feature
PLENTY OF ORGANIZATIONS MAY
BELIEVE THEY ENCOURAGE POSITIVE
DISSENT. THE NUMBERS, HOWEVER,
PAINT A DIFFERENT PICTURE.
COAX SOME CONFLICT
Knowing how to engage in a disagreement
– but keep it positive and productive – is a
learned skill. For many employees, that development
might come from coaching and
training. A good deal of it, though, might
come from watching how leaders interact
with the team.
“Organizations have to lead that kind
of cultural shift from the top,” said Flatt.
“If HR truly wants to have a culture
where there’s openness, debate and constructive
feedback, they need to build
not just tools and processes, but a way
of being.”
Flatt points to SNC Lavalin’s situation
back in 2013. The Canadian
engineering firm made headlines that
year when it was charged with multiple
counts of bribery, a practice that was either
widely known, or widely suspected
within the organization.
“They had all these policies in place
for whistleblowing,” said Flatt. “All of
these ways for people to share difficult
information, and nobody shared. Even
though HR had put together some really
good processes, the culture didn’t
allow for that freedom.” Employees, after
all, pay much more attention to culture
than to policy. “HR needs to educate and
coach the leadership team, and then that
understanding and that behaviour has
to cascade down.”
When HR spots a problem, says Flatt,
it’s time to get curious.
“If you’re seeing a lot of groupthink,
do a diagnostic and get to the root cause.
What’s getting in the way? What needs to
change?” she said. “Those questions will
shed more light than bringing in yet another
new tool or process to address the
issue.”
Understand progress and help steer
change by setting a benchmark, then
taking the organization’s temperature
regularly.
“Measuring employee opinion on the
subject and adjusting strategies to include
empowerment and engagement will be
critical,” said Papa.
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38 ❚ FEBRUARY 2016 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL