Workplace Culture – Page 22

March 1, 2017June 29, 2023

Why Corporate America Could Use a White Savior

About a month ago I blogged about the movie “Hidden Figures.” I’m still gratified at the amount of support the piece received, so I feel justified in revisiting this particular well for a different reason — whitewashing.

Hollywood, rather the film industry in general, has always been a bit more advanced than corporate America when it comes to accepting and promoting diversity. I say a bit because both have their issues, and likely will continue to have those issues for some time. But, however long it actually takes to cross that particular finish line — I will not be holding my breath — the film industry is moving more quickly and visibly toward parity.

When I read “Hidden Figures And the Diversity Conversation We Aren’t Having” on Huffington Post’s Black Voices channel, I rolled my eyes. Not because of the article — the piece was well written and perfectly logical — but the idea that a white film director, Theodore Melfi, should be taken to task for “whitewashing” history because he took creative license with some historical facts bugged me.

In the film — sorry if you haven’t seen it already; I’m about to spoil a highlight — Al Harrison (played by Kevin Costner) knocks down a colored restroom sign. He does this because Katherine Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson), the brilliant mathematician at the heart of the narrative, has been missing in action for a good chunk of the film, running back and forth to a segregated toilet a half-mile away. Harrison says, “Here at NASA we all pee the same color.” This was the so-called white savior moment.

Melfi admitted he made that scene up and was subsequently accused of whitewashing in order to appeal to a white audience. But his response, “These are creative choices, these are not catering to a white audience or catering to a black audience, this is making the best movie,” holds up.

Hidden Figures whitewashing Theodore Melfi — Theodore Melfi was taken to task for ‘whitewashing’ history in the film ‘Hidden Figures.’

According to NASA, desegregation actually happened via memo. I think we can all agree Kevin Costner knocking the hell out of a sign emblematic of oppression, cruelty and struggle is the stronger message. I would also posit that it is entirely acceptable for Melfi to put Harrison’s character in this white savior position, with one codicil. Let’s immediately scratch the words white savior from our memory because they sound yucky and unnecessarily biblical and replace them with — wait for it — leader.

Maybe if there were more so-called white saviors, or, white leaders who are unafraid to step forward and set an example for their brethren to follow, things would move a little bit faster on the diversity continuum. White savior? Good grief.

The idea that minorities need or want to be saved is both insulting and completely inaccurate. I — a double minority — don’t want or usually need a helping hand when I fall down. It’s nice when it happens, but I’m a big girl. Even if I metaphorically skin my knees, I can handle it. But when I do fall down, because everyone makes mistakes at some point in their life and career, I don’t want everyone looking up my skirt and laughing up their collective sleeve as I pick myself up off the ground. Know what I mean?

Don’t make it hard for me to learn or to fail or to do my job. Don’t throw arbitrary obstacles in my path that make my work more difficult, and then when the product you demand suffers because of that, punish me as though I am solely to blame for everything that has gone wrong.

Failing — particularly if you fail fast, learn the lesson and pass that learning on to others — is good more often than it is bad in an organizational context. In business, growth of any kind can pave the way for process, product and service changes and innovations that are often the direct result of someone’s failure or mistake paving the road to a better way.

So, yeah. Be my champion when you see things aren’t right on the job. I could care less what color you are, but if you’re white, I commend you. I know it’s not always easy to buck the system, rock the boat and risk your standing and career when your peers start whispering about loyalty and question your intentions or the motivations behind your actions.

In the movie, Harrison was visibly uncomfortable more than once. He saw Johnson being mistreated, but it was easier to go along and get along, to ignore his team not acting like a team toward one of its members because that was the way things had always been done. When he finally had his savior moment — I’m cringing as I type that word — it wasn’t some heroic movement. It was a leader finally getting all of the information and doing what was necessary to ensure that a very specific productivity and performance barrier was removed.

Sure, he did it passionately, noisily and disruptively, and I doubt many leaders could get away with that kind of violence against signs these days, but it’s a movie.

In real life, minorities in the workplace don’t need saviors. But we want them.

We want our supervisors and managers to stick up for us when we’re being mistreated, ignored, belittled, discounted and misunderstood. Whether they do so loudly while breaking a sweat going postal on a sign, or quietly behind closed doors when they put forth our names for the high potential leadership program or for a promotion, corporate America could use a few white saviors.

But in the workplace, we simply call them leaders.

Kellye Whitney is associate editorial director for Workforce. Comment below or email editor@workforce.com.

February 22, 2017June 29, 2023

Some Offices Designing Ways to Help Employees Move More

Several years ago, Jonathan Webb was thinking about how “active design” could improve the workplace. He meant it as a way to describe restructuring a workspace to promote the people inside to adopt healthier habits.

A nonprofit called the Center for Active Design already uses the term to describe utilizing architecture and urban planning to improve public health. Its website argues that in the 1800s, overcrowded cities with poor public health systems led to a high mortality rate from infectious diseases. Then in the late 19^th century and early 20^th century, many cities used design strategically and changed their infrastructure, which helped lead to a drastic reduction in deaths by infectious diseases.

Speaking to Webb about his company and what he does, it was interesting to keep this in mind. I thought of the workplace as a micro-version of a large city, one in which shifting the physical environment can impact health — in this case employee health rather than public health.

Webb is the vice president of workplace strategies at Green Bay, Wisconsin-based furniture manufacturer KI. He also advises clients that work with KI on changes they’d like to see in their workspaces.

“So many employers and workers lead sedentary lifestyles and spend so many waking hours, up to 60 percent, in a sedentary state. Commuting, sitting in a car and then sitting at offices during the day,” said Webb. “We started to look at office behaviors and what employees are doing and what organizations aren’t doing to push activity to foster inherent movement in the workplace.”

sit-stand desks at work — Sit-stand desks are a way to follow one of the nine principles, incorporating height adjustable work surfaces. Photo by Ellen Jaskol.

He recommends nine principals for implementing active design in a workspace, which includes subconsciously motivating people to take the stairs, offering healthy food options, making sunlight more accessible and seeing outdoor spaces as potential workspaces. A more open layout is something that could promote face-to-face communication and collaboration, he added.

The part about collaborative spaces was especially interesting to me because of a recent blog I read in The Washington Post. The writer argued that the open office trend had many flaws, including a lack of privacy and decreased productivity among employees who find the setup distracting. She also cited that she and her employees were more susceptible to getting sick.

The blog was from 2014, but it still contains criticisms of the open office environment that are legitimate today. Hearing Webb’s explanation of how the changing office environment is beneficial was valuable. It served as kind of a counter-argument in the apparently controversial world of office design.

He defended both the open office space and the use of outdoor spaces in one example I thought was particularly intriguing. The crux of the argument was that businesses are looking for design cues outside of business industries. One place they’re looking at are college campuses, in which students are productive in communal areas like libraries and cafeterias. They also make outdoor areas appealing for the use of students as an alternative. Students don’t have cubicles, and they’re always on the move because they have multiple places they can work.

Personally, I liked this idea because I was one of the students who hopped from the art history library to the Wisconsin Historical Society to the courtyard to the student radio station lobby in one evening to finish up my assignments at the University of Wisconsin.

Organizations are figuring out ways to purposely design their outdoor spaces with Wi-Fi and the appropriate amenities or architectural elements to make them a viable workspace, Webb said.

“Taking design cues is a wonderful workplace strategy for organizations trying to attract and retain younger talent,” he added. “Because where has this talent been the last four to six years?” College campuses, often.

Finally, he had a solid example with a New York-based client that implemented surface-level changes to make a difference. The client wanted to subconsciously push employees to take the stairs more. Of course, legally, office spaces have to have staircases for fire-escape purposes; that doesn’t necessarily mean that the stairs are located where employees naturally gravitate. They might be more inclined to take an elevator just because it’s more in their eyesight or something like that.

This lounge encourages employees to have meetings on the go.

This client decided to entice employees to use the stairs rather than the elevators in a way that was in their means. Their office took about two or three floors of the building, and their staircase was in the back corner of the space. They made the general area more appealing by removing a set of heavy doors, repainting the hallways, adding some wall graphics and adding brighter lights. They included informational posters on nearby walls telling employees how many extra calories they’d burn by taking the stairs.

“They don’t necessarily have to be really expensive strategies,” said Webb.

These principles are important, he said, because just offering a wellness program to promote health is oftentimes not enough. Many employees don’t participate.

“The bottom line is that if you are a sedentary person by nature, you are bound to remain sedentary even if formal workplace wellness programs are being offered,” said Webb. “That’s a big deal. Unless [a company does] things that inherently promote activity during the course of the day, a majority of people are not going to move.”

Web: Andie Burjek is a Workforce associate editor. Comment below, or email at aburjek@humancapitalmedia.com. Follow Workforce on Twitter at @workforcenews.

February 13, 2017August 3, 2023

There’s a Thin Line Between Business and Politics

Those of you who saw the popular 1996 film “A Thin Line Between Love and Hate” starring Martin Lawrence and Lynn Whitfield will recognize the title reference. It was also a song by The Persuaders.

I’m going to dig into the line between business and politics, but the love and hate bit works too because to feel one or the other requires passion, and good business and good politics are often quite passionate. It makes me shake my head when people argue that a publication like Workforce should refrain from political commentary. Essentially, some readers are saying, stay in your lane; politics has nothing to do with business.

I wholeheartedly disagree.

I’ve used the “stay in your lane” line before when someone uninformed ran off at the mouth publicly about a topic where I felt they lacked key understanding. Not because the ignorant can’t have an opinion, but because I don’t feel the ignorant have the right to attack others’ right to have an opinion, especially when that opinion is defensible and appropriate.

Take my fellow Workforce blogger Jon Hyman, who caught a lot of heat recently when he blogged about that person’s — I’ll remind you that I will not deliberately speak or write his name, but you know him. He lives in former President Obama’s old house — travel ban, a ban which the courts effectively squashed last week.

The comments were hot. Most I ignored, but this one stuck out: “Just for the record, I do not think that an employment law blog is the appropriate place for this type of political rant.”

Again, I disagree.

A legal blog devoted to workforce issues is exactly the right place to discuss the leader of the free world issuing a blanket order to prevent “other” people — most of them working people — from entering this country. Hyman chose to take a moral stance, but morality aside — that felt really weird to type — that person’s travel ban affected companies worldwide, as their employees were stalled in airports, unable to do their jobs, many traumatized with worry as they were detained and separated from loved ones.

You cannot separate business and politics, not entirely. Aside from things like immigration laws that impact H-1B visas and the EEOC, which routinely takes businesses to task for discriminatory practices that violate laws or legal precedents, there’s too much influential hand washing and wheeling and backroom dealing that takes place for the two to be mutually exclusive. Things the general public doesn’t always hear about until stocks are falling, buyouts are in the works or mergers are reported.

Then, consider, a company’s public perception, its brand reputation, its ability to recruit the best talent; all of these things can be egregiously impacted by its leader’s politics. Sports apparel company Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank found that out after top spokespeople like ballerina Misty Copeland and basketball player Stephen Curry showed their concern for his public support of the president on CNBC’s Fast Money Halftime Report on Tuesday. Plank “praised Trump as a “pro-business president.”

Plank is at the helm of a successful, globally recognizable “Athleisure” brands out right now, and he sees the connections between business and politics. Remember me talking about passion? In his CNBC comments he used that word too, along with growth and a desire to build things, and let’s not forget the talent, the people. Plank also found out about the other thing that connects business and politics — the eggs the public will throw at a leader’s head, regardless of what side of the fence he rests, if people disagree with him.

I’m no expert on either business or politics. But there is no doubt in my mind that the two are connected. The line separating them is paper thin. I’d even go so far as to say it’s arbitrary.

I was riding in the elevator earlier this week when I learned that Starbucks offered free legal advice to employees affected by the travel ban. I don’t drink coffee that often, but I’m still planning to go to a shop and buy something to show my support for that brand. Then, ride-sharing company Lyft pledged $1 million to the ACLU. However unspoken, are these not political statements made by prominent businesses? These are also some of the same facts that Hyman detailed in his blog.

Trying to disassociate politics from business is like trying to separate people from discussions of diversity and inclusion. You could do it, but how ridiculous would you look in the process?

When a politician takes a stance that others do not agree with, a stance that actively harms either a business or a group of people who could contribute to business in some way, it is our right — even in the media, especially in the media — to speak up, whether your name is Plank or Hyman or whomever. Whether they are in the White House or in a corner office on a high floor, at the end of the day, business and political leaders are accountable to us — consumers and voters. They need to act accordingly.

Kellye Whitney is associate editorial director for Workforce magazine. Comment below or email editor@workforce.com.

February 9, 2017June 29, 2023

Defining What’s Fair in the Workplace

Watch this, and then let’s talk about the word fair:

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Like Louie in the clip above, I tell my kids this all the time. “Why can’t I stay up an extra half-hour? She’s not in bed yet.” “Because it’s time to go to bed. Tomorrow’s a school day.” “But it’s not fair.” “Why can’t I have ice cream, too? He had ice cream.” “Because you weren’t with us; you were doing something else.” “But it’s not fair.” Life is not designed to be fair. Tough lesson for a kid. Heck, it’s a tough lesson for an adult, too.

Must the workplace be fair? What does the word “fair” even mean at work? Nothing in the law requires the workplace to be fair. It only requires that you treat similarly situated people of different protected groups similarly. Equality across protected classes, however, is not the same as fairness.

Consider the following, which I read on HRhero.com:

Most adults have internalized a sense of fair play that we learned as small children. And when a situation is unfair, we feel there should be some accounting for it. Conversely, research indicates that if an individual feels that he has been treated with kindness, respect, and honesty, he is less likely to file a civil lawsuit. As a result, you should place a premium on good communication and fairness in your terminations.

There are exceptions to every rule. But, in general, a good termination should be foreseeable. If the termination is the result of ongoing performance problems, there should be a history of meetings and written documentation of the problems. No employee should find out that her performance is unsatisfactory for the first time at a termination meeting.

If society expects fairness, unfairness begets lawsuits, and members of the same fairness-expecting society will comprise the judges and juries that will decide the legality of your terminations, then some basis of fundamental fairness should ground your terminations.

What does fundamental fairness in the workplace look like?

Don’t ambush your employees. They should understand why they being fired via prior discussions, prior performance reviews, and prior discipline.

The punishment must fit the crime. Do you really need to fire the employee who is late for work occasionally? Maybe, if he or she has been repeatedly warned. But the first time? If the punishment far exceeds the misconduct, the employee will look for a reason for the mistreatment and unfairness, such as race, sex, age, or disability. Do not provide an impetus to look past the stated reason. Alternatively, a sufficiently serious offense (e.g., sexual harassment, theft, violence) may support a termination on the spot. Otherwise, however, employees should have an ample and bona fide opportunity to correct their misbehavior.

Have documentation to support your decision. Do you have a performance review, written warning, or other contemporaneous note in a personnel file to support your decision? If not, it’s best to wait until you do. And, no, this is not an excuse to create a paper trail after the fact. Documentation should be contemporaneous to the misconduct.

Be consistent. Do you handle similar disciplinary problems similarly and to the same degree? If not, those that suffer the worst will ask why, and they may do it via their attorney in a lawsuit.

To make this concept of workplace fairness even simpler, do unto your employees as you would have your employer do unto you. If you treat your employees as you would want to treated (or as you would want your wife, kids, parents, etc. to be treated), most employment cases would never be filed, and most that are filed would end in the employer’s favor. Juries are comprised of many more employees than employers, and if jurors feel that the plaintiff was treated the same way the jurors would want to be treated (i.e., fairly), the jury will be much less likely to find in the employee’s favor.

And that result would be way better than fair.

Jon Hyman is a partner at Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis in Cleveland. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com. Follow Hyman’s blog at Workforce.com/PracticalEmployer.

February 7, 2017June 29, 2023

Health Literacy Empowers Employees to Make Better Decisions

health care education, health literacy, stethoscope and book

When in doubt, ask questions.

That’s what I’ve rediscovered after moving back with my parents after graduating college. The whole set-up allowed me to take a half-hour break from filling out job applications to make time for “Jeopardy!” in the mid-afternoon.

What makes “Jeopardy!” so valuable is that unlike so many other game shows out there, it reveres knowledge and encourages people to ask questions. It’s all about the brain. The contestants aren’t always the most interesting, and sometimes watching them small-talk with Alex Trebek is more uncomfortable than overhearing an awkward first date. This is irrelevant though. What makes “Jeopardy!” lovely isn’t entertaining anecdotes or big personalities. It’s facts, a thirst for knowledge, and contestants that can be anything from stay-at-home parents to college professors. It’s a half hour testament to collecting and questioning information.

Being knowledge-thirsty extends to the workplace, especially in areas like health education. How many people have actually said, “I’ll take health care for 800, Alex!” and asked the question, “What do I truly need to know about my health and the health care system?” The health care landscape is complicated, and something that both employers and employees may have trouble understanding.

“When people have a need to access the health care system, there’s also a need to understand that as a patient, you’re probably going to have a better overall outcome if you are informed about your own situation and understand the options available for your care,” said Debbie Youngblood, wellness coordinator at Hilliard City Schools in Ohio. She spoke with me about the recent effort in her school system to offer a health literacy program for employees.

The school district in which she works employs about 1,500 people, and it uses an online health literacy program called Quizzify to educate employees. Every month, the interested teachers, administrators, bus drivers, maintenance workers and anyone else who works for the school district can take a new quiz, which asks about a range of topics like health care costs, access to care at hospitals and nutrition.

Debbie Youngblood, wellness coordinator at Hilliard City Schools

As a wellness coordinator, Youngblood was enthusiastic to inform and educate employees about bigger issues that relate to accessing health care and making good health decisions. This helps employees not only improve their own individual well-being but also use new knowledge to make the best decisions for themselves and their families, depending on their circumstances. “From my health and fitness background, I’ve always felt that there was a need to have more [information] available to people as they go through their stages of life,” she said. “It always surprises me that we expect people to know how to achieve overall well-being. We’ve given them very little opportunity to know, understand and practice the things that might be beneficial.”

She also believes it’s valuable to educate adults on health-related topics because it drives conversation. She sees employees discussing topics and questioning the information gained through their health literacy program. “I think it’s great to have the curiosity to dig deeper,” she said.

The employees taking these quizzes can take them two times. The first time, they test their knowledge on health-related topics, see what they got wrong and access links to webpages that will provide them more information before they take the quiz the second time. This gives them the opportunity to seek out the information about which they’re the most interested or uninformed. The information itself has been thoroughly vetted, so as a wellness coordinator, Youngblood can be sure employees are getting solid information.

“Curiosity is something we can afford,” she said. Working for a self-insured employer, it’s important to consider the ways in which you can potentially save money. And in theory, if people are better informed, they could make better decisions and utilize the health care system more efficiently.

She gave an example from her own personal experience. A doctor recommended a CAT scan, but because of the knowledge she picked up, she understood what kinds of questions to ask and what she needed to know about her options. She learned how much radiation a CAT scan used versus a normal X-ray, and talked to the doctor about alternative options.

Knowledge has great power to impact people’s health decisions, both when they’re dealing with a simple medical procedure or when their health is in actual jeopardy.

Andie Burjek is a Workforce associate editor. Comment below, or email at aburjek@humancapitalmedia.com. Follow Workforce on Twitter at @workforcenews.

February 6, 2017June 29, 2023

Snap Offers Small Diversity Nugget in Advance of IPO

Snapchat is hot. It has more than

In advance of that date, which is poised to be one of the biggest tech IPOs in a while, Snap released some, shall we say, light information about its diversity strategy. It seems like they have great intentions, particularly around diversity of thought. But intentions are like wishes. Sometimes they come true, most times they don’t. Why? Because without a plan, wishes or intentions are just talk.

You need action, measured steps in a determined direction. And Snap is saying all the right things, but there’s no data, no transparency, and because there’s no transparency, there’s little to no formal accountability.

According to a TechCrunch article published recently, the company says:

“We fundamentally believe that having a team of diverse backgrounds and voices working together is our best shot at being able to create innovative products that improve the way people live and communicate. There are two things we focus on to achieve this goal. The first—creating a diverse workplace—helps us assemble this team…”

OK, now would be the perfect time to detail planned recruiting strategies to increase women and minorities at various levels throughout the organization; and a few numbers to provide context and illustrate projected success rates, or even how steep a climb the company has to hike, wouldn’t go amiss.

“We convene at the conferences, host the hackathons, and invest in the institutions that bring us amazing diverse talent every year…”

Oh, yeah? Which ones? Are you sponsoring any of those conferences? Who attends? Where are they marketed and to who? What about job fairs? Or, how about internships in high schools in underrepresented communities? Silence.

Specifics lend credibility. Without details, it’s just talk, no?

“The second—creating an inclusive workplace—is much harder to get right, but we believe it is required to unleash the potential of having a diverse team. That’s because we believe diversity is about more than numbers…”

That bit about the diverse team, well said. And diversity is absolutely about more than just numbers. But when you’re a public company, data, numbers, they matter. Showing even a little progress in strategic diversity management can inspire product confidence and brand loyalty, and get you out of jail free when your overall lack of diversity starts tongues to wagging and fingers to pointing.

“To us, it is really about creating a culture where everyone comes to work knowing that they have a seat at the table and will always be supported both personally and professionally…”

Again, well said. No argument here. But without details, strategies, something to indicate this is more than just a well written media sop to throw the more critical of us off the scent, the whole speech is just thin.

“We started by challenging our management team to set this tone every day with each of their teams, and by investing in inclusion-focused programs ranging from community outreach to internal professional development…”

What are these inclusion-focused programs? What is Snap’s idea of community outreach? What form will this internal professional development take? Challenge is almost always good, especially at the highest organizational levels. But how will you know when or if your leaders have met the challenge? And exactly is the challenge? I only ask because if I’m not sure, you might want to check to make sure your leaders are. Granted, I’m just Joe Q public, but it’s the public who will buy this stock next month, right?

“We still have a long and difficult road ahead in all of these efforts, but believe they represent one of our biggest opportunities to create a business that is not only successful but also one that we are proud to be a part of.”

Yeah, OK. It’s smart to acknowledge diversity isn’t always easy, and again, you certainly can’t argue with the desire or intent behind statements like these. At least, not until you scratch beneath the surface, look for the meat and find there’s nothing there to grab on too. Call me cynical, but I don’t believe it. There are too many unanswered questions, too little information, too many vague statements about their stance on diversity and inclusion. I can’t get a clear picture of what exactly needs to be done, who will do it, how they’ll do it, and on what timetable.

Stakeholders demand a solid accounting. Apple found that out. This month the company’s shareholders will vote to try and increase management diversity, “a proposal being pushed by its major investors.” A Diversity Inc. article reported that Apple’s current management said such efforts are “not necessary.” We’ll see. But, as much as it pains me to say it, they could be right. Apple might be able to get away with ignoring efforts to diversify its leadership ranks – at least for a while – because of the depth of market penetration – not to mention the almost rabid brand loyalty – its products have achieved globally.

Snap, however, is not Apple. It’s main product, Snapchat, is popular, but it does not have Apple’s Pied Piper-esque pull. As evidence, the August 2016 introduction of competitor Instagram Stories caused a serious slowdown on Snapchat’s growth. If the tide turned against Snapchat, all it would take is Kylie Jenner hopping on another platform, and they’d be toast.

Brands and products and the companies that love them need the public’s approval. How fast did Nordstrom drop Ivanka Trump’s brand this week following protests from anti-Trump movement #GrabYourWallet? The retailer says Trump got the boot because of poor performance, but I think we all know why her brand isn’t performing well. It’s not the clothes. I’ve seen many of them, and her stuff is cute. Until you see that name, and drop it’s hot. At least, that’s what I do.

Diversity as a facet of brand reputation, recruiting, talent management or promoting business performance is not something you want to mess with. These days – thank everything – many times the public won’t let you.

Kellye Whitney is associate editorial director for Workforce. Comment below or email editor@workforce.com.

January 30, 2017June 29, 2023

Trump’s Un-American Travel Ban and the Workplace

I’ve had an internal debate all weekend long over whether I should blog about Trump’s executive order that bans immigration from seven Muslim countries, suspends refugees for 120 days and bars all Syrian refugees indefinitely. Ultimately, I decided that if you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem, and this issue is too important to remain silent. I choose to be on the correct side of history.

If you are a staunch defender of the president who does not care to read an opposing view, I suggest you stop reading now, and come back tomorrow for a more benign post. Or, better yet, post a comment and let’s have an intelligent debate about this issue.

And, if you choose to unfollow or unfriend me because of my opinion, you are more than welcome to do that, too. This is still America, and I respect your right to have an opinion even if I disagree with it. I hope, however, that you show me and my opinion the same respect and patriotism that I would show you and yours.

This issue, however, is not a left issue, or a right issue, or a Democrat issue, or a Republican issue. It’s also not a legal issue, even though the courts will ultimately decide its fate.

Instead, it’s a moral issue; it’s an American issue. It’s how we choose to define ourselves as Americans. It’s who we are, and, perhaps more importantly who we choose to be as a nation.

I am proud that members of my profession have taken a stand, appearing at airports at all hours of the weekend to help those detained and facing deportation. I am proud of those that marched nationwide to protest Trump and his actions. And I am proud of the judge (now judges) that stood up to block this action, albeit temporarily.

As for employers (this is an employment law blog after all), some have chosen to take a stand.

For example, my alma mater, Binghamton University:

We know that these are difficult circumstances, leaving many of us concerned. Binghamton University remains committed to the continued success of all of our students, regardless of religious belief, country of birth or citizenship, and we are here to provide all students and faculty with support through this difficult time.

And Google:

We’re concerned about the impact of this order and any proposals that could impose restrictions on Googlers and their families, or that create barriers to bringing great talent to the U.S. We’ll continue to make our views on these issues known to leaders in Washington and elsewhere.

And Microsoft:

We believe that immigration laws can and should protect the public without sacrificing people’s freedom of expression or religion. And we believe in the importance of protecting legitimate and law-abiding refugees whose very lives may be at stake in immigration proceedings.

And Netflix:

Trump’s actions are hurting Netflix employees around the world, and are so un-American it pains us all. Worse, these actions will make America less safe (through hatred and loss of allies) rather than more safe. A very sad week, and more to come with the lives of over 600,000 Dreamers here in a America under imminent threat. It is time to link arms together to protect American values of freedom and opportunity.

And Facebook:

We should also keep our doors open to refugees and those who need help. That’s who we are.

And Apple:

As I’ve said many times, diversity makes our team stronger. And if there’s one thing I know about the people at Apple, it’s the depth of our empathy and support for one another. It’s as important now as it’s ever been, and it will not weaken one bit. I know I can count on all of you to make sure everyone at Apple feels welcome, respected and valued. Apple is open. Open to everyone, no matter where they come from, which language they speak, who they love or how they worship.

And others, like Starbucks, which promised to hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years, and Lyft, which has pledged $1 million to the ACLU.

What about your workplace? How you choose to respond is a decision I cannot make for you. It will depend on your political beliefs, moral constitution, and the composition of your workforce. Know, however, that the issues of national original discrimination and religious discrimination are very much on the EEOC’s radar, and its recently appointed acting chair, Victoria Lipnic, likely will not deviate much, if at all, from this focus.

In the aftermath of the November 2015 Paris attack, I wrote the following:

We cannot let this type of discrimination again pervade our workplaces, no matter how angry we are over the murderous crimes of a few acting in the name of Islam. …

No doubt, we live in scary times. Some well tell you (and I don’t necessarily disagree) that we are amid the third world war (even if it looks very different than any war we’ve fought before). One of this war’s battle lines will be drawn at the ballot box over the issues of immigration and immigrant rights. We must resist the urge to fight this war in our workplaces by harassing and otherwise discriminating against those who have the right to work, and enjoy that right free from discrimination and harassment.

Oh how I hate being correct in this case.

I will leave you with this thought. The plaque at the base of the Statute of Liberty reads:

Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

In celebrating the centennial of the statue in 1986, President Reagan famously noted that liberty “is of foreign birth.”

I remain convinced that inscription, and President Reagan’s words, are America. To my readers, prove me right, that we as a nation are better than, and not defined by, this Executive Order.

Jon Hyman is a partner at Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis in Cleveland. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com. Follow Hyman’s blog at Workforce.com/PracticalEmployer.

January 26, 2017June 29, 2023

We Have Our Second Nominee for Worst Employer of 2017

Our next nominee for the Worst Employer of 2017 comes from my very own backyard — Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

Here in Northeast Ohio we take our snow removal very seriously, especially (we hope) at the airport, where an icy or snow-covered runway could cause disaster. In 2015, airfield manager Abdul Malik-Al complained to his bosses about his belief that the airport did not sufficiently support its winter-weather crews. Those comments led to the FAA levying a $200,000 fine against the airport.

These issues, however, appear to remain. According to Scene Magazine, on Jan. 19, airfield-maintenance manager Robert Henderson allegedly rounded up his staff and threatened them with retaliation if they leaked any information to the press. Unluckily for Henderson, but luckily for us, an employee recorded his outburst:

If anybody is caught associating with anything like that, the penalties will be great. So I’m calling y’all together now. Let’s go ahead and put it out there; let’s talk about it right now. So we can get it out of the way. Because if anyone is caught sitting there having a sideline conversations about this, or with [unintelligible] did to somebody else, or let me send it to this friend or let me me do that, that could connect you with something that’s, that’s frowned upon in the organization — to take internal stuff and leak it out to the media. So please don’t engage in, in all that. I’m putting it out right here, right now. It ain’t nothing to whisper about.

Congratulations, Cleveland Hopkins Airport — or, more specifically, Robert Henderson. You are our second nominee for the Worst Employer of 2017.

Jon Hyman is a partner at Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis in Cleveland. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com. Follow Hyman’s blog at Workforce.com/PracticalEmployer.

January 23, 2017June 29, 2023

It Was the End of an Era When the Obamas Left Office

It’s gloomy, it’s overcast, it’s Inauguration Day. I gotta say, I’m sad. I watched CNN as the Obamas left the White House for the last time, and it truly felt like the end of an era.

Not just because I have no idea what the next four years will bring, but because the Obamas were — are — iconic. Their poise, their elegance, their sheer presence set precedents, knocked stereotypes sideways and made a mockery of long-held beliefs about black people’s capabilities and the so-called hidden underbelly of racism in this country. That underbelly, scaly, rough and distended, came to public, neon light once President Barack Obama ascended to the highest office in the land.

But through the slights and disrespect, the opportunists who joined his Cabinet only for the springboard to other powerful, more financially lucrative roles, the relentless and rude questioning of his heritage, his background, his suitability and his intelligence, President Obama remained our leader. He remained a man of the people.

It reminds me of the first time I met him. Have I told you this one already? If so, allow me this indulgence today, hmmm? It is a great story.

When we met, President Obama was still a senator and had not yet announced his presidential candidacy. I knew it was coming; I was dating a lobbyist for the Chicago Public School system at the time, and he told me. Anyway, we were at a wedding in Hyde Park — rather, we were milling around outside on the lawn after the ceremony — and my ex introduced me.

We shook hands and smiled, and then-Sen. Obama asked me, “So, Kellye. What do you do?”

I was unemployed at the time, but I answered, “I’m a writer.”

My ex said, “No, Kellye. He means what do you do for a living.”

We both looked at him. There was an awkward, terrible pause. Then Obama said, “Oh, you’re a writer. Did I tell you that I was the editor of the Harvard Law Review?” And he went right on talking as though that fool hadn’t said a word, as though he hadn’t embarrassed me in front of a man who would later become one of the most important figures in history.

Obama gave me back my dignity after someone carelessly snatched it away, and he did so effortlessly and immediately. It spoke volumes about his character and what kind of leader he would be. I knew then that I would vote for him. And I did, twice.

There were many times over the past eight years when life — well, it happened. And when it did, I felt a mélange of things: disgust, fear, excitement, traumatized, hopeful and engaged. But through it all there was a whisper at the back of my mind that said, in the midst of this hurt, this injustice, this disappointment and tragedy, what would President Obama do? The answer was clear. When life happens, when stress at work or in life threatens one’s peace, be graceful, prepared and steadfast under pressure.

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama made me a better person. I know I’m not alone when I say that the example they set was a very high bar, but it was one I enjoyed reaching and exceeding. They let the world know what I always knew: race and gender are descriptors, accidents of birth. They should not be clear-cut signals for one’s future success.

Most minorities instinctively know this, but the pressure! The pressure the misinformed and ill-intentioned can put on you will wear you down so low, you’ll forget what you know. Doubts will creep in as enforced stereotypes and bias shape your existence in ways you didn’t agree to, but have no choice but to go along with.

The Obamas gave the country’s minority populations explicit permission to dismiss those stereotypes, to refuse to knuckle under to that bias – if not completely in workplace practice, at least in the privacy of our individual minds and hearts. I thank them for that. I thank them for setting such a lovely example for the world, and for all of us in it who needed that connection and similarity, that unwavering encouragement and audacious spirit of hope.

This morning I re-posted a list on Instagram titled The Obama Record. It featured some of the highlights from his presidency. Among them: longest streak of job growth on record, 11 million new jobs created, corporate profits up by 144 percent, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repealed, education and job opportunities for veterans, equal benefits for married gay couples, Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

This is just a small sampling from the list, and I chose to repeat these because they speak most clearly to his efforts around diversity and inclusion and his aid to everyday employees and to the companies that employ them. President Obama cared about equality. He cared about equity, and he cared about the American workforce.

He will be greatly missed.

Kellye Whitney is associate editorial director for Workforce magazine. Comment below or email editor@workforce.com.

January 12, 2017June 29, 2023

Sexism Remains an Unwelcome Advancement in the Workplace

When Andee Harris launched an HR tech startup nearly two decades ago she took pride in creating a workplace that supported women with family friendly benefits and ample career opportunities. She never imagined that when the company was acquired in 2011 the culture that she helped to build would change dramatically. Suddenly, she found herself unable to attend her firm’s executive retreat because it was at a male-only hunting lodge.

“Every year they did strategic planning over the weekend at a hunting lodge in Montana,” said Harris, 43, who was chief marketing officer at the time and the only woman on the executive team. “For 10 years it wasn’t an issue and then I joined the team. My CEO said, ‘We just realized that they don’t allow women so we’ll just take notes and follow up with you.’ I said, ‘No, I’m going to go.’ ”

wf_0117_feature2 — Some experts are warning of a rise in gender discrimination in the workplace. Illustration by Anna Jo Beck

The CEO called the lodge and convinced them to make an exception, but according to Harris the damage was done. She resigned soon after.

“They weren’t trying to be mean about it, but they didn’t realize the position that they put me in,” said Harris, who is now chief engagement officer at HighGround, a Chicago-based tech firm. “I pushed back and accused them of being sexist, but in their eyes they accommodated me. In tech, sexism is not as blatant as some women think it is. It’s not ‘grab ’em by the pussy.’ It’s a lot of little things that add up.”

Harris was referring to comments made in 2005 by newly elected President Donald Trump that were caught on a videotape uncovered by the Washington Post in October of last year. Trump, then a private citizen, can be heard boasting about kissing and grabbing women by the genitals.

wf_0117_feature_sexism_harrismug — Andee Harris experienced workplace sexism shortly after her former company was sold.

Most sexual discrimination in the workplace is much more subtle than blatant harassment and takes many forms, according to Rosalind Barnett, a researcher at the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University. While sexual discrimination in hiring, pay and other aspects of employment is illegal, attitudes and certain behaviors are much harder to prove. Sexism can mean being denied a promotion in favor of man who is deemed a better cultural fit, being talked over in meetings or never getting credit for your ideas, she said.

“Gender discrimination hasn’t gone away, its gone underground,” said Barnett, who coauthored the 2013 book “The New Soft War on Women: How the Myth of Female Ascendance is Hurting Women, Men, and Our Economy.” “We’re talking about things that are not legally actionable. People who do this are often not even aware of it. Sexism is in the air.”

While Trump’s comments were roundly condemned, some brushed them off as “locker room talk,” which women’s rights advocates see as a tacit acceptance of sexist behavior, including harassment. Many fear that workplace sexism could get worse.

“[November’s presidential] election threw so many of us for a loop,” said Meg Bond, psychology professor and director of the Center for Women & Work at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. “You realize that there are people who are not bothered by deep sexism and racism and that’s disturbing. Are we are bracing for more sexism in the workplace? Absolutely.”

Bond is a member of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s special task force on the study of workplace harassment, which released a lengthy report in November showing that it remains a big problem. In 2015, the EEOC received 28,642 sexual harassment complaints, representing nearly one-third of the all complaints filed that year. That averages to 76 complaints a day, according to the report.

Defining Discrimination

Sexual harassment is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on national origin, sex and religion. The most common type of sexual harassment is called quid pro quo harassment and involves demanding sexual favors in exchange for some kind of employment benefit, according to Tom H. Luetkemeyer, an attorney with Hinshaw & Culbertson in Chicago. The other kind is hostile environment harassment, which is defined as “frequent or pervasive” unwanted sexual advances or comments that create a hostile workplace, he said. Harassment also includes making offensive remarks about a person’s sex — whether female or male — or being subjected regularly to offensive jokes or images.

wf_0117_feature_sexism-leutekmeiermug — Tom H. Luetkemeyer, attorney with Hinshaw & Culbertson.

“If it’s severe and objectionable on an objective and subjective basis and it’s based on gender, it will likely rise to the level of sexual harassment,” Luetkemeyer said.

And if left unchecked, employers could ultimately pay a big price.

In 2015, the EEOC settled 5,518 sexual harassment cases totaling $125.5 million. Since 2010, employers have paid out $698.7 million to employees alleging harassment through the EEOC’s administrative enforcement pre-litigation process alone, according to the report.

In addition to legal expenses, employers who fail to address sexual harassment are likely to see a decline in productivity and higher health care costs, according to Bond. Workers who experience sexual harassment often suffer depression, anxiety, turnover, more sick days and a host of physical ailments that come with psychological distress, she said.

“Women who work in an environment where there’s harassment are less happy, and men are also less satisfied,” Bond said. “It’s not just a few targets that are victims. It’s the whole workplace.”

Yet, only 30 percent of employees who experience sexual harassment report it to their employer, according the EEOC report. Most try to avoid the harasser, deny or downplay the incident, or try to live with it, the report found.

HR’s Harassment Role

That is not surprising to Michelle Phillips, an employment attorney with Jackson Lewis. She questions whether HR is the right place for victims to go to lodge a complaint. She said that women may feel unsafe telling their stories to employees who may have been hired by the executives accused of the harassment.

“HR professionals play a critical role in a company’s culture, so it’s important for them to set the standard and be part of the enforcement mechanism to make sure complaints are heard and that no retaliation occurs,” she said. “The number one reason employees don’t report harassment is retaliation. They are afraid of being fired, shunned, ignored or intimidated. Like with Roger Ailes, a company can have a culture of not reporting things. HR plays a critical role in that.”

Please also read: Building a Sexism-Free Workplace

In July, Fox News CEO Ailes resigned amid accusations that he sexually harassed current and former female employees throughout his career. The scandal left many observers wondering how he was able to do this unchecked for so long.

Liz Washko, an employment attorney with Ogletree Deakins, advises employers to provide multiple ways for employees to report harassment or other types of sexual discrimination, such as a hotline and one or two HR representatives to hear complaints. But most importantly, she urges employers to follow through.

“You can have best policies but if you don’t act it means nothing,” she said. “We recommend that employers take complaints seriously and investigate them, and if they conclude there is an issue, then take corrective action.”

Claiming ignorance doesn’t protect employers from liability, according to Washko.

“I would urge vigilance right now,” she said. “People might not come to you. Make sure that front-line managers understand the importance of protecting employees and ask them to keep their ears to the ground so that maybe they can alert you. Even if people don’t complain, the company could be liable if these things are happening in the workplace.”

Identifying the Disconnect

The first step is learning how to spot sexist behavior, according to Valerie Aurora, CEO of Frame Shift Consulting, a San Francisco-based tech diversity and inclusion firm. This is especially challenging in tech where sexist attitudes are common, even though the industry prides itself on its progressive culture.

wf_0117_feature_sexism_valerieauroramug — ‘A lot of us think sexism is bad but a lot of us are acting in sexist ways,’ says Valerie Aurora.

Aurora started Frame Shift last year to help companies address this disconnect. One of the services that Aurora offers are ally skills workshops, training that teaches people how to use their societal privilege, like being white, or male, or wealthy, to help others. She said she developed the program in 2011 after a friend was groped at an open source software conference.

“I think our self-image as an industry and our actions are out of sync,” she said. “A lot of us think sexism is bad but a lot of us are acting in sexist ways.”

While many companies believe that sexual harassment training is the key to tackling the problem, she said most approaches are ineffective.

“Many times the instructors are rolling their eyes and telling people that they don’t want to be there, that they’re forced to do this legally, so no one takes it seriously,” she said. “You watch a 10-minute video and go home thinking, that was pointless.”

A better approach is to help people walk in someone else’s shoes in order to make them aware of their own subtle biases. Ally skills workshops focus on real-life scenarios to drive the point home.

“For example, you’re in a meeting and a woman has an idea and everyone ignores it and 30 minutes later a man voices the same idea and everyone gives him credit,” she said. “What can you do to make sure that first person gets the credit?”

Harris agreed that having allies in the workplace who are willing to speak out against instances of sex discrimination is key to creating a civil workplace. But she also encourages women to speak up for themselves.

“We need people who will have your back — whether they are men or women,” she said. “As women we tend not to fight and we sometimes let people take credit for our work. I think it’s also important that women stand up. Many companies focus on diversity and inclusion, however, a lot of companies don’t even realize how biased they really are.”

The workplace has become the front lines in the battle against all forms of discrimination, and employers have a responsibility to address them, according to Bond.

“The workplace is one of the primary places where people can and often do come into contact with people of different views,” she said. “It is an important setting for increasing understanding and equity. Some employers do see that they can play an important role in our society by helping to bring people together across differences.”

Rita Pyrillis is a writer in the Chicago area. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com.