#RespectfulWorkplaces
The third annual Women in Business and Leadership Development Conference was recently held in Yangon, Myanmar. Factive consultants were in attendance to deliver early findings from the Respectful Workplaces in Myanmar research study, supported by the IFC and the DaNa Facility. Many thanks to AustCham Myanmar for organising a great conference and for allowing us to participate.
The research team at Factive would also like to thank everyone who has helped to promote and support this project. Interest has been extremely strong compared to similar studies of this type with over 50 organisations across a range of sectors signing up to participate. Our national consultants, Thiri and Moh Moh, have done an incredible job managing the extensive data collection work.
In January, we will be ready to start sharing the research results with participating businesses and other stakeholders. We plan to hold a workshop with each of these groups to discuss what the results mean and how they can inform future work to create more respectful workplaces in Myanmar.
A small selection of photos of the event are provided below, courtesy of the event organiser, AustCham Myanmar. Photographer: Sebastian Higgison, Storgaard Photography.
A successful strategy for reducing workplace bullying?
Glenn D Rolfsen is a psychotherapist and leadership consultant who works in the corporate health service in Oslo. In this TEDx Talk he outlines a simple and effective strategy for reducing backbiting within a group or organisation.
If you are wondering what backbiting is, Rolfsen defines it as “talking negatively about a third person who isn’t present”. In other words, it’s gossip.
In many jurisdictions, government regulatory bodies exist with the ability to deal with workplace bulling complaints. In Australia, this is the Fair Work Commission. The commissioner, Danny Cloghan, is on record as saying that:
“Bullying can manifest itself in many ways. I consider it uncontroversial to say that spreading misinformation or ill-will against others is bullying […]. Scurrilous denigration of a worker in the workplace would certainly fall within the boundary of bullying.”
Employers have an obligation to address practices such as backbiting in their workplaces. In some cases, this is so they can comply with workplace regulations about providing a safe work environment. In all cases, it’s to ensure these kinds of behaviors do not negatively affect employee well-being, employee performance and overall business productivity.
Here, Rolfsen presents his 6-step strategy for reducing backbiting:
In his Tedx Talk, Rolfsen quotes a short aphorism attributed to Socrates, which, although possibly a miss-attribution, is nonetheless instructive.
In ancient Greece (469 – 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom. One day an acquaintance ran up to him excitedly and said, “Socrates, do you know what I just heard about Diogenes?”
“Wait a moment,” Socrates replied, “Before you tell me I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.”
‘Triple filter?” asked the acquaintance.
“That’s right,” Socrates continued, “Before you talk to me about Diogenes let’s take a moment to filter what you’re going to say. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”
“No,” the man said, “Actually I just heard about it.”
“All right,” said Socrates, “So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about Diogenes something good?”
“No, on the contrary…”
“So,” Socrates continued, “You want to tell me something about Diogenes that may be bad, even though you’re not certain it’s true?”
The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.
Socrates continued, “You may still pass the test though, because there is a third filter, the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about Diogenes going to be useful to me?”
“No, not really.”
“Well,” concluded Socrates, “If what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me or anyone at all?”
https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/socrates-triple-filter-test
#MeToo in Review
A year after #MeToo started trending on Twitter, an article in The Economist suggests that “this year-long storm of allegations, confessions and firings has actually made Americans more sceptical about sexual harassment.”
YouGov surveys of 1,500 Amercians on their attitudes towards the topic conducted in November 2017 and again in September 2018 found that attitudes had shifted against the victims over that period. The attitudes of female respondents had shifted more than those of males.
One of the largest changes relates to the increasing perception that “False accusations of sexual assault are a bigger problem than unreported assaults.” The Economist article points out that (according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Centre) false reports of sexual assault are relatively rare, whereas 63% of sexual assaults are never reported to police.
We can also observe that there was a much stronger split of attitudes between Trump voters and Clinton voters than there was between the attitudes of men and women. This partisan difference was very much on display during the recent Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing.
Thinking Outside the Man Box
A new Australian survey has found that men who identify with a ‘traditional’ definition of masculinity are significantly more likely to do harm to themselves and others.
The survey of 1,000 young men aged 18 to 30 was commissioned by the Jesuit Social Service’s Men’s Project. Men who expressed personal beliefs that had higher than average agreement with traditional masculine ideals were described as being in the ‘Man Box’.
46% of men inside the Man Box had made sexual comments to women they didn’t know in a public place in the past month, compared to 7% who were outside the Man Box. There are also striking differences with respect to the incidence of online and physical bullying, and even thoughts of suicide (see table below).
Table source: https://theconversation.com/australian-study-reveals-the-dangers-of-toxic-masculinity-to-men-and-those-around-them-104694
This research brings attention to an underlying cause of gender-based violence – the attitudes of men who live inside the Man Box and who practice a toxic form of masculinity. The findings point to the need to continue to address violence against women by paying attention to the behaviors and attitudes of men, and encouraging them to think outside the Man Box.
For further information on this research, visit the Men’s Project website, or read this summary of the research findings at The Conversation written by Michael Flood, Associate Professor, Queensland University of Technology.
Seeking Myanmar Businesses to Participate in Research Project
The ‘Respectful Workplaces in Myanmar’ research project is getting underway soon. Data collection activities will run in September and October throughout Myanmar. Factive is undertaking this research for the International Finance Corporation and the DaNa Facility.
The research is targeting businesses across a number of sectors, including finance, retail, agribusiness and tourism. It aims to better understand how bullying and sexual harassment affect employees and business productivity.
Participating firms will have the opportunity to learn about the benefits and best practices of respectful workplaces through a free presentation in their workplace. The research team will also run a variety of activities in workplaces to collect data from employees. Activities include surveys, focus groups discussions and safety walks. The research will be used to inform future programs and initiatives to promote respectful workplaces in Myanmar.
Businesses operating in Myanmar are encouraged to get involved. The research is anonymous. The names of employees will not be recorded, and no information received from businesses will be shared with anyone outside the research team.
An information sheet for potential participants is available by clicking on this link: Respectful Workplaces Research Information Sheet.
Enquiries can be made through Factive’s website contact page.
Transgender Training in NYC
Factive consultant Dean Laplonge just finished attending the ‘Transgender Training of Trainers Intensive’ 3-day program in NYC and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We encourage you to check out their website for more details and information if you are interested in learning more about the Transgender Training Institute (TTI) and their excellent courses. The following content about the TTI is reposted from their Facebook page:
By Transgender & Non-Binary People, For the Benefit of Transgender & Non-Binary Communities
THE TRANSGENDER TRAINING INSTITUTE · SUNDAY, JUNE 17, 2018
The Transgender Training Institute (TTI) provides training and consulting services that are informed/provided by transgender and non-binary people, for the benefit of transgender and non-binary individuals and communities. We work across the United States, providing services including: expert facilitation of transgender-related professional development trainings, training of trainers/facilitators (TOTs), ally empowerment classes, online course design, climate assessments and technical assistance. We combine our topical expertise, formal training as educators, and decades of facilitation experience to provide your participants with powerful professional development trainings that inspire change.
Our hallmark program, the Transgender Training of Trainers Intensive is a three day program that helps transgender people, their loved ones and cisgender allies increase skills and success with teaching others about transgender people’s lives and experiences. We break down a “Trans 101” training, segment by segment, to help our participants understand the best ways to leverage their power as an educator to inspire advocacy and change. In 2018, we are proud to be taking our open enrollment courses to new locations!
Our newest program Ally/Advocate Training Camp, is a 15-hour course designed for individuals who want to be better allies to members of the transgender and non-binary communities – personally or professionally.
We offer both courses in Philadelphia and other locations by request. We are also able to come to you for an onsite course. Check out our website for more details and information!
Launch of Respectful Workplaces Research Program
On June 21, the first open forum was held for the Respectful Workplaces in Myanmar research project during an IFC Gender Awareness Workshop in Yangon, Myanmar. During the session, participants from a variety of organisations were provided an opportunity to learn about the project and discuss possible synergies. Several organisations were represented at the workshop, including the IFC, the DaNa Facility, Akhaya Women and Factive.
The majority of the workshop was devoted to learning about the work and approach of Akhaya Women:
For many years, Akhaya Women have worked to empower Myanmar women. They provide tools and support mechanisms for women in Myanmar to challenge gender stereotypes, to bring gender equality into their family homes and communities and to campaign for a safer and more equal environment for women to live in. The Akhaya model works to strengthen women’s self confidence through awareness, empowerment and experiential learning.
We would encourage anyone looking to learn more about women’s empowerment and gender equality in Myanmar to check out their website (pictured): https://www.akhaya.org/
Gender Research: Respectful Workplaces in Myanmar
New gender research project in Myanmar
Today Factive received the official notification of our engagement on a 6-month project to research sexual harassment and bullying in workplaces in Myanmar, working together with the IFC, the DaNa Facility and the Research Advisory Group. The research project is titled, “Respectful Workplaces in Myanmar.”
Factive’s lead consultant, Dean Laplonge, will be arriving in Yangon today to meet with the research advisory team and complete the recruitment of our national researchers for this project.
The gender research will be conducted using a mixed methods approach combining qualitative interviews and focus groups discussions with staff, company management, and relevant stakeholders, with workplace surveys. It will primarily focus on collecting data from four key sectors, plus some additional groups:
- Agribusiness
- Finance
- Retail
- Tourism
There is currently little data on the forms that sexual harassment and bullying take in Myanmar, or the prevalence, or the financial costs to companies and the national economy. Some work has been conducted by MCRB, ILO, CARE, Action Aid and YTC, particularly focused on the garments sector, but there is no data on the corporate and finance sectors, agribusiness, and tourism sectors. There is a need for a rigorous evidence base to inform corporate engagement on respectful workplaces and potential government legislative reform.
– IFC.
Additional notes
The DaNa Facility (DaNa is Burmese for “prosperity”) is a program funded by the U.K. Department for International Development. It works to reduce poverty and increase incomes by fostering a strong business environment conducive to the creation of jobs and economic opportunities for SMEs and poor people.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private-sector development in developing countries. The IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C..
Photo by Dudva.
IFC publishes new gender toolkit
Unlocking Opportunities for Women and Business
The IFC has published a new gender toolkit for Oil, Gas and Mining companies to assist them with the planning and implementation of their gender diversity initiatives. Published in May 2018, the 67-page toolkit provides companies with tools, methodologies and model policies to draw from when developing or reviewing their gender initiatives. The toolkit content is structured around four key issues:
- Increasing Gender Diversity from the Workforce to the Boardroom
- Women-Owned Businesses and the Supply Chain
- Women and Community Engagement
- Addressing Gender-Based Violence in the Workforce
It is refreshing and commendable to see that this toolkit moves well beyond the largely unsuccessful model of ‘women in industry’ type initiatives that have tended to be narrowly focussed on the recruitment of women into traditionally male-dominated industries. Instead, the toolkit encourages companies to look across the supply chain for opportunities to improve the participation and equity of women, such as using women-owned businesses. It also provides tools to help companies tailor their community engagement activities to ensure that women’s voices are sought out and listened to, and looks at ways to identify, measure and address gender-based violence in the workforce.
Further information
- Morgan Landy, Director, Infrastructure and Natural Resources, International Finance Corporation has published an excellent post on the IFC toolkit on the Business Fights Poverty website which you can read here.
- The IFC toolkit, UNLOCKING OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN AND BUSINESS: A Toolkit of Actions and Strategies for Oil, Gas, and Mining Companies, is available as a PDF download here.
New global website now live!
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Our website domain has changed to: www.factiveconsulting.com
When we started Factive on the 22nd in January 2009, we only had one client based in Perth, Western Australia. Since those humble beginnings, we have worked on projects with dozens of fantastic new clients all over the world, including such far-flung places as Myanmar, Turkey, Papua New Guinea, the United States of America and Vietnam, and we have a new project commencing this year in Africa. Up until now, we have been using .com.au and .ca domains for our website, because our consultants have been primarily based in Australia and Canada. But with our increasingly global focus and with new employees currently being recruited in Myanmar, we thought it was about time that our website went global too!
Because of this change, it might take a little time for the search engines to index our new domain name and process the site move, so please be patient while that occurs over the next week or two. In the meantime, our old country level domains www.factive.com.au and www.factive.ca will automatically redirect you to our new global domain: www.factiveconsulting.com and any specific links from the old domains should still work.
If you experience any issues with the new domain, please contact us to let us know. Your feedback is highly valued.
Please update any of your existing bookmarks to reflect our new sitemap below.
New website sitemap
- Factive: Gender, Safety and Cultural Change
- About us | Factive: Gender, Safety and Cultural Change
- Our services | Factive: Gender, Safety and Cultural Change
- Our programs | Factive: Gender, Safety and Cultural Change
- Resources | Factive: Gender, Safety and Cultural Change
- News | Factive: Gender, Safety and Cultural Change
- Contact us | Factive: Gender, Safety and Cultural Change