Manifesto for a transformative workplace

In summary, Imagine it Different concludes that the cultural sector is facing a series of broad-ranging crises that are making it a pretty difficult place to work. Recruitment is a challenge, retention is low, and there are “ever decreasing opportunities for underrepresented groups, including young people, freelancers and individuals from marginalised communities”.

In addition, it states: “Leaders are facing new challenges in meeting the diverse needs of their staff, balancing ambition with reassurance, and navigating workload concerns amidst constant flux, high turnover rates, and care needs, leaving many feeling their jobs are impossible to sustain.”

The report also points out that arts leaders often fall into hierarchical models of leadership, leading “from the front”, not listening to staff, taking advice from peers inside the industry rather than looking further afield.

Interventions for change

So far, so understandable. When things are difficult, we often look internally and make our worlds smaller. It’s hard to find the energy to think innovatively when we’re perpetually exhausted.

The report outlines several helpful strategies – interventions for change – to try to Imagine it Different, but I think the answer lies in a fundamental change in our thinking: the cultural sector needs to use its creativity better to work our way out of this crisis.

By transforming our workplace culture, we can transform the sector. Too often the sector is insular, lacks innovation and uses traditional business models that are hard to sustain without increasing funding. Much of this is down to recruiting similarly-minded people, into organisations that have run in the same way for a long time and, therefore, that find it difficult to change.

When we change our workplace, we can radically imagine things differently, including a broader range of people and creating cultures that engender alternative thinking.

Manifesto for transformative workplace culture

At 64 Million Artists we have published A Manifesto for Transformative Workplace Culture, which highlights 10 key things to enable organisations to make the most of their teams.

Here are some highlights:

• Everyday practice of creativity
  If you run a cultural organisation, it’s highly likely you have a team of administrators that are also oboists, front-of-house staff who are actors and project managers that can tear up a dance floor. 70% of global employers think creativity is the most important workplace skill (Forbes Jan 24) and you have it in spades within your team. Don’t let it die. Find ways for staff to flex and share their creativity daily and you will also find their ideas are better, their wellbeing improved and their connections with each other stronger.
• Rest as routine
  If you are exhausted, stop. In our sector, I see people pushing and pushing until they break. No one has good ideas in this state. Take a company week off to reset. Have a meeting-free Monday. Take Friday afternoons off or, better still, work a 4-day week. I know readers will be thinking “but I have too much to do”. But it’s only when you genuinely stop and rest that you realise you are doing some things that are completely unnecessary. And only then can you have better ideas. My team works a 4- day week, takes all of August off – and our best ideas always arrive in September.
• Every voice has value/radical care for people
  It’s been heartening to see the cultural sector improving its diversity in hiring recently. However, it has systematically failed to change the way it works to genuinely embrace diversity. There is plenty of data to show that the more diverse a team is, the more innovative and successful it can be. This only works if the team’s needs are met. When we hire people, we need to listen to their needs, embrace the way they work and integrate that – only then can we benefit from diversity. Collectively shaping policies, hosting whole team ideas meetings, radically questioning organisational practice if it negatively impacts the wellbeing of the team – these are all things you can try to do things differently.
• Walk the walk
  Leaders in the cultural sector are stressed, I know. But powering on through and leading from the front will not change the fate of your organisation. Stop. Listen. Breathe out. Let people in on the challenges. Ask for help. By doing so, it allows others to do the same; the world will not fall apart. It will inevitably improve. Find peers. Better still, find them in a different sector. Share listening partnerships. You are mighty and you can do this, but you can’t do it without a break.

Radical rethink

I am not suggesting all organisations can do everything we do. We’re not a massive ship that needs turning round, we are only 25% reliant on funding, and we’re a small team of 11.

But we do get over 175 applications for most jobs we advertise, retain a diverse staff team, punch above our weight in income generation, foster connections across a range of sectors and share ideas in a way that allows us to innovate and pivot to best suit the environment. The principle of taking a radical look at working culture and centering care and creativity applies to all workplaces.

The cultural sector is full of great people with great ideas, but until it innovates on its working culture and leadership, it won’t stay relevant, and it won’t survive. Taking ownership and responsibility for our own crises, rather than focusing on external factors, can be empowering. Let’s make a healthier, more innovative and inclusive sector together.