Mar

Creating Safe Spaces

Actions and Detail Panel

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Event description

Creating Safe Spaces is focused on how we can enable people to speak up about the issues that matter at work without fear of retribution.

About this event

#BeTheRipple presents

Creating Safe Spaces

March 31st from 2- 5 pm UK Time

All proceeds go to charity

A conference for leaders and HR to explore how we create safe spaces in our organisations where people are safe to speak up without fear of retribution.

Our ability to speak up in workplaces is vital, it impacts the way we operate, our work culture, relationships and ultimately the bottom line.

Research shows that fear-based workplace cultures stifle creativity, hinder innovation, undermine trusting relationships and have wider implications for: turnover, employer brand reputation, morale, engagement, productivity and profitability. Ultimately, creating safe spaces is good for the bottom line and sustainability of our organisations.

Is creating a safe space your concern?

Ultimately, HR Directors, CEOs and leaders are where the buck stops. They are also where the buck starts. We believe this event is very much your concern.

We’ve all seen high profile examples of organisations, across industries globally, where safe spaces were missing and the results: financial costs, payouts, negative press and even executives being imprisoned. We might remember these, high profile examples, which demonstrate why creating safe spaces is a concern for us all:

At Volkswagen, where employees feared speaking up about unethical behaviour and the cost ran into billions: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34324772

The collapse of Enron: https://www.britannica.com/event/Enron-scandal

The Australian Cricket Team, whose ‘win at all costs’ culture resulted in unethical behaviour, sackings and player bans: https://www.skysports.com/cricket/news/12123/11588710/story-of-the-australian-ball-tampering-scandal-sandpaper-sackings-and-the-future#:~:text=Steve%20Smith%2C%20David%20Warner%20and,against%20South%20Africa%20in%20March.

France Telecom, where three Executives were jailed having been found guilty of ‘moral harassment’: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/20/world/europe/france-telecom-suicides.html

The #MeToo movement, continues to uncover workplace sexual harassment resulting in litigation: http://www.ironshore.com/blog/the-metoo-movement-continues-to-propel-litigation

A 2020 study found that over 70% of participants had been subjected to bullying behaviours at work: https://thiis.co.uk/over-70-of-uk-employees-have-been-bullied-at-work-in-the-last-three-years-finds-new-study/ and in discrimination cases we know there’s no limit to compensation awards: https://www.xperthr.co.uk/faq/is-there-a-limit-on-the-compensation-that-can-be-awarded-in-a-discrimination-claim/69743/

#BeTheRipple believes that organisational sustainability, the safety of our people and the ability for them to speak up about the small and big issues, and everything in between, starts with fostering safe spaces. We know policies and processes can only go so far, so as leaders we need to create safe spaces throughout our organisational cultures and embed safety at all levels. Only by doing this will we truly ensure that people have the space to use their voice for the benefit of themselves, their teams and the organisation.

We have a really exciting lineup of fantastic speakers to stimulate our discussion and help us to source the wisdom of the crowd (you!) to help generate action for positive change.

During the afternoon you’ll hear:

- Data-driven insights from ongoing research into speaking up in organisations.

- Whistleblowing - what went wrong and what could so easily have gone right.

- The power of vulnerability in modeling speaking openly within organisations.

- Ways in which we can create safe spaces.

- A stark warning of what happens when safe spaces are absent.

Who’s speaking?

Our variety of fantastic speakers look at the safe spaces concept from different angles:

Leatham Green

Leatham Green is the Chief Executive at The Mindful HR Centre Limited and the Executive Director of PPMA (Public Services People Managers Association).

Leatham will be talking about his own experience of speaking up in an organisation when he was an Executive, demonstrating that it doesn’t matter what level you are,, speaking up in an environment that does not create safe space can result in hugely costly implications, both for the individual and for the organisation.

Marie Hemingway

Marie Hemingway is the Founder and Director at Speak Out Revolution, a not-for-profit organisation with a mission to cancel the culture of silence on harassment and bullying in the workplace. She is also a Freelance Strategy Consultant and a Board Member at Women's Infrastructure Network UK.

Marie will be sharing data-driven insights from Speak Out Revolution’s live research into the lived experiences of employees who have experienced workplace harassment, discussing the barriers to a successful resolution.

Ashton Hewitt and Patrick Marr

Ashton Hewitt is one of the most exciting talents in Welsh rugby, playing at Dragons having come through the club academy

Describing himself as ‘Half Welsh, half Jamaican and proud of it’, Ashton has become an influential advocate for racial equality.Speaking to the BBC in Oct, Ashton said ‘ I am grateful the club and the boys are behind me and willing to listen.'

Patrick Marr is the Mental Skills and Leadership Coach for Dragons, and Managing Director for Leading Edge.

Ashton and Patrick together will talk about the culture being built at the club and the impact of ‘creating safe spaces’ at Dragons’.

Guardian sport on Twitter: "Ashton Hewitt: 'People think rugby doesn't have society's problems' | Interview by @robkitson https://t.co/gdNjNsMFkK" /Twitter

Animah Kosai

Animah Kosai is the CEO at Speak Up at Work Limited, Founder of the Speak Up Collective, Senior Partner at Speak Up Malaysia and a Founding Member of the Warrior Women Network.

Animah will speak about the importance of individuals being able to speak up at work and how organisations can facilitate safe spaces. She will also speak from a risk and governance perspective, identifying potential implications for organisations who do not ensure their workplace are safe for employees.

Gethin Nadin

Gethin Nadin is an Award-winning Psychologist, Bestselling HR Author and Top Global Employee Experience Influencer 2019 & 2020. He is the Director of Employee Wellbeing at Benefex, Chair of the Wellbeing Thought Action Group and a Champion at #BeTheRipple.

Gethin will be talking about the safe space that was created in his organisation in order to enable individuals to be themselves at work, speaking openly about their mental health and LGBT stories. He will also highlight what can happen when leaders do not create safe spaces.

Jonathan Wilson

Jonathan Wilson is a retired Senior Law Enforcement Officer, an Ambassador at Conduct Change and a Member of both the Speak Up Academy and The International Association of Workplace Bullying and Harassment.

Jonathan will be talking about his first-hand experience of being a whistleblower in the Police Service, telling the story of what happened when he reported issues, the impact of that on the organisation and on him personally and identifying how simply creating a safe space could have made a drastic difference to the outcome.

Our Expert Panels

We will have two expert panel discussions at the event:

Panel 1 – General Panel

Chair - Alex Killick

Alex Killick will be the host for our event and also the Chair for the panel discussion. He is the Director at Leading Kind, Co-Founder of #BeTheRipple, and Non-Executive Board Member at Edinburgh College.

A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

for 30 years, Alex combines extensive executive and non-executive board-level experience with the successful delivery of complex change projects in matrix organisations in various sectors. He has led large-scale employment practice and policy projects for many organisations at national and local levels to improve workforce wellbeing and performance. He is also co-author of ‘The Little Book of Kindness’.

Dana James-Edwards

Dana is a breath of fresh air in the world of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I). She helps companies build diverse brands and inclusive cultures where team members want to stick around. Dana creates safe spaces for open discussion where people can explore, enquire and expand their own understanding. Unafraid to speak her mind and with compassionate sharing of lived experiences and humorous heartfelt honesty, she is sought after

as a trainer and facilitator and conference speaker all around the world.

Dana has worked across a wide range of industries and organisations - from start-ups to government agencies, leading consultancies and titans of industry. Her projects include developing and deploying ED&I programmes and initiatives, designing and delivering learning, shaping policies and helping companies get to grips with their diversity reality by uncovering and providing solutions for the things getting in the way of creating a workforce reflective of the wider world we live in.

Shakil Butt

Shakil Butt (FCIPD, FCCA) is an award winning HR professional and lecturer with over 30 years of experience including leading an award winning global HR team in a multi-faith, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural environment.

Now working as an independent consultant, Shakil adds value engaging with organisations and individuals with their HR and OD challenges and executive support. Shakil has been part of various senior management teams leading on strategic direction, organisational development and change management in multiple organisations.

Shakil enjoys writing and contributing to articles on HR and management and regularly speaks at HR conferences and events.

Debbie Watt

Debbie is Managing Director of Bridgeborne Psychology, Co-founder at #BeTheRipple and co-author of ‘The Little Book of Kindness’. She has nearly two decades experience supporting clients through difficult workplace situations.

Debbie is a Business and Coaching Psychologist who specialises in wellness, work performance and professional development.

Kirsty Mac

Kirsty Mac is an Executive Coach with over 17 years’ experience of working in the field of leadership and learning and development through the development of programmes, speaking and as an executive coach.

Her role and identity varies - sometimes coach, sometimes designer of programmes, speaker or conference host.

Specialties: Leadership, Learning & Development, Values, Coaching, Integral values based leadership, Executive coaching, L& D programmes, Team Dynamics.

Panel 2 – Focus on creating safe spaces for women at work.

Chair – Kate Graham

Kate Graham is Head of Content at Fosway Group, Host at Learning Now TV and the Co-Founder of the #WomenInLearning Movement.

Kate has more than 15 years’ experience of working in HR, talent and learning and development, her specialties are: Writer, storyteller, facilitator, networker, connector, with skills in content strategy, social media, awards, publishing, events, alliances, engagement, account management, and building relationships.

Jenny Streeter

Jenny Streeter is an HR Project Manager for RealWorldHR and helped to inspire #BeTheRipple. She is a seasoned HR professional with extensive public sector experience.

Dorothy McKinney

Dorothy has over 40 years’ experience in Human Resources in a range of sectors and she leads a team of experienced and talented Associates.

Her specialties are: Workplace Investigations, Neutral Assessments, Service User Complaints, Disciplinary and Grievance support, Mediation, Case Management, Organisational Design, Change Management, Training in all aspects of People Management, Executive and Individual Coaching, Difficult Conversation support, Outplacement

Animah Kosai

Animah Kosai is the CEO at Speak Up at Work Limited, Founder of the Speak Up Collective, Senior Partner at Speak Up Malaysia and a Founding Member of the Warrior Women Network.

Marie Hemingway

Platform

We are hosting the event using REMO, this is a virtual space that allows you to meet others on virtual tables in between speaking slots so that you can discuss issues raised and collaborate on identifying potential things that can be done to help create safer spaces in workplaces. Those ideas will be brought together and shared with you and more widely, on a no names basis, afterwards.

We have created a specifically focused technique for the breakout sessions in between speaker slots:

First breakout (30) Surfacing and sharing (How are we? What are our experiences of safer spaces at work?)

Second breakout (20) Action points (What could we do?)

Third breakout (10) (What should we do?)

2-2.10 pm – Alex Killick - welcome and setting the scene

2.10 – 2.20pm – Marie Hemingway

2.20 – 2.30pm – Animah Kosai

2.30 – 3pm – Breakout to facilitated chats

3.00 – 3.10pm – Jonathan Wilson

3.10-3.20pm – Leatham Green

3.20-3.30pm – BREAK

3.30 – 3.50pm – Breakout to facilitated chats