Respect Trumps Harmony

Katrina Boulton Director - People and Culture

Respect is defined as “admiration felt or shown for someone or something that you believe has good ideas or qualities” (Cambridge English Dictionary, n.d.). Respect as a King’s School Value is reflected as:

We respect one another and ourselves. Respect involves valuing people and property so that neither is dishonoured. We respect other’s beliefs and points of view. We do not bully or impose our will on others whether in thought, word or deed. We respect ourselves by adopting a lifestyle that is balanced and promotes wellbeing. Respect is strongly aligned with humility and honesty, for it is when we are committed to the truth and able to recognise, we may be wrong, that we are able to show respect. (School Mission Statement, 2022)

Respect was identified as an issue in the Employee Engagement (EE) survey conducted in 2021. Although respect was considered favourably by 63% of employees across the school, this rating was 14% less than the benchmark in comparative schools. During 2021, in multiple EE Survey debriefings with all staff, the Headmaster communicated the key areas of focus arising from the survey and noted that Respect was one of the five key recommendations for targeted focus by The Voice Project. The recommendation stated: Support the culture of respect among staff by role modelling from leadership, clear standards for integrity and respectful behaviour, and robust reporting processes. Take action that demonstrates the school does not tolerate bullying, abusive behaviour or discriminatory behaviour. (Project, 2021)

Given that Respect is also one of The King’s Schools core values, the Employee Engagement Working Group (EEWG) decided to initially focus its energies on two areas at a time, one being Respect.

To enable the focus on Respect, the Headmaster provided each employee with a copy of the book, Respect Trumps Harmony by Rachel Robertson. All staff were requested to read this as a starting point for the broad discussion and co-creation of an increased focus on Respect. The book conveys key messages and simple, practical approaches to building respect within a team.

In January 2022, the whole-school professional development day began with an inspiring talk by Rachel Robertson followed by an open forum question and answer session. The EEWG had the opportunity to discuss Respect and Rachel’s provocations over lunch, where broad discussion about practical approaches were the order of the day. Prior to, and post Rachel’s session, the EEWG continued discussions about areas in which to improve a focus on Respect across all areas of the school (notes from these discussions are posted on KingsNet in the People and Culture section). Practical strategies to improve respect, taken directly from Respect Trumps Harmony, were:

• No Triangles – a tool to put an end to gossip, improve accountability and the quality of feedback, and drive innovation

• The Bacon War – a gentle circuit breaker for calling out dysfunctional behaviour

• Lead Without a Title – an approach to developing personal leadership in your team, so responsibility and initiative are shared. (Robertson, 2020) In summary, communication was identified as the key to successfully shifting the focus on Respect across all areas of the School. Notably, top-down communication needs to be reduced and all areas of the School need to find ways to involve and engage people in decision-making on matters that impact them. Additionally, the need for greater interactions between leadership and broader teams was identified.

Following the Rachel Robertson talk, an activity was facilitated by The King’s School Institute for all attendees at the Professional Development Day, whereby the entire staff broke into focus groups to brainstorm the issues that challenged our understanding and enactment of Respect in the School. A group activity followed with each team or department, whereby statements were generated about what respect means to them. These statements were then collated by a representative group into a Draft Respect Charter. This charter was issued for consultation with all staff and then finalised, based on feedback. In April 2022, the King’s School Staff Respect Charter was released simultaneously across the School. Copies of the Charter are located in public locations for easy reference and have been a topic of discussion across the school.