One of the three principles of the UK Government’s recent review  “Keeping Britain Working”  is to “Rehumanise the Workplace”. It is a bit of a bandwagon phrase inevitably spawning a variety of businesses.  It presupposes that there was a time when the workplace was humanised, which might not  be  the living experience of some people over the past thirty years. The degree to which dehumanisation has actually taken place or that it is workers’ attitudes to work that have changed,  is in a sense immaterial to the fact that there is a dissonance that has an adverse impact on motivation and wellbeing  and  which, at an extreme, stops people from functioning, reduces productivity or even stops them going to work.  The dissonance can build on itself, spiral and paralyse.  And once off work, the thought of returning can be daunting.  

It is difficult to get a baseline to compare the current dehumanisation of work and our sense of responsibility for it.  We can become absorbed with our own dissonance and at the same time, ignore that of others. We happily expect our next day deliveries or next hour meals or our app-solicited car rides from people whose working conditions seem of another age.  But these are probably not the people the Government is worrying about in “Keeping Britain Working”.

Covid changed things for many with a realisation that there could be more to life than a daily commute to a shared office space, and for some to begin to question what the purpose of it all is. Over the past 5 years, employers have responded by enabling a degree of humanisation through various modes of hybrid or offsite working, although this is now coming under some threat (whether this has addressed any doubts about “the purpose of it all” is another matter). But if  social connection is fundamental for human endeavour, is that always possible online, in front or a blurred background  or a stock image?  Or is something else needed? Clearly, for some workers, the isolation at home has actually produced a dissonance of its own.  

So what has this got to do with coaching?

Much of what a humanised workplace might be centred around links and connections –  how people feel,  belong and have purpose in their interactions within  an organisation.  How authentic is the communication? Are people being listened to?  Do those who listen have empathy, emotional intelligence, and the confidence and motivation to work though the needs of the  organisation, fellow colleagues and the individual for all to commit to a sustainable and productive way forward?

At a risk of being seen to add to the industry around rehumanisation, it can be argued that coaching does have a role to play in all the above. Coaching provides the space for individuals to safely consider (or perhaps confront?) their values, vulnerabilities and vocation (in the fullest sense of the word) and how they might vocalise, or articulate their needs in the context of those of colleagues and team mates. It provides the space in complex systems for those at all levels in the organisation to think about connections and impacts. In developing self worth, and consequent self assurance, coaching helps also to recognise the worth of connected others in a human workplace.