Location

Cape Cod, MA

Situation

Our client conducted listening sessions on diversity, inclusion and gender bias in the workplace. Based on findings from these sessions, the leadership team sought training to develop effective workplace communication strategies to address the following:

• how to intervene when employees and leaders witness bias-related microaggressions;
• how to increase awareness of intersectionality and how this impacts a person’s social and professional positioning in the workplace; and
• how to integrate the management of identity-related conflicts within the workplace.

The Soteria Solution

Leveraging the insight gained through these listening sessions, Soteria Solutions designed, developed and customized a three-part training series that provided knowledge and skills to build effective communication strategies while creating and sustaining a respectful culture in the workplace.

A successful and effective communication strategy must ensure that each person has the tools and network not only to survive – but to thrive. To establish and achieve these strategies, a keen, thorough and honest understanding of the following is required:

1. the landscape of the norms and policies within which they work;
2. an exploration of how one’s identities directly contribute to and shape workplace culture and interpersonal communication; and
3. learning and building skills that help one to acknowledge and confront harm in the workplace and contribute to more equitable environments.

A core value of our client was to act as keepers and protectors. That value was incorporated and emphasized throughout the training to connect core organizational values to effective workplace communication strategies. The curriculum and strategies were created to help our client’s employees:

1. increase their understanding of a public health approach to prevention;
2. recognize the community impact of incivility, harassment, bias and discrimination;
3. learn dynamic and individualized skills that build and support protective factors that prevent incivility, harassment, bias and discrimination;
4. identify prosocial bystander intervention and effective communication as methods to build safe, respectful and resilient workplaces; and
5. choose at least one positive bystander intervention and/or effective communication strategy that they feel comfortable and confident in using in a realistic, hypothetical workplace scenario.

As such, the following three-part training series was utilized by Soteria Solutions to address these three key areas. All training was executed virtually, due to the active COVID pandemic lockdown.

The training series included:

All-Hands Meeting #1 – a one-hour presentation introducing the core concepts of linking identities with values and behaviors, respectful workplace dynamics and effective communication strategies. This session focused on identifying the many communities to which an individual might belong, and the value of finding commonality vs. differences. An online evaluation survey was distributed after the meeting, and the results were analyzed.

Employee Training via Facilitated Interactive Sessions. These 90-minute sessions included customized scenarios and discussions to build knowledge around positive bystander prevention and effective communication skills including de-escalation, redirecting and direct naming of potentially problematic behavior and/or dynamics. Using prosocial bystander intervention and social norms frameworks, the participants learned how to build workplace cultures free from all forms of incivility, bias, harassment and discrimination. An online evaluation survey was distributed, and the results were analyzed.

All-Hands Meeting #2 – this one-hour presentation leveraged the interactive sessions to further build on the three key concepts by linking identities with values and behaviors to create a respectful workplace and more effectively communicate. An online evaluation survey was distributed, and the results were analyzed.

Results

Effective workplace communications strategies build on the core values of the organization. In this case, the client’s principle that everyone should act as a keeper and a protector provided a strong foundation for the training sessions. This also increased awareness of the importance of working together side-by-side and bringing one’s full self to work.

Analysis of the feedback from the participants indicated that the training helped employees recognize ways in which each person’s unique identities, values and group affiliations present both opportunities, as well as challenges, for intervention. The training provided an occasion for participants to gain knowledge of their own competencies and equip them, at least to some extent, with the competencies required for effective and respectful workplace communication. It also allowed employees to engage in respectful communication about differences, identities and values, even if that seemed uncomfortable to some.

The evaluation reports of the curriculum highlighted the following:

• Most participants would recommend the training to colleagues.
• Many participants articulated the desire to continue discussions about the training and how to integrate lessons learned into their everyday workplace relationships.
• Overall, participants had excellent takeaways and began understanding the connection between personal values, identities and workplace communication.