Courageous Conversations

Digital Nation: Engaged and Employee-generated

Social Media. User-generated content. Four generations in the workplace. Increase employee engagement. All these trends are converging in the workplace.

Listen to how getting your employees involved in creating their own content using audio, video and mobile technologies can transcend all these issues, and move your business forward. (04:06) PBS Frontline: Digital Nation

Mobile Learning: 90-seconds on your cell phone

The budget is tight, the time is tight and now, more than ever, you need to provide training, disseminate information, and keep managers and employees engaged.

Let us help you turn your training and communication messages into 90-second modules accessed via the telephone.(02:47)

Listen to Denise Bailey, creator of Diversity Works, talk about her use of Mobile Learning (00:45)

• Reduce training time.
• Reduce training costs.
• Extend training to the item everybody carries with them - their cell phone.
• All delivered in 90-second modules.

Download a Mobile Learning Fact Sheet

No Bonus. Again

"All right," our employee Mickey is thinking. "We pulled back from the rink in 2009. Our budget was slashed. All sorts of my friends and colleagues were let go. But, I did what I had to on a shoe-string budget. Surely a nice bonus is on its way. Right?"

Bob, Mickey's boss, however is thinking: "That Mickey was an absolute trooper this year. She made it happen with a slashed budget and minimal staff. My question now is, how do I tell her that the cupboard is still bare?" (14:35)

• Engage in dialogue - Let the employee speak and be genuinely curious
• Ask questions - Not just statements
• Let it be bad news - It is bad news, so you might as well let it be

Download Lessons Learned

August 2009 - What's New - 90-seconds on your cell phone

Question is, with budgets tight, time is tight, and now more than ever, how do you provide training to your managers? Or maybe you have a group that needs to learn how to be a more effective team.

Either way, if you want a preview of what training, in short bites, on your cell phone looks and sounds like, let me know and will make it happen.(02:47)

Listen to Denise Bailey, creator of Diversity Works, talk about her use of Courageous Conversations on your Cell Phone (00:45)

• Reduce training time.
• Reduce training costs.
• Extend training to the item everybody carries with them - their cell phone.
• All delivered in 90-second modules.

Download a 90-seconds on your cell phone Fact Sheet

"Do you think we will be next?"

After the latest round of layoffs Steve and Sasha survived - again. Over lunch Steve looks to Sasha for reassurance. Sasha is nervous and uncertain herself. She doesn't want to add more fuel to the fire and end up in a mutual panic attack. (14:30)

Click here to download as an MP3

Lessons Learned:

• Be Realistic - Focus on the things in your control.
• Be Personal - Share your own feelings and insights
• Ask Questions - Rather than make statements.
• Create a Plan - Action steps that are manageable.

Download Lessons Learned

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.