills-based.
Progress in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion and skill development depends on action at all three levels.
To focus only on one will not lead to success.
Five ideas for a thriving workplace: What this looks like in actions
Psychological safety
“Psychological safety is a crucial source of value creation in organizations” — Amy Edmondson.
What psychological safety can look like.
Taylor has had a tough couple of months at work and home. They share this with Jo, a close work colleague, using words like ‘really stressed’, ‘overwhelmed’ and ‘not sure I’m doing a good job’.
Jo says, “I’m really sorry to hear that. It sounds like there’s a lot going on right now. What can I do to support you? Would you like me to suggest a few things that could help?”
When Taylor says yes, Jo responds: “Perhaps we can speak to Ev (our manager) about what’s going on, and we can propose I take on some of your work to help you. Or do you think speaking to someone via our EAP (Employee Assistance Program) would help?”
Later that week, their joint manager, Ev, tells Jo that Taylor’s attention to detail hasn’t been what it usually is. Jo suggests that Ev pay attention in their next catch-up. When Ev asks for more details, Jo says, “you need to ask Taylor, a catch-up soon could be a good idea”. Ev schedules the catch-up and starts by sharing authentically that it’s been a tough time for everyone and Ev cares about how Taylor is really doing. Ev also says that anything Taylor shares will be treated confidentially unless Ev is really concerned for Taylor’s safety.
What psychological safety does not look like (even with best intentions).
In this same scenario, manager Ev tells Jo that Taylor’s attention to detail hasn’t been what it usually is. Jo pauses and says to Ev, “Yeah, I think Taylor needs some help”.
When Ev asks for more details, Jo says, “look, between you and me, I think they’re really anxious and not coping. I’m worried about them”.
Ev schedules the catch-up with Taylor and starts by saying, “I’ve heard from others that you’re having a hard time and I’m concerned about your performance, what’s going on?”
Project Aristotle from Google is a tribute to Aristotle’s quote, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. The project’s goal was to answer the question: “What makes a team effective at Google?”
The researchers found that the most important factor determining team effectiveness was psychological safety. Psychological safety refers to an individual’s perception of the consequences of taking an interpersonal risk — a belief that a team is safe for risk-taking in the face of being seen as ignorant, incompetent, negative, or disruptive.
In a team with high psychological safety, teammates feel safe to take risks around their team members. They feel confident that no one on the team will embarrass or punish anyone else for admitting a mistake, asking a question, or offering a new idea.
Actions can we take to develop psychological safety include personal actions such as
- practice believing people when they tell you what they’re experiencing and what they’re feeling. If something challenges you, examine your biases and notice where your judgement comes from
- practice sitting with what the person is sharing rather than jumping straight to solution or rejection mode. Practice validating someone’s experience rather than focusing on your reaction, “that sounds really tough/complicated/a lot”. Mirror back what you hear.
It can include actions within a team or sphere of influence, such as
- celebrating and modeling curiosity by asking questions and being open to seeing things differently
- as a leader, being proactive in taking risks, sharing mistakes, sharing times you’ve needed to ask for help or re-negotiated boundaries, or highlighting your own growth journey. Be authentic that taking risks can be hard, and mistakes will be made, including by you.
And they can include organisation-wide actions, such as
- complete an assessment of ‘what are we getting right/want to do more of’ in terms of psychological safety. This may need to be done with an independent external group to facilitate honesty. Get an idea of the psychological safety in your team by considering and asking the seven questions posed by Amy Edmundson in her research.
Inclusion, not just diversity
“Diversity without inclusion is tokenism.” — Nova Reid
Diversity and inclusion are often used interchangeably, but they are two very different things (see part one of this series for more details).
Diversity itself does not create inclusion. Diversity without inclusion is not enough to foster a thriving workplace, and runs the risk of being tokenistic and dangerous. Diversity without inclusion risks alienating and disadvantaging diverse groups even more by bringing them into a workplace where they may be systemically excluded, negatively impacting their confidence, health and wellbeing.
What inclusion can look like.
Over several years the leadership team of XYZ Company have committed time, resources and budget to solving the issue of gender inequity at XYZ Company in a strategic way.
This has included understanding the root causes of inequality, having clear definitions of success and why change is important, setting up business-wide accountability mechanisms, creating solutions that make sense for XYZ Company and rigorous tracking and course correction.
There has been great attention paid to including the experiences of many types of women and people who identify as women in this process and decision-making (not only people from an Anglo-Saxon, heteronormative, neurotypical and able-bodied background).
It’s clear to employees and clients that their commitment and actions go beyond one event. The event or initiatives on International Women’s Day (IWD) are just one example of this organisational-wide commitment to progress.
What a lack of inclusion can look like.
Every year the leadership team of XYZ Company hold an event for International Women’s Day and they see this as a big part of their commitment to gender equity.
They rely on a group of volunteers, and 1–2 human resources representatives, to suggest and organise the event. Each year several Executives decide if there’s enough funding for it and what that funding is. It’s common that this decision-making group is majority men.
There isn’t an emphasis on how gender inequity intersects with other lived experiences, so most of the organisers, decision-makers and speakers are from an Anglo-Saxon, heteronormative, neurotypical, able-bodied background.
The volunteers (majority female) also have to play catch up on their usual day jobs after the event as organising the IWD event isn’t considered ‘work’.
In this second scenario, it’s hard to quantify the impact of such an event.
It doesn’t appear tied to a broader strategy, accountability or data collection. For the other 364 days of the year, the decision-making structures in the company don’t intentionally include and elevate the voices of women. It’s unclear how or if this event relates to business priorities, processes, behavioural expectations, inclusion that is intersectional or hearing more than one type of perspective.
So should days like International Women’s Day be discarded? Are they really helping the women they supposedly seek to help?
Not necessarily. If it’s part of a 365-day strategic focus on gender equity, as in the first example, days like International Women’s Day can be an important moment for education, celebration and ‘rallying the allies’.
Diverse and senior stakeholders need to play a role in sponsoring the event and providing resources to ensure the passionate volunteers feel supported and rewarded for their efforts.
In ‘Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work’, Ruchika Tulshyan highlights how individual and organsiational behaviours drive inclusion only when they are intentional. Inclusion is not a natural follow on from just focusing on diversity, but rather something we must create in practical ways.
Research on curiosity shows that it leads to higher-performing and more adaptable organisations, is essential for learning and can be framed in five dimensions.
Actions to increase inclusion can include personal actions, such as
- Developing the skill of curiosity. Take responsibility for reading, listening to and reflecting on resources (books, podcasts, webinars, documentaries and articles) that represent opinions and experiences that are different or opposed to your own.
- Commit to using your position and power to support internal employee resource groups, sponsor colleagues from historically marginalised backgrounds or speak up when you see something that isn’t inclusive.
It can include actions within a team or sphere of influence such as
- Developing the skill of running inclusive meetings. For example, based on your organisation’s approach to meetings, default that all meetings are hybrid. Anyone in the minority (whether remotely or in person) is asked to contribute first.
- Practicing interrupting the interrupters, especially if you are a leader, by saying for example: “I’m really interested in [colleague’s] point, and I don’t think they’re finished. [Colleague], would you like to continue?”; or “I hear you have something to share and there will definitely be time for that, could you wait your turn?” or “I’m sure you have an important point but could you please not interrupt the current speaker?” Like any new skill or practise, the first few times may be awkward.
And they can include organisation-wide actions, such as
- Developing the technical skills of measuring and disaggregating data relating to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Measure indicators that show impact, such as specific statistics around retention, promotion and engagement, rather than the number of attendees at an event. Break down data to give your organisation specific information. For example, disaggregating pay equality data (by race, seniority level, and business unit) can tell you more about the reality of your workplace.
- Developing the skill of storytelling. Encourage the sharing of stories to show how different life experiences have shaped a person’s durable skills (such as empathy, resilience or adaptability). Include this as part of a bigger inclusion strategy rather than one-off actions.
Sharing things you care about personally at work
“Employees these days expect less of a separation of work and personal life. That doesn’t mean that work tasks should encroach upon our personal time, but it does mean that employees today expect more from the companies for whom they work. Why shouldn’t your workplace reflect your values? Why is ‘giving back’ not a part of our jobs?” — Marc Benioff, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Salesforce.com.
“Bring your whole self to work. I don’t believe we have a professional self Monday through Friday and a real self the rest of the time. It is all professional and it is all personal.” — Sheryl Sandberg
Many organisations encourage their employees to be authentic at work and share what matters to them personally — often framed as ‘bringing your whole self to work’.
As this trend increases, employees are asking their organisations to respond to social, political and justice issues that they care about or directly impact them. These can include but are not limited to Black Lives Matter, First Nations justice, gender equity, LGBTQIA+ equity, climate change, human rights, and addressing inequalities in power and privilege. Employees are suspicious of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that don’t address past mistakes or are superficial.
Morgan is somewhere between a Millennial and Gen Z. They care about having a positive social impact, read about and notice the way people have been historically excluded from society, and try to live a more sustainable life. Morgan is ambitious and wants to be proud of where they work.
Here’s what a culture that fosters bringing the personal (or whole self) to work can look like.
Morgan feels comfortable to raise questions about the company’s approach to issues they really care about, including racial justice, LGBTIA+ equity and environmental sustainability.
Morgan’s questions (that reflect questions and concerns many other employees have too) aren’t seen as too challenging or too much, and are taken as helpful feedback. Morgan is thanked for their contribution and encouraged to keep giving this feedback.
This prompts the company’s leadership to address their vision and proposed actions for addressing these issues more transparently on the intranet.
Here’s what a culture that fosters bringing the personal (or whole self) to work does not look like.
Morgan is confused when they see the difference between what their employer says they care about on their website/s, during recruitment and big awareness days, and the reality of how the organisation operates.
Morgan’s questions about the company’s approach to issues they really care about, including racial justice, LGBTIA+ equity and environmental sustainability are met with responses like: ‘this is the way we’ve always done things’ and ‘we’re trying but we can’t do that much, it’s not like social issues are our business’.
Morgan’s feedback and questions are not shared with leadership, and no real actions are taken.
The company offers a one-off ‘unconscious bias’ training and a Clean Up Australia Day activity, but doesn’t go further than this.
As Megan Reitz and John Higgins report in ‘Leading in An Age of Employee Activism’ we are seeing a rise in employee activism. Their definition of employee activism is, “Voices of difference that challenge the status quo as to who gets heard and/or what should be included in the formal organisational agenda”.
Similarly, in a 2019 survey by global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, over 80% of companies predicted a rise in workforce activism. Employees expect companies to go beyond greenwashing and lofty statements and take real action on issues affecting communities and planet.
‘The Spirit of Leadership’ by The Leadership Circle explores how change efforts fail when a whole of system approach isn’t used. Inner shifts in consciousness and culture are equally as important as changes in procedures and systems.
Actions to foster bringing the personal or whole self to work can include to work can include personal actions, such as
- Developing the skill of listening to understand (rather than respond) and learn why issues around justice and equity are important to many people. Seek out and use the many resources that exist to learn about and practice listening skills, such as active listening and/or negotiation.
It can include actions within a team or sphere of influence such as
- Keeping your organization and leaders accountable by asking them how they are implementing the commitments they state publicly as being committed to (whether it be environmental, social or otherwise)
- Modeling the skill of humility and humble leadership. Ask team members what could be done better and listen. Practice being comfortable with being challenged or being uncomfortable, especially if you’re in a dominant societal group (such as dominant culture, gender etc).
- Actively passing the microphone to others. When you hold influence or power, you have a responsibility to actively pass the microphone to ensure a variety of voices are heard.
And it can include organisation-wide actions, such as
- Being transparent about the funding, human capital resources and timelines being dedicated (or not) to addressing social issues raised by employees. For example, “although we would like to address all of these, we will be starting with items #1, #2 and #3 and re-assessing in XYZ months”
- Invest in quick wins, as well as long-term goals, so that people can see change happening as part of a broader strategy. This can range from short-term very visible actions (such as coffee cup recycling, or fruit bowls) to longer-term structural changes in the form of impact on strategy, dedicated resources and engagement from Executives. Be overt in the expectations of active upstanding when disrespectful behaviour is witnessed — the behaviour you walk past is the behaviour you accept.
Valuing social and emotional intelligence skills
“Skills like effective confrontation, empathy, and patience are not soft skills. They are human skills, and they must be learned. Organizations often overlook their best internal leaders because they don’t place enough value on these crucial interpersonal qualities.” — Simon Sinek.
The term ‘soft’ skills (also called durable, smart, human, power, 21st century or enterprise skills) still commonly used to describe social and emotional intelligence skills.
Whether intentionally or not, these skills are often seen as secondary in importance to ‘hard’ skills. The reality is that ‘soft’ skills are actually more difficult skills to master. They take time, practice and evaluation and are not personality traits that we are either born with or without.
It’s likely that the future of work will continue to see AI and automation doing many of the tasks that humans have done in the past and it’s likely that soft skills will become even more valuable as they cannot be easily replaced by technology. Being adaptive, agile, and problem-solving will be increasingly sought after as we continue to face problems the world hasn’t seen before.
Here’s what valuing social and emotional intelligence can look like
Joey is a promising young lawyer who not only has an excellent grasp of the law, but is known for being able to get along with almost everyone.
Joey has worked on developing their self-awareness, empathy and communication skills through their working life. Joey knows (from research and lived experience) that these skills bring value in professional and personal settings.
Joey’s skills are recognised by their firm as being important, and they’re used as positive metrics in all of Joey’s performance reviews.
In an upcoming high-stakes negotiation, Joey is asked to play a significant role because they can bring these skills in addition to their technical skills.
Here’s what not valuing social and emotional intelligence can look like.
In another workplace, Joey is seen as being well-liked and that it’s ‘just who they are’. When people go to Joey for empathetic support, Joey’s manager describes the dangers of being ‘too nice’ and shares how they’ve succeeded by looking out for themselves.
When performance review time comes around, Joey is applauded for being ‘well liked’, but the connection isn’t made between the professional wins they’ve been able to achieve and their social and emotional intelligence skills.
When the opportunity to participate in a high-stakes negotiation comes about, Joey is overlooked as being ‘too nice’ to make an impact.
Soft skills — also called durable, smart, human, power, 21st century or enterprise skills — can deliver substantial returns. A study involving MIT Sloan School of Management, the University of Michigan and Boston College with a garment manufacturer in India showed improvements with quantifiable return on investment. The study showed that a 12-month soft skills training program that focused on communication, problem-solving and decision-making, time and stress management, financial literacy, legal literacy and social entitlements, and execution excellence, delivered a 250% return on investment within eight months of its conclusion.
While the value of technical skills will always exist, the pandemic has dramatically accelerated the need for new skills in the workforce, with social and emotional skills high in demand. Research on future-proofing citizens by McKinsey highlights the need to develop critical skills across cognitive, interpersonal and self-leadership that relate to social and emotional skills.
Change resilience, a skillset focused on the future, can be used as an umbrella term to describe several job-based skills, from cognitive agility to network-building.
Actions that can be taken to value social and emotional intelligence skills can include personal actions, such as
- Seeking out professional development resources to focus on building and practicing core social and emotional intelligence skills such as self-awareness, communication, problem solving, decision making, adaptive leadership and network-building.
It can include actions within a team or sphere of influence such as
- Reviewing how your team and leadership value (or do not value) social and emotional intelligence skills. Are funds and time dedicated to the practice and development of these skills? Are actions taken to reinforce how valuable they are? Are social and emotional intelligence skills and attributes included in decisions around acknowledgement, hiring and decision making? E.g. “I want to acknowledge Jay for showing the leadership quality of empathy in the way they managed that tricky client scenario. It was integral to finding a solution that really worked for the client.”
And it can include organisation-wide actions, such as
- Being clear about the specific skills that are valued in your organisation and determine how you will show your commitment to developing, measuring and rewarding these skills
- Being willing to take action when there is a disregard for social and emotional skills, including when it comes to promotions. Rewarding human skill development, like we do technical skills, sends a clear message about what is important to an organisation.
A champion team, not a team of champions
“They’ll pick trust over performance every time, because this person is dangerous to your culture and ultimately to the performance.” — Brené Brown
Although the value of productive teams is often recognised rhetorically by leaders and organisations, it’s still common for incentive structures to be based on individual performance rather than collaboration, teamwork or trust.
Many organisations have taken the findings from research on high-performing teams, which set out the requirements for successful teams and translated them onto individuals by expecting individuals to achieve high performance. This undermines the integrity of the research and also impacts the results.
Here’s what valuing teams can look like.
Company B has invested time and resources into rethinking the way that teams operate in their company.
Drawing on examples from Google and Navy SEALs, they take steps to prioritise teams and value team members who help others succeed, rather than rewarding only individual performance.
In review periods, high performers are recognised as team members who make other people better. People like Dev and Zuri, who are so vital to helping the team function together, are consistently acknowledged and rewarded even though at first glance they might not be seen as high performers.
At the end of a successful project, the entire team are acknowledged (by name) by the CEO in front of all employees and rewarded equally.
People who are stereotypical high performers but didn’t respond well to feedback and showed no interest in working well as part of the team are asked to leave the project team.
Here’s what not valuing teams can look like.
Everyone at Company B knows what happens at performance review time.
The leadership and People teams talk about the importance of ‘working as a team’, and there are some random team days every so often.
When it comes to those important conversations about performance, awards, bonuses or acknowledgments, most people know it’s going to be individuals rewarded rather than teams.
Take the example of Kit. Kit is brilliant at their job, produces results and brings in lots of business, but they don’t live any of the company values. They actively do things that are discriminatory, but since Kit is seen as a toxic genius, the leadership team let their behaviour slide, and Kit sees the rewards in their bonus.
Successful teams applauded for their results, like Navy SEALs and astronauts, prioritise teams, creating trust and helping others succeed.
Human beings evolved in groups, and our affinity to groups is wired into our basic biology. According to Jay Van Bavel and Dominic Packer, “group identity can explain a range of remarkable behaviours, ranging from putting in long hours at work to making the ultimate sacrifice for one’s country.”
Identifying with a group triggers fundamental shifts in a person’s goals. Even otherwise selfish individuals become cooperative — and possibly altruistic — when they feel that they’re part of a group.
Research on belonging is relevant here. Belonging addresses our fundamental human need to feel accepted. Organisations that prioritise belonging prioritise the collective over the individual. The results can be extremely valuable, from increasing job performance, reducing turnover risk and increasing net promoter scores to decreases in sick days.
Actions that can be taken to develop team identity and reward collective performance can include personal actions, such as
- Reflecting on how you can recognise the efforts of other team members or people who have contributed to your career. Could you let them know directly or acknowledge them in a group setting?
It can include actions within a team or sphere of influence such as
- Fostering and encouraging team identity by rewarding behaviour that advances the goals of the group rather than the individual. Offer your team bonuses, recognition, raises, flexibility, and opportunities based on the entire group’s performance rather than individual performance.
- Rewarding individuals who make important contributions to the team’s success. According to Van Bavel and Packer, this helps to ‘avoid free-riding [and] rewards indispensable team members — the unsung heroes who work late, cover for colleagues, and enhance the success of the group. Combining individual and collective rewards ensures that individual members are encouraged and motivated to pursue the team’s goals and help the team succeed’.
And it can include organisation-wide actions, such as
- Modifying performance scorecards to reward behaviours that contribute to team and collective performance rather than focusing only on individual performance.
- Translating organisational values from buzzwords like ‘honesty’ and ‘respect’ to granular, observable behaviours that are shared with teams. Hold individuals accountable to these agreed-upon values, even when this may impact short-term financial goals.
We discussed five ideas for how to create a thriving workplace along with practical examples of how to translate them into real-life actions and impact.
As we said, the list of ideas is long, and you will no doubt have many of your own. Our suggestions for actions at the level of the individual, team and organisation are interrelated and may play out differently depending on your, your team’s and your organisation's unique context.
We invite you to reflect, comment on and add to our five ideas and the actions we identified. This, we hope, will help drive progress in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion and skill development.
FORWARD is the RMIT Centre for Future Skills and Workforce Transformation.
Our role is to build an innovative learning ecosystem at scale, create new collaborative applied research and invent next-generation skills solutions that will catalyse workforce development in the future-oriented industries crucial to Victoria’s economic renewal.
We lead collaborative applied research on future skills and workforce transformation from within RMIT’s College of Vocational Education, building and scaling the evidence and practice base to support Victorian workforce planning and delivery and acting as a test lab for future skills to develop and pilot new approaches to skills training and education through digital transformation and pedagogical innovation.
We leverage RMIT’s multi-sector advantage to translate research insights into identifying workforce requirements and the co-design of practice-based approaches with industry.
