The most pressing issue at hand for human resources functions in most companies is leadership and talent development. Yet these same companies freely admit this is a keen area of weakness for them. These organizations waste millions of dollars each year developing workshops, coaching sessions and corporate universities that don’t provide the tools managers need … Continue reading Are You Wasting Money Developing Leaders?
Perfection does not exist. It’s one of those phrases you hear when someone’s trying to self-motivate yet remain realistic in a personal context, but the words have significant meaning for those in the workplace as well. Some might say, “Oh, I want perfectionists on my team. They’re great with details, won’t miss deadlines, and the … Continue reading The Dangers of Being Perfect
I spent most of the week in Miami at the Spring CLO Symposium, a biannual event my company throws for learning leaders.
One of our keynote speakers was Brigid Schulte, author of “Overwhelmed: Work, Love and Play When No One Has the Time.” A seasoned journalist for the Washington Post, Schulte spoke with refreshing candor about an issue most everyone can relate to – not having enough time.
Schulte presented the issue in a heart wrenching way, however. For her, not having enough time meant more than exposing herself to physically toxic levels of stress. It meant more than struggling to meet an unreasonable and dated perception of the ideal worker – more on that later – for her, not having enough time meant missing out on once in a life time moments with her children.
She described one particular stressed out day – in a loop of stressed out days – where her children wanted her to join them in the yard jumping on their trampoline. She said something like, I’ll be right there – she was working on her very long to do list – and when she looked up again, her children were gone, and it was dark. The moment was also gone, never to return again. Continue reading “Work – and Dated Ideas About Work – Could Kill You #diversityofthought #gender #work”
In a recent blog post, car service app Uber pledged to sign up 1 million female drivers globally by 2020.
Currently, some 14 percent of its 160,000 drivers in the U.S. are female. The company didn’t offer comparable global figures, but apparently it adds thousands of new drivers each month.
In an interview, Uber General Counsel Salle Yoo said women might find working for the company worthwhile because “Uber does not require (minimum) hours, and it does not require a schedule. It offers the chance to be entrepreneurial, the chance to balance work and family.” Continue reading “Uber Wants 1 Million Female Drivers by 2020 #gender #diversity #inclusion @Uber”
According to an online survey Deloitte Global conducted in February and March of more than 1,700 professionals, 65 percent believe their organization is improving representation of senior women thanks to flexible work programs, gender diversity targets and executive commitment. 
But, while 80 percent of respondents believe ideas were welcomed in their organizations regardless of gender, 40 percent said they occasionally hold back their opinions to avoid being labelled bossy or appearing too assertive.
That’s sad, but it makes sense. To be a woman with an opinion is often synonymous with the bossy label. It’s almost like a woman can’t have an opinion without someone, male or female, qualifying it in some way. Continue reading “Women Will Hold Back Their Opinions To Avoid The “B” Word – Bossy #gender #bossy #diversity #inclusion #bias”
McDonald’s is on legal fire after 10 former employees of a Boston-area franchise filed a complaint last week — they were fired for not fitting the color scheme the owner desired. Apparently “there are too many black people in the store.”
Supervisors allegedly used terms like bitch, ratchet and ghetto to describe African American workers and dirty Mexican for one Hispanic worker. The plaintiffs also said they were punished for rule infractions while white employees were not. If that’s not enough, managers “inappropriately touched female employees on their legs and buttocks; sent female employees sexual pictures; and solicited sexual relations from female employees.”
I think that pretty much hits every crappy race or gender related insult/issue you can lob into the void.
Worse, plaintiffs said when they contacted McDonald’s corporate office to complain about the discrimination and being fired, nothing was done. In a statement, one plaintiff said, “We asked McDonald’s corporate to help us get our jobs back, but the company told us to take our concerns to the franchisee — the same franchisee that just fired us. McDonald’s closely monitors everything we do, from the speed of the drive-through line, to the way we smile and fold customers’ bags — but when we try to tell the company that we’re facing discrimination, they ignore us and sat that it’s not their problem.” Continue reading “You Don’t Fit Our Profile #McDonalds #diversity #bias”
Things are moving in the right direction, but we’re not there yet. Still, we keep working on it – what choice do we have? None! – by removing bias from the workplace and different talent management processes, broadening diversity from a talent-focused practice to one rooted in business strategy and moving past the historical baggage … Continue reading Strategy Diversity Management: Are We There Yet? #diversity #business
Earlier this week the Wall Street Journal released “Twitter Users’ Diversity Becomes an Ad Selling Point” featuring new data from Pew Research Center. It’s official: Social media is a veritable treasure trove for those who want to sell products and services to minorities.
According to Twitter’s new multicultural strategist Nuria Santamaria, advertisers are increasingly interested in data about racial and ethnic minorities activity and patterns of engagement on Twitter, “from basic numbers to the languages in which they tweet.” Not surprising given their growing demographic size and buying power, Hispanics tweet more than any other group; their activity increases even more when the conversation is around technology. Continue reading ““Black Twitter” Equals Big Business”
A Life Not Grey 