Article

ATOM Behaviours: Be Respectful – Care, Listen, Equity

01 Nov,2022 - Yangon | 3 mins read

Author: Kyaw Min Thein, Chief Human Resources Officer at ATOM

At ATOM, each and every employee plays an important role in our endeavour to operate a world-class telecommunications network for the people of Myanmar and to support #BeyondBetter growth for the country. Guiding our corporate culture and the way we operate are five behaviours which spur us to collaborate, show care, listen with empathy and foster fairness, inclusion, diversity, and belonging.

In this article, I would like to share about one of ATOM’s five behaviours – “Be Respectful”. Respect encompasses a variety of things, including honoring and valuing obligations. It also refers to one's own sense of self and respect for his obligations and work. As with any environment, people wish to be treated with dignity and respect. In the workplace, everyone in the organization can, and should, show respect for each other. Mutual respect, openness, honesty, and other virtues are very helpful in developing a good long-term relationship.

Being Respectful by Caring

As someone who works in human resources to help people develop their careers, I understand that every individual is powered by emotions. When we feel cared for, we give back, we are more invested, and we also care more. At ATOM, we regularly strategize and execute employee experience plans to ensure all of our employees are cared for. After all, a caring workplace encourages colleagues to care for each other.

Some examples of our efforts in this regard were our recently held first ‘Family Day’ celebration which saw employees bring their families to our head office for a memorable day of fun activities, and our regular distribution of care packs with daily essential items to all employees.

We also encourage the habit of caring for those around us at work. Taking time to help others when they're managing a heavy workload, showing acts of kindness, or even just offering to do a coffee run are small gestures on their own, but all add up over time.

Being Respectful by Listening

Listening is an important part of communication in the workplace and fostering effective collaboration based on mutual respect. By practising active listening, an organisation promotes a feeling of being valued or heard, thereby creating a feeling of trust. This in turn strengthens working relationships and makes it a valuable workplace skill.

An example of how we focus on active listening in ATOM is by ensuring our management team is checking in on teams regularly and asking how team members are – and then really listening to their answers. Such a simple, small act can result in major positive consequences.

Gathering and addressing feedback also reflects listening. ATOM has a drop box in all of its offices to welcome written feedback from employees about how we can do things better. In addition, we encourage our employees to listen to one another, be it through internal presentations and sharing sessions covering various topics such as career development and promoting social causes.

Being Respectful by Demonstrating Equity

Workplace equity refers to providing fair opportunities for all employees based on their individual needs. This means every employee works on the same playing field, regardless of ethnic background, country of origin, physical or mental ability, gender or sexual orientation.

At ATOM, we are committed to identifying and providing the support that each individual within our organization needs. This includes providing targeted upskilling instead of applying the same learning and development plan to all employees, providing equal opportunities for all employees to grow into leadership positions based on merit and addressing wage gaps.

To summarise – an organisation that has a respectful environment reduces workplace stress, problems, and conflicts. Respect not only improves communication and teamwork but also promotes a positive culture which increases employee satisfaction. In conclusion, it is challenging to fully discuss subjects like respecting one another and demonstrating respect in this article, but Vala Afhsar quotes something that I frequently consider: “We are not a team because we work together. We are a TEAM because we respect, trust, and care for each other.”