A Respectful Conversation

A Message from the CEO

Members, we need to have a conversation. A respectful conversation.

There are numerous studies revealing that since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a rise in bad or aggressive behaviour towards service providers. Some companies are including new messages on their automated telephone service warning callers not to be rude or aggressive to their staff and other companies are placing similar signage in their clientfacing outlets.

Sadly, this trend has been seen at the College, with staff reporting a rising number of negative email, telephone, and interpersonal interactions between Fellows, trainees, and staff. Some of these interactions have been so egregious that I’ve contacted the member to discuss their communication.

College staff are morally and legally entitled to a physically and psychologically safe workplace. There are substantial penalties in place for companies that do not ensure a safe workplace, and for those that transgress in this area.

The College will be taking a robust approach to this issue and I make no apologies for that. The College will not tolerate behaviour that mocks, belittles, insults, abuses or unfairly criticises staff, members or stakeholders. It doesn’t matter if the person communicating the message did not mean the message to cross a line, or if they thought they were making a joke, or even if they thought their message was acceptable because they were upset that the recipient had not acted in the way they wanted them to.

It’s worthwhile thinking about our interactions with other people from their perspective and to really consider how your communication might be viewed by an independent third party.

Some tips for better and more professional communications are listed below.

Emails:

• Emails are a permanent record. The Australian Institute of Company Directors suggests that each email you write, should start with the words “Dear Judge”, because it could end up as physical evidence one day. And intemperate comments, read in a cold light, could come back to haunt an author.

• If writing an email, remember that this is a “cold” medium and that written messages are received without the surrounding verbal and non-verbal cues that an in-person meeting provides.

• It is good practice that, if you must write a long and impassioned email, that you do so without any email address and you leave the email overnight and read it again the next day, removing contentious parts of the email so that it is concise, factual and free from mocking, insulting or belittling comments about staff, members, suppliers or other stakeholders.

• Carefully consider who actually needs to read the email—keep the distribution list to those who absolutely have to know

• Sometimes it is just better to simply pick up a phone and call the other person.

Telephone calls:

• Don’t make any telephone call in anger. College staff are instructed to terminate angry, mocking, hostile or abusive telephone calls and to report these to their manager.

• Write down the points you need to get across, or the questions you want to ask, before you make that call and stick to those points during the call.

• If the call starts to get heated, call a halt to the conversation without blaming the other person and suggest reconnecting at another time when everyone has had the time to refocus, perhaps with a third party involved to keep the conversation on track.

• It is good practice to summarise the conversation and any agreed actions at the end of the conversation, then confirm these in an email.

Face-to-face:

• Be conscious of your body language and your tone and level of voice. Refrain from generalising comments or comments that belittle or insult the recipient(s).

• Try not to shout or talk over others and make space for everyone to have a say.

• If you feel things are getting heated, suggest a five-minute break away from the meeting room so that everyone can collect their thoughts and consider alternative ways to get to a shared outcome, or disengage and suggest that the issue needs to be escalated for consideration.

Staff don’t always get things right. They are human and they make mistakes. At other times, they may be bound by rules or processes that have been put in place by members at Board or Faculty Council level, or by senior management. But when things are not going the way you would like, it’s your choice how to respond.

A good approach is to contact the staff member about the issue directly and respectfully and if the issue cannot be resolved, then escalate to their manager or to the relevant committee.

Our College staff are here because they want you and the College to be successful. They understand the incredible difference our members make every day, often under difficult circumstances, and they want to support each of you. The College staff care. When we get it wrong, we will accept responsibility and do our best to rectify the situation, keeping our members informed as to what they are doing to resolve things. Your respectful communications with our people can help us to give you all the support you deserve.