COMMUNICATING WITH CONFIDENCE
 Facilitated by Jonathan Kohn, Director of Human Resources, Shell Malaysia, Diversity and Inclusiveness (D&I) is a business philosophy that has been embraced by Shell. The company has made it the imperative of its managers to put it into practice throughout its global operations. Given that Shell operates in more than 140 countries and has over 110,000 employees, nurturing an inclusive work culture is no simple task.To sensitise employees to some of the unspoken rules that influence communication in the workplace, as part of its D&I initiative, Shell developed a programme to enhance
understanding of gender and cultural differences. The idea is to make people more mindful of assumptions, stereotyping and judgements that stand to colour workplace
interactions. Enhancing understanding makes it possible for employees to be more conscious of inappropriate ways of thinking and acting and more positive ways of communicating. It also stimulates a healthy appreciation of difference amongst its people.

In this Learning Lab, participants were shown a video presentation featuring Dr Pat Heim, an expert on Workplace Communications. Dr Heim highlighted some of the gendercultural differences that seem to be implanted practically from birth. In most
cultures, girls and boys are generally treated and nurtured differently. For example, subtle messages are even found in children’s stories or the types of games girls and boys are expected to play. These gender-cultural differences are gradually impressed upon young boys and girls and ultimately influence how they behave and interact as adults. For example, boys are said to enjoy playing goal focussed games and learn how to be part of a crowd from an early age. Girls learn to develop one-on-one alliances as relationships are central in female culture. Girls are said to be better at negotiating
differences and tend to look for a win-win outcome. In contrast, boys usually look for a win-lose outcome. Girls also learn how to lose out to boys even from childhood in order to seek acceptance or to avoid conflict.

Understanding and working with difference
Understanding difference enables men and women to communicate better and be more effective at work. For example, women have to learn that in order to gain respect in a leadership role, they have to act as a leader, even though they would prefer to do ‘relationship work’ in order to ahieve desired goals.

Women are also more process-focused and fond of multi-tasking, while en are generally more linear and goal-oriented in the way they operate. Unfortunately, female work styles are often not fully appreciated by those who might view them as being scattered and disorganised. The main ‘take home’ point here was that the key to successfully working in diverse teams is for both men and women to appreciate the opposite gender and different cultures for what they offer in terms of their specific gifts and approaches to work. These different ways of working are an asset as they help diversify the range of approaches available to accomplishing various tasks.

Participants in this lab found the presentation to be thought provoking and enlightening, although some commented that Malaysian men were not necessarily as aggressive and competitive as the stereotypical male represented in the video; nor did women always fit the female stereotype of being passive and team-oriented. Nevertheless, they felt the message of embracing difference for business competitiveness was effectively made. The participants felt that men and women would certainly benefit from programmes that promote mutual understanding and gender sensitisation.

COMPLETELY AT HOME WITH WORK: BRINGING DOWN THE BORDERS BETWEEN WORK AND HOME
Facilitated by Barbara Holmes, the managing director of Work-Life Balance International
This Learning Lab was geared specifically at helping Human Resources managers and personnel implement better work-life policies in their respective companies. Barbara Holmes began by arming participants with the kind of ‘ammunition’ needed to overcome resistance to creating a more flexible work environment in their place of work.

Participants were asked to brainstorm the business case for adopting better work-life policies. Among the more compelling factors suggested were:

• Workforce participation changes - more women entering the workforce
• Attractive work-life policies increase business competitiveness by attracting the best talent
• Ageing workforce – it is imperative to attract and retain younger employees
Barbara highlighted the fact that today’s workforce had different priorities as opposed to the previous generation. Post-war baby boomers and those in their late 40s are generally thought to be more committed to work. In contrast, the Generation Xs (28 – 44 yrs) and Generation Ys (23 – 27 yrs) are more likely to place an equal or greater priority on family and their personal lives. These workers are going to have a greater influence on the work environment in the years to come and businesses need to make the right adjustments now or lose the best talent to other employers of choice.

Promoting workplace flexibility is one of the most positive steps towards boosting work-life balance. However, there are still many misconceptions about flexibility that impede its wide acceptance.

Here are some typical examples:
• Client or customers expectations make it impossible for flexible options to be used.
• If you make an arrangement for one person, everyone in the group will want the same.
• Flexible work means part-time work.
• Employees wanting assistance with managing family responsibilities aren’t
serious about their careers.
• It’s difficult to manage people who work flexible hours or who job share.
• Work and family programmes are about promoting women.
Barbara dealt with some of these myths, and urged people to be more open to changing work habits and to understanding the value of flexibility. For instance, she said that clients’ needs can be met with more efficient time management and by making clients more aware of how you work.

It is also not always the case that all employees will opt for flexi-work hours if they are made available. Different workers have different needs and preferences. She also clarified that flexi-hours should not mean reduced salary and benefits. Flexi-workers works the same number of hours (if not more), just not at a fixed time.

In most cases employees that ask for flexibility do so because they are serious about their careers and because they do not want to leave their jobs. As for managing flexi-workers, she said that this simply requires a little creativity on the part of managers.

Finally, Barbara took pains to emphasise that work and family programmes were not a women’s issue. These initiatives were equally important to men, who are equally committed to spending time with their families. Generally, the first step toward implementing work-life policies in the office is conducting an audit of staff needs. This gives a solid foundation upon which to build a business case for change. It also indicates the areas that should be addressed. Human Resources staff should collate supporting materials that show the benefits of work-life balance. A key component of this should be a cost-benefit evaluation which analyses of how much it would cost to train new staff as opposed to retain present employees by giving them flexibility.

It is also necessary to evaluate how the changes can be supported within
the organisation by doing the following:
• Consult with different departments to see what would or would not work.
• Train managers to be able to monitor those under their supervision. Set well-defined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which workers have to satisfy in order to enjoy the privilege of flexibility.
• Implement a continuous monitoring programme so that new systems can regularly be assessed for effectiveness, and any elements that are not working well can be fixed.
Before ending the workshop, Barbara challenged participants to think about what they would do when they returned to the office as a result of the learning session. She asked them to write this down on a piece of paper and to keep reading that piece of paper to remind themselves of what they had set out to achieve!