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Defining the characteristics of a positive working environment
Making this a good/great/better place to work!
If you have any questions about this pack, please contact [email protected] or [email protected]
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• Over the past few years we’ve succeeding in tackling some difficult challenges as a business
• We know we’ve not done this in a way that has created the right working environment for everyone
• As a business, the challenges we face won’t go away - our customers want more from us and we are in a competitive regulated marketplace. We need to improve our efficiency & effectiveness and quality & consistency of service
• To do this, we’ll still have to do difficult things. For example– Measuring & improving our performance as a business & individuals, using appropriate tools– Addressing when people aren’t meeting the required standard by managing their performance– Continuing to change & transform our business to meet our customer’s requirements
• It’s important that we do this in a compassionate way that creates a positive working environment
• To help this we’ve worked with volunteers from Field to build a draft definition of what good looks like. We don’t all experience this definition now. Having a shared understanding of where we want to get to is essential to making change
• Please give us your feedback on the definition - we want everyone’s input so that this definition is meaningful and we can all work towards making it a reality
What this all about? Why are we doing this work?
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1. Agree the 3 themes that are most important to making this a great place to work
2. For each theme – discuss and capture: – Which bullet points stand out as most important (3-5 examples)? What did you
discuss?– Which ones stand out as least important or that you disagree with?– Is there anything missing?
3. Once we have the definition in place we’ll need to all work together to make a change for the positive – what are your thoughts on how we do this?
This is a draft for discussion. We expect there to be some changes based on the feedback you give us.
As a team, we’d like you to discuss...
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CARE or engagement forum rep• Share definition at team meeting • Remind your line manager that it needs to go on your team meeting agenda• Ensure feedback is captured using the pack we sent you and return to [email protected]
Line manager• Agree with the CARE rep what support they need in positioning & running the session• Let people know that you would like them to be open & honest in discussion• Listen more that you speak• Demonstrate your personal commitment to making change to improve things for your people
HR Business Partner • Support the CARE rep & line manager in preparing for the meeting• Providing facilitation support, if needed, to ensure everyone’s voice is heard• Following up with the line manager to talk about how they want to follow this up with their
teams
Members of the team • Review pack ahead of the meeting• Provide constructive input to finalising the definition & recommendations on how we can bring
this to life
Who does what?
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How does this fit with other descriptions of how we work?
In BT, we use the following things to describe the values & behaviours that are important to the way that we do business.
Leadership capabilities Team Member capabilities BT Values
The definition does not replace the above.
It helps us understand in more detail things that are important to us in creating an atmosphere where we can give our best performance.
In the definition, we link to the leadership capabilities
How is this definition different?
•We have used language & practical examples that are specific and meaningful for our people
•We have been open about the business need to make difficult changes as we transform – this definition will help us to improve how we do this in a more positive way
Values
Inspiring Straight-forward
Trustworthy
Helpful HeartCoaching
for performan
ce
Bottom lineDrive for
results
Customer connected
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• If you have a large team divide (more than 10 members) into 2 smaller groups to have discuss
• Please make sure that you capture the feedback from both groups
Discussion guidelines
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• We involve people – we discuss information relevant to our roles & use our use our skills & experience to make continual improvements for customers
• We celebrate success – recognising & learning from achievements (including the little things people do for the customer and their colleagues)
• We give balanced support & challenge so that people can give their very best performance to improve things for our customers
• We know where we’re going & how we are improving things for our customers & our people
• We work as one team – and feel connected to our colleagues in order to deliver great service for our customers
The characteristics of a positive working environment…
Draft for discussionAgree as a team/small group the 3 themes that are most important to making this a great
place to work
Look at each theme: Which bullet points stand out as most important (3-5 examples)? Which ones stand out as least important or that you disagree with?
Is there anything missing?
© British Telecommunications plc
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We involve people – we discuss information relevant to our roles & use our use our skills & experience to make continual improvements for customers
We do • use language that is meaningful for the
people we are talking to & makes them feel included (“we” & “us”)
• allow time to discuss things that we feel are important, giving everyone chance to speak
• use feedback loops to share feedback and respond to what people say
• respond openly & honestly to people’s concerns, especially when we are giving difficult messages
• take ownership of problems, the solution & supporting everyone to succeed
• involve people early when change affects them
• find opportunities for people to use their specific skills to improve things for our customers
• listen to people’s views, acknowledging different perspectives and use these as a tool to improve things for our customers
• understand people’s personal attributes & skills and put them into use as far as possible
We don’t• present information in a way that does
not consider the needs of the audience• use team meetings as a one-way
management download • pre-judge what someone is saying before
they say it • discourage people to be involved in
things that have a short-term negative impact on performance stats
• allow one or two people to do all the talking
• discourage people from sharing their ideas
• involve people after implementation decisions have been made
• make promises we’re not able to deliver• pass off other people’s work as our own
BT Leadership / Team Member Capabilities – TRUSTWORTHY & HEART
Draft for discussion
© British Telecommunications plc
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We celebrate success – recognising & learning from achievements (including the little things people do for the customer and their colleagues)
We do
• let people know when they are meeting & exceeding expectations, rather than just focussing on stats & where they need to improve
• recognise teams for their contribution to achieving our goals
• use the recognition tools available to us (e-cards, role model of the month..)
• recognise the little things people do every day, not just the big successes (heroes)
• regularly recognise people at team meetings
• take the time to recognise people in the moment – e.g. a quick phone call to say thanks/well done
• know what recognition works for people personally: public/private, formal…
• take time to learn about what helped us succeed so we can do more of it
• recognise people who fix problems & improve the way we do things rather than manage well in a crisis
We don’t• phone people only to find out what
went wrong or to check up• wait until 1:1s to recognise what
people have done• assume people know that we think
they’ve done a good job• recognise a team, without paying
attention to the contribution of individuals within it to achieving team goals
BT Leadership / Team Member Capability - HEART
Draft for discussion
© British Telecommunications plc
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We know where we’re going & how we are improving things for our customers & our people
We do• take time to explain the reason behind
changes / initiatives, from an individual’s point of view
• accept that as we make change to improve things for our customers, this may have adverse impact on individuals, which need to manage respectfully
• share information about how we are growing the business
• give meaning to people’s work by helping them understand how they contribute to our business goals
• talk about how what we do impacts the customer – and share stories about how the changes we make are improving things for customers
• know what our plans are & the progress we’re making against these – using performance stats to bring this to life
• take time to understand the end to end process
• know what people in our team do & act to resolve any issues they encounter
We don’t• overlook the difficult conversations that
we need to have as we transform our business
• damage trust by failing to acknowledge when we are making things more difficult for people in the short-term
• overlook the issues people raise that frustrate them
• talk about processes / stats and fail to make the link to their impact on the business / our customers
• assume that people make the link between what they do day-to-day and where we are going as a business
• refer only to our plans at the start of the year, and not give regular, local updates
• make promises about things that we are not able to change for our people
BT Leadership / Team Member Capability – HEART & DRIVE FOR RESULTS
Draft for discussion
© British Telecommunications plc
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We give balanced support & challenge so that people can give their very best performance to improve things for our customersWe do• talk to each other outside of 1:1s & team
meetings, taking the time to ask “how are you?” “how are things with you?”
• understand what individuals need from us and adapt our behaviour accordingly
• recognise if people are having a tough time & offer support
• have confidence to approach our managers when we need support
• make sure teams know how they can get hold of their managers when they need them
• discuss performance stats in the context of all the things that someone does to contribute to the business
• understand people’s concerns and respond to them with empathy & honesty
• understand that when someone is not meeting the standards we expect, it’s reasonable to expect an improvement
• when someone needs to improve, tell them truthfully about what they need to improve, have an open discussion about how, allow them to contribute & give specific examples to help
• acknowledge when we are underperforming & seek support to improve
• update our performance notes to reflect the contribution we make to the business, prep for 1:1’s get input from other people about our performance
We don’t
• overlook opportunities to give people constructive feedback & help them improve
• act defensively in a discussion about improving performance
• give people feedback in the spirit of “catching them out”, pointing out where people aren’t doing things right without giving them help to improve
• wait until performance reviews to tell people what they need to do to improve
• overlook the signs that people need support• base our view of people’s contribution on their
performance stats alone• assume our managers know about the
contribution we make to the business• only have formal 1:1 interactions• talk only about performance & not allow time for
personal conversation• ignore people’s commitments outside work• use complicated terminology, that the person
we’re talking to doesn’t understand
BT Leadership / Team Member Capability – COACHING FOR PERFORMANCE
Draft for discussion
© British Telecommunications plc
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We work as one team – and feel connected to our colleagues in order to deliver great service for our customersWe do• encourage a warm & friendly
atmosphere, between all levels of the organisation
• accept each others’ differences• make time to get to know each other
(including outside work if people want to) so that we have effective working relationships day to day
• pick up the phone to sort something out• take an appropriate interest in each
other’s families/life outside work • take time to share knowledge (e.g. open
house calls by workstream)• look out for each other, offering
professional and personal support as needed
• pay attention to small things that make people feel valued – e.g. remembering birthdays, making the tea
• recognise the importance of team meetings
We don’t• rely on emails to communicate, or
ask people to ‘put things in writing’• fail to take up opportunities to get to
know our colleagues• use an abrupt & impersonal tone
when we communicate (e.g. “can you report back on this please?” vs. “can we progress this please? Are there any problems I can help with?”)
• keep hold of information that might be helpful to others (within regulatory guidelines)
BT Leadership / Team Member Capability – HELPFUL & TRUSTWORTHY
Draft for discussion
© British Telecommunications plc
If you have time at the end of the session please discuss
• Once we have finalised the definition we’ll need to all work together to make a change for the positive – what are your thoughts on how we do this?
© British Telecommunications plc
What happens next?
• We will review the feedback you send us and update the definition during August. Our aim is to create a simplified definition that reflects the things you tell us are most important
• We will launch formally in September (after the holiday period)
• Following this we will support leaders & teams in using the definition to change how it feels to work in our teams – this is the most important step & something that everyone in our teams can work towards
• We will measure progress by looking at CARE results, feedback coming from the engagement forum & unions
