42 minute read
How Do You Market Your Employer Brand? Your Best EVP is a Great Candidate Experience
If you’re looking to impress the best talent in the market, start by conveying your employee value propositions during that first encounter – recruitment By Rachel Ranosa
Much of the discourse on employer branding today revolves around enhancing life at work for a company’s existing workforce. While employee retention is key to business success, the larger conversation around talent management is also changing.
Right now, millions of workers all over the world are out in the market searching for better career opportunities. Talks of a great employee experience, therefore, cannot ignore how employee value propositions (EVPs) are being communicated to jobseekers.
The most effective time to market your brand to a wider community is in that first encounter between employers and potential hires. That is, during recruitment.
A recent study by People Matters found that – for 76% of respondents – the idea of a great employer brand is predicated on a frictionless candidate journey. This depends, of course, on how well employer brand values are presented in these early touchpoints, from job listings to initial interviews.
When a candidate comes across a job advertisement for the first time, or takes part in a screening interview, they aren’t just checking whether they match the role – they’re also assessing the company culture by way of the employer brand. That’s why it’s vital for employers to consider their recruitment process as one of the pillars of their EVP programme.
People Matters interviewed employers in Asia who value the recruitment process as part of a stellar EVP. Here are the strategies they shared. Our recruitment touchpoints serve as a feedback mechanism
Amarpreet Kaur Ahuja, Country HR Director, India, at AstraZeneca, talked about the need for a carefully structured process to maximise candidate experience: “We prioritise transparency in all our engagements, whether it is with our employees or candidates. That aside, the entire recruitment process is a well-structured approach supported by candidate- and business-focused content; a panel of interviewers based on our principle of Learning & Development; our constant endeavour to collect feedback from candidates and, more importantly, to implement their feedback; and, lastly, ensuring leadership connect in the process of offering a comprehensive and top-notch experience.
“Once onboarded, new employees are part of a well-defined orientation
and onboarding structure. Multiple touchpoints are built in between the new employee and talent acquisition team, managers and other relevant stakeholders. All of this together helps us deliver a positive recruitment and probation experience. These touchpoints also serve as a feedback mechanism and provide assurance to new employees that their views are important and will be considered.”
As a tech company, we make virtual recruiting seamless
Mino Thomas, Director, Head of Talent Acquisition & Staffing at Adobe, said that investing in technology is a major factor: “We are hyper-focused on hiring for our engineering and technology teams that help create best-in-class products and bring them to market. Around a third of Adobe employees have joined us over the last couple of years. Since 2020, all recruitment activities from interview to onboarding were performed in a virtual environment. Adobe India, for one, has been relentless in its efforts in making virtual employee experiences seamless.
“Today, the need is to constantly improve recruitment tools and platforms to suit digital-first employees. This means that organisations need to do more than monitor or update their tools to be effective. Our goal is to invest in tools in line with Adobe’s fundamental approach – creative and effective in-market engagement. We have tools that help us understand our employees personally, and our policies evolve keeping in mind the collective requirements. The focus has always been on high-quality engagements.”
Savita Hortikar, Head of Recruitment, India at Thoughtworks, outlined a hiring strategy that focuses on enabling candidates: “We have a candidate-centric selection process and the guiding principle is that we have to make candidates feel valued during the time they spend with us, irrespective of the outcome. Our Talent Ops team is the interface between the recruiters, the interviewers and the candidates.
“Recruiters are trained to give feedback to candidates after every stage of the selection process and to help candidates prepare for the interview. Candidates have access to senior leaders of the organisation so that they can make an informed decision about joining the company. We also run regular in-touch programmes for candidates who have received an offer from Thoughtworks.”
Bino Kumar, Manager, Technical Recruiting, at Groupon, emphasised that candidates should be respected throughout the assessment process: “We put a huge emphasis on the candidate experience. We do not have candidates jump through hoops to get hired, but we want to make sure we are vetting for skill, competency, drive and grit.
“Our talent acquisition charter is putting the human in human resources. We have invested in making touchpoints seamless for the recruiters as well as the candidates. From sourcing, analytics, diversity, executive, alumni/boomerangs, and marketing, we have a one-stop-shop that allows us to stay engaged with our candidates throughout each stage of their journey.”
CliNtoN WiNGrove
Employee Experience – Do you CARE?
An organisation’s reputation for how well it treats its employees significantly affects its ability to attract the talent it needs. What does it take to create an experience that wins employees’ hearts? For a start, try this acronym: CARE
During the early days of the COVID19 pandemic, organisations metaphorically beat their chests about how, “Our employees are our most valuable asset.” Employee Experience was hailed as the competitive advantage. During those early COVID19 days, every day, working practices that had previously been described as “not workable for us” became the new norm. And, employees liked it.
But, a few months later, those same organisations were laying off staff. Why? Because they had not prepared for what the World Health Organisation had predicted for years; because managers had not developed strategic plans for their operations or undertaken serious risk analyses; because they had not developed the agility to respond to major turbulence. Consequently, they could not adapt their business model quickly enough or fund modified operations throughout the crisis.
Ex-employees remember. Ex-employees talk. Social media spreads the word.
During the peak of the pandemic (which we all hope has passed), many predicted that there would be a surplus of talent due to the layoffs. Numerically and theoretically that may be true. But, the simple reality is that former employees have long memories and many are opting out of the workforce or choosing to completely change their career trajectory. Right now, airlines that were once magnets for top talent are
struggling to recruit. Many of their former employees will not even consider returning. Others who have never worked for the airlines are paying attention to how those former staff apparently were treated.
Numerous studies have shown that around two-thirds of potential recruits pay attention to the recruiting organisation’s DEI reputation alone before even considering applying. That’s just one aspect of the employee experience. Each and every potential recruit is now taking control of their own career, and they are each unique in their aspirations, their needs, and their wants. So, our challenge is to create working environments that can cater not merely for the average or norm but for the full range of those hopes and expectations. Only then will employees have truly positive experiences.
Of course, most organisations already have a percentage of employees with extremely positive experiences – studies have suggested an average of around 12%. But, clearly, the prevailing culture and working environment has not worked for the other 88%. This is a sizeable challenge and there is no simple solution.
Policies and procedures are essential tools for any organisation. But, those alone will never address human needs. If we are to have great tainty can lead to anxiety. And anxiety damages the employee experience … let alone the critically damaging impact it has on motivation, productivity, and creativity.
employee experiences in our organisations, we need to win the hearts as well as the minds. Ultimately, it is our frequent daily interactions with each other that cumulatively create the employee experience. In my own experience, employees want, even need, four things:
1. Clarity
Over 60% of those who leave any organisation cite some issue with their manager. They often say things like, “I never really knew what was expected of me” or “I never received any feedback on how well or badly I was doing.” Lack of clarity leads to uncertainty. Uncer2. Assurance
Most employees are realistic. They know that their managers cannot assure them of ongoing employment, salary increases, or promotions. But, what they can and do expect is transparency, honesty, and support from their managers. They want the assurance that their manager is doing everything they can to build and sustain a success-
ful team, and to develop and protect the team members.
3. Recognition
The concept is simple and the research is clear. Whether in personal or professional relationships, when people feel appreciated, they engage. Even for people who say that they don’t care about being acknowledged when they are acknowledged, their engagement increases. When team members, the team leader, the team sponsor, and customers take the time to say, “Thank you,” people feel better about the work they do and the people they work with. A better employee experience!
During the pandemic, many of us have gotten used to virtual meetings with many individuals not coming on camera, arriving late, and not actively participating. The quality of our relationships is decreasing rapidly. We need to get back to simply acknowledging each other, giving each other specific attention, and focusing on sustaining respectful relationships. Those build positive employee experiences.
4. Empathy
You don’t often hear people say, “Oh, that Johnny, he is just way too considerate. He should really be a little more selfish and less thoughtful.” On the list of the most critical qualities to have as a human being and a success-
ful manager, empathy ranks near the top. Being able to put yourself in others’ shoes and thoughtfully respond to them will earn the appreciation of everyone you ever meet. In organisations where empathy is common, you are likely to have great employee experiences. Empathy really matters.
Unfortunately, empathy is very hard to teach. Consider the following. Nearly everyone in your organisation is dealing with heavy personal “stuff,” which, quite frankly, is often a whole lot more important to them than their work! The greatest opportunities to show consideration typically revolve around personal crises – especially when it comes to someone’s health, the health of a family member, or personal crises at home or with children of other dependents. Of course, being able to show consideration in these areas requires that team members be willing to open up and share what is going on.
Unfortunately, when an individual is labelled as inconsiderate, fellow team members will make little effort to get to know them on a personal level. Thus, opportunities to provide support when it is most needed are lost because the team members simply aren’t aware of what that individual is going through. So, take time to learn about your fellow team members, by demonstrating empathy and interest. The more you do this, the more open they will become and the more consideration you can show. This may feel like creating a burden but this process is greatly reciprocal. Do this well and, whenever you need a little help or consideration, you will have an abundant supply on hand from your fellow team members. Your and their employee experiences will be enhanced.
Do you CARE?
Want to create great employee experiences in your organisation? Then ensure that you select managers who CARE. Ensure that you CARE yourself. The single differentiator of sustainably successful organisations is the calibre of their managers – management excellence matters. Managers who CARE create positive employee experiences.
clinton WingRovE is the Principal Consultant of Clinton HR Ltd.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE:
WHY BUSINESS LEADERS MUST HAVE IT IN THE POST-PANDEMIC WORLD
If leaders don’t create a safe environment for people to express their views unhesitatingly, then employees will always feel unheard and left out, which, in turn, will impact their morale and motivation, eventually impacting their productivity and performance
By Mamta Sharma
Emotional intelligence (EI) has always been relevant to effective leadership. In the post-pandemic world, where work still continues to be remote and the challenge to engage and build trust remains, it is, all the more, a vital ability to enhance and practice.
People Matters spoke to leadership experts on how a lack of emotional intelligence in business leaders can be devastating for the workforce, the top characteristics of emotional intelligence that leaders need to build on and how emotionally intelligent leaders can act as a retention lever for people in the ongoing talent war.
What is emotional intelligence?
Emotional intelligence is deeply rooted in self-awareness. It starts with the ability to understand (in real
time) the emotions a person is experiencing.
“But the crux is to understand how those emotions can tend to affect how a person behaves, reacts and decides/makes choices based on the impact of the emotions. The second level of emotional intelligence is social awareness i.e., being conscious of how others feel and how those emotions can impact their behaviours/ choices,” says Gurprriet Singh, managing director, APAC Regional Leader of Leadership & Succession, Russell Reynolds Associates.
Why emotional intelligence is crucial to effective leadership now
Emotional intelligence has always been relevant to effective leadership, but in a post-pandemic world, it is a vital ability for a number of reasons. During the pandemic, when everyone was going through a really tough time, there was an increased need for leaders to be “present” for their team members, to be able to connect and engage with them much more. More importantly, to be able to listen to them intently.
The need of the hour was empathetic leadership, which allows safe space for employees to express what they are feeling, and also offers the right level of support needed in the circumstances.
Executive and leadership coach Harsh Johari says in the post-pandemic world, where work still continues to be remote, the challenge to engage and build trust remains.
“When people are not physically around, the social interaction and camaraderie is missing. This can sometimes create a trust deficit between a leader and the team. So, leaders need to be authentic and genuine. You need to be clear on your intention as a leader. "If at the end of the day, you are just looking for process output and business results and don’t really care about people, it will not work. But if you want to trust your team members because you really want to build strong relationships with them, you really want to help and support them, you really believe that your success is linked to their success, then you have a really good chance to build a high performing team who trust and respect each other. Business results will follow eventually. That’s the sign of an emotionally intelligent leader,” he contends.
While the earlier projections of 100% work from home have been unfounded, we are definitely headed for hybrid work-life, says Singh.
“As a result, managers won’t have as much face time with teams. More
with some, less with others. Dialling up connectedness, empathy, engagement is going to be vital to ensure teams continue to be aligned emotionally and cognitively. Managers are going to have to be consciously inclusive, communicate more and sense more across distances than ever before,” he adds.
The pandemic has caused many people to reflect and reconsider life choices.
“Some are heading closer to their hometown and parents, others are taking risks and heading out. The talent market is hot and there are attractive jobs and salaries to be had. In the midst of all this, the role of managers in keeping teams engaged becomes vital,” he adds.
Lack of emotionally intelligent leadership devastating for workforce
If leaders don’t have a high level of emotional quotient, they will not be able to connect authentically with their teams and build meaningful relationships. Johari says if leaders are not selfaware and are not able to manage their emotions, it could lead to sub-optimal decisions both from people and business point of view.
If leaders don’t create a safe environment for people to express themselves, then employees will always feel unheard and left out. They will feel that no one cares for them and that. in turn, will impact their morale and motivation, eventually impacting their productivity and performance.
5 emotional intelligence traits leaders need
The first is self-awareness
“To be aware of how their emotions are affecting them and then to self-regulate them, in order to ensure they are able to remain balanced and poised through high pressure situations. your strengths, your weaknesses, what really drives you etc, the more you can influence your actions and decisions to be in alignment with what you truly want for yourself and your teams. Another aspect of awareness is your emotional awareness as a leader - being aware of your own emotions, understanding the cause and impact of those emotions and having the ability to express and regulate your emotions. Equally important is to be aware of other’s emotions,” adds Johari.
Empathy is another very important aspect of
emotional intelligence. And the key is to recognise the “need” for empathy, he says.
“Your ability to be there for your team members, coupled with deep listening skills. Some of the best conversations happen when you are silent. You are present and you are listening intently to your team members. When people feel heard, they can trust you. Being an effective listener means managing your emotions, managing your own urge to react immediately,” Johari adds.
Singh says as leaders become self-aware and realise how they are being affected, the next step is to recognise that others must be experiencing similar emotions.
“This helps leaders dial up how they engage and show up with others whether it is their bosses, peers or direct
Self-awareness will result in self-regulation and leaders would have an opportunity to be vulnerable and know when they need help. Through all the uncertainty the world is going through, leaders are experiencing more stress than ever before,” says Singh.
In fact, awareness and acceptance are the key.
“The more self-aware you are as a leader - about your values, your beliefs,
reports. There are two facets to empathy: emotional empathy and cognitive empathy. "Emotional empathy is being tuned into how others must be feeling. Cognitive empathy is being tuned into how others must be thinking. "For example, if an employee’s parents are both recovering from a bad bout of Covid, you know there is emotionality here about responsibility, love and being there for parents. The employee might be thinking of relocating and moving to the same city as their parents or moving the parents to their city. Knowing this as a leader, helps you engage and support your employees at a deeper and a human level,” he says.
Purpose is the next.
Singh says knowing your “Why” helps you stay anchored during times of stress and uncertainty. It also helps you inspire others and keep them on-track and maintain balance.
Pragmatic assertion. In the midst of all this, leaders still need to deliver results and hold people accountable for performance. “Ensuring that you keep your team members engaged, enabled and also held to account is a key balance a leader must maintain,” says Singh
Another mark of an emotionally intelligent leader is the ability to be vulnerable, adds Johari. When you open up, the world will start opening up to you. Of course, this is easier said than done. It needs courage and goes back to true intent.
“Behind that façade of a strong and powerful leader, you are ultimately human. You make mistakes, you feel hurt, you struggle. Admitting your mistakes, acknowledging your feelings and emotions is not easy. You expose yourself to potential risk and harm. But here’s the key – when you expose yourself and people don’t hurt and harm you, that’s when trust is built,” he notes.
Emotionally intelligent leaders are a retention lever in the talent war
Emotional intelligence can help boost individual performance. Emotionally intelligent leaders can help improve communication, collaboration, and trust between team members.
“They show greater compassion and respect for colleagues – that, in turn, creates a better work environment and stronger culture leading to higher productivity and engaged employees. It creates an organisation where people would like to work,” says Johari.
Singh says empathy and self-awareness are a bedrock. A leader who is aware and is able to empathise, will be able to show up supportively and understand the motivations, concerns, and needs of their team members and will therefore be able to support them effectively.
“Showing up, communicating in multiple forums, one to many, one to one etc. will ensure leaders maintain high-touch engagements with their team members. This is a vital shift leaders need to make, especially as the world of work becomes more hybrid,” adds Singh.
viSty BANAJi
HR Speak
What HR says is often not taken at face value. Among the reasons for this distrust is the inadequate, insincere and propagandistic manner in which some HR practitioners communicate. How can we recognise and reduce this?
AChinese sage of the distant past was once asked by his disciples what he would do first if he were given power to set right the affairs of the country. He answered: "I certainly should see to it that language is used correctly." The disciples looked perplexed. "Surely," they said, "this is a trivial matter. Why should you deem it so important?" And the Master replied: "If the language is not used correctly, then what is said is not what is meant; if what is said is not what is meant, then what ought to be done remains undone; if this remains undone, morals and art will be corrupted; if morals and art are corrupted, justice will go astray; if justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion."1
The remit of HR is obviously limited to the company rather than a country but, within its confines, HR’s careless or crafty use, misuse or non-use of words can have as devastating consequences as the sage foretold.
There are three reasons why the frequency, effectiveness and transparency of HR’s communication style is second in organisational consequence only to the CEO’s:
The only function usually authorised to issue regular, organisation-
wide messages is HR. This can be used for emergency information and instructions (such as following the Covid outbreak) or important long-term matters relating to policies, benefits, change programmes and situational updates. These communications can reinforce and reify (or contradict and confuse) the understanding employees hold of the company’s purpose, values and culture.
A well-run HR operation has numerous opportunities for individual and small group contact (verbal or written) with
employees.2 These are vital, not simply for the transaction at hand or for acquiring a real-time pulse and healthcheck of people's sentiment,
but as a means of sharing with employees the nuances of the organisation’s stance and strategies that cannot be revealed in all-employee messages.
HR is privy to and, if trusted, can be the recipient of confidences that do not even reach the CEO
directly. This endows the function with great power to mend matters, contain conflicts and persuade prevaricators. Like any other power, this one too can be used to the detriment of the persons whose confidential information is in HR’s grasp. Such 'fair to face and foul behind the back' tactics of our less desirable brethren are well captured by Stephano in The Tempest: "His forward voice, now, is to speak well of his friend; his backward voice is to utter foul speeches and to detract."3
The intent of this column is to identify and describe three dysfunctional ways in which HR speaks to employees. They are certainly not ubiquitous but they extract a disproportionate toll on HR’s reputation whenever they occur. I have sequenced them here in rising order of lethality to organisation health and employee commitment.
No Speak
Seemingly the most anodyne way in which HR can mismanage communication is by not communicating much with employees at all. This LSSM (Least Said Soonest Mended) method was much in use when I started my career and I continued to be guilty of it (at least in allemployee messages) even as more garrulous HR communication became the order of the day.
In my defence I could say that the organisations that I worked for already had strong cultures which did not need bolstering through HR communication but that is a specious argument. Least said also leads to least impact. But absence of influence is the least of the problems with maundharmic messaging. Organisational information space abhors a vacuum. Without a credible and frequent voice of the management explaining crises, elaborating purposes and encouraging effort, rumours have a field day. One of the characteristics of memetically successful rumours is to put a negative or cynical spin on events, policies and the behaviour of the leadership. Even worse, and not as rare as one might hope, are orchestrated rumours and artfully leaked information that rush into the sounds of silence when there are opposing factions vying for organisational or sub-unit supremacy.
Regular, relevant and realistic communication from
HR is necessary to prevent internecine or idle rumours from flowing into the information space. The media HR can use are many and justify a study in themselves. For the present we shall summarise with: No man is the lord of any thing, Though in and of him there be much consisting, Till he communicate his parts to others.4
Double Speak
While the costs of noncommunication by HR are high, they pale in comparison to the damage disingenuous communication can cause. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln: 'Better to remain silent and have one’s credibility questioned than to speak and to remove all doubt!' If we were to run a poll of what employee-customers hate the most about HR, its proclivity for speaking from both sides of its face would win hands down. Employees know that most HR people have above average command over language, hence they suspect other causes when messages from HR are confusing or ambiguous. "The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink."5
A single word to describe this whole range of hypocritical communication styles is Doublespeak and HR is a master of it. "Doublespeak is a language which pretends to communicate but really does not. It is language which makes the bad seem good, something negative appears positive, something unpleasant appears attractive, or at least tolerable. It is language which avoids or shifts responsibility; language which is at variance with its real and its purported meaning; language which conceals or prevents thought."6
Broadly, there are three ways in which language can be twisted into Doublespeak. These are: 1. Euphemisms 2. Jargon and Bureaucratese 3. Inflated language
Of course, each of these has justifiable uses in, for instance and respectively, minimising pain during traumatic events, specifying a procedure precisely or creating dramatic impact in an advertisement. Here, however, we are examining their misuse.
Substituting euphemisms such as 'rightsizing' for
'downsizing', fools no one. Matters are not improved by using 'head count management' for collective terminations and 'unallocated' or 'selective separation' for individuals. Simple rule: if you need verbiage to guise what you’re doing, it is shady. Painting a gun pink won’t make the bullet less lethal. One of the reasons euphemistic Doublespeak is so prevalent is the demand for soporific positivity pills some managements choose to administer in place of operating to remove major employee pain points.7 People rarely fall for these pink paint jobs and end up agreeing with Bassanio’s: "I like not fair terms and a villain’s mind."8
At the cutting edge of each discipline, terminology is inevitably created that is not accessible to the lay person or even to less research-oriented members of that domain. HR is no exception to this rule. But once one has an implementable programme or process that has to be communicated to the leader or general employee, jargon can only get in the way. Its use then, in the most charitable interpretation, is to impress employees with HR’s veneer of learning and specialisation. More often, it is part of the Doublespeak used to communicate without communicating so that there is plausible deniability of sense or of substance later.
As Molly Young puts it: "… [I]t’s safer to use words that signify nothing and can be stretched to mean anything, just in case you’re caught and required to defend yourself."9 Young goes on to point out that, in pursuit of concealment, jargon garbs itself in the operating economic metaphors of its day. Thus, in recent times we have "New Age-speak mingled recklessly with aviation metaphors (holding pattern, … discussing something at the 30,000-foot it clouds the communication of leadership or HR with the people at large, it is bound to destroy the credibility of the former in the eyes of the latter. Now it is Falstaff employees agree with, in saying to HR: "There's no more faith in thee than in a stewed prune, nor no more truth in thee than in a drawn fox …".10
If there's anything people detest more than ambiguity, it is tall claims that turn out to have little basis in reality. Whether it is describing the glory and prospects of
level), verbs and adjectives shoved into nounhood (ask, win, fail, refresh, regroup, creative, sync, touch base), nouns shoved into verbhood (whiteboard, bucket), and a heap of nonwords that, through force of repetition, became wordlike (complexify, co-execute, replatform, shareability, directionality)." Consequently, Young points out, "the ratio of ingenuity to bullshit" gets tipped too far in the wrong direction. Most functions use jargon and catch-phrase contaminated Doublespeak in their language but, when the firm, the not-since-Ram magnanimity of its leadership or the cleverer-thanChanakya brilliance of the CHRO, few PR puff pieces can match the blatantly inflated and patently false claims of an HR flatterfountain in full flow. After the constant outpouring of hyperbolic hypocrisy, there is little left in the glitterchest when a truly remarkable achievement needs to be shared. But this is a minor problem compared to the disbelieving yawn response HR programmes into the employee psyche. They tear
(or delete) most communications from HR, saying (with Troilus): "Words, words, mere words, no matter from the heart."11
Single Speak
Difficult as it may be to imagine, Singlespeak (a term I owe to Edward White, though I use it somewhat differently) can be far more fatal for all concerned than Doublespeak. The wishy-washy prevarication, the tech-term obfuscation and the adulatory ad-copy of Doublespeak may be misleading and frustrating but they do not carry the covert LOBHotomy (Listen Or Be Headless) threat of those dealing in uniform and simple Singlespeak messages. This is one of the key distinctions between the many HR leaders who make the vague tall claims of Doublespeak and the scarcely veiled menace of the (fortunately far fewer) messianic Singlespeaking CEOs and their CHRO mouthpieces. In fact, the first commandment of Singlespeakers is that people should not have divergent visions and viewpoints or mention any different leader-deities other than to ridicule them. The third and most onerous distinction is that, unlike the passive absorption Doublespeak expects, Single speak demands periodic public pronouncements of support for the credo and the topmost leadership. The more senior the individual, the more frequent and selfabnegatory the references need to be. I have known tittle-tattle CHROs who inform their CEOs about senior managers who are not sufficiently fervent (even in private) in the support they voice.
The organisational impact of the Leadership Team Incantation (LTI) chanted by a shamanic HR isn’t pretty. "The sole purpose of the LTI is to strip everyone of their individuality, to paralyse them as personalities, to make them into unthinking and docile cattle in a herd driven and hounded in a particular direction, to turn them into atoms in a huge rolling block of stone."12
Fooled you. LTI is not a corporate credo but 'Lingua Tertii Imperii', Latin for 'Language of the Third Reich' and part of the title of Victor Klemperer’s book on the simplistic yet deadly propaganda used by that brutal regime. Far be it from me to suggest that modern Indian firms have any similarity to the Third Reich – though one wonders why Indian airport bookstores (whose clientele includes a substantial proportion of business executives) prominently display and report continuing high sales of 'Mein Kampf'. That said, the uncompromising Singlespeak put out by some HR Heads would be the envy of Joseph Goebbels.
Apart from the obvious criterion of just one narrative being permitted for interpreting the past and actioning the future, here are some ways to judge how Singlespoken an organisation has become. In the
first place, it is not essential that the leadership or HR consciously deceive or manipulate employees.13 In fact, Singlespeak works best when the former delude themselves into believing the message.14
Consciously or not, Singlespeak is parasitic to some emotionally cathected values treasured by the general population. Analysis of the appropriateness of the value or whether the directives will realize it is, however, forbidden. A lot of simple slogans abound. Once again, any questioning of them, or of the missioncraze they are intended to fan, is met with Cardiganish disdain.15 If disdain doesn’t suffice, there is always the LOBHotomic response the future Richard III gave to Buckingham. Buckingham: My lord, what shall we do, if we perceive Lord Hastings will not yield to our complots? Gloucester. Chop off his head…16
Straight Speak
HR practitioners who wish to communicate clearly and transparently could make no better start than to follow these rules compiled more than half a century ago:
1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. 2. Never use a long word where a short one will do. 3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. [VFB, have you read these rules yourself? Ed] 4. Never use the passive where you can use the active. 5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday
English equivalent. 6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.17
These rules sound elementary, and so they are, but they demand a deep change of attitude. We can advance to a few more equally compelling caveats but a CHRO’s life is not so simple and straightforward. A drastic attempt to substitute Nospeak, Doublespeak and Singlespeak with Straightspeak might be met with a CEO rebuke, on the following lines:
How, how, Cordelia? Mend your speech a little,
Lest you may mar your fortunes.18
And therein lies the tragedy of King Lear and of Straight speaking HR.
viSty BanaJi is the Founder and CEO of Banner Global Consulting (BGC)
Notes:
1. Erich Heller, A Symposium: Assessments of the Man and the Philosopher, in K T Fann,
Ludwig Wittgensein: The Man and His
Philosophy, Partridge Publishing Singapore, 2020. 2. Visty Banaji, HR is a contact sport, People
Matters, April 2020 3. William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act I,
Scene 3, The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare, Cambridge University Press, 1971. 4. William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida,
Act III, Scene 2, The Cambridge Dover Wilson
Shakespeare, Cambridge University Press, 1969. 5. George Orwell, Politics and the English
Language, Penguin Classics, 2013. 6. William Lutz (Editor), Beyond Nineteen
Eighty-Four: Doublespeak in a Post-Orwellian Age, National Council of Teachers of
English, 1989. 7. Visty Banaji, The Perils of Pressured Positivity, People Matters, 18 November 2021 8. William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act III, Scene 2, The Cambridge Dover
Wilson Shakespeare, Cambridge University
Press, 1969. 9. Molly Young, Garbage Language Why do corporations speak the way they do?, Vulture, 20 February 2020 10. William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1, Act
III, Scene 3, The Cambridge Dover Wilson
Shakespeare, Cambridge University Press, 1968. 11. William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida,
Act V, Scene 3, The Cambridge Dover Wilson
Shakespeare, Cambridge University Press, 1969. 12. Victor Klemperer, Language of the Third Reich: LTI: Lingua Tertii Imperii, Bloomsbury
Academic, 2013. 13. Jason Stanley, How Propaganda Works,
Princeton University Press; 2015. 14. Visty Banaji, The Faustian Triad, People
Matters, 27 July 2020 15. Terry Brighton, Hell Riders: The True Story of the Charge of the Light Brigade, Henry
Holt and Co., 2004. 16. William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act III,
Scene 1, The Cambridge Dover Wilson
Shakespeare, Cambridge University Press, 1968. 17. George Orwell, Politics and the English Language, Penguin Modern Classics, 2013. 18. William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act I, Scene 1, The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare, Cambridge University Press, 1968. April 2022 |
Past Month's events
Designing Employee Experience in the New World of Work
People Matters BeNext 18 April – 20 May
2022
Online This programme is for HR leaders and employers looking to design an impactful, outstanding employee experience for their teams in the new hybrid working environment. People Matters
BeNext 11 April – 13 May
2022
Online This programme is for any HR or TA professionals wishing to establish a more effective understanding of the new business context and hone their employer branding to attract top talent. People Matters 24 March 2022 Online How can we tackle the era of the ‘Great Resignation’, the ‘Great Attrition’, and the ‘Great Disconnect’? This conference brought together CHROs, TA Heads, Senior HR & Recruitment leaders to discuss a concrete action plan for improving recruiting processes.
Talent Magnet: Aligning Recruitment, Employer Branding & Business Requirements Talent Acquisition Conference SEA
Digital Transformation & Leading Change (English & Spanish)
People Matters
BeNext 21 March - 22 April
2022
Online This programme is specially designed for women leaders who are interested in accelerating their career growth within their organisation and learning critical skills for women heading a team. Futurist Forum
People Matters 08 March 2022 (India), 09 March 2022 (ANZ), 10 March 2022 (SEA)
Online This invitationonly, closed door event brings top functional experts and CHROs from their respective regions together to find ways for larger business transformations and chart the path for the future of work and talent. EX India Conference 2022
People Matters 26 April 2022 Hybrid People Matters EX Conference brings you a riveting, insightful clash of cutting-edge ideas aimed at exponentially furthering employee value proposition, and advancing a corporate agenda that is profit-seeking, yet people-centric and ecologically sustainable.
Upcoming events
Talent Analytics: Driving Organizational Impact
People Matters
BeNext 02 May – 03 June
2022
Online This programme is for HR leaders eager to gain practical, handson approaches to talent analytics, connecting HR policies and practices to business performance. Prior knowledge of HR management, statistics and basic managerial accounting is preferred, but not indispensable. HR Business Partner in the New World of Work
People Matters
BeNext 16 May – 17 June
2022
Online This programme is for leaders and practitioners interested in how the HRBP drives cultural shifts that align with the changing needs of teams and organisations in the new world of work.
Wellbeing: the Road to Resilience
People Matters
BeNext 23 May – 24 June
2022
Online This program is for all HR professionals, organisational leaders, and individuals that recognize the importance of actively investing in themselves and in a workplace where mental health, focus, resilience, stress-management and psychological safety are highly valued. People Matters 04 August 2022 (India), 25 August 2022 (SEA)
Hybrid This year, People Matters TechHR invites you to look at the world with #FreshEyes, to imagine what's possible in a post-pandemic milieu. #FreshEyes is a metaphor for breaking away from the past. We aspire to “see” the world with a new mind, new heart, and new intention. Become the Answer for your team, your business, and society. EX ANZ Conference 2022
People Matters 18 May 2022 Hybrid People Matters has always been at the forefront of helping the community navigate the uncertainties, leading the conversations impacting the space of people, work, and workplaces. Our record in providing an effective platform where talent leaders, business thinkers, and service providTechHR 2022ers for meaningful conversation and exchange of ideas has been unparalleled.
Blogosphere >> ankita SingH
LGBTQ employees in the workforce
Being unique is more important than being equal; being authentic is more important than being best
How reasonably have we framed ourselves beyond Pride Month? Thought-provoking statistics emerge daily, indicating how close we have come to what we have desired to achieve for years, conceptually, socially, morally, practically, and professionally. A noteworthy shift is evident if we specifically talk about awareness, acceptance, and intent towards the LGBTQ+ workforce.
But will that be sufficient? Do we have the suitable approach, policies, culture, mindset, and opportunities to promote diversity and inclusion to each individual of diverse gender and sexualities, members of LGBTQ?
As per Zippa's 2022 report, 25% of LGBTQ+ people report encountering discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the past year, and 46% of LGBTQ+ workers have undergone unfair treatment at work at one point in their lives.
Changes owing to COVID19 have shaken the foundation of any strategic initiative that an organisation could think of or has introduced; but ask any minority group (most of us detest such categorising but it is the most widely understood term), and they will thank WFH scenario for numerous reasons. To an extent, this model secured them from anxiety, disillusionment, biasedness, embarrassment, fear, and identity crisis. This group could enjoy a world driven by capability because the e-window through which they worked is a much smaller space for others to get in through, know, judge, and react.
But the world, slowly, is moving back to the office. Are we ready? Are we prepared to give that secure environment to all our people? Are we prepared to do that little
extra for our special people? Maybe yes, but if not, we are being unfair to the talent that stands right outside our door, asking for essential consideration to become a part of us and add immense value to the system.
I agree that's it's not as easy as introducing a policy, but somewhere we will have to start and start strong; only then will others grab oars and start rowing. People automatically are motivated to become a part and contribute when they witness the change happening, not just the talking. How gender responsible are we as an organisation? In my view, if we become RESPONSIBLE for all that we do, we will have a better place to work for all. I am using an acronym to elaborate more on this: RESPONSIBLE: Respect |Empathy | Support | Proactive | Owned |Neutral |Safe | Involved | Break the Perception | Live your words |Enabler.
Respect: Ask, listen, understand, and include preferences defined and demanded by individuals. They are all unique with unique requirements; it's essential to respect individuality rather than categorising them.
Empathy: Sometimes, we end up embarrassing our people while trying to be empathetic. The definition may be the same, but applicability may differ. UnderAs per Zippa's 2022 report, 25% of LGBTQ+ people report encountering discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the past year, and 46% of LGBTQ+ workers have undergone unfair treatment at work at one point in their lives
standing how much of what will be right when dealing with our people is essential. Empathy should in no way be attacking their self-respect; no one would want to compromise on that. Actions speak louder than intent.
Support: They should have a fundamental support system; they are unique people and may need something extra to handle routine tasks. They may need a go-to person to discuss a few things which can't be addressed candidly or with the manager. There is a possibility that they may want to stay out of a few initiatives. That's ok; organisations should be able to enable that support system.
Proactive: Train your people on acceptance and inclusion. It's wrong to assume that people should comprehend on their own; if that happens, everybody will perceive and respond according to their understanding, not defined norms. The purpose and the plan should be discussed with people. They should all be part of these initiatives to accept and appreciate. We all know how people will
react, but we must show how people react.
Owned: Have an inclusivity specialist, share and talk about your D&I initiatives, have a task force, and run this initiative like any other critical business initiative. Ownership is a must; when people know that our leaders actively drive and observe it, they also consider it unique.
Neutral: Replace gendercoded terms with neutral terms. Organisations should guarantee that all their policies and processes provide inclusive benefits, including "sexual orientation" as a part of their non-discrimination policy.
Safe: Yes, a place has to be a secure place for all, but knowing that we have unique individuals who have already gone through enough, organisations must support individuals a little more to make their workplace psychologically a safe one for all by having relevant policies and special groups.
Involved: This can't be an HR initiative; leaders, too, alone can't drive it. This is a story where everybody reading or writing has to contribute. There is no ONLY audience category. Only if everybody is part of this game; it's a win-win. Influencers, promoters, ambassadors, policymakers, and communicators must come from all departments. Communicate a lot and seek feedback to complete the cycle.
Break the perception:
Unfortunately, culturally, we have all been told to look at LGQT+ differently, and it's essential to break that perception by being authentic, ethical, and empathetic. People follow what they see, at least till the time they are part of the same system. Depict and showcase it well!
Live your words: Workforce diversity has become more critical than ever; it is a fact known to all. When leaders are talking about it, so is the team. When leaders and organisations start acting on it, so will the team.
Enable: Enable every individual to be proud of who they are, enable them to do what they are capable of doing, allow a system that identifies people as unique people, not different ones, and promotes a culture that values individuality.
Additional efforts are needed to make organisations a safe and happy workplace for LGBTQ+ employees. Support towards the group should be highlighted in the entire employee life cycle to give the required assurance and comfort. Mainstreaming of sexual minorities has found a concrete place in organisations' top strategies. We need to do a little more to be conscious about unconscious biases and assumptions to embrace a culture that accepts and respects people of all identities and orientations.
Just because we are still not there doesn't mean we won't reach there. Everything, including perspective, approach, people, time, expectations, scenarios, will keep changing; the organisation will have to match up to the speed by staying AWARE, ACCEPTING uniqueness, ACCOMMODATING diversified workforce, and continuously ADAPTING to remain APT.
When we all love rainbows, why not add more color to make our own? Just be the light and support it to shine!
Remember that story of a Balloon seller? He said, "The color of the balloon does not determine the height it will achieve; it's the stuff inside that matters." Relatable in so many ways, right?
In the end, it's up to all of us.
about the author
dR ankita SingH is the Senior Vice President and Global Head of HR at CIGNEX Datamatics.
