Results speak louder than actions

We have talked on this blog about lip service as the gap between intention and action. As the old adage says, actions speak louder than words.

However, there's another gap we also need to talk about, which is the gap between actions and results.

One of the things we have found is that staff might feel increasingly frustrated and say that "nothing is being done" and leaders become increasingly frustrated because from their perspective, they are doing "so many things", some of which they can't disclose, especially when it comes to addressing problematic behavior from individuals, because of confidentiality.

Leaders feel that their staff are "uninformed" or that it's a "communication" or "perception" issue.

Often it's a communication issue, but that's on leaders, not staff. Rarely is it a perception issue in that staff have the "wrong" perception - their perception is valid based on the information that they have.

But more than that, what they are often actually talking about is that they are not experiencing the results, impact or outcomes that they need in order to have an environment that supports their work.

"Nothing is being done" can be translated into "we are continuing to experience harm and we not experiencing any changes."

Actions speak louder than words, but results speak louder than actions.

Focusing on intentions or actions misses the point.

And confidentiality is not an excuse for lack of transparency.

While yes, details regarding the specifics of a situation with a particular employee or initiative might be confidential, there can be transparency about policies and processes... assuming those policies and processes exist and are consistently and equitably applied.

More than that, there can be transparency and clarity around organizational values and how everyone in the organization will be held accountable to those values.

These values, how they are defined, what they mean, and how they become operationalized into organizational culture and every aspect of what the org does should not be delivered down from on high but should be co-created inclusively with the opportunity for brainstorming, input and feedback across the organization.

With these values in place, a commitment can be made that bridges from intentions to actions, and from actions to results.

Yes, actions should be measured, but so should results, and they should be measured against clearly defined values and needs.

A checklist of initiatives, eg hiring, promotions, mentoring, career development, training, new technology etc. are important, but they lose effectiveness if not contextualized within and measured for results against these values and needs.

Here's an example - staff might give feedback saying that the promotions process is unclear and does not feel equitable. An organization might say, ok, we're going take a look at and redesign our promotions process so it is clearer and more equitable. With that process in place, they might consider that box checked off - action has been taken. Or they might track diversity stats and show that yes, we have more women and BIPOC that are getting promoted than before.

Sounds great, right?

Well, not so fast.

What if the underlying need behind staff saying the promotions process is unclear and inequitable is that staff want to feel that they have career mobility and a path that gives them opportunities for growth and for work that is not just meaningful but authentic - work that fits their talents and interests so they can make the impact they want to make?

What if the organizational value is that "all staff should feel recognized and valued for the work that they do, and that they have opportunities for professional growth and career development, as defined by them?"

Revamping the promotions process is just one way to meet that need, and likely just one piece of what is required. Stating the value and need allows room for creativity, innovation, and shifts in day-to-day behavior, in addition to the initiatives that can feel more distant to staff and might take longer to put into place. Ideally, individual as well as team performance get assessed against these values as well.

And while yes, diversity stats are an important measure, what is more important is to find out from staff if they do feel more recognized and valued, and they have opportunities for growth. That's the ultimate measure of success because that's how you shift culture towards equity and inclusion in order to better align an organization with its mission.

That's also how you get leadership buy-in for DEI, a perpetual struggle because DEI is seen as a "nice to have" and "the right thing to do" rather than something that is integral to the organization's success as well as the well-being of those within it.

In this way, by defining values, making a commitment to measuring results against those values, and then following through on that commitment, leadership can get out of the cycle of paralysis, lip service and distrust. It won't happen overnight, so patience, a willingness to be uncomfortable, and a suspension of the need to be defensive and prove "good intentions" is required.

But we've seen it happen, even in organizations that may have been paralyzed for literally decades, and the acceleration that can happen once you can set a direction that everyone can row towards together can be quite remarkable.

Banner photo by Stephen Dawson on Unsplash.

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