Hello PPMA friends

It’s the integrity stupid…

I promised myself that I would spend at least one Bank Holiday this year not twittering and linking in. But surprisingly Saturday was a wonderful day on social media, there were some fabulous articles posted and nourishing reading.

And then today we have another episode of ‘Lightning rod leadership’ in the top leadership of Government.

As HR and OD professionals we are no strangers to the world of grey…..

I have written before that this global crisis has amplified the good and the bad. In many areas. We’ve seen extraordinary courage, compassion and dedication from public service employees in front line and non-front lines during Covid 19.

We’ve seen extraordinary achievements – new hospitals, temporary care homes, humanitarian hubs built in record time. We’ve seen extraordinary resilience and grit from the public too. And fortitude and a quite incredible determination.

And of course, we have also seen the irresponsible, the unfair, the thoughtlessness, the wilful disregard, the continued polarisation of viewpoints, and the genuine confusion.

So, in all of this, how do we deal with the ‘lightning rod’?

Lightning rods – disruptors or destructors?

The answer is definitely yes to the first but not always to the second. It depends on context. The life of a public figure is not an easy one. The scrutiny is relentless and constant and judgement often excoriating. And often made without all the facts being known.

I’m not and never have been a fan of the worshipping of the ‘disruptor’. But as ever, the meaning of ‘disruptor’ and ‘disruption’ is in the eye of the beholder if organisations don’t use language that explicitly defines what these terms mean.

Bringing new ideas that challenge the status quo, that drive us to constantly seek progress, improvement etc shouldn’t actually be disruption. That should be – and for many high performing organisations already is – the day to day work of the organisation.

But there genuinely will be moments and times of disruption. A global pandemic is one of them.

So, what of our disruptors in times of crisis?

This isn’t the first time Dominic Cummings has caused controversy – and it is likely that we all have come across similar disruptors in our organisation. He is genuinely a living case study of ‘how to apply HR advice’.

Managing a disruptor is a genuine conundrum. Particularly when they are in the political world. Because disruptors – and he does seem to positively revel in being one – are employees too. And as such whenever there are any allegations, they need to be properly investigated. As an employee he is entitled to be treated according to policy and employment law. Indeed if he wasn’t, the Government would be liable potentially. Confidentiality will apply and a consideration of the broader circumstances too.

Some of these will include:

• an examination of whether all the stories in the public domain about the allegations are true
• consideration of whether the storm of media at his home represents a threat to his physical safety and his mental health. And that of his family.
• Consideration of whether some of the current outrage is a function of the impact his previous behaviour has had on people.

Lightning rods tend to care little about what people think of them. And Dominic Cummings is on record with his criticism (and contempt) of some politicians and some civil servants and some media outlets and journalists too.

Notwithstanding all this very loud and considerable ‘noise’ there is the basic allegation at hand. And this should be a pretty straightforward issue. The key question being:

– Does the evidence support the allegation and is it sufficient to justify disciplinary action?

Pretty straightforward you would say.

Life isn’t just about the individual, it’s about the whole though too…..

However, there is often more to this in the judgement that needs to be applied. I’m never sure that enough people in organisations outside the HR & OD function realise that in every set of circumstances, HR & OD is considering both the individual and the organisation as a whole.

This means understanding what previous precedent has been set. You shouldn’t ever be slave to that, but you have to take it into account. And you absolutely MUST consider the consequence of your decision on the rest of the organisation.

UK plc is a pretty big organisation…..

And this is a pretty big crisis.

The more senior you are, the more responsibility you have to uphold values and behaviours. I certainly agree with this.  And whenever I’ve done Executive Level investigations these considerations have been paramount.

There is an often deeply uncomfortable balance for a leader to make. A senior colleague is a senior colleague for a reason. But all the more important therefore to be aware of the impact the actions senior colleagues have on the rest of an organisation. The qualities that leaders display is often more important than the technical capabilities they bring to a role.

Walking the talk…..

Any HR & OD leader will advise his/her Leader that honesty, authenticity, trust and integrity eat everything else for breakfast in a crisis. And especially when you need those qualities to engage a whole population in a complex, challenging, frightening time which is asking for many sacrifices to be made.

It’s not rocket science to understand that trust and confidence in Public Health messaging is a matter of life and death. And that to ensure that on a long term basis means rules apply to everyone.

I imagine today that Government will be reflecting on whether the lack of acknowledgement of why this particular issue is causing such deep anger needs addressing.

 If it isn’t, it damned well should be. And it should be acting. Sharpish and smartish.

Hello PPMA Friends

With all the relentless speculation about what’s going to happen after Covid, Karen Grave explains why it’s way too early to be dwelling on this right now.

“Usually when I get a deep burning pain in my gut, Gaviscon is my go to remedy. But I’ve come to realise that this particular pain in my gut is best understood through the increasing understanding that our brains and our gut are much more intertwined that previously thought.

To cut a long story short I have a raging headache. I suspect it’s been caused by the opinion headlines, marketing studies etc that are apparently already mightily confident about what the post Covid-19 world will be.

We talk a good game us humans, about the world changing and this being a time of reset and reflection. A time for us to reflect on the fragilities across the globe that Covid-19 has so brutally exposed. A time for us to reconnect with family, friends and our community. A time for us to think about how our today impacts our tomorrows and whether what we currently value and do is up to the challenge. And most importantly of all, a time for us to be still. Still – in wonder of the extraordinary commitment of everyone across public services who is doing so much to keep us going.

Yes, you guessed it. Sadly, (and like nature) it seems some people abhor a vacuum, even if what they choose to fill it with is unmitigated shite. Cue absolutely raging raging headache.

Bullshit is as contagious as fear.

From misleading headlines about the tragic number of deaths in a day; dangerous speculation about 5G and it’s contribution to Covid-19; pathetic twitter comments inducing speculation that because NHS Nightingale is quiet something sinister must be going on; the vile trope that a Prime Minister’s illness was a hoax; the endless opinion pieces about how Remote Working is the Future, Women are the only leaders who have done well etc. Need I go on?

To be sure, there is some deeply thoughtful and inspiring writing. And there are articles that are a very welcome, genuine contribution to what will become our body of understanding about what a post Covid-19 world will look like.

I suggest that we don’t yet have anywhere near enough of that. We are nowhere near being able to say when after Covid-19 will even be. Why do I say that? Well because the people who actually know what is happening are actually far too busy identifying, collaborating, investigating, modelling, learning, planning, challenging, talking etc.

Most likely we can safely say we are at the end of the beginning of the first wave of deaths. But even then, we are not yet calculating the number of deaths in our community. The numbers of dead thud dully into the daily news cycle. But, apart from a few headlines here and there, we have not even begun to comprehend the grief and loss of families and friends. What have we become?

A reckoning is coming. And it should.

Hard choices about how we live in future are coming. And they will, I hope, be based on the broadest thinking and robust discussion about who we want to be. Not what we want to have necessarily. Are we genuinely going to get engaged in meaningful debate, or are the noisiest amongst us going to continue to lob grenades from their respective political positions, ever convinced of their own righteousness?

I ask these questions because the people whose voices really need to be heard are actually quite busy right now.

They are the people struggling to survive, the homeless, the dispossessed, the sick. They are our clinicians and non-clinicians, the public health specialists, the care home workers, the carers in individual homes, the policemen and women working to try and ensure we hold the social distancing line, the military planners, hospital and care home builders, the volunteers, the pharmacists, the paramedics, all other essential workers.

And the ever put upon ‘back office’ workers, including my HR & OD colleagues who have over these last weeks performed miracles. And transformed how our public services operate in ways that will take months to be able to reconcile with, never mind describe. Call us (and our finance, property, procurement, legal and ICT colleagues) back office again if you dare.

 Stillness is hard – silence is too.

But you see, the essential thing about stillness is that it invites silence. And the wonderful thing about silence is that it gives space for the voices we need to listen to, to be heard. And it gives us time to read what we really need to see.

So, I leave you with this.

• Over this bank holiday weekend 10 members of staff at Manchester City Council were tasked with setting up the Manchester’s Food Response Team depot.
• His Church Charity & The Hut Group provided the team with 63 pallets of supplies.
• Because of this incredible response the team needed more bags to build the food parcels they were making.
• So they went to Morrisons in Openshaw to see if they would help.
• Not only did Morrisons provide bags, they donated 2 trolleys of Easter Eggs.
• Over these last three days, the team delivered 347 parcels giving 670 people much needed food (and Easter Eggs for some).
• They were delivered by voluntary drivers.
• And these deliveries are in addition to the incredible work being done by Food Banks.

After Covid?

Covid-19 isn’t just another event that will quickly fade from our collective memories. It is here to stay. And so are it’s brutal effects.

So, when we are really ready to be able to talk medium and longer term and envision and build what we want to be, I want to hear from all these amazing people. The people whose lives were turned upside down, the genuine experts – the people who have thoroughly investigated and understood the issues. The people who have fought on the battle lines, albeit without guns but with brains, heart, compassion and love.

And the much maligned politicians and policy makers who have genuinely been in the eye of the storm.

As for those people creating noise now, who are so invested in pushing for courses of action that we can’t yet know are even based on sound thinking and evidence?

Not so much, thanks.”

Hello PPMA friends

A couple of weeks ago Prof. Jim McManus, Chartered FCIPD and VP of the UK Association of Directors of Public Health wrote a blog post for us, talking about how we can get through this pandemic without panic and fear. Today he shares some of the key leadership skills required to keep us all on course.

“Alongside the epidemic of SARS-COV-2, to give COVID19 its proper name, we can expect an epidemic of mental health issues. Stress of work, coping with anxiety, fear, loneliness, the loss of loved ones and what has hitherto been normality; and coping with very different and uncertain worlds at home and work will bring many stresses for us. An epidemic of panic and fear, a media frenzy and what seems like a deluge of guidance (of varying degrees of value) accompanies the inevitable outbreaks of offers of “buy our stuff” from companies. How do we avoid going under?

I am very resilient, I have been through some major challenges in my time, and I know my limits. But I do have them. And so do my team. I found myself reflecting two weeks ago, after working 32 days without a break, how grateful I am that I now have a team rota, and people working with me, as well as extra capacity drafted in.

Numerous well intentioned “thought leaders” have sent me and a lot of colleagues things about leadership and how to lead during these times. Some is useful. A lot isn’t. I don’t want to be when I get an email asking “will you be a good or bad leader during this time?” I feel like replying “thanks, when I’ve finished leading through this almighty mess I’ll be sure to find the time then to read it and get back to you about how rubbish a job I’ve done.”

But there are some crucial leadership skills for these times. Among them is the under-rated balancing act of being able to hold your nerve and your humanity while at the same time recognising your loss and uncertainty. A second is discerning with others the way forward, communicating it, and knowing how to act as a piece in a jigsaw where everyone has a role to play. We’re not in uncharted waters but it doesn’t mean your average leadership thinker has the blueprint either

I am drawing daily on lessons I learned the hard way, in my twenties, when people I loved started dying in numbers. In the 1980s and 1990s I cared for and lost many friends from HIV, before the current treatments we have now. I lived under its shadow, and lost many people. I remember the news hysteria. I attended many funerals, endured a great deal of discrimination and went through pressure and stress which looking back is hard to fathom how I survived. But I did. Those lessons I learned the hard way are helping me today. I want to share them with you.

Develop a strong instinct separating the helpful from the hype and the hokum

1. Know when to turn the news off. I limit myself to an hour a day. More doesn’t help make sense of this, and the news media are of variable quality.  One poorly informed journalist monstering a not very well informed “expert” a day is enough for anyone
2. Filter the news print media. Ive stopped reading newspapers altogether and only go for the scientific press.
3. Develop a sense for misinformation and hype. There’s a lot of it about. Look for trusted and credible sources
4. Develop a sense for managing urban myths like stuff circulating on heating surgical masks to 27 degrees to kill the virus
5. Read the science. Apply it but keep it under review, at least some of it will change
6. Switch off your social media half an hour before bed. Nothing is so important that you can’t sleep.

Develop the skills to keep yourself safe and functioning

7. Self-Care, and make sure others do it. You can’t care for others if you can’t care for yourself. Yes you may be able to go beyond many in effort and resilience but even you have limits.
   • Keep a safe space for down time like music or books or exercise.
   • Find ways of showing you care and showing solidarity
   • Allow yourself to grieve the changes and recognise them rather than bottle them up. As Bessel Van der Kolk’s book says, the body keeps the score and will go under
   • learning how to rest and self-care the hard way – your first wobbler is a learning experience

8. Get physical exercise, eat well, try to sleep well

Care for your team and others

9. Systematically ask people if they are self-caring. Explain to others how you do it.

Do not let this consume you

10. Find ways of keeping joy in the ordinary things like appreciating the beauty of spring as it is starting.
11. Find reasons to hope – and with Covid there are many more than we had for the first ten years in the HIv crisis – this will time limit for example, we will find a vaccine, we will slow its spread, there are some amazing examples of people showing their best

Disrupt fear and anxiety and build pro-social behaviour

13. Use social norms and community to disrupt anxiety and fear.
    • Give people positive things they can do.
    • Give people things they can do to build prosocial behaviour and mutual care
    • Take time to acknowledge others and talk about something other than COVID
    • Find something in each day to be grateful for
14. Phrase behaviours positively. Not “lockdown” but “doing my bit to stop the virus as an act of charity for the most vulnerable”

Embrace Prevention as something positive you can do

14. Assume you’ve got it and are protecting everyone else. It’s amazing how that changed your mindset and make things like preventive behaviours much more instinctive

Remember the “why”

15. Remember this is service – you are doing this self-giving explicitly you serve others. You need recharging and replenishing to keep doing that. If you have faith, use it. I couldn’t do what I do without my faith.

Be ready for the signs of recovery

16. Have an eye to the fragile shoot of recovery. You’ll need to spot that and get people to work with you to get there

In the midst of this storm and fire will often come the still, small voice of the best of humanity. The hotelier offering their beds. The restaurant offering their kitchens. The person offering their skills. The colleague checking you’re ok. Allow these to be comfort, because they are the types of things we will need to rebuild when this is all over.

Ultimately, humanity will win over this virus. The better able you are to stay the course until it does, the better we will be when this is over.”

Prof. Jim McManus, OCDS, CPsychol, FBPsS, CSci, FFPH, Chartered FCIPD
Director of Public Health, Hertfordshire County Council & Vice President, Association of Directors of Public Health UK

Hello PPMA friends

Prof. Jim McManus is a Chartered FCIPD and is Vice President of the UK Association of Directors of Public Health. He is also a Chartered Psychologist, Director of Public Health for Hertfordshire and has experience of managing large outbreaks and the 2009 swine flu pandemic. Jim has written a very important blog for us and it’s an excellent guideline for all HR and OD professionals, particularly those in Public Services.

“We are facing some momentous changes over the next few weeks, possibly months. We are also facing two epidemics in the UK. The first is COVID19, and the second is fear and panic. And it is entirely possible that the latter will hamper our response to slow and delay the impact of the former. The fact that it is difficult to detect the signal of the science and trustworthy advice when there is so much noise from social media and other media makes the job of leadership in these times more complicated. The fact that the science has changed, more than once, and abruptly changed (to protect us) has also added to that complexity and the need to explain that science well, clearly and consistently to maintain trust. I do trust the science, because I have read as much of it as I can.  Were my only sources the news media, I may have taken a different view.

We will get through this with the right combination of skills and tactics. First, listening to the science, second making clear and calm decisions in light of these and third, explaining to everyone what they can do.

That’s where people managers come in. Not only can you help prepare your workforces but you can promote the vital prosocial behaviour we need to get through the coming months. We are going to need several sets of key psychological and people skills in the next few months.

• The skills to communicate and engage people well
• The skills to explain the rationale for actions and decisions we make well
• The skills to keep people feeling resilient
• The skills to help people retain a strong sense of purpose, even when they may worry about the future
• The skills to promote behaviour which promotes the common good, protects the vulnerable and emphasises we are all in this together, at a time when selfishness could take over, with disastrous consequences for the weakest and poorest

It’s important that public sector people managers and leaders know the facts, both to combat the virus and to combat the spread of fear and panic that goes with it, as part of this strategy.

We are dealing with COVID19, a coronavirus, a virus from a family of viruses that causes illness in humans of varying kinds. You can read more here. The virus is likely to have jumped species from an animal to a human (and to be honest unless you’re involved in sequencing the genetic code to make a vaccine or stop it happening again it’s pretty irrelevant which animal species it jumped from.) It was first notified on 31^st December in China. You can do to www.gov.uk/coronavirus for more information.

The virus has spread rapidly, largely by droplet spread. 81% of us will get mild illness like a bad flu,14% of us more severe, 5% may need hospital care and less than 2% will die. Most people recover. But you don’t read about that in the media.

It’s new. And while there is some stuff we know, there is still stuff we don’t. We don’t yet have a vaccine. We don’t yet have antiviral drugs so treatment is for the symptoms and problems caused by the virus. And we can’t stop it altogether. And some of us can’t work from home.

So what can we do to protect our workforces and ourselves?

Well, we do know from experience of dealing with viruses like these and others that there are things which really will slow the spread of it, and this remains important for everyone, doubly so for those who have to come to work. There are things which disrupt the spread of the virus. These are all about not allowing the virus a route into your body or from one person to another. I call these the six to fix:

1. First, washing your hands frequently and well for at least twenty seconds with good technique (we have links to videos below) . Before you leave for work, when you get to work, before all breaks, before lunch, after lunch and when you get home
2. Not touching your face, eyes, nose or mouth so you deny the virus a route into your body. A good rule is “keep your hands below your shoulders unless you’ve just washed them well” if you find the “don’t touch” rule a challenge
3. Staying a metre apart from people and not having handshakes and so on at meetings
4. Coughing and sneezing into a tissue, binning it and washing your hands (or coughing into the crook of your elbow) so you deny drops from coughs and sneezes a route onto onto your hands or surfaces and then into the eyes, mouth and nose of others
5. Decent and frequent cleaning of surfaces people touch frequently, with detergent, like lift buttons, light switches, door handles and so on
6. Self-isolating if you have a new continuous cough and a fever so if you have the virus, you don’t spread it. And if you have something else, well you won’t spread that other.

Hand sanitiser is a reasonable second best if you don’t have soap and water. Making people use it coming into meetings and public buildings in addition to hand washing is an extra layer of defence.

Why should I do this if it’s mild?

Well, you do this because although you may have mild disease (do you really want something like ‘flu anyway?) others may get it much worse.  You protect the vulnerable. Doing so is an act of love and charity. You may not get it bad, but what if someone you loved did?

What is the government’s actual strategy?

This is as I aluded to above, surrounded by noise, myth and poor reporting. The government has recognised that we cannot stop this virus. It has also recognised that those who are older (over 60 or 70) and folk with serious underlying health conditions like weakened immunes systems, diabetes and lung disease will have more severe disease. They have taken a very precautionary approach to self isolation and social distancing, which will have business continuity implcations.

Our priority has to be to protect the vulnerable from the worst consequences of disease. It is a sign of a civilised society how well we take that seriously. So we need to make sure that the NHS capacity is kept for those who really need it.

Slowing the spread of the virus means we wont over-top the NHS capacity, we will end up with fewer infections overall and we won’t end up with vulnerable people being unable to get the best care. And it’s important then that those of us with mild illness when and if we get COVID19 look after ourselves and each other as much as we can.

It’s also important that we choose the right time to close companies, offices and business or schools too soon. And we don’t let that up too soon or too quickly. Even if we are bored and fed up. Why? Well, watch this simple video. That explains it well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl6tTwxzCi8

Never mind about herd immunity for now. And never mind about some of the self-proclaimed experts who claim they know best but don’t produce any evidence for it. We will get through this.  The vast majority of us who get it will recover, and if we take the steps described here the most vulnerable who get it will be given the best chance of recovery.

Other countries have stopped this virus, why haven’t we?

Nobody has stopped this virus. People have slowed it down. But nobody has stopped it. It is dangerous to make comparisons with other countries because they test people at different rates and stages and they responded at different stages. The type of testing, reliability of tracing people who’ve been in contact with infected people all varies.

Timing of what we do is everything, and an awful lot of what you have seen on social media is misleading and inaccurate. Go into “lockdown” too soon, and when you all come back out, the virus will spread again as the video above shows.

 There are lots of experts claiming government is wrong. Why aren’t you listening?

Actually a lot of those experts aren’t experts in communicable disease control. While it might be fair comment that the national strategy could be a little better explained, having lots of people shout at government that they know better without producing detailed evidence of that isn’t helping. Government is going to publish its modelling. That’s sensible. It should enable open, transparent and respectful discussion of the science from all scientific disciplines and experts of goodwill so we can all have confidence we have the best strategy for these times. But shouting “I know best” when none of us do just drives fear. Equally, you need to prompt the scientists in your organisation to explain the science in the clearest terms possible.

What are the key things for people Managers to do?

Well, I think you have five priorities;

1. Slow the spread of the virus as much as possible so you can keep essential services running – get folk doing the six to fix and make sure you have the equipment you need for services like personal protective equipment for care services.
2. Help with business continuity so you can plan for sickness absence. Government suggests up to 80% of people may get it with 21% sickness absence over a sixteen week period. That modelling will change as we know more. Speak to your Director of Public Health or planning group locally. What are you doing about sickness reporting, benefits and also help for employees who may be in financial hardship? You don’t need to shut your business down or stop all meetings. Many people are over-reacting. But if we did go into a period of that, how would you keep business going? And how will you ensure meetings and events you do run are risk assessed so the risk of the virus spreading in them is reduced as much as possible? Are some workforces like Fire so important you need to go the extra mile to keep them running? Time to speak to Occupational Health or your Director of Public Health.
3. Reassurance and resilience of employees and others – there is no need to panic buy or shut down your social life. Our economy needs to keep running for us to come through this. There is plenty of food and resources for everyone if we just remember that we owe each other a care to get through this calmly and rationally. And stamp our prejudice and hate.
4. Promoting the mental health of everyone while we run through this crisis – especially front line workers and those dealing with peoples’ anger and fear. A good resource on mental health in these times is below and a podcast on self-isolation is coming out shortly in the Behavioural Science and COVID19 podcast mini-series. (Links below)
5. Promote the care and love of the most vulnerable – are we ensuring foodbanks have enough to distribute so nobody goes hungry, are volunteers able to check on the most vulnerable and isolated? Can you do befriending of people by phone? Actively challenge selfish and panic behaviour and panic buying. Can you create a prosocial campaign to help others and channel energy and anxiety into that?

Lastly, you could understand the dynamics of how people behave in crises. They tend to behave in ways which make sense to them because they are responding to fear, and they often respond by exerting control over the things they can control. So panic buying, those annoying folk nicking the hand sanitiser from offices and everyone moving their travel times to avoid crowds but ending up in the office early fall into that category. Understand the psychology behind these, and especially create social norms and other barriers to people behaving in ways that are harmful.

And create space where people can grieve the seismic changes to our lives that we will need to cope with for the coming season, and find ways of adjustment.

Together, public sector employers can slow the epidemic of COVID19 and protect our most vulnerable. And they can stop the epidemic of fear and panic which is making it worse for everyone, and which, if unchecked, will linger with ill effect long after we have better treatment and prevention strategies for COVID19

We will get through this.”

Where do I get more information?

www.nhs.uk.coronavirus

www.gov.uk/coronavirus

You can find videos on good technique here as well as FAQs and other materials https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/about-the-council/news/news-archive/coronavirus-frequently-asked-questions

Mental Health advice https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/looking-after-your-mental-health-during-coronavirus-outbreak  and https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/coronavirus-and-your-wellbeing/

Behavioural science Podcasts including self isolation https://beezeebodies.com/professionals/real-world-behavioural-science-podcast/

Self isolation advice https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-advice/

Guidance on social distancing https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people

Guidance on staying at home with possible infection https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance

Guidance on mass gatherings https://www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-19-guidance-for-mass-gatherings

The Psychology of Panic Buying https://www.image.ie/life/psychology-behind-panic-buying-stop-184409

Prof Jim McManus, OCDS, CPsychol, FBPsS, CSci, FFPH, Chartered FCIPD
Director of Public Health, Public Health Service, Hertfordshire County Council  & Vice President, Association of Directors of Public Health UK