MANAGEMENT SPECIAL .......Listen as much as you speak, cos tell managers

Listen as much as you speak, cos tell managers





India Inc Promotes Active Listening To Avoid Subtle Putdowns That Women Face

When Nandita Shah (name changed), a manager at an MNC, pointed out to her immediate superior that her views were brushed aside in internal ideation meetings, or she was subjected to subtle putdowns, she was asked to `calm down'.

US-based Vox Media was the first company to have outlined in its code of conduct unwanted behaviour such as mansplaining (where a women is interrupted while speaking even if she has subject expertise), micro-aggressions or subtle putdowns, and even tone policing (telling a person to calm down instead of responding to their concerns).

Rolled out late last year, its code of conduct in the context of mansplaining says: “Remember that your colleagues may have expertise you are unaware of and listen at least as much as you speak.“

Various studies, including that by Brigham Young University and Princeton researchers in 2012, show that men dominated professional meetings, giving women a voice share of only 25%. Behaviours such as mansplaining and micro-aggression, whether intentional or not, result in a climate of exclusion and a reduced contributory role by women in decision making, thus mitigating the benefits of gender diversity at the workplace.

While India Inc has recognized the value of gender diversity, as in most companies across the world, Indian companies appear to have not defi ned and specifically banned mansplaining via a policy document. However, through other means such as defining inclusiveness as a corporate value, encouraging active listening and via sensitization programmes, a few companies are ensuring that their women employees are equally heard.

“By doing simple things, we subtly encourage the right behaviour. For example, we do not close any ` All Minds meetings' (our open house meetings), unless there are a few questions from the lady minds,“ says Parthasarathy NS, executive director & COO at Mindtree. The Mahindra Group has guidelines for conducting meetings -the moderator has to encourage participation by all members, who can give their viewpoint without any interruption.

“It is just not listening but active listening and empathy that is sought to be encouraged and assessment of such behaviour is done via performance appraisal and feedback process,“ says M P Sriram, partner at professional consultancy Aventus Partners.

Listening to others without deeply held biases and prejudices is actively encouraged at the Mahindra Group and is a leadership criterion.At Citigroup, leadership standards include interpersonal sensitivity and respect. Both these organizations deploy 360-degree feedback to ascertain compliance with such behavioural criteria.

“One of the key characteristics of a Mahindra leader is being `Mindful' where liste ning is a key behaviour that employees are required to manifest. To develop on this, we have a key strategic initiative called `Reflective Conversations', which fosters powerful thinking through practice of the key skills of active listening,“ explains Prince Augustin, executive VP , Group Human Capital and Leadership Development, Mahindra & Mahindra.

Sensitization programmes have also helped. Says Anuranjita Kumar, chief human resources officer, Citigroup (South Asia), “We conduct a sensitization program, `Respect at Work', which highlights the importance of according respect for all colleagues to allow them to voice their opinions in a non-judgemental environment.“

Lubna Kably

TOI21MAY16