Share some of my What conflict resilient and engaged workplaces look - - PDF document

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Creating Conflict Resilient Workplaces

Dr David Eaton

MBBS (Hons), ICOM (NIOHS NOHCS), FAFOEM (RACP)

Specialist Occupational and Environmental Physician

Bendigo Occupational and Environmental Medicine

OEM physicians

• Medical specialists
• Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

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Part of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians

• Work with:

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People

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Workplaces

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Work systems

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Cultures

Share some of my experience working for very diverse

• rganisations

Our discussions today

• What conflict resilient and engaged workplaces look like feel like

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Individuals

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Coworkers / colleagues

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Managers

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Leaders

• Touch on managing individual problems from a systems perspective

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Properties of healthy gardens

• Most importantly…

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They are inviting

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We like being in them

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They make us feel good

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Other properties of healthy gardens

• Gestalt

− The whole is greater than the sum of the parts − Contain a diversity of plants, fungi, insects − Each has specialised functions − Complement and support each other − Cannot exist without each other

• Productive
• Serve important functions:

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Oxygen / food / construction materials

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Many more…

• Resist invasion by weeds, pests and diseases
• Suited to their environment and climate
• Monitor and change with the seasons

...

Other properties of healthy gardens

• The ecosystems are complex and subtle
• We don’t fully understand them
• Changing parts to affect the whole can have unexpected

consequences

− The new equilibrium

Conflict resilience = engagement / business case

• People are an important corporate asset

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In many organisations – the ONLY asset

• More engaged people:*

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More productive

• Top 1/3 produce 2 x bottom 2/3
• More engaged workforces:*

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Higher quality product

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Greater customer satisfaction

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Lower turnover

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Lower absenteeism

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Fewer accidents and safety incidents

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Lower rates of work-related mental illness + recover faster

*MacLeod, D. & Clarke, N. (2009). Engaging for success: enhancing performance through employee engagement, (UK) Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Work-related mental illness stats – AUSTRALIA

• Safework Australia 2015:

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6% of all workers’ compensation claims

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Average cost/claim $23,600

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Average time off work 14.8 weeks

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90% caused by mental stress (not secondary to a physical injury)

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Most at risk industries (claims/1000 workers) –

• Defence, police, fire fighters
• Automobile, bus and rail drivers
• Health, welfare and paramedics
• Teachers

Work-related mental illness stats – UK

• UK HSE statistics work related stress, depression and anxiety:

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2016/17 FY

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Total cases – 526,000

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40% of all work-related ill health cases and 49% of all days lost (not just w/comp claims)

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Total working days lost – 12.5 million

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Average average days lost per case – 23.8

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Most at risk industries:

• Education
• Human health
• Social care work activities
• Public administration
• Defence

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Causes of mental illness claims – Australia Trends and associations

• Work-related mental illness claims are increasing
• Particularly those caused by:

− Work pressure − Harassment / bullying

• More engaged workers have:

− Lower rates of mental illness claims − Shorter duration claims

What is engagement?

• Many definitions:

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How individual employees view their world

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Doing helpful things not in a job description

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Being motivated and committed

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Flourishing

• Like the beauty of a garden or LOVE:

− We can’t define quantify it − We know when we feel it

• There are indicators…

Engagement barometer

• Indicators of engagement decreasing in most countries, including:

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Australia

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UK

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USA

• Greatest drop in most highly achieving employees
• Analysis based on:

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Productivity

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Turnover

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Absenteeism

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Accidents and safety incidents

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Rates of work-related mental illness

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What do engaged workplaces look like?

• Let’s look at:

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Individual workers

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Coworkers / colleagues

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Managers

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Leaders

Individual workers

• Competent

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Have the necessary skills / using those skills

• Sense of purpose

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Why their work counts / why the enterprise counts

• Penn. U. study
• Autonomous

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Greater responsibility, more proactive

• Resilient

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Able to adapt to changes

• See challenges rather than “problems”
• Solution focused
• Optimistic

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Not completely inherent – heavily influenced by environment / situation

• Pessimistic / neutral / optimistic essay study

Coworkers / colleagues

• Workplace friendship correlates with engagement
• Collegiate environment

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Friendly

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Social

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Respectful

• Feels positive
• Influences:

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Environment

• Open plan
• Aesthetically pleasing
• Welcoming amenities areas

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Leaders and managers taking genuine interest in people’s lives

Managers

• Competent
• Build trust

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Honest – tell the truth and keep their promises

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Proactively share information people need to do their jobs well and minimise secrets

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Right level of intimacy (not too distant, not too familiar)

• Actively manage performance

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Coach rather than direct

• Clear about expectations and goals – praise good work
• Frequent conversations / not 6 monthly performance reviews
• Solution focused
• Encourage individual responsibility – allow innovation / don’t micromanage

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Fair

• Don’t overload the highest performers
• Manage under performers

Leaders

• Competent
• Authentic – they are themselves
• Corporate story

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Why the organisation exists

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How is adds value to society / community / people’s lives

• The direction and large corporate goals

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How it will happen

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What is will look like

• Manage their own team as a manager

Common mistakes

• Surveys and data collection

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You don’t fatten a goose by weighing it

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Survey fatigue

• Isolated gestures and tokenism

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Movie tickets, health checks

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Short-term benefits

• Paternalism

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Entrenches dependence

• Leaving it to HR

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Conflict-prone personalities

Common traits:

1) Preoccupied with blaming others 2) Avoid responsibility for their actions 3) Rigid and uncompromising 4) Unable to accept or heal from a loss 5) Negative emotions dominate thinking 6) Unable to self-reflect 7) Low levels of empathy

Prevalence: Around 15% and rising (western urban populations)

Managing CPPs

• Be systematic:

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The individual

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Coworkers

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Managers

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Leaders

• Other than exceptional cases, most problems arise from
• rganisational issues
• CPPs can be effective employees – in the right environment

Individual workers

• Competent

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Have the necessary skills

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Use those skills

• Sense of purpose

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Why their work counts / why the enterprise counts

• Autonomous

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Take responsibility, more proactive

• Resilient

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Adapt to changes

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See challenges rather than “problems” – solution focused

• Optimistic

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If “NO” – can it be changed? Yes ? → try / No → time for a change

Coworkers

• Workplace friendship correlates with engagement
• Collegiate environment

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Friendly

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Respectful

• Feels positive
• Influences:

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Environment

• Open plan
• Aesthetically pleasing
• Welcoming amenities areas

Managers

• Build trust

−

Honest – tell the truth and keep their promises

−

Proactively share information people need to do their jobs well and minimise secrets

−

Right level of intimacy (not too distant, not too familiar)

• Actively manage performance

−

Coach rather than direct

• Clear about expectations and goals – praise good work
• Frequent conversations
• Solution focused
• Encourage individual responsibility – allow innovation / don’t micromanage

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Fair

• Don’t overload the highest performers
• Manage under performers

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Leaders

• Competent
• Authentic
• Communicated the vision
• Manage their own team of managers

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Support managers dealing with difficult people

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Involved enough to know if the manager is part of the problem

Important role for HR in this

• Focus resources on the positive – create change
• Avoid unnecessary measurement and surveys

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Your can weigh a goose, how do you measure the beauty of a garden?

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How does the organisation / work space / team feel?

• When problems arise, focus on systems as well as the individual
• Remember the healthy garden:

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Purpose

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Complex – gestalt

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Resistant to pests, weeds and diseases − Small changes can have unexpected results