The No Arsehole Rule Down Under

I just got a lovely note from Shawn Callahan, who is the founding director of an Australian firm called Anecdote, which works with companies on learning and organizational change problems.  I was delighted to hear Shawn's report:  'Just thought you might like to know that we have been pushing the "No asshole (arsehole in Australia) rule" on our blog for a few months as part of a campaign to reintroduce humanity into the workplace.' I would be curious to hear other news about strategies that are being used to reform and expell demeaning jerks from workplaces down under.

I especially liked the list that Shawn alerted me to from Pam Slim's blog "Escape from Cubicle Nation," an open letter to senior executives that contains ten tips for treating employees with dignity and respect, My two favorites are:

Spend a moment walking around the halls of your company and look at your employees. I mean really look at them.  Don't just pat them on the back and pump their hand while looking over their head at the exit door. Look directly in their eyes.  Imagine what their life is like.  Who is waiting at home for them?  What are the real consequences to their health, marriages and children when they have to work yet another 13 hour day?

Don't ask for your employees' input if you are not going to listen to it. I have facilitated offsite meetings that lasted for days where well-intentioned managers brainstormed and argued and edited and wrote flip charts until their hands turned blue.  They sweated over creating something that was relevant and for a brief period of time actually were proud of what they accomplished.  Until a month later when I heard that you scrapped the whole thing in favor of a plan cooked up by an outside consulting firm.  This does not only completely waste smart people's time, it guarantees that you will have hostility and resentment the next time you ask for creative input.

Great stuff! And I look forward to following Anecdote's progress down under, and Pam's blog is pretty cool.

Comments

[Bob Sutton]

This is one of my favorite comments ever. So short. So charming. And so disturbing. The stand alone "Oh dear" makes the whole thing work.

[Max]

Oh, dear.

At the last company I worked for one of the several presidents during my time there had security staff clear the hallways of employees between the entrance and his office when he arrived at the corporate HQ.