Speak Up
Posted on Thursday, 5 October 2023
In a difficult situation it can be hard to speak up, maybe because we’re surprised the person said what they did, maybe the person is senior to us, or maybe we don’t like confrontation. Perhaps they think they’ve been funny, but the comment or action is inappropriate; it may even be harmful, offensive, sexist, or racist. But if we don’t speak up, we are signalling that we’re okay with what they said.
Having tools to Speak up will help us have a strong healthy culture. It promotes a fair and respectful culture with high integrity.
At ANZCO we don’t tolerate bullying, harassment, or discrimination. The ANZCO value of Back each other is about treating people the way we’d want to be treated. We want people to be able to bring their best selves to work and feel valued as well as feeling they’re supported to speak up about anything that affects their working lives and gets in the way.
It’s not that we think we have a major problem in this area, but we know that sometimes people can say things without thinking or react badly to a situation and say something they shouldn’t.
Here are some tools to say something when you hear something that’s not right in a way that isn’t confrontational. This page covers how to provide feedback, and gives you examples on how to communicate in a non-confrontational way.
Who does it apply to?
Everyone who works at ANZCO Foods including contractors and other people who work on our sites.
What sort of things should we Speak up about?
When you experience inappropriate behaviour or comments and/or hear someone being inappropriate.
It could be:
- Unsafe work practices/behaviours
- Discrimination – ageism, sexism, racism
- Bullying
- Banter at someone else’s expense
- Inappropriate language/behaviour/content
Some Speak up guidelines
- The aim is to let people know when something isn’t safe or okay – it’s not to get them defensive.
- Practice speaking up with people you’re comfortable with.
- Don’t ignore what you heard or saw – that sends a message that what they said or did was okay.
- Be specific, not dramatic – it’s not okay to say “xyz” about people.
- Read the situation – is this the right time to say something? If not, follow it up later or consider raising it with someone who can address it.
- Don’t accuse people – it’s likely to make them defensive and is unlikely to change their behaviour. A simple “that’s not okay” might be all that’s needed. Using “I” statements can be useful too, such as “I found that inappropriate...”
- We’re all in this together. Everyone in ANZCO is being asked to focus on this and we think that’ll make it easier to have a conversation.
- If you need support you can talk to your manager, another manager, get in touch with OCP. Alternatively, if you don’t feel comfortable talking to one of these people you can get in touch with one of the HR team.
Some possible Speak up responses:
- “That’s not okay.”
- “That’s not a safe way to do that” or “We need to do that a safer way.”
- Don’t say anything for a few seconds and then walk away. This may help the person get the hint.
- “It upset me when you said “xyz” during the meeting.”
- “Banter at others’ expense is harassment.”
- “When you said/did that, I felt really uncomfortable.”
- “What did you mean by that comment?”
- Saying something like “Huh?”, “Sorry?”, “What?” gives people the opportunity to self-correct.
- Amplify when people make generalisations such as “Women can’t lift heavy things”. Try replying with something like, “That’s right, no woman can lift anything heavy.”
The DESC model – a tool to have a hard conversation:
- Describe the situation and behaviour of the other person. "When I see...", "When I hear...", "When xyz happens..."
- Explain its impact on you. "I feel...", "I am..."
- State your preferred solution. "I would appreciate if...", "I need...", "I would like..."
- State the positive consequences for you both. "That way we could..."
Examples:
“We share this workspace and I find the photos in your calendar offensive. Can you please take it down, otherwise I will have to talk to our manager about this? Okay? Thanks.”
“When you shout at me, I feel like you don’t respect me. If you don’t agree with me I’d prefer it if you waited until you could address me personally that way you won’t be disrupting everyone else and distracting them from their work. Next time can you please catch up with me personally at the first opportunity? Okay? Thanks.”