Increasing speaking up at a tech giant 

Challenge 

A tech giant asked us to train 70 managers across Africa, Europe, and the Middle East to help their teams feel more confident to raise concerns directly with them. The challenges were: 

  • Openness | Facilitate open discussions during recorded virtual sessions attended by five management layers, from supervisors to directors. 

  • Positivity | Address the problem positively. As the company culture was strongly orientated to the positive, a negative approach could easily disengage. 

  • Practicality | Provide immediate value to elite managers at the top of their industry. They were working under intense pressure and needed help, not more burdens or things to feel bad about. 

Approach 

We took time to understand the issue. The company rarely sought external solutions, and needed to be sure we could help. They connected with our purpose, experience, and approach. 

  • Goal | Maximise buy-in and provide a simple approach that worked across diverse cultures, enabling managers to increase psychological safety within their teams. 

  • Solution | We adapted our Speaking Up training to create a bespoke two-part programme centred around storytelling and building awareness. A mix of design approaches kept attention high. 

  • Collaboration | Working closely with the People Business Partner was essential to get the message to land and to create momentum for change. Leadership vulnerability within the session encouraged openness and buy-in. Our tools made the next steps clear and simple. 

Results

  • Confidence | There was a 75% increase in the number of managers who felt very confident they could create a team culture where people would raise concerns directly with them. 

  • Usefulness | A Senior Learning & Development Leader put it succinctly: "I have done a lot of leadership training in my career, and this was one of the best sessions I ever attended. It was valuable because it gave us tools we could use immediately. Your experience kept us engaged while addressing risky issues directly, which internal teams were not in a position to do." 

  • Understanding | The session achieved the level of safety required to enable powerful moments of courage and candour. There was authentic disclosure of dynamics within the manager group that were working against the desired cultural shift.