You have the right policies. You’ve set ambitious targets. Your senior management team have delivered presentations about culture and inclusion. But how much of it is really making a difference to the people on your factory floor?
One of the clearest findings from our latest Gender Representation Report, based on almost 1,000 employee responses and in-depth interviews with business and HR leaders, is that inclusion is often experienced very differently from how it is intended. Even well-intentioned senior leaders can be surprisingly out of touch with the reality on their sites.
In multi-site food businesses, culture isn’t shaped by what happens in the boardroom. It’s experienced through day-to-day interactions with line managers, supervisors and colleagues, on production lines, in team briefings, changing rooms, canteens and in who gets opportunities. As a result, one positive team can create a sense of belonging, while one poor experience can undermine trust in the organisation altogether.
The data tells us employees aren’t looking for more policies. They’re looking for leadership they can see and experience day to day. Nearly six in 10 employees said leaders supporting inclusion and addressing exclusionary behaviours should be a priority for the future.
Do you know what employees need?
The businesses making the strongest progress aren’t assuming they know what employees need, they’re asking them. One people leader in our research described inviting senior leaders into listening groups so they could hear barriers and frustrations first-hand. “They were shocked,” they admitted.
It’s easy to dismiss terms like ‘employee voice’ as HR jargon. But the organisations seeing results are using those conversations to solve problems faster, improve communication, retain talented people and build stronger teams. That might mean understanding why someone feels overlooked for progression, why a process isn’t working as intended or why certain groups are less likely to put themselves forward for opportunities.
As one leader explained: “We are using the networks as a barometer for how people are feeling.”
Our research told us that inclusion works best when people see it as something that benefits everyone. The businesses making the most progress are creating workplaces where everyone felt they had a role to play.
Avara Foods offers a great example. Its Menopause Movement started with a conversation between employees and the CEO over a coffee. Rather than directing the initiative, leadership created space for employees to shape it themselves. Through personal stories shared by colleagues across the business, it helped normalise conversations that many employees had previously felt uncomfortable having.
As Andrew Brodie, chief strategy & organisation officer, told me: “People didn’t feel like it was being done to them. It was something they were part of.”
Letting people shape change
That distinction matters. Employees are far more likely to engage with change when they feel they have helped shape it. To many HR initiatives fail because they are launched at employees.
The same principle is behind Avara Food’s employee councils, which bring together colleagues from different sites, nationalities and backgrounds to help shape decisions. As Andrew explained: “Rather than leaders guessing how best to communicate across different languages and cultures, we speak directly to the people living that experience.” It’s a simple idea, but one many organisations still miss – too often, leadership teams discuss employees rather than talk with them.
The most effective role models are often colleagues who are sharing ‘real-life’ experiences that others can relate to. These stories also shape employer reputation. When people can see others like themselves thriving, progressing and being supported, it becomes easier to picture a future with that business, whether that’s on the factory floor, in site leadership or at board level.
Storytelling can sound fluffy until you see the impact. The food manufacturers making the greatest progress create opportunities for people to speak honestly, they listen when they do, and they act on what they hear.
After all, it’s hard to solve problems on the factory floor if you’re not listening to the people standing on it.
Laura Ryan is founder and global chair at Meat Business Women
No comments yet