Some Companies Forget the Employees are also Customers

It has always amazed me how tone deaf some leaders of organizations are about the obvious. While this article in the Wall Street Journal deals with job seekers as customers, the more important question is do they consider employees as customers? According to Gallop polling, only 30 percent of employees are engaged—so it is safe to assume that the 70 percent don't speak well of their employer.

In my many years in retail I made it a point as a senior executive to treat every employee the way I wanted them to treat customers. Doing so engages employees as ambassadors for the company and your brand and helps create a psychologically healthy, safe and fair workplace. You need to look no further than the recent fiascoes with United Airlines to know how forgetting to treat employees like customers impacts your brand and reputation. On the other hand, a positive work culture creates an outreach and representation by employees that is more valuable than any other form of promotion.

Photo credit: BIGSTOCK

Liar, Liar, Bridge on Fire

One of the traits that mark an adult bully is his tireless efforts to deflect blame onto others, most frequently subordinates and coworkers. That is certainly the case with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie whose former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly, and former ally, Port Authority executive Bill Baroni, have been sentenced to prison for their roles in the 2013 George Washington Bridge lane closures that led to days of traffic gridlock.

Christie, an early supporter of Donald Trump who at one time seemed poised for a position in the new cabinet, appears to be back in the administration’s good graces. It is a bitter irony that at the same time his scapegoats were convicted of public corruption thanks to a mission of political revenge on Christie’s behalf against Mayor Mark Sokolich of Fort Lee for not backing the governor’s reelection.  Christie showed his support by being in Washington while the pair was sentenced.

While Christie may have escaped unscathed, others aren’t fooled. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Judge Susan Wigenton said, “It’s very clear to me that the environment in Trenton created a culture of either you’re with us, or you’re against us.”

The response from a Christie spokesman wasn’t surprising. He tried to explain away the judge’s comment by saying that her “ill-advised remark is based on the perjurious testimony of three convicted felons.”

Not unlike the case with the executives at Wells Fargo, Christie feigned ignorance and threw others under the bus. There is no scenario in which this conviction exonerates Christie; either he was lying and corrupt, or he was inept and refused to hear what was going on around him. Either way, he reveals himself as the worst type of bully boss. It amazing it took this long for him to get back into favor with the Bully-in-Chief.

Illustration credit: Chip Bok/Bokbuster.com

Don’t Miss the Message Behind Employees’ Obsession with Political Chatter

The current presidential administration has employees glued to social media even during working hours. While productivity is always important this Wall Street Journal article totally misses a dynamic that is occurring in the workplace. The reason employees are spending time on social media and debating in person about what is going on is because they are experiencing democracy being dismantled, in real time on prime time. For many, what they are seeing on the news parallels what they are experiencing at work. Most have not witnessed the rise of totalitarianism in their lifetime and are completely consumed and confused by it—and at the same time unsure of what they can do to prevent it.

While my new book From Bully to Bull's Eye: Move Your Organization Out of the Line of Fire centers around workplace dynamics, it is equally applicable to society in general. Bosses, rather than bemoan this distraction, should tap into how employees feel about what is going on and create cultures where democracy thrives to the benefit of the individual and the organization. When employees experience this at work, they will be more secure in their own ability and more likely demand the same from government. 

Credit: BIGSTOCK

The Disjointed Culture at Work at the Vatican

In my book, I’ve cited the Vatican as an example of a Disjointed Culture – that is, a hierarchical, bureaucratic culture characterized by an oftentimes willful lack of oversight. This story about the Secretariat of the Economy for the Vatican, Cardinal Pell, is really evocative of this. Given widespread authority to revamp the Catholic Church’s finances, his powers have been slowly pared down as special interests within the Church have regained influence. While there’s certainly more to this story, it seems like the Cardinal’s efforts at reform audits are being blocked now, despite the initial power he was given. In this interview, Pell states that his setbacks can be attributed to “people wanting to retain their turf, their traditional role,” and were therefore adverse to changes of any kind. This quote fits perfectly within my observations of Disjointed Cultures in the workplace – there’s an attitude of covering things up, rather than airing dirty laundry and instituting more comprehensive oversight policies. The full story is at The Wall Street Journal.