What’s it like to work here?
Anthropologists have found that societies and cultures have in common a tendency to tell researchers stories they think they will find interesting and not the reality of their lives. There are parallels with employees interviewed about work.
Ask some one about where they work or the work they do and chances are they will tell you an “ interesting “story. I’m not referring to small talk at a social event I referring to the experience of being a management consultant, an inspector/auditor ,a researcher or an HR manager. When these stories are feedback to senior management they view them as negative and unhelpful and not representing a true picture of the organisation. So where does the truth lie and how should the leadership respond?
Ahead of a major inspection of social services the Director wanted a dry run as part of preparing the service, managers and their staff. The inspectors were known to require case files chosen by the Directorate to reflect their work. The senior management team asked each social work team to submit 2 or 3 detailed case examples . On reviewing the case files the Director was alarmed they were detailed and comprehensive but most did not show satisfactory outcomes. When individual social workers were asked why they had selected these cases rather than the numerous examples of intervention leading to positive outcomes the response was that these were,”interesting “ cases ! The social workers thought the inspectors would be more interested in cases which threw up issues about interagency working, budget restrictions, scarce resources or bureaucratic procedures. (Perhaps they assumed that by drawing attention to these issues it might lead to greater action to resolve them).
The Director requested teams resubmitt case examples that showed the 95% of interventions that had positive outcomes and not the 5% that did not. The instruction that went out was ,”show the service in the best possible light” . The Director said this was justified because the inspectors had asked the organisation to select their case examples and would therefore expect that the cases presented would be “our “ best work.
Worth bearing in mind if you’re thinking about asking “what’s it like to work hear?
Blair McPherson former director author and blogger www.blair,cpherson.co.uk
