The Last Acceptable Prejudice

2017 marked the 50th anniversary of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act  (ADEA) which provides protection to individuals aged 40+ from discrimination in employment.  Age discrimination occurs when an employer treats an employee or an applicant less favorably because of his / her age.  

But where are we now? 

In 2017 over 18,000 cases were filed with the EEOC alleging violation of ADEA.  Of those cases, less than 2.5% were found to have "reasonable cause."

In a June, 2017 article by the American Bar Association, "the need to ensure equal employment opportunities regardless of age continues to be an important public policy and civil rights concern. Older workers may be unfairly stereotyped as close-minded, less productive, less adaptable to new technology and ideas, slower, less physically active, and more prone to sickness."

As Baby Boomers continue to age they face discrimination in layoffs and hiring. Organizations eye senior employees as candidates for layoffs or forced retirement due to their compensation levels, perks, pensions, healthcare costs, etc.   These same factors become barriers to their hiring because potential employers can hire a less experienced candidate at a reduced compensation.

While the ADEA makes it illegal to discriminate against workers age 40 and up, the exact rules aren't always crystal clear.  Here's a few interesting facts:

1. Age discrimination is illegal at any stage of employment.  This includes hiring, promotions, raises and layoffs.
2. It is legal for employers to ask your age as well as the date you graduated from school. 
3. There is a gender difference in the perception of age discrimination.  Men are less likely to feel they are facing discrimination.

Ensure your internal processes are legal, equitable and fair!

HR, employees and managers all have a love/hate relationship with performance appraisals.  Regardless of which camp your emotions lie in, the appraisal process is intended to be an honest discussion between the manager and the employee about the employee's performance.  

To ensure managers assess employee performance over the entire appraisal period versus recent developments (Recency Bias) only, I always encourage managers to maintain a file on each employee.  The file is to contain documentation outlining the employee's highs and lows throughout the year.  S/he receives a kudo from a team member or customer, a note goes to the file.  If the employee requires assistance on a project, a note to file for potential training.  This process also has a secondary value.  It requires the manager to take time to know his/her employee.  

Communication is key.

Smarter Than Your Manager?

Have you ever had the thought that you shouldn’t be working for your manager?  That s/he should be working for you?  The belief that managers are supposed to be more qualified and better decision makers than their subordinates is not always a reality.  The manager in question may have no idea how to motivate, communicate or support the individuals that work for them.   Further, the manager may not be aware of their shortcomings or even care. I have a business acquaintance once who described the situation as “Checker players versus Chess players.”  An apt assessment of his personal situation where two individuals were working on two very different competency levels.    

If after reflecting on the situation and you conclude that you are actually smarter or more qualified than your manager, think twice before discussing your concerns with anyone.   You don't want to be seen as a negative, disgruntled employee who's rocking the boat.

So what can you do?   Look for opportunities where their areas of weakness match your strengths and take the opportunity to shine.  Hope that something changes as a result of your effort.   

Alternatively, make the decision to move on and continue your career elsewhere.

Microagression in the Workplace

Does Microagression exist in your workplace?

Merriam-Webster defines Microagression as "a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group (such as racial minority)."   “Microagressions are along a continuum  from being very deliberate and conscious to being outside one’s conscious behavior.”    Derald Wing Sue, PhD,  Professor Columbia University.

While they may not always be ill-intentioned and are oftentimes an unintended insult, it is a way an individual’s implicit biases leak out.    Microagressions prevent improvement of workforce diversity and employee productivity. 

Corporate cultures should be proactive in addressing microagression and unconscious bias.  Recognize it when it happens.  Foster communication.  Be inclusive.   Create an environment where employees are comfortable raising issues such as microagression and bias.

#MeToo Backlash

Bloomberg recently reported that Wall Street was undertaking "controversial strategies" that "risk isolating women in finance."  On December 3rd Bloomberg released an article entitled "Wall Street Rule for the #MeToo Era:  Avoid Women At All Cost."

Are men so fearful of being tainted with sexual harassment charges that they are ostracizing women in the workplace?  This is an outrageous reaction - not a solution.

Extreme tactics cited in the article include:  No more dinners with female colleagues.  Don't sit next to them on flights.  Book hotel rooms on different floors.  Avoid one-on-one meetings.   As a wealth advisor stated, just hiring a woman these days is "an unknown risk."  What if she took something he said the wrong way?

Is this the beginning of a new age of sexual discrimination?  Women may find more closed doors and exclusion from training / mentoring programs or other opportunities, thereby negatively impacting their professional growth and careers.

But there is a positive response.  New research from the Society for Human Resources Management, (a survey of 18,000 U.S. employees, at all levels across 15 industries) reflected that about one-third (32%) of executives say they've "changed their behavior"  due to greater awareness of the hazards of  sexual misconduct in the workplace.  This includes risk to employee morale (23%)  and employee engagement (23%).   21% of the respondees indicated that harassment has "never been an issue" in their organization.  Almost 40% of the executives indicated their response to the movement was to be more "careful" or "mindful" about locker-room humor and sexist jokes.   

Smart employers take the appropriate measures to address and eliminate harassment concerns in the workplace through:  (1)  Harassment Policies, (2) Supervisor and Employee Training, and (3) Investigation.

#MeToo has changed the landscape.   Let's tread carefully as we are all learning in this process.  Sexual harassment claims aren't black and white, they are multiple shades of grey.

A Conversation with Leadership

"Praise in Public, Punish in Private."

Public recognition is a huge motivating force for employees.  It has the desired effect of reinforcing positive behavior.  Employees will feel more connected to, and valued by, the organization.  It will result in measurable elevation of the employee's motivation to achieve more in the future.  It will create a culture of feedback.

How we communicate, as well as what we communicate, when reprimanding an employee is critical.  Receiving criticism is difficult and oftentimes the receiver is put on the defensive.  When an employee is reprimanded in public, it is damaging and embarrassing for everyone involved.  At the very least, the manager is exhibiting bullying behavior by publicly shaming the employee.  The goal of constructive criticism is to help the employee understand how to become a more effective employee and to motivate the employee to self-correct the behavior deficiency.   Nothing can damage trust and morale quicker than a manager criticizing an employee in a public forum.

Feedback is a powerful way to interact with employees.  Set the tone from the top.

Tips:  

Avoid over-use of positive feedback to cushion the blow before delivering criticism. It degrades the value of the praise.

In private, clearly communicate what is being done wrong and be prepared to provide ideas on how to fix it.

Maslow's Hierarchy and Business

Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs gives us insight into what humans require (and desire) to live a fulfilling life.  The higher need, self-actualization, is what motivates us to achieve more. Defined by Maslow as the desire to accomplish everything that one can and to become the most one can be, this level is unique to each individual.  It is not driven or motivated by a deficiency but by a desire for personal growth, development and creativity.    

Employees spend a minimum of 30% of their waking hours on the job.  Their needs have an impact on their performance as well as organizational performance.  How are we, as employers, supervisors, managers and leaders, enabling employees to reach the pyramid's peak?  Do we offer the ability for employees to have autonomy in their role and therefore individualize their work experience?

Engage, listen and survey your employees to truly understand their needs.  Enable them to express themselves.  Identify what your employees do best and what gives them satisfaction.  Tap into their potential.  

Recruiting for a Unicorn?

Employers (and recruiters) all seem to be looking for the perfect candidate.  

The perfect candidate, like Unicorns, don't exist. 

I spoke with a hiring manager last week whose hiring process consisted of four interviews.  Yes, four.  When I inquired as to his level of concern in potentially losing good candidates due to the length of his interview process, he didn't appear too concerned.  He was focused on locating a candidate that meet all of his hiring criteria.

Most hiring processes, including this one, take too long.  The longer your hiring process takes, the more you increase your chances of losing your best candidates and being left with mediocre ones.  Hiring the wrong person can create a whole series of negative consequences.  And it's an expensive lesson.

My recommendation is to develop some realistic qualifications for the position.  What will it take to get the job done?  What personality will blend into your culture?   

Seek out candidates that will complement skills that already exist within your organization.  Place a high value on attitude, work ethic and motivation. 

An Engaged Culture and Your Bottom Line

A great culture gives you a competitive edge.  From individual contributors to the top executive, employees are a companies greatest resource and the reason for its success or failure.  Engagement is all about accentuating the positive and sometimes we have to take the necessary steps to ensure we are creating a culture of engagement. 

Where engaged cultures exist: 

• Highly engaged business units achieve 59% less turnover (Gallup's State of the American Workplace report).
• 55% of businesses say that stronger engagement would improve their ability to either retain, recruit or carry out succession planning (CBI's 2018 survey).  

A 2015 poll by Gallup showed that disengaged employees outnumbered engaged employees two to one.   The net negative impact of disengaged employees result in poor morale and productivity.  Some sobering statistics to consider:

• 60 to 70% of all employee turnover is voluntary (ADP Research Institute's Revelations form Workforce Turnover report).
• Top reasons for leaving a job include the following:  insufficient pay (44%), limited career paths (43%), lack of challenging work (30%), work-life balance (28%), and lack of recognition (27%).  (Randstad's Employer Brand Research report).  

The following components are critical to creating a culture of engagement:

• Leadership with a clear vision of the mission.
• Clear communication of the mission.
• Buy-in by the employees. 
• Support of company goals with the confidence that the organization cares.
• Transparency.

2018 EEOC Report Shows Spike in Sexual Harassment Charges

In fiscal year 2018 the EEOC saw an increase in sexual harassment charges over 2017 numbers.  The EEOC filed 66 harassment lawsuits, including 41 that included allegations of sexual harassment.  These preliminary numbers reflect more than a 50% increase in suits challenging sexual harassment over fiscal year 2017.  As a result, the agency has put a new emphasis on anti-harassment efforts, focusing on training and enforcement of anti-discrimination laws.

The numbers:  The EEOC recovered almost $70 million for sexual harassment claims in fiscal year 2018.  This is an increase from $47.5 million in fiscal year 2017.

"The EEOC's innovative training program "Respectful Workplaces," which teaches skills for employees and supervisors to promote and contribute to respect in the workplace, was in high demand since it was launched in October 2017.  Over 9,000 employees and supervisors in the private, public and federal sector work forces participated in Respectful Workplaces trainings this past fiscal year.   An additional 13,000 employees participated in the EEOC's anti-harassment compliance trainings."

Cathy Ventrell-Monsees, a senior attorney adviser to the chair of the EEOC, stated that sexual charges increase and decrease in response to major national events.  Early reports reflect that #MeToo may be one of those events prompting a spike in claims.

In closing, never turn a blind eye to potential or actual acts of harassment in your organization.  Be proactive.  Address the situation.  Alternatively you may find yourself on the receiving end of an EEOC claim.

The Quality of Being Honest

HR is torn between two masters.  The first master is the employer who controls your job, your career and that much desired paycheck.  The second master is the multitude of state, federal and local laws that govern employment actions.

What happens when there is a conflict between the two?  HR, with knowledge in hand, has the dilemma of "should I tell you what you WANT to hear, or what you NEED to hear?"  Hopefully you will go with the latter action and not be silenced by the fear of the internal consequences of your honesty.  But if you're in an employment situation wherein you're dealing with a narcissistic boss, bring that Emotional Intelligence into play.  

• Have a game plan as to how you'll communicate with him/her.  
• Frame your communication so that it meets the facts equally well, but paves the way for the most positive communication.  

Always operate in a professional and ethical manner within the workforce, regardless of whatever situation you're faced with.

Manager Ethics.

Whether via creative accounting, discrimination, harassment, wage inequality, or health and safety violations, organizations periodically experience ethical challenges.  In 2013 the National Business Ethics Survey reported that managers are to blame for workplace misconduct the majority (60%) of the time.

In December 2017 the ECI (Ethics and Compliance Initiative) continued its longitudinal study of the U.S. workforce, collecting data from over 5,000 employees.  The data reflected "pressure for employees to cut corners is on the rise, along with retaliation for reporting."  Patricia Harned, CEO of ECI.  Additional highlights from the U.S. data reflected:

• 16% of employees experienced pressure to compromise ethical standards, a 23% increase since 2013. 
• 84% of those employees also observed misconduct.

In many ways the field of business ethics appears irrelevant for managers as ethics and business interests can conflict.  The issue here is not when the conflict occurs, but how the manager responds.  Managers need to be able to reason through ethical decisions, just as they would reason through any managerial problem facing them.  Many times, ethics-laden situations involve issues that are clearly right or wrong when judged by the organizational values or the code of conduct.

Ethics are moral principles that drive our behavior.  The policies, rules and regulations within an organization should be the same for every employee regardless of their role, title or status. Business leaders, managers and supervisors should set clear guidelines for ethical behavior in the organization.  They should embody the principles of ethics.  

Is AI in Recruiting a Good Or Bad Thing?

In 2014 Amazon set up an engineer team to build an AI tool for use in its recruiting process.  A year after putting the program into use, Amazon discovered the system didn't like women.  Reuters reported that the system suffered from gender bias as well as selecting candidates that were unqualified for the positions.

AI is being used to improve and/or automate parts of the recruiting cycle.  In a 2018 Korn Ferry Global survey, of the 800 HR professionals surveyed, 63% said that AI had some impact on the way recruiting was being done.  But what type of impact?

AI and algorithmically based hiring is supposedly unbiased and doesn't allow for "ism's" in the selection process.  But there have long been kinks in the process.  Not all algorithms are created equal and they can carry the implicit biases of those who programmed them.

Of additional concern is the thought that there might be great organizational fits being sorted out because their resumes aren't deemed worthy by the ATS.

"Let's definitely embrace technology to help find the best people, but let us not forget that hiring great people will always be a people business."  Stephen Ley.  Is Technology Removing the Key Element of Hiring?  

Finding candidates who fit into your culture isn't an easy task.  Make sure you are using all the tools available to you in the recruiting process. whether human or AI.

Are You Listening?

Listening is a skill that must be practiced and learned.  Listen to the words, the tone of voice.  Pay attention to the facial expressions and body language.  Each gives you information that is as important as the words being spoken.  Treat conversations as a learning experience.

The Bro Culture Exists

On November 7th SHRM released an article entitled "How Masculinity Contests Undermine Organizations and What To Do About It."  The article addressed illegal behavior, harassment and toxic leadership that develops in companies with a bro culture.

It is unfortunate that this behavior exists, but exist it does.  When faced with environments dominated by the bro culture, where actions block female employees from participating in the male-dominated decision-making circles, or exclude them from boardrooms or leadership teams, organization effectiveness is damaged.  Employee engagement deteriorates.  Talent is lost.

For women (or minorities) in these environments, there's not seat at the conference room table - they're not even in the same room.

The bro culture is an office clique.  The really bad news?  If the leadership team are all members of the bro culture, don't expect anything to change.

"Small acts of inappropriate behavior that often go unpunished in a bro culture can normalize, leading to a toxic atmosphere in the workplace."  Adam bear and Joshua Knobe wrote about normalization in the political realm for The New York Times.

My recommendation.  If you want change, change the people inside.  Change your culture.

Is There Still Life in This Blog?

It's been a while.   A long while.   Essentially the blog died of neglect and starvation.  I wasn't really aware of its passing until I found it lying on a metal table in a morgue.  Mentally I screamed that someone should do something.  So, here I am.  Hoping I can resuscitate it.  

After working 60+ hours per week over the last few years, it's time to get back to basics.  Hopefully there's some life left here.  A small, almost imperceivable, pulse.