Being 100% human at work

At our London Future Forum, kindly hosted by BT at their offices near St Paul’s, we invited discussion on the topic of what it means to be ‘100% Human at Work’ and why it’s so important for workplaces today to be aware of changing attitudes and needs of the workforce.

Opening the forum, we introduced the topic, emphasising the importance for organisations to get on board with this sooner rather than later as this is the way the world is moving. A question was then posed to delegates, ’what does being 100% human at work mean to you personally?’. This invited explorative discussions throughout the room and created a great initial buzz to start the event.

Some shocking statistics were brought to light, one of which is that slavery is now overtaking the drugs trade on a global scale, the other being that health services have reported increases in stress and a decline in health and most importantly, mental health of populations across the globe. As the Pope has quoted, there is now a perceived ‘globalisation of indifference’ and yet evidence shows that you can feel a victim of what is happening around you whether you are directly victimised or not.

Not only are we questioning the humanity of those around us, the organisations we interact with and their practices, but due to huge technological advances, we are now questioning what we actually define as being human and what technology and its constant evolution will mean for our careers, lives and futures. Ernst and Young conducted a study that suggested that instead of individual jobs being put at risk from technological advancements, it is instead whole areas of work that may become lost to automatons.

The key, fundamental human factors that are as of yet irreplaceable by AI are critical thinking, change navigation, connection between people and empathy, therefore this is what we now need to focus on and nurture. These tie into the four elements of equality, growth, belonging and purpose which are key to unlocking being human; these are what makes people feel like they are a part of something, no matter what organisation they work for or what sector they are a part of.

We took a closer look at a ‘live’ situation in the workplace, giving us the chance to see and hear how our inner and outer voice can differ. Positive affirmations gave way to self-doubt and anxiety, striking a chord with many of the delegates in the room whom had either experienced such a situation personally, or had seen it happening to others.

This section inspired heart-felt, open discussions and sharing of personal stories in the room about what companies are actually doing to help their employees and whether there needs to be more engagement with the person in question in order to avoid disconnection and do more than fulfill the need to tick a box on a piece of paper. Delegates discussed attitudes in the work place and how it’s difficult to feel able to display these emotions to gain the support needed. In a recent study 95% of those questioned admitted that they would discriminate against hiring someone if they knew about mental health issues.

With this in mind, it was put forward that organisations need to build trust with their employees to facilitate a safe environment where people can have these conversations. Often, highly capable and ‘talented’ people are considered immune to these problems and we still have a linear view of lives in the fact that if you’re considered a capable person in the past, to stop being a capable person would mean everything would stop. This is untrue however and all people, no matter their capabilities must be treated equally; not everyone can be a superstar at all times, especially if there are external factors involved outside of work, and that’s ok, success factors change over time.

The forum was then opened up for general discussion of what the delegates had seen and absorbed during the morning’s talks and how these discussions reflected on their own workplaces. General feedback received was:

People didn’t want to be the first to share within the workplace if it hadn’t been previously done in that environment before
Managers are key to creating a safe environment, but how do companies support their managers to upskill them to do this effectively?
It is felt that companies have a corporate memory where mistakes stay with you and this makes people warier of sharing
Trust is a key element to being human
People are no longer motivated by old KPI’s, they are more motivated by progression towards goals, but are organisations really aware of this?
Gaining an understanding of what being 100% human looks like to you and then deciding how much of that you need to share to be your best self at work
Being 100% human at work will impact recruitment policies and organisations will ned to hire managers who will be able to have these conversations with employees
100% human will also look and feel different according to age, race and gender
What would it look like if leaders were 100% human; how would this feel and impact the work force?
Does it start with the individual or the leader? Must start with the individual

We’ve started the debate and now it’s time for everyone to make their own sense of what it means to be 100% human at work. To help, here are some links to further studies and articles relating to the topic:

Thank you for joining us at this Future Forum. There will be opportunities to get together and discuss other hot topics later this year. In the meantime, if you want to discuss how we can help your organisation further in this vitally important area, please do get in touch. See you soon!