Shut Up and Listen: What We Can Learn from HSBC on Organisational Wellbeing 🌱
It is imperative to embrace authenticity, prioritise two-way communication, and cultivate cultures of trust. But more than anything, we need to shut up and listen (to ourselves and others)
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The concept of wellbeing has transcended from a buzzword to a critical component of organisational success.
Despite the plethora of wellbeing-focused initiatives that we see, the significance of strong, two-way communication and authentic dialogue within an organisation is often still overlooked.
As Carmen Rendell (Founder of Soulhub) eloquently put it during her recent appearance on the Sports Pundit Podcast, "at the heart of it all is being human."
Rendell founded Soulhub in 2015, a wellbeing community and platform for individuals and businesses for your mind, body and soul. Comprised of a team of practitioners and specialists, Soulhub offers tools and courses to help individuals understand themselves and to navigate life in the best way possible.
The creation of the community culminated from a loss-of-love for her work and a realisation of the pivotal role that genuine human connection plays in fostering high-performing teams, whether in sports or business.
“As humans, we are relational beings… That's why any business will perform best, as will any sports team, if the team are connected, and they [genuinely] care about each other.”
Indeed, the foundation of effective communication in her eyes lies in genuine care and connection.
This sentiment resonates deeply in today's corporate environment, where the pursuit of success often overshadows the human element – be it in sport, or any other sector.
It doesn’t have to be this way, though.
Take banking, for instance. When Stuart Gulliver took the helm as Group CEO of HSBC in 2011, he recognised the need for a cultural overhaul within the business. With over 230,000 employees worldwide, Gulliver aimed to change how communication happened within the organisation, giving rise to HSBC Exchange.
Colloquially known as "shut up and listen," the program set a new standard for open communication. It facilitated dialogue in all directions—up, down, and peer-to-peer—allowing employees to freely voice their thoughts and opinions.
At the core of Exchange meetings are three principles: managers listen without interruption, agendas are discarded for organic conversation, and employees drive the discussion. Whether discussing cafeteria cuisine or company concerns, topics are dictated by the collective voice of the workforce.
The program had a profoundly positive impact. There was a reported 10 to 20 percent improvement around key sentiment metrics between those who had attended an Exchange meeting and those who hadn’t.
Importantly, HSBC didn't enforce a fixed schedule for meetings or mandate manager participation. Instead, they let the program's efficacy speak for itself, allowing participation to grow organically.
It’s a great example of an action that any organisation could take when addressing organisational wellbeing. No doubt it could also be applied to fan groups in sport, too.
However, we shouldn’t get entirely caught up in top-down solutions. While those in decision-making positions like Gulliver can have a more immediate impact, each and every employee has an opportunity to contribute towards change.
“Get to know self and get truthful in the organisation, because the more we all do that individually, then the ripple of effect of that is others start to notice that they're out of alignment. We then get to hold people accountable for being truthful, but we can only do that if we honour that in ourselves.”
For Rendell, the best way to get to this point is through silence or meditation in one form or another. Another practise employed by HSBC was to conduct a moment of silence at the beginning of every meeting.
“I don't know if they still do it, but they would start every meeting with a moment of silence and that would be an incredibly powerful thing if we all… orchestrated moments of silence in our days.”
First, Rendell asserts, we must know ourselves. Essentially, instead of starting with the solution, start with the source of the problem. This must come before turning to external initiatives.
“It’s probably not the answer you wanted in the way of ‘go and communicate about mental health.’ That might be the end product, but I think we're a bit far from that.”
“Once you explore within your business [and] how it's behaving, then you can go out and look at how you support fans and customers, but if your business is all over the place and misaligned and distrustful and not safe, then my sense is it's toxic and why would you want to be selling that to anyone else?”
As leaders and decision-makers, it is imperative to heed Rendell's call to action: to embrace authenticity, prioritise two-way communication, and cultivate cultures of trust and transparency.
While this may sound like a lot to take on, the good news is that this doesn’t have to require grand actions. It starts by simply shutting up and listening - to yourself and to others.
The rest will follow…
PODCAST
Want to hear more from my conversation with Carmen?
We discuss Carmen’s journey to founding Soulhub, recruiting and bringing people into your mission, getting the best out of ourselves and our teams, balancing morals and values with necessity, sitting with difference and much, much more.
Listen to the full podcast via the link below - and I’d love to hear what you think! 👇
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The Big Idea is brought to you by the Global Institute of Sport!
The Global Institute of Sport is the leading destination for Master's degrees, executive education and professional qualifications in sport around the world.
They count world-famous stadiums and surrounding venues among their state-of-the-art campus facilities across the globe, including London's Wembley Stadium, Miami's DRV PNK Stadium and Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Ready to master the global sports industry? Enquire today about their in-person and online courses.