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We want safety, not tokenistic engagement surveys.

October 30, 2024

September 2022

I wanted to start this by saying the past couple of weeks has been a lot but then I realised I say this every week when was the last time people in marginalised communities especially communities of the Global Majority were able to say this week wasn’t a lot. It seems to be one thing after another.

I was looking at my diary yesterday and I realised it was September and I remembered it was “annual engagement survey” time in a lot of organisations which made me think how many organisations are out there sending out quick-fire emails about ED&I commitments they are going to make about how they are going to make teams more diverse and commit to SLT training to pacify their employees.

How many HR teams are pushing messages with gestures and token gifts to tell employees to remember we are a great place to work, without recognising that none of these things create psychological safety or create true genuine happiness for employees?

Matt Phelan from The Happiness Index did a great TedTalk talking about the difference between engagement and happiness.

Safety is paramount for an employee to thrive and it got me thinking about how many of these organisations that are pushing for high engagement results to ultimately tell others they are on a great company to work list are really creating truly safe spaces for their employees of the Global Majority. The question we ask you might be a good company to work for but for who?

I joined Mindweaver 5 weeks ago and it has been a complete shock to me, in a good way because safe is the default. It has taken me a lot to get used to as processing trauma is what we talk openly about. We don’t mask which is weird, I mean it’s the way it should be but it’s like nothing I have ever experienced before. It’s made me realise my experiences are valid and I am not all the negative things previous employers have told me I am.

On Friday we held a session called A Space to Be, it was a session where all our employees could join and talk about recent events and how it impacts us differently and everyone’s feelings were valid and we could just be.

Being someone with ADHD I process things when I am asleep because like many others with ADHD my brain doesn’t switch off. I woke up crying in my sleep this morning because I had clearly been processing everything from the last few weeks from the world and my own personal stuff and my emotions came out in my sleep. Normally I wouldn’t have even had the space to do this, and I would have held them in and ended up burning out or getting psychically unwell. Having a safe space allowed me to process in my own neurodiverse way for that moment.

I am used to being in cultures where I am not able to speak up, or when I have spoken up it has led me to be excluded, gaslit or just plain old treated like I am a problem and asked why I am so angry.

So my question to organisations who are launching your engagement surveys, have you held spaces for your employees that are truly safe for your communities of the Global Majority?

With National Inclusion Week, Black History Month and Islamophobia Awareness Month coming up we know the bunting will come out and all the stops will be pulled out, but we are watching your action or lack of everyday.

We are watching what do when you come off the podium. Minoritised communities exist for longer than just a month.

We deserve to feel safe every day.

So what are you doing?

Hannah