This insights post is a summary of the blog post published by Mahlab. View the full insight at: Organisations are quietly quitting on workplace progress – why aren’t they having the conversation about it?
Changing Policy Behind Closed Doors
What happens when organisations start to step back from the workplace commitments they once loudly championed. Companies are revising policies behind closed doors, and often with little explanation beyond a carefully crafted statement or internal memo and often. Many of these changes are happening without consultation.
EY’s recent changes to its parental leave policy is a case in point. Last month, the organisation added a repayment provision where employees who take their parental leave entitlement may be required to repay part of it if they leave the company within 12 months of returning to work.
This should ring alarm bells for communications professionals. When organisations fail to explain difficult decisions transparently, they don’t control the narrative, they surrender it.
Lack of Input and Commentary
Australian employees were apparently notified through an internal memo. However, that’s where the official conversation seemed to end. The change had extensive media reporting with corporate leaders weighing in on the changes. EY did not make a public commentary, and media outlet Women’s Agenda even called out the fact that they didn’t receive an official statement.
A lack of official commentary doesn’t make the conversation go away for organisations ‘quietly’ making these changes.
Where They Are Talking About Policy Changes
Type the name of any of the large corporations who have announced changes to DEI, return to work and parental leave policies and you’ll find hundreds of discussions. Employees are expressing growing confusion on public forums such Reddit, LinkedIn and other social channels.
The discussion has leaked outside of the companies communication into public discussion of employess asking for more transparency, more consultation and more accountability. And if employees are talking about it in a public forum, it’s highly likely they’re also having discussions in private group chats.
People understand that policies sometimes need to change to align to commercial or strategic priorities. But, they expect organisations to own these decisions and be prepared to have the difficult conversation about why they were made.
To get more insights and details about managing the conversation from a communications standpoint, read the full article at: Organisations are quietly quitting on workplace progress – why aren’t they having the conversation about it?
