The need for humans to feel a sense of belonging is accentuated in the workplace.
According to Dr Geoffrey Cohen, Professor of Psychology, Stanford University, “A sense of belonging isn’t just a byproduct of success but a condition for it’.[1]
In the workplace, belonging to a larger group, being accepted in that group and having something to contribute to that group motivates daily thought, feeling and action.
Employees quickly learn to conform which in turn enhances their ability to work together and problem-solve.
Conforming to ‘the way things are done’ includes becoming familiar with and applying the unspoken rules which are often at play around authority figures.
But it is these unspoken rules that are just the beginning of the challenge to assert values and create a much more compelling narrative. Without this extra effort to reinforce the importance of speaking up, the pull to stay the same as everyone else will remain in place.
Wrongdoing, falsifying documents, fraud, and price gouging are all actions that require the input of more than one person. Often these are actions that are condoned from the very top, as in the PwC tax scandal, and filter down or across an organisation without questions being raised.
That’s because our workplace persona takes over. We shape our clothes, vocabulary and our opinions to enable professional likeability. At best it can lead to early promotion. At worst an identity crisis.
If we are attuned to our values however we can still drive our behaviour in a way that enables us to respond effectively when an ethical dilemma arises.
Speaking up relies on breaking away from the group and leveraging values that may not previously have been as explicit or central to our decision-making.
Both the need to belong and ingrained behaviours around authority figures have widespread implications for speak-up programmes.
For example, respecting authority, complying with the wishes of authority and not bothering authority with needless concerns– are typically understood as being traditional behaviours that will ‘get you places’.
Common understandings about the benefits of compliance are similar.
According to sociologist Robert Jackall[2] sustained pressure from authority figures leads, to a range of behaviours that are rarely talked about. Each of these behaviours can undermine speaking up. They include:
- Never go around your manager.
- With this belief, any attempt to speak up that doesn’t involve an immediate manager can be seen as betrayal.
- Tell your manager what they want to hear
- This strikes at the heart of truth-telling and speaking up. Even dimming down the truth undermines the importance of fact-finding and investigating further.
- If your manager wants something dropped – drop it.
- The immediate impact of this is not being heard and not being validated. It is also a red flag that an inconvenient truth or perception is best to swerve altogether.
- Anticipate and focus on what your manager doesn’t need to know – in such a way that you ‘sort it’ rather than report it.
- Such a belief is reinforced by the perception that a manager is busy, too busy to want to listen to anything other than what will serve an immediate outcome rather than the bigger picture.
Detaching from group behaviour relies on having inner resilience to make decisions that reveal personal values at work.
Executives in people and culture or risk can play a huge part in helping employees recognise how susceptible humans are to the lure of the group and how this can become dysfunctional when bad stuff is unfolding.
The small but potent act of reflecting on core values can often provide the critical thinking necessary to arrest poor behaviour and head down a different path.
This is also the moment that access to an external reporting channel such as Report it Now Global can better support the reinforcement of values and a temporary disruption to belonging. Report it Now™ Global applies a case management software EthicsPro that captures every interaction and trains its teams of call handlers to pick up on signs of stress. The innate desire to stay within the group is just one indicator.
In all of this companies need to be much more open and determined to embed values that are relatable and to question the narrative around authority figures.
The concept of undoing provides a platform for change. And if it’s change that will better enable a speak-up culture, then it is worth considering.
References:
[1] Dr Geoffrey Cohen ‘Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides’.
[2] Author Moral Mazes