Courageous Conversations

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.

$52 million signing bonus

It's not that I have complete moral outrage that a single person would be awarded $52 million dollars to join an organization in this environment, based on what we are all still working through and that outsized rewards played a part in the catastrophe - because I do. But that is not my point today.

I think it does illustrate the misplaced notion that our salvation rests on a single person, a single executive, a single manager. That this singular person, executive, manager is the only person in the world who has that one right answer (which is worth paying $52 million dollars for.)

Check out this story in Crain's New York Business.

My point isn't that Mr. Kraus isn't a smart guy and doesn't have some good ideas. Or that he very well may have an answer that could help Alliance Bernstein. I have never met him so I have no idea. But as someone who works with folks at all levels of organizations - from folks like Mr. Kraus on down - and whose success with organizations has been to help every person bring all he/she can to the work, it is counter to my view that so much emphasis should be put on the one, when the answer truly lies with the many.

I would encourage Alliance Bernstein and all other organizations who feel the need to overpay for a single individual to shift the emphasis from buying the short-term loyalty of a single person to building the skills and long-term commitment of every single person in the organization.

Specifically, I would focus the company resources on building the skills of the middle managers - those on the ground - to drive the business to its next level.

Talk to you soon, Tim.

Does "management" count as "craftsmanship?"

Check out this book review and the questions it raises on what it means to engage in "tangible work that is straightforwardly useful."

The book author's point is that the only real work is that of someone whom works with his/her hands - motorcycle repair, in this case. But the review author contrasts that with another book where office work and management are the tangibles.

Either way the goal, in my view then, is to engage in your own Courageous Conversations for “the experience of being fully engaged in what you are doing.” Whether that be motorcycle repair, accounting, marketing or product development.

The New Yorker: Critic at Large

Talk to you soon, Tim.

EEOC Discrimination Complaints Skyrocket

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") recently issued alarming statistics for FY 2008 reporting on charge filing at the agency. In 2008 almost 95,500 complaints were filed, representing a more than 15 percent increase over 2007.

• Age cases rose most sharply, by almost 29 percent
• Retaliation claims (22.6 percent)
• Sex bias claims (14 percent)
• religious discrimination (14 percent)
• national origin (13 percent)
• Disability (10 percent).

This is the second consecutive annual increase in charge filing after three years of relatively steady activity.

For more information, check out Klein Zelman Rothermel Labor and Employment Alert

Action Step: Check out our Harassment Prevention options to ensure all your managers and employees are properly trained.

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.

What's new - May 2009

I want to hear and capture your story on the creative methods you and your organization have been using to effectively engage your employees, your clients, your leadership and yourself in the current economic, business and social environment to manage the success of your business.(02:57)

Tell me about your success

• Maybe you created an entirely new program
• Maybe you had a frozen budget and found a method to deliver your services
• Maybe you had a reduction in force, but kept employees engaged
• Maybe your industry has been getting villified in the press and you are keeping your employees motivated
• Maybe you took an old program and tweaked it
• Maybe you are using a new technology (Twitter anyone?) and put it to a new use
• Maybe this created an opportunity for you to grow your business into new markets
• Or deeper into your existing markets

My goal of this podcast series is to provide support, guidance and hope to the listening audience by hearing about the ideas and lessons learned from the experts in the field.

View as Quicktime (02:57)

Download Leadership Interview Series Fact Sheet

Tell me about your success

Talk to you soon, Tim.