At first blush, our ESG trends tracker heralds positive news: 60% of respondents believe their leaders are sufficiently empathetic to nurture a positive ’Speak-Up’ culture inside their organisation. By contrast, a small 11% believe the opposite of their leadership.
This is a topic of such sensitivity. One response detailed the difficulty of nurturing a ‘Speak-Up’ across a large organisation. Another referenced the lack of symbiosis between public statements and actions: “There is a culture where the words are said “please speak up”, yet the actions and behaviour of senior management are such that no one dares to and there is a complete lack of trust.” Clearly the statistics only tell part of the story and progress is still required.
That is not to forget the positive side to the results of our ESG tracker. From a leadership-centric view, honesty and constructive training is vital in nurturing a ‘Speak-Up’ culture: “We train our staff to give candid feedback through regular independently-facilitated training sessions.”
Refreshingly, a central tenet of a ‘Speak-Up’ culture is honesty. One respondent noted its fundamental importance and gave it as the reason for their organisation’s success in nurturing such a culture: “It’s very much the case and regularly repeated by senior managers, they might not always like what people choose to speak up about but they do listen and engage.”