As the years go on, so too does the list of things to which people become addicted. Emerging front and center as a relatively new but common modern addiction — to which employers are having difficulty responding — is the concept of a digital addiction.
A digital addiction is more than a mindless but incessant checking of one’s phone, more than browsing Facebook while taking a break from company-focused work. It is a complete disruption to and dysregulation of the daily life of an individual, due to compulsions to engage in the addictive and cyclical behaviors.
Digital Addictions and Treatment
Like other addictions, a digital addiction essentially renders an “addict” unable to perform a major life activity, such as sleeping, eating or working. As with other addictions, a digital addiction often arises out of feelings of discontent, stress, pressure, anxiety, depression or other underlying mental health condition. Although the behaviors themselves (use of electronic devices) may seem more benign than drugs, alcohol or sex, the personal impact is no less severe.
And perhaps even more concerning is the fact that digital addictions can be hard to spot and even harder to stop. We live in a day and age that virtually necessitates constant and unwavering digital and electronic connection. Behaviors that may be dangerous for a minority of the population with a digital addiction are entirely socially acceptable for the majority of individuals, rendering the line between an addiction and a habit blurrier than ever.
As the prevalence and understanding of digital addictions rises, so too does an understanding of the disorder and its treatment. Although this addiction is not yet recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or the DSM-5, treatment programs are seeing the growing need for programs specifically tailored to digital and gaming addictions. Additionally, organizations worldwide have begun conducting investigations and research into the impact of a digital addiction upon both the quality and productivity of life.
What Does This Mean for Employers?
In recent years, employers have come to understand their obligations related to mental health issues and disabilities — employees are to be granted reasonable accommodations for mental health disorders the same as they would be for a physical disorder or illness. This includes, when applicable, leave to attend treatment on an inpatient, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient or outpatient basis under federal laws like the Family Medical Leave Act or Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as state laws, like the California Family Rights Act and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act. What then is an employer’s obligation if an employee exhibits a digital addiction?
It is prudent to accommodate an individual with a digital addiction the same way you would accommodate any other individual: engage in the interactive process and review and discuss any restrictions, limitations or accommodations that may be needed. While there may be concerns regarding an employee’s ability to return to work in the digital age after receiving treatment for a directly related addiction, this concern cannot be used as a basis to engage in an adverse action against an employee.
This remains the case even if the disorder is not officially “diagnosable.” In other words, an employer must take a digital addiction seriously, even if it does not understand the addiction or personally believe the addiction is legitimate.
Where Do We Go From Here?
For now, there are several best practices employers can use concerning digital addictions. An up-to-date compliant handbook with policies addressing leaves and accommodations goes a long way. A handbook creates the foundation for your policies and procedures. If your handbook is wrong, or if you do not have a handbook at all, your internal policies and procedures are much more likely to be problematic and subject to tougher scrutiny.
Your handbook also needs to be acknowledged by your employees. You can use an employee’s acknowledgement to show they were well aware you were more than willing to reasonably accommodate them and welcomed any and all accommodation requests.
Documentation. Document notice of an employee’s alleged disability; meetings and communications discussing the alleged disability; and requested, offered or denied accommodations. Without documentation of this interactive process, it may as well have never happened.
Train your managers and supervisors. They can make or break your defense. They typically receive notice of an alleged disability or requested accommodation first. If they fail to take this seriously and begin the interactive process, your defense can be severely undermined. They need to know what constitutes “notice,” that the company has interactive process obligations and how to handle accommodation requests.
Do not be too quick in denying accommodations. The law requires that you participate in a “good faith” interactive process, which means considering each and every possible reasonable accommodation in “good faith.” Document any legitimate reasons why an accommodation may not be “reasonable,” but understand that not everything is “unreasonable.” While employers do not have to provide accommodations that are unduly burdensome, “undue burden” is an extremely tough standard to meet and is looked at primarily in financial terms by courts.
Finally, stay up-to-date on changes in the law concerning digital addictions. A critical part of avoiding future claims is being aware of your ever-changing legal obligations.
Organizations around the globe are communicating with employees through digital tools to improve engagement and retention, increase productivity and more.
Connected workforces improve time-to-innovation by 31 percent, according to a McKinsey report. Digitally connected employees are 51 percent more likely to have strong job satisfaction and 43 percent more likely to have a positive view of work-life balance compared to workers who lack these tools, according to a recent study.
A growing number of organizations are adopting collaboration platforms such as Workplace by Facebook, Yammer and Microsoft Teams to break down silos, create a more vibrant culture, and foster a community of real-time teamwork. For instance, Workplace by Facebook provides a user experience similar to the company’s popular social media tools, enabling organizations to engage employees in a variety of ways, from live leadership broadcasts and news updates to polls and sentiment surveys.
Yet many organizations lag behind in implementing these tools. Because of their positive impacts on innovation and connectivity, use of digital collaboration platforms often pop up in pockets of organizations as employees seek more efficient ways to work. This unsanctioned shadow IT often lacks the appropriate governance or compliance mechanisms, carrying with it a myriad of risks, such as insider threats or vulnerable data. The organization must then play catch-up to roll out collaboration in a more controlled way.
Given the impacts on employee engagement, HR leaders often play a major role in the adoption of collaboration tools. But it’s important to look before you leap. Human behavior risk can proliferate without the right controls. The informal communication that speeds innovation can also cross the line into sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying. It’s essential to provide safeguards that ensure employees behave appropriately within these digital platforms to protect the company culture.
Others will share these concerns:
Cybersecurity will need to understand any new types of threats collaboration brings into the technology landscape. While enterprise-grade collaboration platforms are highly secure from outside attacks, it is essential to mitigate potential insider threats. Whether accidental or malicious, the chatty environment of collaboration tools can cause an employee to divulge sensitive or confidential information to the wrong people.
Compliance will have questions regarding data privacy regulations such as HIPAA and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which went into effect in 2018. In industries such as healthcare and financial services, it is essential to have a process to enforce data removal and retention policies. Compliance will also want to know what measures will be in place to ensure employees adhere to the organization’s policies and guidelines for appropriate behavior, including in closed or secret groups.
Legal will have be concerned with addressing legal hold situations and efficiently completing eDiscovery processes and internal forensics investigations. Unlike email, collaboration tools offer revision or deletion functionalities on messages and shared content. This can create liability and compliance concerns. As a result, legal may require access to an archive of all public and private content relevant to pending litigation – including revisions and deletions.
To address these stakeholder concerns, organizations need an effective community management strategy when rolling out digital collaboration. This strategy will define what endorsed behavior looks like, along with a response plan for unsanctioned or distracting behavior. It will also detail how the community manager will monitor the digital community and reinforce the desired behaviors.
Community managers should introduce accompanying solutions that satisfy stakeholder needs. This will keep unexpected incidents or requirements from threatening digital workplace rollouts. These include:
A well-configured monitoring tool that scans public and private conversation areas. This solution will automate the day-to-day work of digital community management, providing real-time alerts as issues arise. Real-time surfacing of concerning content—whether an HR violation or a sensitive data share—is critical to reinforcing desired collaboration behaviors.
A searchable archive that serves as a protection against legal action. Introduce a practice of storing authored messages and posts, as well as corresponding context—including revisions and deletions. Legal teams can then efficiently search and extract relevant conversation data for litigation scenarios.
A data management solution that enforces retention policies, satisfies user data removal requests outlined by the GDPR as well as supports the need to manage legal holds. Organizations own the conversation data that is generated by workers. It is critical to have a way to purge, protect and extract as needed.
By staying mindful of stakeholder needs, champions of collaboration will address the risks and requirements that can derail organization’s collaboration rollout. By identifying and addressing these issues before employees start using the platform, community managers can ensure a positive user experience and digital workplace sponsorship across the organization’s leadership.
All kinds of personal issues at work escalate into conflicts, and we usually resolve them privately.
Making the process public is a recipe for awkward, messy feelings, isn’t it?
Maybe not.
My consulting firm recently experimented with working through a conflict between two staff members in a collective way. That positive experience, along with insights from our culture work with clients and other research suggests we need to rethink the way we resolve interpersonal clashes in the workplace. In particular, there are four reasons why in many cases we should shift to collective conflict resolution.
And when we do, we help our organizations “go horizontal” — move toward non-hierarchical cultures that I and others see as the future of work.
The four reasons for resolving conflicts publicly are:
1. People feel safer to communicate. How can you feel safer with a bunch of people observing you? Because individuals can stretch truths and even (ouch) sometimes full-out lie. When there are witnesses, those behaviors are less likely. One of my colleagues who has experimented with a group approach to conflict resolution puts it this way: “Having witnesses helps me work my way through my emotions and communicate in the most precise and exact way I can.”
2. Conflict is usually wider than the pair being mediated. When we are upset with a situation we often talk about it to others. This usually leads to a one-sided perspective and some emotional offloading. If I go into a private room and experience a successful mediation process, those people who have been pulled into the conflict are still feeling it. The conflict still exists in others and can linger and return, like hot coals. If we acknowledge that conflict is in the system, we should invite those involved in the system to witness the untangling of it. That puts out the conflict “out” properly.
3. When a tension gets untangled it usually ends with solutions. If a conflict is settled privately it puts a lot of pressure on those in the situation to handle the follow up on their own. But if the resolution process is public, everyone understands the situation more fully and understands what else must be done. This generates a sense of mutual support. If you aren’t there to witness the untangling, you miss out on creating that help system and feeling shared responsibility thereafter.
4. Well-resolved conflicts can have a bigger societal impact. When people work out differences in a positive way, it can lead to profound change that ripples beyond the individuals involved. Author Diane Musho Hamilton notes that every tension with another person is an opportunity to transform the conflict into “patience, mutual understanding, and creativity.” She continues: “When we use the opportunity, we contribute to the shared endeavor of learning how to live peacefully with each other.”
When we see interpersonal conflicts at work as inevitable, as connected to wider systems and as a chance to cultivate a more nonviolent human race, we start to see why they may not be suited for hidden encounters between just two people. Or two people and a mediator. When quarrels are privately addressed, they not only carry a whiff of shame to them, they are lost opportunities. Why shouldn’t we bring the advantages of the full team to these snags, and allow the team to receive the full benefits of straightening them out — with positive outcomes spreading outward from every individual witnessing the work?
This rippling out gets at how collective conflict resolution helps organizations become more horizontal. By horizontal cultures, I’m referring to workplaces that are characterized by a focus on purpose, by transparency, by employees participating in decision-making and by relationships that are more deeply human than the transactional ones often found in traditional, top-down organizations.
Any two individuals involved in a spat are typically part of a wider social web. Treating the conflict as an opportunity to heal not just their immediate rift but strengthen the broader community reinforces an organization’s commitment to horizontal principles.
And those principles are increasingly vital to success. Hierarchical organizations are proving too slow and stultifying to solve today’s problems. Examples of companies embracing flatter, more participatory structures range from computer chip maker and artificial intelligence leader Nvidia to tomato processor Morning Star to Dutch home health care provider Buurtzorg Nederland. As these and other organizations show, the future of work is in flatter, horizontal cultures.
Publicly resolving conflicts in your organization can help you go horizontal, too.
More and more employers are adopting socially conscious practices that impact the manner in which the employer operates.
My firm’s headquarters are in a Certified LEED “green building.” Generally, companies in such buildings commit to reducing the use of plasticware.
In July 2018, American Airlines and Starbucks announced they will no longer use plastic straws. But, how far can and should these practices go? Could a company in a Certified LEED green building refuse a reimbursement request from an employee who had a business meal at a restaurant that uses only plasticware? Could American Airlines or Starbucks discipline an employee who was caught using a plastic straw at work? Likely, yes.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects employees from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex and national origin. The American with Disabilities Act protects employees with disabilities; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibits age discrimination.
But there is no employment law protecting an employee’s right to use plastic.
Should an employer’s “social consciousness” go that far? While an employer may legally be permitted to influence employee behavior by disciplinary enforcement of the employers’ socially conscious policies, should it do so? Let’s address socially motivated policies that may be legally permissible as well as questions employers should consider when determining whether such policies are good business practices.
Considerations for Employers
Shared workspaces provider WeWork recently announced that it is imposing a companywide ban on all meat. As part of the ban, the company announced it will no longer reimburse employees for meals that include red meat, poultry and pork (presumably fish and seafood are OK). Failed startup Juicero reportedly had refused to reimburse the cost of any business meals other than meals at vegan restaurants.
What about the employees who see nothing wrong with eating meat? Or with eating at a non-vegan restaurant? There is no law entitling employees to the right to eat meat (or eat non-vegan), so technically these policies are legal. While one could conjure up some possible “selective enforcement” argument that it is unfair, the practice is not likely unlawful (though in some very few instances it could run afoul of stringent state laws on reimbursing employees who spend their own funds for business purposes).
But are they advisable? Are employers who are implementing these socially conscious policies actually creating a more positive workplace culture? Or, are they inviting cries of hypocrisy from those who think they do not go far enough or cries of unfairness from those who think they go too far?
“These policies are easily attacked as hypocritical. WeWork, for example, claims its policy of not reimbursing for meals with meat supports sustainability. But what about the use of plasticware? Or what about car allowances only for electric vehicles? Without a policy on the use of plastic or about gas vehicles, is their sustainability stance pure or merely selective?
What of taking this benefit from those who see nothing wrong with meat? Or worse, what about the workplace morale of an employee whose family owns a cattle farm that produces beef? Perhaps that was the only way the family could afford to support themselves or send the children to college, and perhaps the family even supports other meaningful causes with its income from cattle. And, what of our culture’s “no one should tell others what to do” individualism?
The professed sustainability purpose, on the one hand, or the professed “inclusiveness” and camaraderie of the workplace environment on the other hand, can only reach so far. Both the purists and those excluded for not having “right” ideas are marginalized.
How Employers Should Move Forward
So where does this leave us? Certainly, employers should take into consideration employee rights and employment laws in having socially conscious policies that reach so far as to attempt to impact employee behavior. But the harder question is whether employers should make such attempts.
The answer is nuanced, and often the very purposes an employer seeks to serve with these policies have unintended consequences that weaken, rather than strengthen, employee morale or a greater purpose of workplace “culture.”
One other point deserves mention. Do employers make these decisions based on principle or on a market analysis? Are these decisions borne of a desire to cultivate a healthy workplace community by being part of a bigger, socially conscious vision?
Or, are these market-based decisions borne primarily of a desire to use social consciousness as a marketing tool? For example, what if we learned that WeWork, when first deciding on this policy, had conducted market research predicting that such a decision to adopt a vegetarian stance would enhance customer loyalty and market penetration and consequently increase revenue, and that this research was the primary driver of its decision? Would this socially conscious principle lose its power?
A principled decision often sees the bigger vision of work as an attempt to cultivate deeper meaning beyond a cost-benefit economic analysis. Such decisions can have a powerful positive impact on the workplace.
But, the market-based approach, the view that we should be socially conscious because it is good for business and a great marketing strategy, can certainly backfire. It is impossible to promote selflessness by touting its selfish benefits.
Road maps are a form of content that will help you navigate key areas of people management. Each road map includes an orientation guide that gives a high-level overview of the subject as well as articles and other resources that provide more detailed directions on how to find your way to success. This road map focuses on the changing terrain of employee communication. The orientation guide below will get you started, and we invite you to see other Workforce road maps by visiting workforce.com/roadmaps.
Effective employee communication is the foundation of a good human resources program. Setting guidelines for how and when to communicate with employees, and what you are going to say sets the tone for the company culture and paves the way for business success. However, most companies — even big global firms — often leave this important element of human resource management to chance.
Only 20 percent of organizations have an internal communications role somewhere within their HR department, according to a 2018 Newsweaver study. In other organizations this role falls to sales and marketing teams, individual managers or no one in particular.
“They just let the communication culture emerge, and assume everyone knows what to do,” said Craig Johnson, partner in Mercer’s Career Business focusing on communication and technology. “That’s not the right approach.”
This “do-it-yourself” attitude leads to mixed messages, missed opportunities to engage, and a negative communication experience when employees are deluged with messages from management that they eventually just tune out, according to Rachel Miller, director of All Things IC, an internal communications consultancy.
“Internal communications should be part of your business strategy and plan,” she said. It ensures that internal messaging is consistent, relevant to the brand, and reflective of the company culture and business goals. “Every message should reflect what the company is trying to achieve.”
If you don’t have a communication plan — or haven’t reviewed yours in years — this road map will help you get started.
PART 1: Make a Plan
Put someone in charge. A communication strategy needs a leader, said Johnson. Putting someone from HR in change of the overarching company communication plan ensures a consistent tone and prevents disparate, confusing or conflicting information bombarding employees from all sides.
Identify stakeholders. Effective employee communication requires planning and buy-in from leaders across the organization. Miller suggests bringing together a cross functional team of executives, HR leaders, managers and employees to write the plan and ensure it aligns with the corporate vision.
Define your goals. A good communication plan links communication strategies to the purpose of the company, its mission and its vision. “Don’t just copy the words off a vision statement,” Miller warned. Really think about what the company is trying to do and how internal communication supports those goals.
Consider your audience. It’s not enough to know what information you want to send, you need to customize it for the reader. If you are announcing a merger, the information you share with front-line workers or IT teams will be far different from the messages you send to VPs and managers. “Understanding your audience is how you get the right information to the right people at the right time so that they can do their jobs,” Miller said.
Choose your channels. Do your employees read emails every day? Visit the company portal? Communicate via Slack? “It’s easy to attach a document to an email, but if three-fourths of your employees won’t click on it, what is the point?” Johnson said. Understanding how, where and when employees want to engage with company content will increase the chance that your messages will get read.
Create a calendar. Large companies may have dozens of vendors sending information to employees about benefits packages, 401(k) plans, insurance offerings, etc. If they all send messages at the same time it creates a tremendous amount of noise, Johnson said. To reduce the deluge, he advises clients to audit all communications — including vendor messages — then eliminate the ones that aren’t necessary, and create a schedule for those that are. “A plan helps you think through what you are sending instead of always reacting.”
He suggests organizing messages into three categories:
Annual events: Messages related to benefits enrollment and updates about annual meetings can be scheduled months in advance.
Ad hoc scheduled events. These include one-time scheduled events, including information about workshops, announcement about technology upgrades or reminders to complete required training.
Ad hoc unplanned events. Leave some space in the calendar for urgent messages that can’t wait.
Remember, Johnson added, “even if emails from vendors are part of the service, if the message isn’t useful it won’t add value.”
PART 2: Start Communicating
Customize each message. Every communication should begin with an overarching message about why this information ties back to the company’s goals and values, Johnson said. For example, if you are hosting a financial wellness workshop, start the announcement with, “As part of our commitment to helping employees achieve a better work-life balance, we are offering this financial wellness workshop to … .’ ”
It shows that the workshop is tied to something broader, Johnson said.
Create a review step. Having someone else review messages before they get sent to the entire company can minimize the risk that grammar errors, inaccurate information and embarrassing gaffes get sent out.
Provide training. HR isn’t the only group sending company communiques. To ensure there is a consistent cadence in all internal messages, provide training to managers and leaders about how to craft messages that align with the business goals.
PART 3: Measure Results
Define success. Every communication campaign should have a goal. “That is what makes measurement possible,” Miller said.
Establish key performance indicators. When setting measures, focus on outcomes not output. Counting messages sent or number of people who signed up for a class doesn’t tell you much, Miller said, whereas tracking the results of these programs will. Some useful measures might include proof of changed behavior, improved employee engagement, increased participation in rewards programs or fewer safety incidences. “Outcomes are tangible if you know what you are looking for,” she added. “We don’t do this enough.”
Ask employees what they think. Include questions in employee surveys about the quality of company communication, their top communication issues and/or what could be done better. This can provide evidence of the impact of HR communication efforts and help identify areas that require improvement.
Adapt accordingly. A communication plan is always evolving. Measuring outcomes can help you identify which messages, channels and cadence of content is having the biggest impact, so you can continue to adjust it to meet employees’ needs.
Listen to an intense conversation among people-management professionals these days and there’s a good chance the discussion will include immigration.
Organizations are constantly subject to changing regulations and high-stakes political developments affecting the growing global workforce, making immigration a huge pain point, surpassing even costs as a concern in some quarters.
Global uncertainty, changes in H-1B visa availability and countless other immigration-related factors make worldwide recruiting increasingly complex. At the same time, historically low unemployment, widening skills gaps, an aging workforce and the desire to be more diverse and inclusive to compete effectively in a global economy have increased demand for foreign-born workers.
U.S. Census Bureau data show that about 17 percent of the workforce is foreign-born, and without international migration, nearly 45 percent of the nation’s population would be in shrinking regions, with economic concerns related to population decline.
Without an influx of immigrants, the total U.S. population of working-age adults is expected to decline over the next 20 years. It’s clear that HR professionals need a way to prepare for a changing immigration landscape to recruit the talent they need. Here are three tips on how to be prepared.
Build broad support for a diverse workforce. Organizations pursue diversity and inclusion initiatives for a variety of reasons, including a desire to improve employee morale, a sense of social responsibility, greater internal parity and a drive to appeal to a diverse customer base. In addition to these worthy objectives, a growing body of evidence suggests diversity improves performance and competitive standing.
A Barron’s article published earlier this year cites two studies demonstrating diversity’s value. The studies found gender diversity improves investment performance from 4 to 10 percent—and diverse leadership teams outperformed peers on profitability by 21 percent, and on value creation by 27 percent.
Building broad support for a diverse workforce across the organization is critical, not only for gaining buy-in for corporate diversity and inclusion initiatives, but also to prepare for changes in immigration regulations which make recruiting more expensive and time-consuming. With a strong commitment to diversity, company leaders are more likely to allocate the necessary resources.
Stay current on trends and events by following industry sources. Most HR professionals have enough on their plate already and struggle to find time to research immigration policy proposals and keep close tabs on political developments which may affect employment-based immigration programs. This is especially true for those who manage large, global workforces.
One way to stay up to date without investing an inordinate amount of time in research is to follow a variety of industry sources for immigration policy news. In some cases, sectors adjacent to employment-based immigration might spot trends before HR outlets identify an emerging pattern and alert their readers and followers. Immigration law associations frequently provide a roundup on the status of proposed regulations and court cases impacting employment-based immigration.
Prepare policies and workforce strategy for changes. A Pearl Law Group survey conducted last year found 68 percent of employers felt their strategic talent planning has been impacted by recent immigration changes. That’s unlikely to change as long as immigration remains a polarizing political issue around the world. HR leaders who acknowledge uncertainty is the new normal can be more prepared than their peers who are caught off guard by changing immigration regulations. Engaging in what-if scenarios and preparing for likely contingencies can put forward-thinking companies ahead of competitors in the war for global talent. For example, exploring remote working policies can expand the pool of available employees to include offsite candidates who can be a part of the team without relocating. HR can also work closely with counsel to develop policies to address possible scenarios, such as the judicial extension of the DACA program and changes in H-1B visa administration.
A recent National Foundation for American Policy analysis underscored the scope of the challenge HR professionals face on immigration, reporting on a recent spike in visa denials in the United States. The denial rate for visa extensions rose from 4 percent in 2016 to 18 percent in the first quarter of 2019. Over that same time, rejection rates for visa petitions rose from 10 percent to 32 percent.
These changes are happening against a backdrop of a decrease in the number of visa applicants and independent of specific changes in policies or laws. That emphasizes the need for HR professionals to proactively address employment-based immigration policies.
By building a commitment to a diverse workforce, staying informed on trends, and gaming out possible scenarios and strategies to future-proof policies, HR leaders can stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly changing environment.
Peggy Smith is president and CEO of Worldwide ERC. A frequent keynoter and panelist at mobility and HR-related conferences, Smith shares her thoughts on global workforce issues, talent and skills shortages, multigenerational workplace considerations and future mobility strategy.
In today’s increasingly connected and international marketplace, HR professionals who have a strong understanding of global dynamics are going to have an advantage.
The question I often hear is, “How do I develop that global mindset?”
Many people in HR assume they can’t travel abroad and build valuable global knowledge unless their company sends them on an official work trip overseas. The reality is that you can take that initiative yourself and learn to become an effective global leader — whether you travel abroad regularly or not — and there’s a good chance your employer will take notice if you do.
These three steps will help you get started.
1. Develop Global Relationships Online
No matter what function you’re in within an organization, there’s a global community you can join via Facebook, LinkedIn or a professional association. These online communities are excellent ways to connect with your peers in other parts of the world and start meaningful conversations.
Investing time and energy in global social media groups can both help you with your professional development and expand your understanding of the global scope of your industry — all from your home or office.
2. Travel to an Overseas Conference, Then Hang Out
However, even if you’re active in every available international social media group for your profession, to fully expand your global understanding you’re going to have to travel. I would suggest figuring out how to travel internationally once a year — with an intention to visit a different country every trip. While this may sound daunting at first, there are practical ways to make it happen.
An excellent starting point is to attend a conference in another country or schedule an annual professional development trip overseas, then tack on some time to explore and network after your official business is wrapped.
For example, if you’re traveling to a three-day conference in another country, add a few days and use the connections that you’re making in your online groups to meet with people face-to-face in that city. There’s nothing better than immersing yourself in another culture.
3. Explore International Development Opportunities
A very powerful way to expand your global mindset is to travel with a group of like-minded professionals to really explore a specific country. A good place to begin is Nanda Journeys, a travel company that brings together travelers with purpose and passion to explore the world in a meaningful way — whether it’s nurses to Vietnam, dentists to Ecuador or HR people to Singapore.
An associate and I organize an HR delegation every year to a different country. In recent years, we’ve taken 21 HR-related professionals to Cuba for a week and another dozen to Japan. Last year we traveled with an HR group to the Czech Republic and Hungary. In each location, we meet with government officials, academics and business leaders about HR topics and talent issues.
On one of the trips, an attendee was the head of talent acquisition for a specific business unit inside a global organization, and she said the trip was part of her strategy to take on a more global job. This person was wisely investing in her ability to understand talent acquisition dynamics in other parts of the world.
When she returned her company took note of her willingness to invest her own funds and time in an international learning perspective and put her into a global job within a few months.
If you truly want to understand how things work in other parts of the world and make the investment to start your learning curve, your employer is likely to notice that effort and support your journey. And if they don’t then you have a great foundation to find an organization that’s more conducive to your global learning.
For managers who are building or inheriting teams in today’s fast-paced, digitally enabled business environment, things are far more interesting, productive and creative. But that doesn’t simplify managing a modern global team.
Most enterprise companies now do business overseas, and they employ teams that span many boundaries: cultural, functional, geographic and global teams are becoming more of the norm. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, worldwide employment by U.S. multinational enterprises increased 0.4 percent from 42.1 million in 2015 to 42.3 million workers in 2016 (the latest year available).
The good news is that people typically enjoy working on global teams. Based on data from a 2019 “Global Employee Survey” conducted by my company, professional employer organization Globalization Partners, 72 percent of people said they like to be part of global teams but like them even more when they feel listened to and treated fairly. Also, the flexibility in work locations lets companies hire the best talent anywhere in the world, and the diversity that comes from global teams can be a huge benefit.
But there are challenges that generally fall into three types: communications, logistics and culture. Communication issues are no surprise, but if not tended to can snowball to become serious problems. Also, the same diversity that brings new ideas into the mix and inspires us can cause conflict and disagreement, or misunderstandings and hurt feelings.
What does it take to succeed in managing a global team? It rolls up to two kinds of activities: establishing good systems and establishing trust.
Establishing good systems means following the laws and knowing the customs in the places where your organization does business, taking the time to understand how your team will need to work together and then acquiring the technology to support it. It also means communicating with your team — in a firm, clear and inclusive way — to help them adhere to those systems and use those tools. Here are some best practices.
Understand the law. Work with finance, legal and HR teams to be sure you are always operating according to local laws.
Set up centralized information sharing. Make sure your team can all access the same files and tools, and establish centralized, cloud-based sharing to save yourself endless headaches and revision nightmares.
Establish strong communications methods. Choose your tech wisely and stick to it. Plan for differences in schedules and augment text-based communication (email, instant message, text) with face-to-face meetings whenever possible using online video tools. Difficulty with languages or accents? Try more text-based collaboration.
Rotate time zones fairly. Introduce your team to tools like world clocks, which tell you what time it is anywhere in the world. When scheduling meetings be sure not to eat up all your “golden hour overlap” time when everyone is available with meetings, leaving no time for spontaneous collaboration. Also, be aware and respectful of holidays, which of course differ from region to region.
Encourage participation and communication. Make sure the processes and tools you put into place encourage people from all backgrounds to have a voice in the conversation. People who connect daily with global team members feel more connected, engaged and involved than those who don’t.
It’s a lot easier to build processes than trust, but you will need both to be successful. In terms of establishing trust, global virtual managers don’t get the benefits of managing by walking around that local managers get, so you’ll have to make up for it in other ways. Here are a few.
Do your culture homework. The very act of expressing genuine interest in an individual and their background improves morale and understanding. According to our survey data, more than two-thirds of employees (68 percent) say their companies struggle at least some of the time to align with, be sensitive about and adhere to local laws, practices and cultures.
Understand working styles and communications. In addition to understanding cultures, get to know your employees as individuals. Be sensitive to how people from a “dominant” culture within the team may frustrate team members from a region that is less represented or that has differing cultural norms and values.
Set goals, communicate, motivate and inspire: This is Manager 101, but with all the unique challenges of managing a dispersed team it can fall by the wayside. Be sure you’re working with those team members, not just on deliverables but also on their development.
Know your tech. Be willing to tailor your communication style and medium to the needs of different employees, based on things like time zones and language barriers.
Be available. The most successful managers make themselves available across multiple time zones and through different means of technology (IM, Slack, Skype, email, phone and text).
Check in frequently and consistently. Global team members who connect daily with their co-workers feel more engaged and involved than those who don’t. Employees who feel like they belong are 93 percent more likely to say they feel optimistic about their company’s’ future.
As more companies continue to enter the global game, they will need to make it a priority to build and nurture a local team, set them up with compliant, equitable systems, demonstrate an understanding of local culture, and establish communications practices that make them feel valued and heard. If not, they risk losing the much sought-after international employees that can be so hard to find.
Relationships are complex, particularly so at work since employees have limited control over who they interact with.
While there’s no shortage of advice on how to deal with matters of the heart, working relationships are rarely discussed until it becomes painfully obvious they’re not working. In the wake of the #MeToo movement there has been an increasing focus on fostering more respectful workplace environments.
Yet most managers receive little guidance when it comes to building, maintaining and repairing healthy relationships that often foster toxic workplaces. In many instances they evolve into one of three types of supervisor: the buddy, the boss or the bully.
In a study of what makes a manager effective, the quality of their relationships was found to make the biggest difference to their success. Understand how to do relationships well and everything else becomes easier. Feedback is better received, delegation of duties becomes more straightforward and employees find it easier to cope with change.
Individuals who report good relationships with their managers are healthier, happier and have more fulfilling careers. They perform better, put in more discretionary effort, are more innovative, more resilient and more likely to stay with the organization.
Relationships between team colleagues are also critical. For example, in a study of hospital wards in England, teams who worked well together saw a 3.3 percent drop in mortality rates, the equivalent to saving 40 lives per year.
Destructive relationships wreak havoc for individuals and for organizations. Studies show that for three-quarters of employees, the most stressful part of their job is their boss. A 2015 Gallup survey revealed that half of respondents claimed to have left their most recent job due to a poor relationship with their boss.
As well as the human costs, the financial repercussions of toxic workplace behavior can reach the millions. Considering that managers account for 70 percent of the variance in employee engagement, the disengagement caused by bad bosses costs businesses upward of a half-billion dollars annually.
While this is not a new trend (with research dating back to the 1990s showing “job stress” related to poor management being cited in 75 percent of workers’ compensation claims) the need to address it has become more pressing in the age of #MeToo.
The Buddy, the Boss and the Bully
Psychologists in 2007 identified a “toxic triangle” of factors that foster negative relationships between leaders and followers. The combination of dysfunctional leaders, silent subjects and a permissive environment create a situation where relationships are likely to break down in a detrimental way.
Dysfunctional leaders. Most people have a dark side that comes out, particularly during times of pressure. Without clear guidance on managing the more complex aspects of workers’ personalities, managers often revert to behavioral patterns developed in childhood.
In 1950, psychologist Karen Horney published important research that outlined three patterns of coping behavior that children rely upon in times of stress. Some naturally turn toward people, seeking out closeness in order to feel comforted. Others turn away, preferring to cope independently. The third group actively turn against other people, choosing to fight.
Adults draw on a combination of these coping mechanisms but usually have a preference for one over the other. When taken to its extreme, this preference becomes dysfunctional and can result in some bad behavior.
First, we have the manager who prefers to turn toward others. These leaders want to be everybody’s friend, seeking approval in order to validate themselves. The manager morphs into the Buddy.
On its face this might seem OK, but this type of relationship can go horribly wrong. Amy Gallo, author of the “HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict,” warns that these managers can shy away from giving feedback, avoid going to bat for their teams and give in too easily to demands. Their need for approval can create an overly politicized, clique-y organization where personal boundaries are frequently abused.
Then there is the “turn away” manager who doesn’t care what other people think of them so long as the job gets done. They are the stereotypical detached Boss, interested in delivering to deadline at the expense of everything else. They have no interest in building healthy relationships, believe in reinforcing hierarchy and don’t care if they are overburdening people. This focus on results at the expense of relationships means teams are less loyal, less happy and ultimately less likely to give it their all.
The “turn against” manager arguably takes the crown as the worst supervisor. They care about relationships but only so they can twist and manipulate them for their own gain. They are the quintessential Bully. They love relationships for the opportunities they give them to take advantage and get what they want.
Bullying and harassment in the workplace are more common than you’d think; considering that three-quarters of employees report that they’ve experienced it at some point in their career. And the worrying reality is that we’re all at risk of straying into these toxic personas from time to time; it’s not just the extreme characters that cause havoc. As people gain more power in their careers, the skills they need to be successful, such as empathy and collaboration, tend to be less important, and so a vicious cycle ensues.
Silent Subjects. For dysfunctional leaders to flourish to the extent that relationships break down irreparably, they need followers who for a variety of reasons avoid speaking out. This can mean conformers — those who are typically obedient to authority, prone to group-think, don’t feel that it’s safe to speak up or are unwilling to challenge the status quo. Sometimes people don’t even know the behaviors to look out for or what to do when they see it.
It can also be in the form of colluders who see benefit in aligning themselves with a destructive leader. Colluders reinforce the leader’s bad behavior, repress any would-be whistleblowers and help the toxic cycle continue.
Permissive Environment. A permissive workplace environment is one that permits or may even encourage bad relationships to flourish. If the culture is overly politicized and consensus is valued above all else, the inner Buddy will come to the fore. If it’s a results-driven environment in which targets must be met at all costs, the Boss is likely to emerge. And in a dog-eat-dog culture where aggression and intimidation are par for the course the Bully will come to the fore.These are all extremes, of course, but every company’s policies and processes as well as the culture, values and norms will nudge its leaders to behave in a certain way.
There are methods to limit the buddy-boss-bully syndrome and create a workplace atmosphere more conducive to building strong manager-report relationships. Here are five focus areas for making a difference to building a culture of good working relationships.
Limit the abuse of power. As an executive, encourage self-awareness and introspection in leaders. The right balance is being respectful of boundaries while also providing descriptive feedback, precision coaching and stretching but not straining targets. Organizations should consider the strategies they use to select their leaders. Is enough being done to weed out the bad apples or are there entrenched, bias-laden approaches that toxic leaders can take advantage of? Organizations might be better off hiring decent leaders than hyper-talented individuals with an uncontrollable dark side.
Establish norms and boundaries. Working relationships work best when managers strike the right balance. Overly focusing on the relationship could allow for goals to slip out of reach. Ignore your team’s needs though, and commitment to work could falter. Managers need to set standards for their team by role-modeling respectful, inclusionary behavior and being clear on the behaviors that are appropriate and the boundaries that shouldn’t be crossed. This applies in every interaction, from giving feedback and dealing with poor performance to inquiring about a team member’s well-being and sharing personal details.
Contract from the start. In every manager-report relationship there exists a psychological contract about how each should behave, although these rules usually remain unspoken. Managers should be encouraged to have a frank conversation with their reports about what each side expects from the relationship, where you draw the line and any behavioral nonnegotiables. Making these assumptions explicit means there’ll be no room for misunderstanding, and avoids relationship breaking down.
Give permission and voice. The first challenge is helping people see the toxic behavior for what it is. The second is helping them to understand that there’s nothing wrong with calling out disrespectful behavior in a professional way. With many people, their self-identity can get in the way as there is a dissonance between how people see themselves (successful, confident) and not wanting to appear as the victim.
Repair ruptures. Despite our best efforts, relationships will go awry. When that happens, refer to a quick, effective repair kit. This comes in four stages:
• Pause. Step back from the heat of the moment and do whatever needs to be done in order to emotionally reset.
• Contain. Address the conflict in the moment and keep it isolated to that specific incident to prevent toxicity from seeping into the relationship as a whole.
• Play back. Share thoughts and feelings and be open to hearing what others are saying. Play back what’s been said so they feel listened to.
• Reassure. Remind yourself and the other person that conflict is inevitable, and if handled well can strengthen the relationship in the long run.
Nobody said it would be easy but given the impact of relationships on almost every measure of workplace success, it pays to understand how to make our working relationships work.
Julie Weber, vice president and chief people officer, watches Southwest Airlines soar to the top of the Workforce 100.
Per aspera ad astra is a Latin phrase that translates, “through hardships to the stars.”
The phrase serves as a reminder that progress is not always a straight-ahead path. Often there are forks in the road and winding turns that can hinder the journey. How one navigates those obstacles is the essence of one’s character. The same applies for companies as they strive for HR excellence. For many companies, the journey comes with a fair share of challenges, successes and lessons learned.
Workforce has recognized 100 companies for the past six years that have excelled in people management with the annual Workforce 100 list of best HR practices. Workforce editors and researchers initially partnered with employee review site Glassdoor in 2016 to get an internal perspective of employee satisfaction with their company. Before the partnership with Glassdoor the Workforce 100 list leaned in favor of large corporations and did not take into account the thoughts and responses of rank-and-file employees. Since the partnership began, the list has evolved to include smaller organizations and reveals the value of a strong employer-employee relationship. A company’s score is calculated using Human Capital Media’s Research and Advisory Group and Glassdoor rankings. The inclusion of Glassdoor to the methodology seemingly plays a role in the rise and fall of company rankings.
Over the past six years certain trends have become apparent. Some companies are consistently strong. Johnson & Johnson (No. 11), Salesforce.com (No. 18) and AT&T (No. 45) have appeared all six years. There have been one-hit wonder companies such as Netflix, appearing last year; and the Hershey Co., which only appeared in 2015. Other companies scored high in the first few years and have since fallen in the rankings. One example is McDonald’s, which scored third in 2014, then No. 17 in 2015 before dropping to No. 94 in 2016. Since then, the Golden Arches has not appeared on the Workforce 100.
While some, like McDonald’s, have tumbled down the ranks over the years, there have been companies that ascended to the top. One such company is Southwest Airlines. The Dallas-based airline first appeared on the Workforce 100 in 2015, ranking No. 48. The following year, the airline dropped two places to No. 50. Then from 2017 to 2018, Southwest rose from No. 17 to No. 11.
This year, Southwest ranks No. 1.
The Employee Experience
Julie Weber, vice president and chief people officer at Southwest Airlines, has approached human resources with an employee-first outlook. Weber serves more than 58,000 employees, ensuring that they have a fulfilling experience during their employment with Southwest.
“We’ve really put our employees first since the beginning with our founder, Herb Kelleher,” Weber said of the airline’s late iconic leader. “Our belief is that happy employees make for happy customers, which make for happy shareholders.”
One way that Southwest stands out lies within its centralized hiring practices. Companies in the retail or restaurant industries might look for seasonal employees but Southwest aims for the long haul with its hires. During the recruitment process, Southwest puts an emphasis on matching candidates to the company by attitude and culture fit.
“We look for entry-level employees who are highly motivated to work with us,” Weber said. Southwest’s continuous emphasis on employees, including their treatment before employment, has resulted in lower turnover rates.
Southwest also promotes a fun, engaging work environment for employees, including companywide Halloween parties. Employees are encouraged to wear their best costumes to work and to bring family members along for trick-or-treating around the office. Company leaders also host meals with employees going through leadership development programs.
“Though we have a highly engaged workforce now, it is ours to lose if we don’t maintain a focus on evolving the employee experience,” Weber said.
As companies grow, so do the needs of employees. Maintaining a positive employee experience can take extra effort. With a company as large as Southwest that spans across the country, evolving the employee experience means adapting to technologically advanced platforms. Under Weber’s guidance, Southwest has initiated an HR transformation in order to adapt its practices. One of the initial aspects of this transformation includes widening the scope of the talent-acquisition base to focus on the candidate of the future.
Southwest’s HR team led the airline to the top of the 2019 Workforce 100 list. From left are Kim Hull, senior director; Gregg Thorsen, senior director; Julie Weber, vice president and chief people officer; Danny Collins, managing director.
“We started with investing in tools that help us with talent acquisition and now we are really looking at the entire employee experience,” Weber said. Her goal with this process is to enhance Southwest’s ability to attract and connect with newer generations of candidates.
This transformation will also involve updating the company’s HR operating model so that employees will be able to access a one-stop shop. Weber wants to ensure that employees can easily access the HR services available to them, even from their phones.
“It’s a big undertaking. It will include investing in new technologies with a whole focus on improving the employee experience.”
While this transformation has been overall positive for the company, with change comes challenges. Part of Southwest’s journey toward transforming its HR operating model has been to keep their leaders and employee population enthused. Weber’s solution has been to maintain strong communication of the company’s vision and initiatives. Company alignment and visible leadership has ensured that these changes go beyond just the people department.
“We want to make sure that we are bringing people along with the journey and involving our HR professionals [and stakeholders] with these decisions. That way, we all own this transformation.”
Adapting to Change
T-Mobile is another company that has shown a consistent upward trajectory since debuting on the Workforce 100 in 2016 at No. 72. This year, T-Mobile climbed to 2nd. The telecommunications company is based in Bellevue, Washington, and counts more than 52,000 employees across the nation. Liz McAuliffe, executive vice president of human resources, believes that T-Mobile’s overall success starts with the employee.
“What really sets HR apart at T-Mobile is our core purpose. We are stewards of all T-Mobile employees in their personal growth and career success,” McAuliffe said. T-Mobile’s grass-roots approach to the company’s success relies on creating a culture that inspires its people to not only feel good about themselves but to reflect that goodness in others.
“We approach everything with this mindset,” McAuliffe said. “It’s a game-changer.”
Over the past five years, T-Mobile has evolved its HR operating model in order to meet and exceed the needs of a diverse employee population. To start, they’ve launched an ongoing effort to create a diverse and inclusive environment that will celebrate their employees’ unique selves.
This investment began in 2014 when T-Mobile launched diversity and inclusion networks nationwide. Today, the membership of those networks across the nation’s 50 chapters makes up approximately 42 percent of the company’s employee base. To further develop a diverse and inclusive workplace, T-Mobile initiated a companywide learning project called Insight Out. The program involves a combination of in-person and digital interactions to bring awareness to bias in order to create a foundation for more inclusive language, actions and behaviors.
“This isn’t easy,” McAuliffe said. “It requires courage, awareness, open-mindedness and commitment, but acting on this complex challenge reflects who we are at T-Mobile.”
LiveMagenta is another initiative that aims to transform the traditional face of T-Mobile’s employee assistance program. LiveMagenta would ensure that employees can access resources and benefits through a mobile-friendly app. “LiveMagenta [is] providing everything from financial experts to counseling services and life coaches,” McAuliffe explained.
While McAuliffe reports an overwhelmingly positive response to these initiatives, the company has also experienced the growing pains that come with change. “One challenge is delivering meaningful services that scale for 52,000 employees while still meeting the needs of employees at all levels and in widely varying roles,” McAuliffe said. Another challenge comes with operating an HR team at the same fast pace as the business itself.
McAuliffe said the solution for T-Mobile was found through a strong collaborative relationship with their business partners coupled with an efficient HR team. Listening to employee feedback has revealed how just how much these initiatives have improved things for the better. “[It] never ceases to amaze me,” McAuliffe said. “It’s truly magical when people can come together and deliver such fantastic results every single day.”
Recognizing Diversity and Inclusion
Goldman Sachs has also risen through the Workforce 100 rankings the past six years. Their trajectory began when they first appeared on the list in 2015 at No. 27. This year the company clocked in at No. 3.
For the investment banking company, the advancement of women and a diverse workplace has not just been a nice to-do. It’s been a business priority. Goldman Sachs’ Vice President, Media Relations Leslie Shribman offered insight to the company’s key HR initiatives in recent years. As a commitment to this advancement, the company announced last year that they aspire to have women make up 50 percent of their diverse talent worldwide, and 50 percent of all analyst hires by 2021. “We have invested in new programming to attract more women applicants to positions at the firm and have instilled accountability measures within our hiring process to review progress against our goal,” Shribman said.
The company also has demonstrated an inclusive atmosphere by implementing programs that focus on working parents. One example is LifeCare’s Milkship program for employees who are breastfeeding. This program offers a free full-service program for employees in the United States to safely ship their breast milk home when they travel overnight for business. Other programs include providing parental leave following the birth or adoption of a child, access to best parenting practices, and medical guidance should a critical situation arise.
Goldman Sachs has also made advancements in their programs to reinforce an inclusive environment. Three of these programs include their Women’s Career Strategies Initiative, Black Analyst and Associate Initiative, and Hispanic and Latino Analyst Initiative. The programs work to ensure a supportive environment by focusing on the networking and development opportunities for women and minority employees. “We believe our people are our greatest asset. We invest in their development and provide them an opportunity to work alongside talented colleagues to drive progress across markets, communities and the world,” Shribman said.
These programs are not laurels that Goldman Sachs wishes to rest upon. They have recognized that progress is an ongoing process. As the workforce changes, so must the HR teams that serve it. “We regularly evaluate how we can improve our programs, offerings and policies to best support employees,” Shribman said. “We are committed to continuing to provide our employees with the environment, resources and experiences that meet their needs and help them realize their potential.”
Benchmarking Excellence
Except for 2016 when they dipped to No. 14, Deloitte has held a consistent position in the top 10 on the Workforce 100. Based in New York, the professional services company counts 286,000 employees worldwide. Over the past five years, the company has continuously reshaped its HR operating model to keep up with an evolving workplace and workforce. Their focus has been channeled into modernizing their performance experience, promoting a culture of flexibility and well-being, and attracting, advancing and retaining women.
Global Chief Talent Officer Michele Parmelee spoke to the challenges that have come along with maintaining consistent progress of these initiatives. “Achieving gender parity at each level of the organization is challenging for even the most progressive,” she said. “We are leaving no stone unturned.”
As a company that serves employees across many different geographies and cultures, Deloitte has embraced the uniqueness of its workforce. The connection the company has to its diverse employee population comes with an environment that encourages authenticity. Thus, Deloitte’s main focus for employee experience has been to support its people in creating their own unique talent experience. “We want to create meaningful opportunities for each person to make an impact, grow, learn and lead at every point in their career,” Parmelee said.
According to employee review site Glassdoor, Deloitte employees have noted that one of the most positive aspects of working with the company has been its work-life balance, which reflects Deloitte’s commitment to a culture of flexibility. “Deloitte places trust in people to decide when, where and how best to work,” Parmelee said. For instance, Deloitte’s unit in the United Kingdom offers a Work Agility program that combines formal and informal work arrangements to support a flexible schedule. Within the United States, Deloitte has expanded its fully paid family-leave policy to offer up to 16 weeks.
“Wellness is also a major focus as we find it helps to build a sense of community and a sense of belonging,” Parmelee added. Their programs in Canada reflect this focus, where wellness centers deliver well-being services onsite to Deloitte offices in major metropolitan areas. These services include therapeutic treatments, team-building activities, and onsite quite space.
“Effecting real change is not only a mindset but requires a daily commitment and deliberate action,” Parmelee said.
Adults draw on a combination of these coping mechanisms but usually have a preference for one over the other. When taken to its extreme, this preference becomes dysfunctional and can result in some bad behavior.
