As I’ve written about before, oftentimes, workplace bullying can disproportionately affect certain groups like older employees. Businesses seeking to cut costs by not paying older employees will sometimes put them in a position where their only option is to quit. I touch on this briefly in this AARP article, where I and a few other workplace culture specialists discuss strategies to stand up to workplace bullying. Shamefully, ageism is widespread, and quite often, it’s difficult to find help in courts. Check out the piece at AARP.com.
Communication is Key for Workplace Culture
“At its core, culture is about the humanization of a business.” I love this sentiment. Communication truly is key to creating a positive, psychologically safe workplace culture, more than trendy perks like free lunch or massages. For managers and employees alike, being mindful of communication is the best way to support the productivity of others while simultaneously establishing an environment built around openness and clarity. Face-to-face discussions about business functions are fundamental to team building and growth. I agree with Ramakrishnan’s contention that video meetings are essential for remote employees to feel a sense of culture, but the importance of actually speaking to coworkers is just as essential in the office as it is out of it. You can read Ramakrishnan's full piece on communication in the workplace at The Huffington Post.
Using the Workplace to Prevent Mass Violence
The recent events in Orlando are tragic, unprecedented, and were entirely preventable. I’ll be writing more on this soon, but I believe that workplace indicators could have kept Omar Mateen from following the path of violence he chose. It’s been a hard day for both the LGBT and Muslim communities, in addition to the USA at large, but we all have to believe in the ability of compassion to overcome hate. My thoughts are with the families and friends of those who died. I hope the national conversation turns away from marginalization, blame and politics, and begins to focus more on the preventative mental health perspective that could have stopped Mateen in his tracks. You can read more about Mateen in the workplace in this Daily Beast piece.
Photo: Hilary Swift for NYT
Putting Yourself Before Your Country
People may disagree with Leonard Pitts Jr.’s assessment of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan’s decisions regarding Donald Trump. However, I agree completely with him – those who endorse Trump are doing so out of self-interest or bitter partisanship rather than putting their country first. The comparison of Paul Ryan and Franz Von Papen, who was partially responsible for the rise of Hitler for his own political expedience, is completely fair. A few Republicans, like Mitt Romney for example, should be commended for standing up to Trump and the rest of their party for refusing to endorse a dangerous, racist and fundamentally flawed candidate. The GOP loses big time whether or not Trump wins or loses the election – they’ve exposed an immensely problematic underbelly to their values. America needs a party of common-sense conservatism if it wants to continue having a healthy two-party system. The way current Republicans are tepidly, almost shamefully, endorsing Trump is in and of itself shameful. You can read Pitts's piece at The Miami Herald.
A Step Towards More Comprehensive Employee Evaluation
It’s certainly a good thought to evaluate employees with words rather than numbers. However, these changes by Morgan Stanley, while encouraging, may not be enough to truly give employees a sense of substantive feedback at work. While employees will get a five-adjective list of descriptors of their work performance, the retention of 360 reviews is troubling. Even though they’re a norm in many industries, and while some companies are able to make them work, they’re highly susceptible to bullying. Change is slow, especially in some large corporations, but when it comes to employee evaluation, more comprehensive systems need to be in place that take into account workplace culture and employee productivity. You can read more at The New York Times.
Image: Morgan Stanley's HQ in NYC; Mario Tama/Getty Images via NYT
Hiring "Duds" In the US Economy
Many people are focusing on this month’s dismal hiring report from the US Department of Labor in terms of its effect on the Fed and short-term interest rates. It’s true that the short-term interest rate debate will be important to the US economy, but I see the “unqualified dud of a jobs report” through the lens of workplace culture. Why are so few workers being hired? It’s not that people aren’t looking for jobs; rather, the answer may lie in overarching attitudes about workplace culture. People have less trust in the job market, meaning they’re more likely to stay in the job they’re in; perhaps younger employees are finding it difficult to secure employment in industries used to a revolving door approach in millennial workers. You can read more at the Wall Street Journal.
Social Trust and Employment Trends
This article points out a very interesting trend – less people are moving to find new work. It may seem inconsequential or obvious, but the effects and projected reasons behind this trend are evocative of a greater problem: a drastic decline in social trust. According to the studies presented here, people seem to be staying in jobs that they aren’t happy with because they’re afraid of changing. This not only causes a downturn in productivity, but it also means that many workers are foregoing raises and other benefits that often come with job shifts. It shows a fundamental lack of trust in the economic system and job market – people are terrified of a switch that may leave them worse off than they were before. It’s really thought-provoking to understand how the ways we think about employment fundamentally shift our entire society’s point of view. You can read more about this at The New York Times.
Photo: A home in Detroit scheduled to be demolished. Image by Fabrizio Costantini/Bloomberg via NYT
The Six-Hour Work Day
It’s hard to argue with some of the results seen in Sweden in favor of a six hour workday. Workers generally seem to be better rested, and therefore more productive in the time that they spend at work. While many business leaders argue that having to hire more staff due to the shorter workday is too costly, many types businesses have seen that initial cost covered by the increased productivity of workers. While it may not work for all businesses, it seems to work at least for some. All in all, employees should be measured by their output and the quality of their work, not by the hours they spend in the office. Relying on more substantive metrics to understand our workers will lead to a more comprehensive system for employees and managers alike. You can read more about this in-depth at The New York Times.
Photo: Gabrielle Tikman, a surgery nurse, thinks the six-hour workday helps her stay focused. Image by Magnus Laupa for NYT.
Wage Theft at Domino's
This is an absolute affront to working people everywhere. The way that a large franchise corporation, like Domino’s, can take advantage of people already making minimum wage is despicable. Wage theft is a real and systemic problem, but the reason why this particular case is so arresting is that, for the first time, there seems to be substantive evidence linking the corporate heads of a business to the use of software designed to keep low-wage workers from tips, overtime, and their regular pay. This isn’t just a bad workplace culture – it seems to be a business model built on employee exploitation. Oftentimes, in workplaces where I’ve seen similar types of bullying, other aspects of the business are being run unethically as well. If these allegations of wage theft are true, the government should step in and audit all of Domino’s business practices – if they treat employees this way, how are they treating vendors, food safety and sanitation, or other aspects of business?
One other point I’d like to make is that many people may call for a boycott of Domino's as this case moves along, but that would only further hurt those employees at the bottom of this chain trying to support their livelihoods. This needs to be sorted out in court, and subject to continuing investigations. You should read more at The New York Times.
Photo: A Domino's in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn; Image by Sam Hodgson for NYT
The Importance of Hope
According to this article, hope is “a crucial element of our physical and mental well-being.” While many workplaces can make us feel stressed, overworked or generally grouchy, it’s important to remember the value of hope. Having goals that we believe we can achieve, in addition to having actionable steps towards those goals, is an essential part of maintaining a level-headed perspective when dealing with workplace stress factors. Read more about hope at The Wall Street Journal.
Photo: Allison Scott/WSJ via WSJ