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Creating a Culture of Caring

Office of Information Technology

Brenna Miaira Kutch - PSU Culturally Responsive Symposium - 5/10/18

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About this session

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  • “Taking Care of Yourself and Others in Challenging Times”
  • What you can do as a formal or informal leader at work
  • Generate and share ideas, commit to action

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How many of you supervise someone?

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How many of you are non-supervisory employees?

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How many of you are students (and not working)?

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People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.�Maya Angelou

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When you care about someone, how do you want them to feel?

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HEALTHY

TRUSTED

INVESTED IN

HEARD

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

WELCOME

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HEALTHY

TRUSTED

INVESTED IN

HEARD

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

WELCOME

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Inclusion

WELCOME

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Inclusion - Why

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  • Do people like feeling excluded?
  • Can be more difficult for marginalized populations
  • Implicit bias and “only-ness” affects engagement
  • People are more engaged when respected for their differences
  • An inclusive environment positively impacts everyone
  • Diverse teams perform better, are more innovative

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If I had only SEEN someone, early in my career, being different and being respected in their difference, I might have found my own confidence sooner.

Kathy Lee

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Inclusion - How

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  • Respect and encourage differences, not assimilation
  • Hiring committees and project teams should reflect diverse people, viewpoints, experiences
  • Ask/understand issues for marginalized populations
  • Help provide space for other voices
  • Acknowledge bias, power imbalances
  • Hire for attitude and aptitude, not just experience
  • Work with your diversity and inclusion department

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Inclusion - How

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  • Create psychological safety (“making coworkers feel they will not be punished or humiliated when taking interpersonal risks, such as asking for help, admitting mistakes and vulnerabilities, or expressing concerns”)
  • Attend workshops that promote cultural responsiveness
  • Be friendly to new folks, introduce/invite
  • Instigate group lunches, volunteer opportunities, resource groups, sharing events, etc

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Respect

Image: http://www.elle.com/culture/music/a35398/arethas-anthem/

WELCOME

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Respect - Why

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  • Respecting time and voice goes a long way
  • Everyone has their own priorities
  • Feeling respected for differences increases engagement, an inclusive culture
  • Lead by example (not just for “leaders”)

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Respect - How

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  • Address interrupting or minimizing
  • Respect (and block) time for deep work
  • Encourage others to express viewpoints and ideas, and respect them
  • Dietary restrictions at events
  • “Speedy Meetings” - and stick to it!
  • Emotional labor is for everyone
  • Platinum rule

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Recruitment and Onboarding

WELCOME

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Recruitment and Onboarding - Why

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  • Onboarding affects engagement, turnover, being able to do one’s job, feeling connected to and understanding the org
  • First interactions are essential
  • What is it like to apply for a job, go to an interview, or start a first day in your organization? Do people want to stay?

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Recruitment and Onboarding - How

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  • Communicate proactively and quickly (even rejections)
  • Establish a buddy program
  • Think about (and ask) how welcome new employees feel
  • Incorporate feedback into your process
  • Make the onboarding process transparent and efficient

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Recruitment and Onboarding - Informal Leader

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  • Add a review to Glassdoor
  • Provide input into employer branding or recruitment
  • Start a buddy program
  • Befriend new staff, learn about them
  • Introduce new staff to others
  • Communicate experiences new staff have to leadership (be aware of confidentiality)

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Welcome

Inclusion - Respect - Recruitment/Onboarding

What is a good practice you currently do?

What are some new ideas?

What’s something you’ve observed that should stop?

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HEALTHY

TRUSTED

INVESTED IN

HEARD

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

WELCOME

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Benefits and Leave

HEALTHY

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Benefits and Leave - Why?

  • We don’t want people we care about to be sick
  • Mental, physical, and emotional health issues affect attendance, performance, engagement, everything
  • Sleep is essential
  • Self-care and recharging is essential
  • Unplugging is hard

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Benefits and Leave - How

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  • Lead by example - unplug nights/weekends!
  • Offer flexibility when possible or occasional work-from-home (useful for parents, too)
  • Encourage/model 2-week vacations to take a break and recharge
  • Respect others who are taking time
  • Support taking time for health (physical, mental, emotional)

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Physical Environment

HEALTHY

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Physical Environment - Why?

  • No lack of physical health issues in a digital world
  • Ergonomics are important
  • Ability to bring lunch = healthier and more cost effective
  • Space impacts engagement1; people want to come to work more when they like and perform well in the space

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Physical Environment - How

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  • Walking/standing meetings, stretch breaks, fitness
  • Solicit staff opinions for design or ideas
  • Invest in a kitchen and ergonomic workstations
  • Flexible schedules or work from home policy

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HEALTHY

TRUSTED

INVESTED IN

HEARD

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

WELCOME

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Autonomy

TRUSTED

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Autonomy - Why?

  • Large impactor of trust - opposite of micromanaging
  • Low-trust organizations suffer from loss of productivity, high turnover, less collaboration, and higher stress1
  • A central component of human motivation (Self-Determination Theory2, Daniel Pink’s Drive3)

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Autonomy - How

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  • Allow autonomy over schedule, workplace, teams if possible
  • “Want your employees to trust you? Show that you trust them”
  • Assign goals, not tasks (and let the paths vary)
  • Micromanaging isn’t just for managers
  • Have a micromanager? Talk/frame (e.g. “I want to learn”)

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Transparency/Communication

TRUSTED

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Transparency/Communication - Why?

  • Lack of transparency damages trust
  • Does the organization seem open or like they are hiding things?
  • Information gap means people make up stories, feel blindsighted by decisions
  • Do folks have the info necessary to succeed?

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Transparency/Communication - How

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  • Intranet helps old and new employees
  • Proactive communication, default to open
  • Listen, act, report
  • Google docs

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Trusted

Autonomy - Transparency & Communication

What is a good practice you currently do?

What are some new ideas?

What’s something you’ve observed that should stop?

Healthy

Benefits & Leave - Physical Environment

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HEALTHY

TRUSTED

INVESTED IN

HEARD

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

WELCOME

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Professional Development

INVESTED IN

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Professional Development - Why?

  • “The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.”
  • Lack of growth a leading factor in disengagement, turnover - bad for employees, managers, and organization
  • Losing good employees is very costly
  • We want the department/PSU to learn and grow

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Professional Development - How

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  • Keep professional development budgets
  • Be creative and use educational resources - on the job training, job shadowing, online, and discount classes
  • Ask your boss for stretch assignments, projects - a culture of valuing learning may require leading by example
  • Don’t just focus on technical skills
  • Employee-led development plans
  • Share information about workshops, classes
  • Ask/organize your own speakers or presentations

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Tools and Technology

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Tools and Technology - Why?

  • How much time do we waste on band-aid solutions?
  • Eliminate inefficiencies and frustrations
  • Shows staff that we value their time and brainpower
  • People need to be given the tools to do their jobs

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Tools and Technology - How

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  • Understand where pain-points are and try to eliminate
  • Seriously research solutions: requirements gathering, gap analysis, cost of inefficiency, solicit input
  • How are those problems solved outside of work1?
  • Ask others what they’ve used
  • Research and make recommendations

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HEALTHY

TRUSTED

INVESTED IN

HEARD

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

WELCOME

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Soliciting Feedback

HEARD

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Feedback - Why?

  • How will you know if you don’t ask?
  • Not asking shows that you don’t value them
  • Ignored employees are less engaged, use more sick time
  • Asking and responding to feedback increases loyalty
  • Other people are smart!

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Feedback - How

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  • Provide multiple venues
  • Respond, respond, respond
  • Avoid “open door policy”
  • Learn to accept difficult feedback
  • Ask others for feedback about yourself, will often reciprocate
  • Ask others how they like to give/receive feedback

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Difficult Conversations

HEARD

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Difficult Conversations - Why?

  • Emotions are hard to manage in high-stress times
  • Negative responses damage trust, scares people
  • Leading by example reinforces culture
  • Better results

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Difficult Conversations - How

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  • Read Crucial/Fierce Conversations (etc), promote
  • Create a feeling of safety
  • Understand emotional intelligence
  • Hold others to those standards
  • Keep doing it!

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HEALTHY

TRUSTED

INVESTED IN

HEARD

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

WELCOME

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Purpose

MAKING A

DIFFERENCE

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Purpose - Why?

  • Anyone know a millennial?
  • Motivates through less exciting tasks, focused on impact
  • Strong impactor of engagement, motivation
  • Public Service Motivation
  • Harness the power of passion

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Purpose - How

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  • Higher Education - can be easier to realize
  • Explicitly connect job with how it benefits the organization
  • Advertise and hire for purpose fit
  • Understand others’ purpose and passions
  • Tie projects or work to the mission
  • Share impact and positive feedback with colleagues

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Connection

MAKING A

DIFFERENCE

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Connection - Why?

"Feeling connected to others is what gives our lives meaning and fuels our sense of belonging. �A sense of connection can come from a shared passion, a shared experience or history, a shared goal or mission. It speaks to our desire to identify with and feel part of something bigger than ourselves." (Betsy Myers4)

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Connection - How

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  • Create or encourage events that draw people together, such as graduation or community service
  • Find a cool opportunity? Solicit participants
  • Highlight individual stories of impact
  • Facilitate a way to share specific appreciation
  • Create opportunities for personal connection with the community, e.g. mentorship

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Making a Difference

Purpose - Connection

What is a good practice you currently do?

What are some new ideas?

What’s something you’ve observed that should stop?

Heard

Soliciting Feedback - Difficult Conversations

Invested In

Professional Development - Tools/Technology

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WELCOME

Recruitment and Onboarding

Inclusion

Respect

HEALTHY

Benefits and Leave

Physical Environment

TRUSTED

Autonomy

Transparency/Communication

INVESTED IN

Professional Development

Tools and Technology

HEARD

Soliciting Feedback

Difficult Conversations

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Purpose

Connection

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Next Steps

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What can you start doing (short and/or long term)?

What can you convince your boss to start?

What do you want to make sure you remember when you are a manager?

What is your top takeaway to learn or do?

Your Next Steps

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Accountability:

Share a goal

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References

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[1] Jacob Morgan, The Employee Experience Advantage

[2] Harvard Business Review, The Neuroscience of Trust

[3] Daniel Pink, Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates us

[4] Betsy Myers, Take the Lead

Cute icons courtesy of Oksana Latysheva (thenounproject.com)

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Related Reading

Brenna Miaira Kutch and Kirk Kelly, From Climbing Walls to a Culture of Caring

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Questions/Ideas?

�brennak@pdx.edu