Workplace Culture – Page 4

May 4, 2020June 29, 2023

HR needs to build employee trust to address sexual harassment

sexual harassment prevention requirements

While the #MeToo movement has brought some high-profile results including the imprisonment of Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby, the reality is that in general there have been few consequences for harassers.

This is especially true for populations of employees especially vulnerable to sexual harassment, including low-wage workers in the retail and service industries. Looking at data from 1995 to 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received more complaints of sexual harassment from the restaurant industry than from any other industry, according to Time. Retail employees, meanwhile, occupy the No. 2 spot in number of sexual harassment complaints filed.

According to digital media company Racked, what makes service workers vulnerable to sexual harassment includes low wages and complicated, ineffective complaint processes that rarely lead to any consequences. Further, harassers know they can prey on vulnerable workers who are often women or people of color because they can use these vulnerabilities against the person they’re harassing and take advantage of a power imbalance, according to Racked.

As rampant as sexual harassment is, offenders often get away with it and victims don’t believe their complaint will go anywhere. Meanwhile, HR may get the reputation of being more interested in protecting the company than protecting the victim.

Fifteen percent of employees have been sexually harassed according to “The State of Humanity at Work,” a spring 2020 report from software company Workhuman, which surveyed 2,613 full-time employees. But that number is probably higher given the sensitivity of the topic, the report noted. Of these people, 39 percent said they don’t trust their HR department. Only 47 percent of women and 66 percent of men who have been sexually harassed reported it.

“This mistrust is further manifested in low numbers of people reporting harassment. Changing these numbers is going to take work building up trust and showing commitment to listening and respect,” according to the report.

What employees can do after being sexually harassed

File a formal complaint: Despite employee concerns that HR will do nothing, filing a formal complaint is still a good idea.

If your company has a specific procedure for handling sexual harassment complaints, employees should follow it to the letter, taking note of every detail, like any time limits set out in that policy, advises law firm Allred, Maroko & Goldberg. In the case where a company has no formal procedure, an employee can start by reporting the harassment to their immediate supervisor, and, in the case where the supervisor is the one doing the harassing, report it to that supervisor’s manager. “It is important, particularly in hostile environment cases, to make sure that your company’s management knows of the harassment,” the law firm’s blog noted.

Keep records of everything: If an employee has any uncomfortable incident with their harasser, they can keep a log of times, dates and exactly what the person said or did for reference. They can also note witnesses who may be able to corroborate the incident. When they have digital evidence like texts, emails or instant messages to screenshot, that is further evidence to bring to HR with their complaint.

Being thorough and detailed is important here. The more details and evidence someone has, the better.

Further steps an employee can take: Sometimes a harassment victim is unable to resolve your harassment complaint by using your employer’s internal procedures, the law firm blog noted. If they still want to pursue the complaint, they can turn to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or their state’s human rights or civil rights enforcement agency next.

This can lead to several outcomes. The agency may decide not to proceed with the complaint but issue the victim a “right to sue” notice, allowing them to bring the case to court. The agency may also choose to file their own lawsuit against the employer.

A lawsuit is not the route an employer wants to take. That’s one reason it’s important to HR to step up and take sexual harassment cases more seriously.

“HR is like the CIA — when we do the right thing (like getting rid of a harasser) employees might never know about it, but when we screw up (like protecting a harasser), everyone knows,” said Kate Bischoff, an employment attorney at tHRive Law & Consulting LLC. This only magnifies the reputation of HR as a department that ignores critical culture issues like sexual harassment.

If this is the reputation of HR — and at times it is the reputation HR departments have earned, Bischoff said — then HR professionals must work harder to build trust with employees. They can get to know employees, ask them how they’re doing and find out what HR can do to help with any issues they’re having.

Building these relationships may help people feel like HR is trustworthy and will take sexual harassment seriously.

HR’s role in building employee trust

“The best way to build a connection with employees is to create a human-centered culture. Leaders can do this by keeping the line of communication open and providing frequent check-ins,” Bischoff said. “[And] good HR professionals build trust and take action to prevent and stop harassment.”

The report stressed the importance of a “human workplace,” defined as an environment where people are allowed to be human, make mistakes and treat each other with empathy, Bischoff said. “If we see each other as humans, we’re more likely to speak up when things are not right, when there are problems, and when we believe we’ve been harassed,” she added.

Not addressing sexual harassment has a clear negative impact on employees, but it can also adversely affect employers through turnover. Of the 21 percent of employees who are actively looking for a new job, 33 percent have been sexually harassed at work, according to the survey. This number is probably higher, the survey stated.

The “lawyerly” reason organizations should take sexual harassment more seriously is because of the risks they face due to bad press, lawsuits, charges of discrimination and the costs of settlement. But there’s much more to consider than reputational and financial damage. “Good organizations hear the lawyerly response more clearly, but great organizations hear the human response more clearly,” Bischoff said.

When sexual harassment occurs, a company is not providing an environment for employees in which they can do their best work and voice their concerns, she said. The company is treating their employees poorly, and it’s not providing the best services or products to its clients and customers as well.

The Workhuman report found that of the women who reported being sexually harassed, 29 percent did not get their claim investigated, Of the men reporting sexual harassment, 12 percent did not get their claim investigated.

This may also contribute to mistrust in HR, Bischoff said. “There’s no good reason for harassment not to be investigated,” Bischoff said. “Serious allegations of harassment should always be investigated.”

April 14, 2020June 29, 2023

How LAZ Parking discovered the secret sauce for employee engagement

LAZ Parking has a corporate history straight out of a Netflix mini-series. And it’s shaped the company’s culture and values ever since.

In the summer of 1981, Alan Lazowski was an aspiring college student trying to earn a little cash before his senior year at the University of Connecticut. Instead of looking for a job, he borrowed money from his grandfather and started a parking valet service for a local restaurant in Hartford, Connecticut. By summer’s end, he and two of his friends were managing five parking locations and had 30 employees.

Nearly 40 years later, Lazowski and his co-founders, Jeffrey Karp and Michael Harth, have grown that summer business into the second largest parking company in the country. LAZ Parking now has more than 13,000 employees and $1.4 billion in annual managed revenues, and operates more than a million parking spaces.

The founders attribute their success story in large part to their long standing goal: “Create opportunities for employees and value for clients.”

Luis Henriques LAZ Parking — Luis Henriques, general manager, LAZ Parking

That mission isn’t just a sign on the wall. Leaders across the company genuinely care about everyone on the team, from part-time valets to senior executives. They treat hourly workers like they will be with the company forever, said Luis Henriques, general manager for LAZ in Hartford. “Creating opportunities for employees is our secret sauce.”

Henriques knows from experience. He started at LAZ in 1989 as a teen-ager parking cars on weekends. His vice president recognized his dedication, and when Henriques completed his associate’s degree the company offered him a night management position overseeing 100 employees. Today he is responsible for 20 managers and more than 850 employees.

“I grew up in this company,” he said. “It is my family.”

LAZ leaders know that valet and parking attendant jobs aren’t glamorous, and that most employees see these jobs as a temporary measure to earn some quick cash. But the company is doing everything it can to encourage them to stick around, said Andi Campbell, senior vice president of people and culture.

Campbell was hired in 2012 as director of talent with the primary goal to “fill the talent pipeline.” Soon after she moved into the people and culture role because LAZ leaders recognized that finding and keeping talent is all about the company culture.

Everyone Deserves a Second Chance

The emphasis on creating opportunities for employees is seen everywhere at LAZ, beginning with recruiting.

“We are laser-focused on using data and KPIs to be sure we are getting people where we need them, and getting them into development,” Campbell said. “To grow as fast as we are growing, we have to find really good people, which isn’t always easy.”

The company hosts national job fairs in 20 cities twice a year and actively recruits everyone from college students to recent parolees.

“We are very big on second chances here,” said Henriques. He noted that while many companies won’t give previously incarcerated people an opportunity, LAZ believes these candidates can be great assets to the company. “They paid the price for what they did, and our experiences with them have all been positive.”

Once hired, employees are immersed in company culture from day one, so people know right away that the job can be more than just a temporary gig.

The LAZ onboarding process includes a variety of events, including Get Connected, a lunch and learn where employees meet with local, regional and national managers to talk about the company and opportunities beyond the front line.

“Our CEO always says that leaders are the ambassadors of the company,” Henriques said. “You have to take time every day to listen to your people. That’s what makes us different.”

Andi Campbell, SVP People & Culture, LAZ Parking

The company is also quick to celebrate its employees. Managers hand out Rave Cards that acknowledge employees who do excellent work, and the company throws elaborate end of the year parties for front line workers.

“Recognition is a big part of motivation,” Henriques said. “It’s how we say thank you to our staff.”

It Starts With Management

Campbell also makes sure that managers have the training and guidance to promote the company’s values in every employee interaction. This is key to the company’s engagement strategy.

“If you want to improve employee well-being, or safety, or engagement, it all comes down to how managers manage their people,” Campbell said. “Front-line workers don’t know the VPs, but they do know and trust their managers, so the key to change is at that mid-level.”

Whenever the company wants to address a corporate issue or encourage a certain behavior, it starts with manager training. Campbell has launched a series of learning programs over the years that align with corporate strategy, including how to meet the needs of front-line workers, how to prevent safety issues, and how to identify and promote high performers. Along with core workshops or live training events, she also provides frequent communications with management tips, access to coaching clinics, and a catalog of online training that managers can access any time. “When you teach people how to lead teams on the ground, that’s how you move the needle.”

One of the most successful efforts has been around teaching managers to be effective coaches, mentors and advocates for their people. Managers like Henriques are taught to always be on the lookout for passionate employees who might be LAZ management material.

When they identify these high performers, they can nominate them to attend LAZ University, an 10-week business management program that prepares aspiring hourly workers for management roles. Attending the training is considered an honor, and it draws attention to the company’s commitment to growth — both for employees selected for training, and those who see them move up the ranks, Henriques said.

Local and regional managers are also encouraged to suggest employees for management roles where positions open up. Henriques has promoted five people in the last nine years. “Their co-workers see that and recognize the opportunities are there.”

Hugs Not Handshakes

All of these values have been part of LAZ from the beginning, and are constantly reinforced by Lazowski himself. “He really cares about people,” said Tina Cyr, accounts payable director. Lazowski takes the time to learn everyone’s name, and is always available for a chat or a hug. “We are big huggers around here,” Cyr said.

Tina Cyr LAZ Parking — Tina Cyr, accounts payable manager, LAZ Parking

Cyr was initially surprised by the warmth she felt after coming to LAZ from a much more corporate environment, but she quickly embraced it. “There is something really special about a genuine family culture,” she said. “It really feels like they put people before profits.”

While the company may have a touchy-feely approach to engagement, they also keep a close eye on results. Campbell tracks data on every program she initiates, and sets key performance indicators to measure success.

That helps her prove the impact of her programs, and to tie culture investments to bottom-line results. Most recently, efforts to improve safety and wellness have helped the company reduce its per employee per month healthcare claim costs, despite being in a rapid hiring phase.

“We see wellness as a huge opportunity for LAZ,” she said. It lowers costs, reduces absenteeism, and reinforces the company’s commitment to employee wellbeing.

The company has also seen engagement numbers steadily rise, and its turnover has dropped below 17 percent for salaried employees, and 70 percent for hourly workers.

“For the hospitality industry, those numbers are amazing,” Campbell said.

LAZ may have a unique culture and history, but Campbell believes that it can be replicated. The key is to make culture part of everyone’s responsibility, she said. Whether a company is trying to figure out how to improve retention, promote wellness, or drive bottom line results, when leaders factor employee needs into their business decisions, they make choices that allow a positive corporate culture to blossom.

“It sounds simple,” she said, “but that’s how we connect culture to everything we do.”

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April 13, 2020June 29, 2023

Creativity through crisis: Engaging employees during the COVID-19 pandemic

We’ve been anticipating a seismic shift in the world of work for years. With factors like digital disruption, climate change and divergent geo-politics, it is no surprise that the “future of work” has finally arrived.

But did we expect it to arrive on these terms? A pandemic is eviscerating our communities, emerging with little warning and threatening lives and the global economy. The sorrow is pervasive.

At first, we at PwC were workforce strategists living under a cloak of sadness. But we found relief through creativity.

I’ve been socially isolated in New York for almost a month. I’m finding that by dedicating some right brain thinking to my daily schedule, I’m working in new ways. Not only does my “creativity break” help me relax each day (particularly when it involves paint, glitter and crayons), it helps me re-energize and solve work problems from a new perspective.

Also read: Senior Living Facility Employees Benefit from Art Therapy

Daily, my daughter and I take a break and do an art project together. I have found that the quality of our art is getting better each day, and with that grows our confidence. This is showing in how I engage with my work when I’m inspired to try new things — like testing out a new automation tool in PwC’s Digital Lab or communicating with a client using a new technology.

I tested the impact of creative release with my team, which is why we made QUARANTINE DAYS, a collaborative art project involving a collection of drawings and doodles. In my career, I have worked with clients to solve the most complex workforce issues — but QUARANTINE DAYS is one of my most prized projects. It gives me joy to admire what we have built as a team, through times of fear, anxiety and sadness.

Also read: 7 Tips for Managers to Help Employees De-Stress

The Doodle Challenge: How we made it happen

Step 1: Know your audience. To make a project like this work, choose an audience that is willing to demonstrate vulnerability. For many, doodling is not a natural pastime. It helps if there is an established level of familiarity across the group.

Step 2: Establish collaboration tools. We created a virtual chat room called “doodle madness” that allowed us to share drawings in a no judgement zone and did not distract from formal business communications.

Step 3: Define roles. You need a leader who can sponsor the project and is willing to embarrass themselves sometimes and demonstrate vulnerability. The sponsor will share the first doodle of the day to encourage others (and in our case, set a very low precedent for artistic talent). You need a project manager to encourage participation and collate the artwork.

Step 4: Give encouragement. A deliberate effort to recognize individual contributions is important to long-term participation. We have promoted QUARANTINE DAYS on social and external channels to give our collaborating artists recognition for their part in this creative process. This has also served as a subtle motivator.

Also read: Consider Fresh Air and Relaxed Hikes to Combat Work Stress

What we’ve learned from the doodle challenge

When our project ended, we sought results on how the creative process made participants feel. Most loved the distraction and the intellectual liberties they experienced by letting the right brain take over. Some loved how their drawings made people laugh — providing comic relief in taxing times. Others thought it helped us connect as a team and get to know one another on a deeper level.

Hearing this, I am not surprised that Harvard Medical School found that casual doodling not only improves attention span but also relieves psychological stress. I think in the future, I might ask my teams to draw and present their ideas when we problem solve for clients — instead of scribbling down messy thoughts on a faded whiteboard.

I love this creative depiction of the process from my colleague, Anna Leiman.

Team-wide doodle challenge; PWC; employee engagement — Employee feedback about the challenge

Staying human, especially during a crisis, matters. It may seem obvious, but creativity is an outlet, and in times like COVID-19, we need it.

Not everyone likes to draw. Some like to cook, play instruments or dance in the living room. It doesn’t matter what outlet people prefer. The point is that we are human, and even if we can’t be together physically, by sharing in creativity and using these periods of social isolation for gratitude and reflection, we’ll get through COVID-19. And by engaging employees this way, we’ll come out of it stronger and more connected than ever before.

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Many thanks to the contributing artists from PwC’s Financial Services People & Organization team for their contributions to QUARANTINE DAYS: Bhushan Sethi, Julia Lamm, Jenna Jackson, Alex Spira-Gutner, Christy Wade, Mona Jolly, Taylor Goodman, Alexandra Hom, Lauren Hammond, Andrew Pallotta, Caroline Brainerd, Meg Connelly, Stefanie Goldberg, Stephanie Madarasz, Stephanie Sullan, Smital Patel, Nick Hladek, Jay Sharma, Anna Leiman, Rebecca Leopold, Nicolette Sortisio, Olivia Hewitt, Madeline Bryke, Zachary Horowitz, Dina Finkel, Charmaine Chan, Carolyn Tomlinson, Nicole Pollack, Armando De la Flor, Jamie Burke, Neil Patel, Alexandra Reyes and Victoria Sulenski.

Thank you also to members of the critical services workforce, including medical staff such as doctors, nurses and hospital administrators who work tirelessly to prevent the spread and destruction of COVID-19.

April 12, 2020June 29, 2023

Coronavirus Update: The top 5 things I’m doing besides working

How are you filling your non-working time?

We used to fill our time running our kids all over the place for various lessons, rehearsals, and gigs. Now, however, we have a lot of down-time, with nothing to do. So how am I filling my time when I’m not working? (Which, btw, I’ve been doing a lot of over the past month.)

1. Walking … a lot. We are walking a ton of miles. As in 4 to 6 miles per day. The rings on my Apple Watch are very happy. Partly because we have two high-energy dogs (one being an 11-month-old puppy) that can’t go to daycare to tire themselves out. And partly because what else are we going to do? Let me make a few observations from my miles of walking. First, thank you to most for maintaining social distance. People (more or less) have been really good about keeping six feet of separation. Secondly, people have been really nice to each other. Lots of, “How are yous” from total strangers (from a socially acceptable distance). Third, it appears that many people do not think kids can carry or catch COVID-19. Because I’ve seen lots of kids playing together in close groups (basketball, football, walking, etc.). Parents, I know this sucks for your kids. It’s going to suck more if they transmit this virus to each other. Please, let’s try to maintain social distance for a few more weeks, and we can all start to get back to normal socializing again (although it’s going to take me a while to feel comfortable shaking someone’s hand or getting in an elevator).

2. Cooking and baking. Because we always seem to be running around a lot, we are always grabbing food out. We must eat out four times a week. Without nowhere to go, I’ve been cooking every night. I’ve also been baking (a combination of comfort and nesting, I think). The cooking is starting to get old. I really do love to cook, but I also love the option of not cooking. When this is all over, I think I’ll be exercising that option a bunch. Also, if anyone wants the world’s greatest gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe, hit me up.

3. Grazing all day. One of the downsides of working from home (aside from the a-hole puppy who barks, and goes crazy, and generally likes to annoy us and his big sister) is the easy availability of food and constant snacking. Thankfully, no. 1 above makes up for these added comfort calories.

4. Virtual cocktail hours. Since we can’t connect with people in person, we’ve been connecting remotely via Zoom. We have weekly check-ins with family (real and our Fake ID band family). We’ve also connected with friends as far as the West Coast and as near as across the street. It’s been a great (albeit different) way to keep in touch and re-connect. And, cocktail hour.

5. Slowing way down. One of the unintended benefits of sheltering at home is that we have been forced to sloooooow down. No longer running to and from place to place, we have the time to sit and play a family game or watch a family movie (***** for “Almost Famous,” even though I forgot that Kate Hudson shows her boob; ***1/2 for “Onward,” not one of Pixar’s best, but still enjoyable and sweet.) It’s not like we weren’t connected as a family pre-coronavirus, but this has forced us to reconnect in a good way. And no one is sick of anyone else … yet.

March 19, 2020June 29, 2023

How to strengthen workforce communications during the COVID-19 crisis

Communication is at the heart of every sound workforce management practice.

From establishing clear expectations, setting a bigger purpose, building company culture down to fostering accountability, communication will always be at the core . Clearly messaged, trusted communication can either make or break operations and enhance employee engagement.

A study by The Economist Intelligence Unit shows how poor workplace communication is detrimental to an organization. Survey respondents say that communication barriers result in delay or failure to complete projects (44 percent), low morale (31 percent), missed performance goals (25 percent), and lost sales (18 percent). And it can be worse when a crisis such as the coronavirus pandemic hits.

Clear communication is crucial to stability

Effective communication becomes even more critical during times of crisis and uncertainty.

Workforces globally are facing a massive challenge to their business operations with the COVID-19 pandemic. It has prompted businesses to take drastic measures to ensure the safety of staff and customers alike. Depending on the nature of the business, some have ceased operations or function under a skeleton workforce and limited hours, while other organizations have implemented work from home arrangements.

Effective communication can still bind your team together.

Given the shifting workplace situation, effective workforce communications are more critical than ever. A crisis, whether a natural disaster, a corporate meltdown or the outbreak of a disease affects employee morale. Effective communication can still bind your team together even during times of uncertainty. Leaders need to do their part to address issues promptly and clearly.

It’s also important to note that social media and online platforms can turn employees into de facto spokespeople for your organization. Whatever they share on their platforms about working for your company will reflect how you communicate with them. Those communications — or lack of a clear, consistent message — can result in a better brand image or sprout into a new crisis.

So how can leaders effectively address their staff during a challenging time?

Act fast

When a crisis strikes, it’s essential to address employees as soon as possible.

Leaders might not have answers to some of their questions right away. In the case of rapidly developing situations, like the COVID-19 pandemic, this is understandable. But it’s crucial to let employees know that you are looking into the issue and finding solutions to their concerns. What matters is to give them the assurance that the organization is aware of the situation and that the welfare of staff is a priority.

Solidify the message

Consistent messaging is key. While different roles have different concerns, it’s essential to keep the overall message continuous and consistent.

Address all of their concerns and frequently asked questions. In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the questions will revolve around remote work, schedule changes, payment arrangements, leave management and other operational issues.

Diversify message delivery

How you relay the message is equally important as how it is crafted.

Empathy is important during a crisis, but what if face-to-face communication is no longer possible?

Video conferencing or a recorded video message are viable options, but how do you let staff know about it? Email is a common communication channel for organizations, but it’s best to diversify delivery channels when the situation is urgent. In a 2019 survey by text-messaging platform SlickText of over 1,000 employees across the United States, 43 percent of respondents say that timely notifications and emergency alerts are best sent through SMS and not email. Chat platforms also are useful in this case as they can quickly disseminate information and concisely. Employees are likely to open chat platforms frequently, too.

Keep the feedback loop open

Effective communication to staff goes beyond issuing announcements or bulletins. It’s about keeping communication lines open and soliciting feedback.

During a crisis, it’s imperative to open channels for discussions and to raise questions. Chat applications are suitable not just for discussing in groups but in one-on-one correspondence as well. It’s more immediate than email too and helps pass information more quickly.

See how it works: Workforce.com’s employee app includes chat features.

A platform to stay connected

A good communication process is vital for any organization. It’s important to equip a workforce with different ways to stay connected.

Thanks to technology, employers and staff can still stay connected. But a more effective approach is to keep all necessary communication in one place. A workforce management system provides crucial features to stay on top of operations and team communications.

For Workforce.com users there are features on our platform available to keep communication lines open during this difficult time. Chat with your staff, schedule according to operational changes, manage leave, clock in and out remotely, and communicate changes through custom events, among other things.

COVID-19 is rapidly changing how businesses operate. We recognize that organizations need an extra helping hand right now. So we’re offering our platform for free to new sign-ups over the coming months. Sign up today and our Workforce Success team will gladly provide a personal, online walkthrough of our platform to help you get started.

March 18, 2020April 11, 2023

During COVID-19 outbreak, utilize internal communications in your company crisis plan

Internal communication is a vital part of crisis management, whether it is a pandemic like COVID-19, a natural disaster or a workplace shooting.

As the people and organizations worldwide deal with the implications of the coronavirus, it is vital for people to communicate accurate information about the virus, check what they’re retweeting and make sure not to spread disinformation. Businesses have a similar responsibility, but on top of that, their communication must be strategic. It should be part of any crisis management plan.

Employees will be getting information about the coronavirus from somewhere, and coworkers will realistically discuss the company’s response to the pandemic among one another, whether their response is appreciative or critical.

Whatever standard message a business publicly announces during a crisis, if employees have issues with how the crisis is being handled, it doesn’t matter if the media paints the company in a good light. There still may be low employee morale and high levels of frustration internally.

Despite the immediate importance of communication, many organizations have yet to create a strategy. According to a report from Gallagher’s Benefits and HR Consulting Division, 61 percent of organizations have developed a communication strategy related to COVID-19, with 82 percent of health care having a strategy compared to 49 percent of non-health care organizations.

In another survey of 300 communications senior leaders, the Institute for Public Relations found that 44 of respondents said their crisis communications plan did not specifically address an infectious disease outbreak. Ten percent of respondents did not have crisis communication plans at all.

There are some basics that employees should understand about coronavirus symptoms and the course of the illness, which should be an integral part of a communication campaign.

First, COVID-19 is not airborne. It’s passed by droplets. That means when someone who is infected coughs into their hands and touches a surface, someone else can catch it by touching that surface and then touching their face. As strange as it may seem, that’s good news. It means that if people wash their hands frequently with regular soap — especially after you may have touched surfaces that a lot of other people touch, like doorknobs, the keypad for clocking into work or shaking hands — they’re much less likely to be infected.

Second, some people have compared COVID-19 symptoms to the flu, but that’s not completely accurate. The two most common symptoms are fever and a dry cough. People with COVID-19 rarely have a sniffle. They also aren’t likely to be nauseous. What they are likely to have is bad upper respiratory problems. They tend to develop a severe cough that makes it hard for them to breathe, which is what is making COVID-19 dangerous.

Finally, it’s also true that for most younger workers, the symptoms are milder and people who have it may only think they have a cold. However, older employees or anyone with a compromised immune system are much more likely to have serious symptoms that require medical assistance. The medical assistance that is often required is intubation and the use of a ventilator.

The reason why COVID-19 is such a big deal right now is because the number of people who require medical assistance is overwhelming the medical system in the places where the number of cases has grown, like Italy. The medical system has been overwhelmed even in places that have a consistent ratio of doctors and hospital beds to people (Italy’s is better than the United States’, for example). There are only so many beds in the hospitals and only so many ventilators.

That’s why there has been a push to slow down transmission through actions like social distancing and remote working, because if it is slowed enough, it won’t overwhelm the health care system. The mission is to flatten the curve and buy time for the health care system to adequately care for those who fall ill.

If someone has been exposed, they are likely to have symptoms within five days of exposure and can also be a carrier for up to 14 days, even if they’re asymptomatic. This is why quarantine periods are generally 14 days long.

According to recent guidance from consultancy Deloitte, the most important players in your communications plan are front-line managers. Employees expect accurate, authoritative and transparent information. “Trying to conceal risk can potentially create more,” the report stated. Leaders should outline communication plans and make sure that managers know what to expect and understand and define their role.

Further, companies need to prepare plans for site disruption and reactivation. “In the event an entity has to close its doors for non-critical workers for a period, determine a communications plan about how you’ll communicate with all workers, including contractors and vendor partners,” according to the Deloitte guidance. “Have a clear playbook for how to initiate a closure and how to reroute operations and employees to other locations within your network. Moreover, finalize a checklist to determine when employees can return to work once the all clear is given.”

Employees are bound to talk about the coronavirus outbreak on social media, and there are certain steps a business can take to temper this, according to Deloitte. One solution is to provide employees an internal communications channel through which they can express their issues about what they’re seeing within the organization. It’s a smart business move to “ensure direct communication as much as possible as an alternative to social media,” the report stated.

COVID-19 is rapidly changing how businesses operate. We recognize that organizations need an extra helping hand right now. So we’re offering our platform for free to new sign-ups over the coming months. Sign up today and our Workforce Success team will gladly provide a personal, online walkthrough of our platform to help you get started.

February 24, 2020June 29, 2023

The do’s and don’ts of handling emotions in the workplace

stressed out employees at conference table

Emotions in the workplace can range from outbursts among coworkers due to daily stressors but can also include mental health conditions and outside factors that people bring to work with them. These struggles can make it difficult or uncomfortable to ask for help due to the stigma surrounding mental health issues. While breaking the stigma encourages people to seek help and discourage discrimination against them when they do, sometimes the implementation of these efforts cross too many lines. Mark Kluger, founding partner of employment law firm Kluger Healey, spoke to Workforce about what is and is not appropriate when it comes to developing workplace policies that address emotions at work.

Workforce: To what extent does an outburst at work due to negative emotions end up resulting in discipline or determination?

Kluger: I look at it as three different levels. Human emotions, or workplace emotions, can include anything as simple as an argument at work. What I would look at as a potential disciplinary issue could involve an outburst from an employee to another coworker or somebody losing their temper. From a policy standpoint, this can justify discipline or termination, depending on how bad it is. Sexual assault or sexual harassment can also obviously create conflict at work and result in discipline.

The next level are issues that border on mental health problems that manifest themselves at work, and those two things can bleed into each other. Obviously, somebody with a mental health problem at work can also have outbursts that can result in there being discipline. So, that’s one set of policies that revolves around how people just behave at work toward one another — essentially a civility code — and that kind of civility code, from an employer’s standpoint, can result in people losing their jobs or being disciplined or counseled.

Another level is the mental health aspect. Employers have to be careful about having policies that specifically address mental health issues because the Americans with Disabilities Act protects employees from being discriminated against on the basis of mental health issues. So, employers have to be very careful not to have policies that delve into people’s medical conditions. There is protection against discrimination for employees who have mental health problems at work where employers do cross over into having to meddle in people’s mental health problems, where those mental health problems cause a disruption at work or cause an employee to not be able to perform their job effectively. There are also times when employers are obligated to engage in what’s called an interactive process under the Americans with Disabilities Act where they essentially ask employees what’s going on and whether there is something the employer can do to accommodate them.

Workforce: How do organizations ensure that their policies are respecting and accommodating employees’ needs and privacy while also being effective and not crossing any lines?

Kluger: Employers have to be really careful not to intrude into areas of potential mental health problems or even just people having a bad day. But of course things like anxiety and depression are associated with mood, so when an employer starts asking questions like, “Why are you in a bad mood today?” or, “What’s troubling you?” employers may be crossing that line into areas not only that they shouldn’t be but that they don’t want to be because it can lead to actions by the employer, while maybe unintended, that could appear to be discriminatory.

Workforce: Does the nature of the workplace culture determine what is deemed appropriate or inappropriate behavior?

Kluger: It depends on the environment, of course, but from an employer’s perspective, it almost doesn’t matter because you can’t have people who are being insubordinate or screaming at their bosses in front of everybody else because it totally breaks down the respect for the authority figures. I mean, in an advertising agency you can maybe have a little more leeway with people being argumentative with one another, but in a police department or a fire department you can’t. There are those kinds of environmental factors to take into consideration, but when people express their emotions at work, it can lead to legitimate reasons for terminating them regardless of what the origin of the emotion is, so I think it’s important to keep that in mind.

Workforce: What role do EAPs play in these situations?

Kluger: EAPs are very common these days, usually as part of a health insurance plan and they’re conducted by outside mental health professionals. I think they are an excellent resource for employers to make available to their employees. The privacy is protected with EAPs because although someone in HR may know that an employee is taking advantage of it, they ultimately don’t know why or what it’s about. So, it is private in a sense that the professionals are outside of the organization and it is a great way for an employer to provide a benefit for employees who need some counseling or guidance. Since so many people need those kinds of resources today, the fact that employers are able to make it available is a real asset to most workplaces.

Workforce: How can workplaces start breaking the stigma against mental illness/coping with that in the workplace?

Kluger: I think it’s probably as much a societal problem as it is a workplace problem. The stigma has been there for a long time, but I think the definition of what a mental health problem is has broadened so much today that I think that most areas of society are starting to loosen up on that stigma, including in the workplace. Because so many people report issues of anxiety and depression and are far more open about it than ever before, I think that stigma is slowly melting away.

I view it as a generational issue as well. I think that the baby boomer generation may be the last of the generations that attach that stigma. As millennials and Generation Z become more ingrained in management among employers the stigma will all but disappear. I think millennials and Generation Z are far more comfortable and open about anxiety and depression being part of most people’s lives, unfortunately, and less of a problem. So, I do think over time the stigma will disappear and people will feel more comfortable revealing that they’re having mental health problems.

Workforce: What is some advice that you give when counseling HR managers or developing these types of policies?

Kluger: I tell HR professionals to listen and be careful what you ask because you may not want to know. Ultimately, the employer’s job is to get the job done right and if somebody can’t come to work, whether it’s because they’ve got a substance abuse problem or a mental health problem, is sort of irrelevant to the employer. So, while many employers are generous about providing people with time to heal and to get better — obviously there are laws that protect them as well — policies need to be geared to comply with the law but to also be cognizant of the fact that too much information is a dangerous thing for the employer.

January 30, 2020June 29, 2023

By the numbers: How employee engagement is trending

Engaging employees is a struggle for many employers, despite the many practical or trendy solutions that different thought leaders and advisers suggest. Workforce is spending the month of February collecting old and new articles about employee engagement in one place. Meanwhile, the Human Capital Media research department gathered data to explore why engagement matters and how many employees are disengaged.

Also in By the Numbers: Employee Mental Health

Also in By the Numbers: Public Sector Employees

January 29, 2020June 29, 2023

Leadership diversity in football, corporate America and beyond

Moving up the chain of command is discouraging in a lot of companies. The further you go, the more white and male it gets.

This disappointing trend of diversity recently was in the news. The Wall Street Journal also reported that “women held more U.S. jobs than men in December for the first time in nearly a decade, a development that likely reflects the future of the American workforce.” Despite this development, we’re still seeing a population of leaders that is mostly male.

The Washington Post recently published an article about the frustration many black coaches have over the National Football League’s hiring process. While nearly 70 percent of NFL players are black, potentially only three head coaches will be after a series of vacancies are filled this year.

Said one black position coach about Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Eric Bieniemy, according to the article: “Watching E.B. get passed over has a big ripple effect because now you have guys who are questioning if there is even a chance to elevate in the NFL. You want the best coaching candidates, regardless of race. And if you’re biased against black coaches, you’re overlooking a lot of talent.”

Other black coaches expressed concerns that they were only interviewed for the position to check a box or that no matter what advocacy or interview rules got adopted, that wouldn’t change the conscious or unconscious biases of the interviewers and decision makers.

I have a few responses to stories like these (none of which are “surprise”). The first is, given how many companies preach their commitment to diversity and how many companies love to showcase their diversity and inclusion initiatives, how aren’t the results there? Why is the group of people with the most power and the highest salaries still mostly homogenous in so many fields? How long will it take for unconscious bias training to have an impact in hiring decisions, especially for jobs higher up the career ladder?

My research department colleague Grey Litaker and I worked on a story about this topic last year. Litaker dug up research on diversity in the pool of MBA graduates versus diversity in leadership positions. The percentage of educated, diverse MBA graduates was not close to matching up the the (very low) percentage of diverse people in leadership positions.

One quote from Molly Brennan, founding partner and executive vice president of executive search firm Koya Leadership Partners, really stuck out to me when creating this story, and I think it applies to non-corporate organizations like the National Basketball Association as well. “This idea that there’s not a lot of qualified candidates [from] underrepresented groups out there is a false one. There’s a whole host of diverse, qualified people who are ready, willing and able to take on leadership roles.”

Also read: The 2010s in Diversity and Inclusion: How Much Progress Did We Make?

We’re in a new decade now, and I’d encourage company leaders to think critically about their D&I strategy and if it’s enough. Forget the marketing speak and the press release-friendly quotes about how much you value diversity. How is that actually translating into which employees get the opportunity to get a promotion, and which employees are held back by the attitudes and assumptions of decision makers? Rather than focusing on brand-speak that sounds good to consumers, focus on making substantial changes that could actually even the playing field.

January 22, 2020June 29, 2023

Leadership Skills: Inclusion and Empathy

Jenny just walked into your office and confessed her life is falling apart due to an addiction to Vicodin.

Tom just showed up in a dress and used what appears to be the wrong bathroom.

Your reaction to these events says a lot about how ready you are to be a manager in the coming decade. Your company is not likely to be of much help.

I recently finished reading Mike Isaac’s “Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber.” It’s the story of how Uber rose from humble beginnings to become a Silicon Valley unicorn, then stumbled from the top as its bro-tastic culture caused it to be tone-deaf to the world around it via repeated PR fiascos.

The cultural challenges led to the ouster of founder and CEO Travis Kalanick, who was replaced by former Expedia leader Dara Khosrowshahi (still CEO at Uber).

To illustrate the cultural overhaul underway at Uber, let’s look at some old founder-driven values under Kalanick, then compare those to new values rolled out under Khosrowshahi:

Old Uber Values: Meritocracy, toe-stepping, always be hustlin’.

New Uber Values: We build globally/live locally, we celebrate differences, we do the right thing.

Company values must evolve over time. Uber was late to make the cultural change, which underscores an important reality in most workplaces. Almost every people manager faces change happening faster than organizational infrastructure or company values can accommodate.

Great managers adapt before they are forced to and usually before the company sponsors cultural change.

Change is everywhere in society and comes at us fast. You’re reading about the drug use facing corporate America in this issue of Workforce. Opioid addiction, legalization trends and more are upon us. Company policy regarding hot button issues naturally trails the change we see outside the workplace. The fact that cultural change happens faster than companies can pivot is why one of the most important manager competencies in today’s world is rapid inclusion and empathy.

Consider the following realities:

You’re a leader.
You’re full of personal thoughts, a specific background and some bias.
When change comes and you’re asked to consider the rights of yet another special class of people or individuals, you may react as if it’s a burden or worse. You can say it’s all gone too far. Some will agree with you.
But you’ll ultimately acknowledge the rights and needs of the segment of people in front of you, or you won’t be allowed to lead anymore.
History shows this cycle of events to be true. Look at all societal change and trailing legislation from yesterday’s Title VII to today’s LBGTQ+ conversations and emerging laws. Once societal change reaches critical mass, mandates come to the workplace. It’s just a matter of time.

Most of us don’t work for a company like Uber in crisis and as a result, cultural expectations related to inclusion and empathy are less clear. That means you’re on your own as policy at your company trails societal change. What if you weren’t late the game? What if you as a leader made it a priority to make all feel welcome and equal in your company and on your team?

Great managers adapt before they are forced to and before the company sponsors cultural change.

If that was your approach, you’d find the people in question — the special class of people currently causing others discomfort — incredibly willing to work for you and, just as importantly, freed to do their best work. You’d be maximizing your ability to get great work from the employees you have.

Many of you are HR pros and leaders working for companies stuck in the middle. Your company is slow to pivot on societal change for many reasons.

Also in Work in Progress: How to Hire Your First HR Leader

But that glacial corporate reaction to change is an opportunity. While you likely can’t change corporate policy in an agile fashion, you can still lead and train others on the business opportunity that happens when you treat people the right way.

When you’re early on inclusion and show empathy, a funny thing happens. Performance and the ability for someone to do their best work goes up. Word spreads about your empathy and the candidate pool expands. Managers start to have their own gravity from a cultural perspective

Also in Work in Progress: Are Your Leaders Credible? Are You Sure?

None of us are perfect when it comes to the change required as society evolves. But the best managers and leaders are moving quicker through the cycle to acceptance, and they’re viewed as a manager of choice as a result.

Uber was not an inclusive or empathetic company until it was forced to change. You don’t have to wait on your company to dictate inclusion. Be early on acceptance.