IC Carnival
You are at:»»Jo Phillips: See something, do something
Culture Essentials

Jo Phillips: See something, do something

By on 0 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, we hosted our regular Questions and Answers session in the People team and, as always, my team and I did our best to be open and candid with others about the current landscape on the range of issues raised. After the call, I got an email from someone in the department – something we’d shared had jarred with them, and they wanted to explain how it had made them feel and share their perspectives. They ended their email “Hopefully I haven’t spoken out of line here. I just want to make sure you have this voice as part of the decision making process.”

As I reflect on this, my first thought is how pleased I am to see the Culture Essentials alive and kicking in the People team, with this individual taking the opportunity to Speak Up. It’s also made me think about how we create an environment across the business where all of our people can Speak Up more effectively and what barriers might be getting in the way.

  • “Hopefully I haven’t spoken out of line here” – what more can I/we be doing to ensure colleagues know it’s safe to share concerns and that they’ll be heard and responded to? Or otherwise put, how do we signal our readiness to Listen & Learn?
  • “I want to make sure you have this voice as part of the decision making process” – how can we be really clear that it’s not only ok to Speak Up but that we actively encourage it and want everyone to take personal responsibility for it? How do we get to a place where that becomes the norm around here?

Every day we’re all faced with choices about how we both act in sharing something that might feel awkward for the other person to hear and react in response to being told something we’d rather not have to consider.

The most important conversations are rarely the easy ones and finding the courage to have them can be a challenge. Speak Up and Listen & Learn are not always going to feel comfortable or come naturally to us; like with anything that’s difficult or new, we have to take opportunities to face that discomfort in order to learn, practice and grow. In the coming weeks, your team conversations about the Culture Essentials (Culture Essentials in Practice) and what they mean to you are the chance to do exactly that.

As I said in the recent Carnival UK business update, those conversations will explore the dynamics and behaviours that we experience within teams that might unintentionally prevent our Culture Essentials from thriving. Conversation is as much (if not more) about listening as it is about speaking and one thing we can do for one another is nurture an environment where it feels safe to Speak Up. When we really listen, we connect. When we connect, we care and importantly we build transparency and trust.

To really listen – not to judge, or to challenge, or to respond but to understand – takes as much courage as to speak and it’s what we do with what we’ve heard that really matters.

Sometimes we can plan or prepare for a courageous conversation and sometimes the need will just arise; developing an understanding of yourself in advance about what might play out, either in your ability to speak up or listen, is really important so you can be ready to bring your best self to the conversation. Here are some things to think about:

  • How regularly do you stop to think about the space you create for others to safely speak up?
  • If you’re a manager, to what extent are you noticing when people are holding back and exploring why?
  • How inclusive are you in group conversations, in terms of drawing those who might not naturally speak up into the conversation and encouraging those who naturally speak up to make space for them?
  • What stops you from speaking up and why? What are you afraid of? Have you shared that with anyone that could help?
  • To what extent are you really noticing when someone is trying to take action if things don’t seem right; or actively contributing ideas about how things could be better? How do you respond and recognise that courage?
  • If someone has raised a concern or idea with you, how consistently do you follow up with progress or an outcome?
  • Are there any topics or conversations you know you wouldn’t be comfortable to discuss? What are you going to do about that? Can you face into it?
  • How do conversations play out differently in a group environment compared to 1:1 and does it change behaviours and responses of others?

Culture Essentials in Practice should create the opportunity to discuss many of these things…

 

Where our conversations are more courageous we:

  • demonstrate a genuine interest and respect in what’s being said, the person saying it and their intent
  • listen and seek to understand without trying to fix, solve, explain, defend, train or win
  • pay attention to how something is said, in addition to what
  • are aware of and moderate our emotional reactions
  • play back what we’ve heard to check for understanding
  • are prepared to be vulnerable – not know the answer

 

We asked some colleagues to share some of their thoughts on this topic.

On the topic of tackling the ‘uncomfortable’:

I have Type One diabetes. Ever since my teenage years I have resented the stigma I feel is attached to diabetes. As such, for the first few years of my career at Carnival UK I did my upmost to ensure that nobody new that I live with the condition. This meant that at times when my sugar level was low or high my behaviour/focus levels/responsiveness could quickly change, keeping this to myself could have been dangerous. As I continue to mature the importance of our welfare on productivity, energy & general happiness at work has become much more visible. As such, I now make a conscious effort to talk about my diabetes, but it does not happen without considerable effort… Even writing this is consuming a lot of mental energy (cue coffee). With the “Time for talk” day just behind us, reflecting on the impact that stigma has had on myself has made me realise that our personal health and wellbeing is still such a tough conversation and one that I need to contribute significant effort, courage and time to even start.” Tom Mahoney, Director, Revenue

On the topic of creating the environment where people can Speak Up:

For the last year I’ve been leading a group of 30 plus people with Tom Keating to design and implement T&C changes, pause announcements and launches as we go through the pandemic. This is often complicated. It requires experts from multiple areas from the business to have input and can have large negative impacts if we get something wrong. Listening to the teams, taking their concerns and adapting our plans to cover off Guest’s queries, legal challenges or process complications has been extremely important. Do we as leaders always get this right? Certainly not, it’s a dynamic and fast paced environment, at times when the clock is ticking it’s easy to move on too soon. Sometimes the person with a concern might not raise it sensing the pressure or perhaps they need more time to think the problem through. Luckily I know I can rely on the team to Speak Up when they feel they or others aren’t being heard, to drop me an email, IM or a call if something doesn’t sit right and together we strive to get better and better all the time. Watch out on zoom for that person who looks like they want to say something, but maybe is too worried to speak up. Encouraging them to do so more often than not delivers a positive change on the decision (or application of it).” Matt Gleaves, VP International Development and Planning

“In this current climate it is important to talk about Mental Health and ways in which as a company we can support. However, I believe it is important to recognise that Mental Health is a personal experience, where individuals may have their own coping or management methods. Although we should encourage people to talk, whether it be a conversation with a friend or their Line manager, the important thing they  do what is best for themselves & feel comfortable doing so. I feel strongly that as a business we need to be mindful of situations where we may, unintentionally, cause triggers, set blanket expectations or generalise.” Beth Pomroy, Planning and Change Manager

On the topic of a leader’s role in ensuring teams listen and learn:

I’m conscious of the impact that virtual working and online meetings in particular are having on our people. It takes a lot more energy to stay focused, read visual cues and build connections and staring at giant heads all day isn’t exactly an ideal breeding ground for creativity. As a manager, i try to create meetings that encourage diversity of thought and debate and start by asking for help, ideas and questions from the team. By avoiding criticism and making time to think about outside world examples, best practice and new ideas, we collectively think about the improvements that we can make to our Shore Experiences”. Samantha Cole, Shore Experiences Director

“It is crucial that people feel comfortable sharing thoughts and ideas without the fear of being judged. At times I am in a situation where people have the same intentions and are trying to drive the same outcomes but do not understand each other well. This causes conflict. As a leader, you have to quickly spot it and facilitate a discussion that helps individuals understand each other better.  I appreciate every idea shared with me and let people know that even if we do not move an idea forward, we will at least understand why it wouldn’t work, which will help develop a better idea.” Jatin Chandwani, Chief Technology Officer

The thoughts above hopefully illustrate that having the right conversations is something that every single one of us needs to work on. None of us have got it cracked all the time. But if each of us can consciously dig a little deeper and be a little more curious & candid each and every day, that will go a long way towards creating the culture of trust openness and care that we’re aiming for.

International Women’s Day #choosetochallenge

To create an inclusive work environment, we benefit from having conversations that aren’t always easy. Progress comes through questioning bias, showing curiosity about topics that might be outside of our comfort zone and inviting different perspectives.

We will be celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD) on 8 March. This year, the theme is ‘choose to challenge’, recognising the importance of speaking up to challenge gender norms, biases and stereotypes.

Get involved in the conversation by joining Athena’s Facebook Group (Athena @ Carnival UK) and posting your #ChooseToChallenge selfie. Tell us how you choose to challenge, for example:

  • I will challenge and call out gender inequality by…
  • I will challenge gender stereotypes and bias by…
  • I will work collectively with my colleagues to call out gender inequality by…

 

You can also hear about how Christine Duffy, President of Carnival Cruise Lines, challenges bias at our IWD event at 16:00-17:00 GMT on 8 March. Sign up at CUK Common>Athena>2 Year Retention Folder

Learning resources

You can find a number of learning resources to help develop courageous conversation skills on The Cove and through the Good Practice portal

Managers

 

Everyone

 

Like
Like Love Haha Wow Sad Angry
91 

		
	
		

		
Leave A Reply