Thai Workers on Israeli Farms

The conditions on these Israeli farms, if true, constitute modern day slavery. These Thai workers are forced to work unconscionable hours, and much of their pay is “sent back to Thailand” by their employers – though they have no way of verifying that. Additionally, they’re paid far less than the minimum wage, and are oftentimes forced to sleep in former animal shacks and containers that used to store chemicals. Workers feel like money-making objects for their employers, and have no recourse to ask for help or a fair shake. This is a horrible way to treat workers, and deserves more investigation. Read more at BBC News.

Photo Credit: BBC News

Bullying: One Of The Greatest Risks To The Organization

I recently wrote a featured piece for Directors & Boards about workplace bullying's harmful impact on organizations. Here is the first paragraph:

Rarely a day goes by when there is not a story in the media about abuse of power, inappropriate behavior, and corruption and greed on the part of leadership in every segment of our society worldwide. Whether it is business, industry, government, military, police services, education, law, social services, health care, sports, journalism, media or religion, none have been immune...

Read the rest here!  

Emotion Revolution in the Workplace

Dr. Marc Brackett, Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, announcing the new initiative.

I'm proud to announce a joint initiative with The Faas Foundation and the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence to create the Emotion Revolution in the Workplace. In order to build positive work climates, this groundbreaking initiative between business and academia will investigate the role emotions play in the work environment, including:

• How employees feel about their work
• Why they feel the way they do
• The impact emotions have on individual and organizational performance, overall health, and well-being
• How to effectively build positive workplace climates

"We are excited that The Faas Foundation has decided to partner with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence to bring emotional intelligence into the workplace. Last year, we successfully launched the Emotion Revolution in school settings with the Born this Way Foundation, founded by Lady Gaga and her mom, Cynthia Germanotta. Now with support from the Faas Foundation we can launch the Emotion Revolution in the Workplace in order to promote psychologically safe and healthy workplaces for all employees," said Dr. Marc Brackett, Director of Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.

The project's mission is to empower employees at all levels to increase their engagement, productivity and wellness through identifying and reducing unnecessary stressors in the workplace. To accomplish this, the Emotion Revolution in the Workplace will conduct a survey of 10,000 employees across North America beginning May 2016.

The need for an Emotion Revolution in the Workplace is greater than ever before.  Gallup reports that 70 percent of American workers aren't engaged and a Stanford University study indicates that more than 120,000 deaths may be attributable to workplace stress. Up until now, it's been difficult for business, industry and politicians to gauge the perspective of the working class. Because of that it's been difficult to break the code in order to quantify the value of workplace culture.

By collecting anonymous data about these conditions, this initiative will be able to further the scientific understanding of how to effectively build positive and productive work climates and connect workers with the emotional tools they need to reach their potential and achieve healthy and happy lives.

What Myers-Briggs Misses

This is a great article debating the merits and relevancy of the Myers-Briggs personality test, which many businesses use today to understand their employees. Nearly fifty million people have been tested over a fifty year period, and while some business leaders swear by the test’s accuracy and helpfulness as a tool, I would agree with the assessment that it’s more theory than science. In my view, the results do not capture the qualities that are most important, both in a work environment and in life: authenticity, trustworthiness and empathy. Read more about this at The Financial Times.

Image Credit: Financial Times

Changing the Canadian Armed Forces's Outlook on Sexual Misconduct

In the wake of what is clearly a horrible, systemic and organizational-wide problem, the Canadian Armed Forces’s attitude towards sexual misconduct and assault is leaves room for cautious optimism. After years of encouraging an attitude of indifference towards sexual violence, the Canadian Forces’s new initiative has created a confidential reporting system that operates outside the chain of command, giving it the latitude to investigate and follow up on cases that in years past would be brushed under the rug. Most of all, the cultural changes that need to happen seem to be taking initial steps – instilling the idea that sexual misconduct is not just a “women’s problem.” I’ve found that in organizations where inappropriate or illegal behavior is condoned by employees, targeted individuals do not come forward for fear of retaliation. The steps the Canadian Forces’s leadership is taking should be closely followed, but if the culture successfully adapts to better serve targeted persons, it could serve as a model for other organizations seeking to make similar changes. Read more about the steps being taken at The Globe and Mail.

Response to Takata Airbag Scandal

“It’s bad enough to have a faulty product, it’s even worse to cover it up.” The overwhelming evidence that safety airbag producer Takata covered up data showing that its airbags have the capacity to “maim and kill” people is extremely troubling. What’s even more troubling is the fact that the cover up seems to have taken place over the last sixteen years. According to this article, Takata was aware of potentially catastrophic problems present in its airbags as early as 2000. What kind of workplace culture discourages anyone to speak up in the interest of public safety? I think that question answers itself. Read more on Takata at The New York Times.

Photo Credit: Hyungwon Kang for Reuters

Protecting Whistleblowers

The troubling truth about whistle blowers is that too often, established structures in society are better equipped to silence criticism than whistle blowers are equipped to expose wrongdoing. These letters to the editor about agriculture industry whistle blowers being muzzled by laws that allow large corporations to sue individuals who uncover misconduct into oblivion is evocative of a huge problem, both in the agriculture industry and the business world at large. As long as law takes the side of corporate interests over whistle blowers, our industries will never improve and bad business practices will continue to go unacknowledged. Read these letters to the editor at The New York Times.

ThyssenKrupp Shifts its Corporate Culture

ThyssenKrupp's headquarters in Essen, Germany

This article shows a great example of a company shifting its corporate culture to great benefit for its business and employee well being. In addition to other modifications to their business model, Heinrich Hiesinger’s focus on “strongly reducing” hierarchy “so that truth has a chance to move up from bottom to top” has certainly changed ThyssenKrupp for the better. Read even more about this in The Wall Street Journal.

Photo Credit: Christian Richters for ArchDaily

Response to IAAF Corruption

Sebastian Coe, President of the IAAF, photographed by Michael Dalder

“With so much corruption in international sports, there would be no guarantee that Coe’s successor would be blemish-free.” Using this as a rationalization to keep Sebastian Coe as the head of International Association of Athletics Federations is like saying you’ll let the fox guard the henhouse to avoid involving wolves. According to the report discussed in this article, there’s no way he could have been unaware of the corruption – in fact, there’s a good chance he was involved in the corruption. The message that there isn’t one clean sports official to put in charge of the IAAF is a shameful one to send to our youth, who are growing up in a world where trust has been eroding in nearly every aspect of society. Read more on this story at The New York Times.

Photo Credit: Michael Dalder for Reuters

Response to Levinas NYT Op-Ed

 “… Levinas has taught us that our responsibility for others is the foundation of all human communities, and that the very possibility of living in a meaningful human world is based on our ability to give what we can to others.” This article is moving, and while the lessons that the philosopher Levinas can definitely be applied to refugees, as the piece suggests, I also see parallels for the modern workplace. Bystanders who witness the abuse of others need to become defenders, resisters and activists against harsh treatment. Read the full story at The New York Times.

Photo Credit: Sergey Ponomarev for NYT