Comment: Meanwhile, back in Cheery-ville...

Monday 25 February 2019

As trends in management speak come and go, she's heard it all. So what does she make of 'One Gov' and 'Team Jersey'?

Katherine Penhaligon is Connect's newest columnist, and each month will be picking up the best business buzzword examples and trying to reveal what lies beneath.

First up: she tackles the danger of pursuing single-minded positivity in the face of discontent...

"Restructure hurts someone, somewhere – always – and not just in pocket. Even harder to repair is the confidence of the individuals and the knowledge which will be lost to an organisation, when good staff walk. 

It’s not easy in any organisation – especially a large and dysfunctional one – to strike a balance between acknowledging that times are tough, and trying to move the workforce on. And, as the States of Jersey head honchos have had rubbed in their face during recent industrial action, there is a danger that in trying to give people a bit of a boost, you dismiss legitimate concerns and alienate them.

Pictured: Do people really want to be pushed positive messages of 'teamwork' when the atmosphere is anything but?

The idea is to make the system better for everyone, more efficient and, to some extent, future-proof. It’s never going to be a walk in the park, and it needs conviction, a trusted leader and for as many of the staff as possible to understand, to see the goal, believe in it and follow.

The communication from that leader will, obviously, play a crucial part in how it is received. That means that there’s a lesson for all businesses to learn from the apparent inability of 'Team Jersey' to land the 'One Gov' message with enough conviction to stop many team members from taking industrial action in January – with more threatened.

Lesson one would have been get in there before everyone is so hacked off that they are only ever going to react cynically: easy to say when that ship has sailed.

Lesson two is to beware of the positivity evangelists pushing cheery messages of inclusivity which jar with the reality of the majority of the workforce’s daily lives. At best they are irritating and immensely condescending. At worst it is cynical propaganda. 

Pictured: Communication plays a crucial part in how a restructuration message is received. 

The ‘comms’ is rarely the cause of problem and it certainly isn’t to blame for the desperately low morale that has led to industrial action; that’s been building for years and it has everything to do with the way that the public sector workforce feels that it has been treated, as much as it is about pay rises.

Industrial action involves way too many people to be a knee-jerk reaction, and while the communication isn’t the cause of the trouble, it can certainly pour salt in the wounds. 

Don’t try and brazen out ‘one team’ message when it’s blatantly at odds with the feelings of the workforce. Repeatedly telling someone that you value them is a bit like saying you’re sorry.

The more you say it, the less conviction you show and the less they believe you – especially when it doesn’t appear to be backed up by any hard evidence.

Pictured: Messages of positivity can be jarring while industrial action is ongoing - workers want to feel understood and respected by their leaders, Katherine says.

It’s obvious stuff but the message has to be genuinely meant by leaders, it needs to demonstrated in their actions, and the audience has to be in the right mood to receive it.  When people are disgruntled enough to even consider striking, a ‘meanwhile, back in Cheery-ville’ attempt to give them a little pat on the back for a job well done, probably just feels a like a slap.

If you’ve gone far enough to actually ask what your workforce thinks, and where morale is sitting, then also take the time to listen to what might resolve that. Don’t just show them a nice picture of the change curve, and expect them to get on it – and then over it.

As a final thought – and this might just be a personal thing – don’t insist on communication themes that are easily misappropriated.

“One Gov, One Heart, let’s get together and go on strike" - Yes, it misquotes everyone, isn’t all that clever and is terribly unfair to the Team Jersey stalwarts. It also needs an upfront apology to the estate of Bob Marley, but still…"

This column first appeared in Connect. Read the February edition here.