Accelerating a movement: How we’re using technology to inspire change
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Imagine a world of work and study that is safe, happy and supportive for everyone, everywhere.
That’s the Culture Shift vision. Our North Star.
We know we’re unlikely to see it realised fully in our lifetimes (‘…for everyone, everywhere’). But we’re committed to play our part in helping to build it. We want to lead positive and lasting change now that inspires others to do the same.
So, how will we do it?
The role of technology
When the change in question is this big, the road to get there is long. So it helps to have a mode of transport that will accelerate the journey.
For us, that’s our online reporting platform. It gives people in organisations a voice to report incidents of bullying and harassment, so that those organisations can listen, support, analyse and activate positive change.
Alongside the platform, we’re using a broad range of other online tools – from webinars to video to social media – to attract support, educate and inspire. Our vision requires a movement, which naturally requires others to join it.
Accelerating change
To us, technology works best when it simplifies a task or takes away a problem. But that isn’t always easy when the problem is human and complex.
Take, for example, mental health and wellbeing, which has rightly been on the agenda for organisations of all sizes and industries in recent years. According to the Mental Health Foundation, one in six employees are currently experiencing problems such as anxiety and depression.
Along with charities and other organisations, apps like Calm, Moodpath and Headspace have empowered organisations to help their employees through meditation and sleep. They may not have solved the issue outright, but the existence of these tech solutions is helping to create a happier and healthier world of work.
It doesn’t end there, of course. Organisations have access to a plethora of apps and online platforms to tackle everyday challenges and problems, such as managing teams and projects, facilitating more effective communication, enabling flexible and remote working and training and supporting employees. These apps may not have the same emotional impact as those pertaining to mental health, but they are helping to build better workplaces for the people who use them.
52% of women have been subjected to unwanted sexual behaviours at work, rising to 63% for 16-24 year olds.
(Trades Union Congress (TUC), 2016)
71% of UK employees have been bullied or witnessed bullying in the workplace, while 35% have been direct victims of workplace bullying.
(Kew Law, 2020)
65% of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people have been subjected to bullying and harassment at work.
(Trades Union Congress (TUC), 2016)
68% of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people have been sexually harassed at work.
(Trades Union Congress (TUC), 2019)
Tackling bullying and harassment
Culture Shift provides an easy-to-manage solution for organisations that want to tackle harassment and bullying.
It empowers them to see and understand more of what’s happening in their organisations. Provide greater levels of support to individuals who are subjected to negative behaviour. And install preventative measures that create lasting change.
At the core of this empowerment is data. Each report made through the platform is accessible via a real-time analytics dashboard, which allows organisations to see what’s happening in different ways – at a glance, in-depth or over time (year-on-year).
Naturally, we love the platform and believe it simplifies a huge challenge that organisations face. But we recognise that, as is the case with all forms of technology, success hinges on the people who use them.
When the teams implementing Culture Shift and other tech-based solutions have the will to create change and a strategy for how to get the most out of technology, the movement will begin to accelerate.
What we're reading
Latest insights from the front lines of workplace culture.
Why Whistleblowing Protections Are Not Enough
The launch of the CIISA standards marked a significant moment for the creative industries, signalling growing recognition of the need for stronger protections around bullying, harassment and misconduct across film, television and wider media environments. But in a recent article for Broadcast Now, we highlight that whistleblowing protections alone will not solve the deeper cultural issues that have allowed harmful behaviour to persist for years.
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Speaking Up in the Creative Industries – Embedding Standards in Practice
With the CIISA Standards having been in place for a year and with the introduction of the Employment Rights Act, expectations around creating a healthy and effective speak up culture are shifting. Organisations being asked to move beyond policy and demonstrate how they are creating real, effective speak-up cultures.
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From the Conference Floor: Real-World Lessons for HR Leaders
Workplace misconduct is evolving, and many HR processes are struggling to keep up. At this year’s Culture Shift Annual Conference, one thing was clear: what worked even a year ago isn’t enough anymore. In this webinar join Gemma McCall (CEO) and Charlotte Taylor (Training Manager and ED&I Specialist) as they bring the most important conversations from the conference floor into a practical session for HR, People and Compliance leaders. You’ll hear what industry experts and legal professionals are seeing right now, and what it means for how you design, communicate and manage your approach to misconduct.
Feeling inspired?
Take the first step toward preventative misconduct management with a demo of our Report + Support™ platform. We can show you how to breakdown reporting barriers with anonymous 2-way messaging, and how to act before things escalate with name-matching and pattern-spotting across our analytics dashboard.
