An attractive young woman is interviewed for a care post by a panel of two men and two women, one of the women is from HR.  The female candidate smiles a lot but doesn’t have a lot to say. When the candidate has left the panel discus her performance. The men think the interview went reasonable well. On hearing this the two women laugh and say she only directed her answers at you two even when one of us asked the question. She couldn’t answer a single question with out one of you stepping in to prompt her or give her a clue.

When interviewing candidates in your eagerness to hear and see what you are looking for you may miss the clues that should inform your decision. Sometimes we only see and hear what we want to see and hear

I don’t believe the majority of employees are racist.  I do however find plenty of evidence of insensitivity, ignorance and a willingness to accept negative stereotypes. This is hardly surprising if people  are getting their information from the media and not from direct experience. HR and awareness training may be the first time these stereotypes have been exposed as such, and the first time views frequently expressed on the t.v. in news papers and social media have been shown to be myths. For example asking a group of people what percentage of the UK population is from a Black and minority ethnic group, and seeing their surprise at how they have seriously over estimated the number or asking them where the largest number of immigrates originate from.

You submit a report with options and emphasis the strengths and weaknesses of each but the board simply focuses on the strengths of their preferred option ignoring the risks that are detailed in the report.

The consultation process comes back with the  “wrong” answer so the board suggests the process is repeated this time with a fuller explanation of the proposals.

The annual employee survey is critical of senior management but they dismiss the negatives as to be expected following a series of unpopular decisions. Some even view the fact that employees are disgruntled as evidence that senior managment is doing something right.

On receiving the Annual Customer Complaints  statistics report the board highlights the fact that complaints are again down on the previous year. And choose to see this as evidence of increased satisfaction with services rather than an increased loss of faith in the process.

Senior management view the marked decrease in absenteeism as evidence that the new harsher policy is working and was justified. They chose to ignore anecdotal feedback that employees are coming to work when they are ill because they are afraid they will be dismissed under the new procedures. They chose not to recognise that this might have a detrimental impact on morale and quality of work and in the longer term recruitment and retention. Or that the absence management policy is in conflict with the commitment to taking Health and Wellbeing seriously.

HR and Management communication is often about getting people to listen to what they don’t want to hear. Trust is key to getting people to really listen. People are more willing to trust  face to face.  Passion and integrity encourage trust which grows from positive experience. Avoid vague or non committal statements which could be seen as leaving wiggle room. A willingness to explain and open up rather than close down discussion generates trust. This is about organisational culture, management style  and a consistent approach. You can’t pick and choose the areas and issues you are prepared to be open about.

When people listen change becomes possible.