Hi Bloggers,
During my time at the British Council, "valuing people" was one of the main features of the British Council's overall vision and ethos. We often had in house developmental sessions on this and other related virtues, such as creativity or mutuality. I remember once even having a whole day devoted to it. But the reality within the BC is that absolutely none of the managers actually care about it. They only pay lip service to it. It is only the teachers themselves who might practice it. And I must say that the BC does have some excellent teachers.
It's a pity the same can't be said about the managers. In my experience, most of them were completely indifferent. If ever you had a problem or issue, it always felt like their attitude was "how can I get rid of you?" rather than "how can I help you?" Their favourite line was "see your line manager", which effectively mounted to "don't bother me". The real tell tale sign, though, was the complete lack of any follow-up. There was never a "how are things now?" or "did you get that sorted?" etc. Just the inevitable silence. Once you'd been got rid of, that was it. I always used to joke that if we could develop life-like androids, this is probably what they'd be like.
During almost all my time with the BC and particularly during my saga with the management in Bahrain in 2012 (see background), I remember I was at no stage treated like someone of value or worth. In fact, rather the opposite. My line manager at the time, with the highly appropriate initials SS, seemed just hell bent on doing me down. It was like he was out to "get" me. I sometimes felt like I was in the police interrogation room having a confession beaten out of me. He'd never accept my answers, usually implying that I was a liar. And there were very few sessions with him in which I did not receive some sort of reprimand. It was as if he felt it was a point of honour to do so. God knows what kind of management training he had had. Old school to say the least. More suited to the military than a "caring" organisation.
So what I would suggest to the management is that they try genuinely to practice what they preach. What they need to do is try to imagine how they would run a place if they actually owned as a private enterprise. Their indifference to individual's circumstances and development would quickly become apparent. As surely one of the golden rules of successful management is that a workforce that feels it is being recognised will perform better than one that doesn't. Unfortunately, the penny doesn't yet seem to have dropped within the British Council.
As mentioned in one of my other posts. Managers need to know their teachers properly. They need full dossiers on their achievements, strengths, what makes them tick. Most importantly, though, they need to take an active interest, and towards this end I would suggest a bi-annual one to one meeting with teachers. This is what would make teachers feel they are being noticed and recognised, and ultimately valued. Teachers need to feel connected with the senior management, which is unfortunately something sadly missing now.
Let's hope they see the light
During my time at the British Council, "valuing people" was one of the main features of the British Council's overall vision and ethos. We often had in house developmental sessions on this and other related virtues, such as creativity or mutuality. I remember once even having a whole day devoted to it. But the reality within the BC is that absolutely none of the managers actually care about it. They only pay lip service to it. It is only the teachers themselves who might practice it. And I must say that the BC does have some excellent teachers.
It's a pity the same can't be said about the managers. In my experience, most of them were completely indifferent. If ever you had a problem or issue, it always felt like their attitude was "how can I get rid of you?" rather than "how can I help you?" Their favourite line was "see your line manager", which effectively mounted to "don't bother me". The real tell tale sign, though, was the complete lack of any follow-up. There was never a "how are things now?" or "did you get that sorted?" etc. Just the inevitable silence. Once you'd been got rid of, that was it. I always used to joke that if we could develop life-like androids, this is probably what they'd be like.
During almost all my time with the BC and particularly during my saga with the management in Bahrain in 2012 (see background), I remember I was at no stage treated like someone of value or worth. In fact, rather the opposite. My line manager at the time, with the highly appropriate initials SS, seemed just hell bent on doing me down. It was like he was out to "get" me. I sometimes felt like I was in the police interrogation room having a confession beaten out of me. He'd never accept my answers, usually implying that I was a liar. And there were very few sessions with him in which I did not receive some sort of reprimand. It was as if he felt it was a point of honour to do so. God knows what kind of management training he had had. Old school to say the least. More suited to the military than a "caring" organisation.
So what I would suggest to the management is that they try genuinely to practice what they preach. What they need to do is try to imagine how they would run a place if they actually owned as a private enterprise. Their indifference to individual's circumstances and development would quickly become apparent. As surely one of the golden rules of successful management is that a workforce that feels it is being recognised will perform better than one that doesn't. Unfortunately, the penny doesn't yet seem to have dropped within the British Council.
As mentioned in one of my other posts. Managers need to know their teachers properly. They need full dossiers on their achievements, strengths, what makes them tick. Most importantly, though, they need to take an active interest, and towards this end I would suggest a bi-annual one to one meeting with teachers. This is what would make teachers feel they are being noticed and recognised, and ultimately valued. Teachers need to feel connected with the senior management, which is unfortunately something sadly missing now.
Let's hope they see the light
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