Courageous Conversations

Courageous Conversations expands the use of social networking

Two things: I am using a variety of social networking sites and mediums to spread the word of Courageous Conversations and to engage with people differently and in different ways on their own dialogues.

And second I need your comments. I would like your feedback on the Coffee Conversations process. It is about three years old now and looking for your input on how to have the process stay relevant and useful to you. So, you can either comment on this post or became a Courageous Conversations Fan on Facebook and add to the discussion there.(02:30)

Become a fan of Courageous Conversations on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/nwmk7a

Subscribe to my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/tjmulvane

Or of course you can follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/timmu

And finally LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com

Talk to you soon, Tim.

Labor Dept employees deface Gay Pride posters

Turns out that discomfort with the acknowledgment of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender colleagues has not completely gone away in the workplace.

Obviously progress has been made, e.g., 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in NYC for one, in accepting, understanding and utilizing our diversity, but there is still more road to walk.

The upside is that the Department's leadership - Hilda Solis - was rightly outraged and took appropriate action.

Check out the whole story: The New York Times

Bank of America sued for gender bias

"Bank of America Corp was sued on Thursday in a federal lawsuit in New York, accusing the largest U.S. bank of discriminating against female brokers at the former Merrill Lynch & Co by offering them lower retention bonuses than their male counterparts."

Reuters: Bank of America sued for gender bias over bonuses

I don't know if this is true or not - the legal process will sort it out - but it raises the ongoing concern that discrimination is not quite dead.

This particular situation reminds of my post from December 2006, Homophily: Birds of a feather, flock together.

Meaning that our natural human tendency is to hang out, associate, feel at ease with people who are like us.

To value actual diversity is to be willing to leave our natural state and interact - and share opportunity, money and growth - with those who are not necessarily like me, but can still do the job as well, if not, better than me or those like me.

Just a reminder that our work is not done.

Downsizing can create "us against them"

Without proper, effective and thoughtful communications, downsizing can create the unwanted "us" versus "them" mood amongst the survivors, negatively impacting employee motivation, engagement and productivity.

Check out this report by The Conference Board:

The Conference Board: Managing Survivor Syndrome

As you will see, the report talks about the "rumors and gossip often arise when communication, transparency and trust are inadequate."

Courageous Conversations can help you and your managers to effectively navigate these dialogues for both those who are leaving and those who are staying.

And check out our July 1 Coffee Conversation as two survivors attempt to bolster each others' spirits.

Proving Age Discrimination is Burden of the Employee

On June 18, 2009, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that will make it harder for an employee to claim age discrimination. Here are a couple of other references for you:

Workforce Week
FindLaw Blog

The Court said a worker has to prove that age was the key factor in an employment decision, even if there is some evidence that age played a role. In other words, the employee has prove his/her age was the primary reason for the employment decision. Talk to you soon, Tim.

Call me what I want to be called

The question of the day: What do I call people to be respectful and not harass them?(03:30)

Check out his article from Politico regarding a "confrontation" Sen. Barbara Boxer had with Brigadier General Michael Walsh over how he addressed her during an appearance at her committee hearing.

At a recent series of Harassment Prevention sessions I and the group spent a lot of time talking about what do you call people? Can I use terms of endearment, e.g., honey, baby, sweety, kitten? And what about a nickname? Can I get in trouble for that?

Short answer is yes, you can.

Call people what they want to be called. Tim rather than honey. Senator rather than ma'am.

Make your most respectful guess as to what somebody wants to be called. Then be prepared that they want to be called something else.

Talk to you soon, Tim.