To ask for your help with a tricky work conversation?

[nanbread]

Morale has become quite low where I work recently; people have huge workloads, and the leadership team is stressed and showing it, talking to many (but noticeably not all) staff members in an unacceptably rude way.

Staff are struggling and I know at least some are looking for new jobs.

This may sound normal to some of you but treating each other with kindness is meant to be important to the company and they are at-risk of losing some valuable members of staff.

I care about the people I work with and the company, and I want to talk to the leadership team about the toxic work environment (that they have ultimately created), to address the way people are being spoken to and to restore kindness and enjoyment, before it's too late.

How do I do this constructively, ie get them to change without upsetting the leadership team too much and ruining my own career to boot?

An all staff email from the leadership team saying we appreciate all your hard work, let’s get the energy back, drinks on us on Friday. Then they have to take action on how they will help people who are overworked This is such an unrealistic expectation, sadly, that companies would provide this perk to boost morale.

@nanbread sounds horribly familiar to me also.

If it's anything like our company, HR is as useless as a chocolate teapot and they have their hoops we have to jump through.

Ironically with their first port of call being to talk to the line manager - about the line manager!! Madness.

We have had unresolved issues with our manager for months now and we get nowhere.

We are all in a union and the union even got involved, but we are still at a stalemate unfortunately.

Such a shame as we area really good, close-knit team who aren't being appreciates. Sounds like yours is the same.

So, sorry, I've no advice, but lots of empathy.

Unionise - This is exactly the kind of thing a union can do on your behalf to avoid individual employees being blamed.

I used to work somewhere with a “respect and dignity” policy which covered this sort of thing. You could suggest working one up and then senior management modelling the values

@leghairdontcare unfortunately this isn't my experience.

We're all in the union. They approached our management team, management said we hadn't followed the correct procedure as we had bypassed the line manager.

Our complaint was about the line manager and his unfairness. We had a new system which doubled our workload - well everyone's except his, cos he's the boss innit!!

And he piles more and more on the junior staff. But every single time we broach it with him or our company director they pay lip service to it and nothing changes.

And I'm a senior member of staff whose opinion counts for nothing.

I don't think you will be able to 'get them to change' unfortunately.

If they wanted to, they would.

In the short term, their rudeness 'works' ie the job still gets done. In the longer term, when people leave and go off sick with stress, they'll blame something, anything other than themselves.

I do understand wanting to do something about it though. I think in your position, I would approach the person on the leadership team who I felt was most likely to listen, and say that you're concerned about how stress is affecting the culture and people in the organisation. Give a few examples. Explain how being talked to like shit makes people feel, which isn't good for business.

Really tricky. What about an off the record chat? As in, go for lunch/a drink with someone in the SLT and just raise it as an informal concern. I don't know whether you have this kind of relationship with anyone in your LT, but if you do it in this way with someone fairly trustworthy and without pointing any fingers, it might serve to keep you out of trouble and at least you wouldn't feel you'd done nothing about it.

I think it’s fairly common at the moment and, as others have said, it’s unlikely to end well you raising it.

They must know it’s happening but are choosing to do nothing about it.

Sorry to hear your working in a toxic environment but unfortunately it's the times were living in. Most people especially in a position of seniority thinks it's acceptable to be rude and disrespectful and as for HR they are definately not your friend, they sit on the fence of the seniors.
I suggest you don't address a situation that you cannot change as unfortunately you can become their next target.

It's a shame the company wasn't willing to resolve the issue for you @Newschapter. It still doesn't change the fact that being in a union offered you a lower risk way of raising the issue. OP is worried about her career being ruined if she speaks out - a union could raise it anonymously without putting her job on the line.

“but unfortunately it's the times were living”

I worked in a place like this 20 years ago, and several since. Many organisations go through phases like this, or are like it most of the time.

Honestly I don’t expect it will change. Possibly because I’m jaded from going through the same thing currently. Entirely avoidable situation caused by terrible management leading to intolerable pressures on staff with no one responsible actually giving a shit.

Staff stressed beyond breaking point doesn’t really interest the bosses unless it’s hitting them where it hurts, financially. They’re often great at giving lip service to listening to staff feedback without anything concrete actually coming out of it except somehow it becoming the staffs fault for not engaging (because they have no time due to work pressures or because they’ve lost faith in the bosses and don’t believe it’s worth their while).

My advice is to look for another job but do it with your eyes open and be aware you could be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. Or it could be the best thing you ever do.

You need a staff survey really. Ideally conducted by a third party.
I wouldn’t get involved though, I saw someone put forward the view you have in a meeting once and they got hammered for ‘disloyalty’.

They won't thank you for it.
Either keep schtum or do it anonymously.

You need a staff survey really. Ideally conducted by a third party.

PMSL if you think they are anonymous!

Is there any member of the management team who you think is approachable at all?

I had a similar issue in a company I worked with and approached the most approachable of them and made it seem like I was on their side and concerned about staff retention. I was then told the “other side” of the story and got some background about issues the management team were facing.

Long term nothing much changed, but at no point was I given any pushback for raising the issue.

One place I worked,the staff survey had to be filled in by hand and the directors studied the handwriting carefully.

On a computer, I imagine they can track it back to individuals anyway.

Are you close with any of the SLT? I've been in a very similar situation and a chat with the member of the SLT who passed the info on under the radar (including the info that people were considering leaving) helped them make some changes.

My experience: stay well out of it.

Some organisations like to sneakily shit-stir from the top down to unofficially encourage people to walk the plank themselves. Whatever they claim their policies are.

Do you remember the news story where John Lewis announcement that there “might be” a 0% bonus? It was made in early January.

Staff members who qualify for the bonus are those who stay till the end of January. It gets paid in the spring.

There actually WAS a bonus. Think about why senior management made that (wrong) announcement at that particular time....

(This is “co-owned, run by the partners, nice friendly, support the team John Lewis”. That’s what the official corporate branding is anyway)

How about staff posting how they feel on www.glassdoor.com. The site allows employees to rate their employer anonymously, the posts cannot be removed by the employer (unless gratuitously offensive), and a lot of businesses get a massive wake up call when they read what their staff really think of them.

It’s just a job. You sell your soul for a few coins. You are dispensable.

Forget HR. Everybody needs a plan B. That would be a second source of income.

Forget trying to put the world to rights.

Put an anonymous review on Glass Door - make sure they don't know it's you.

I’ve not read the full thread. Maybe suggest to management, where I work we have a Tree of Appreciation where other members of staff anonymously write notes of appreciation about other members of staff and stick them on a picture of a tree (cut out of paper quite large) after a week a couple of names are drawn from a hat and they are given a small gift. We also have Well-being Week where staff can sign up to have a head massage or we have a chill out zone set up to do yoga or play games for an hour. The management buy s fruit cake and chocolate and everyone gets together in a communal area and has a coffee and a chat. Also the management ask for constructive feedback on one or two specified areas. I think just being asked for opinions makes people feel heard. I wonder if your management might be open to one or two suggestions in the interest of a valued workforce

I think you need to find the most approachable member of the leadership team and share your concerns privately. Give them specific examples. It's unlikely they don't already know but will appreciate any suggestions you may have.