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June 30, 2006
U.S. Supreme Court rules on retaliation against employees reporting discrimination
A recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court has made an already complex situation all the more so. In a ruling against Burlington Northern Railway, the court affirmed that companies may not take actions viewed as retalitatory against employees who file reports claiming discrimination. If you're in HR or other employee-related function, this is a must-read ruling.
Posted by Christopher at 2:39 PM
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| TrackBackJune 22, 2006
Should companies offer couples counseling at work?
As companies slowly add back in benefits and perks that went away after the 2001 job market collapse, one that we're seeing more of these days is couples or marriage counseling. The premise, of course, is that employees who are having a difficult time at home can't be as productive as work. While I can't dispute that hyphothesis, I do take issue with companies getting involved in aspects of employees' lives outside of work.
I'm suspicious of the latest focus on heterosexual marriage that we're seeing at notoriously Christian Chick-fil-A, for example. The effort, which provides seminars, marriage retreats, lunchtime sessions and counseling, is being applauded by groups like Alliance for Marriage and other right-wing organizations. While it's certainly within their right to promote whatever policies they want (and consumers' right to patronize or not patronize the establishment because of those policies), where does this kind of intervention end?
One could rather easily see it extended to financial planning for employees (if they're worrying about money, they can't be as productive) or even car maintenance (if their car is unreliable, they won't make it to work as reliably). While perhaps extreme examples, I hope they illustrate why companies should stay out of the private realm and instead focus on creating as engaging and healthy an environment at the workplace as possible -- which in turn can have positive effects on life at home.
Posted by Christopher at 6:22 AM
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I agree with your views. The issue in modern business is the blurring of the life/work balance. My question is doesn't this blur it even more? Also the concentration needs to be on creating time for the person to be at home, and mentally not worrying about e-mails, work etc Most relationships suffer because people cannot shut off when they get home, the money would be better spent understanding for each individual why that is occurring and how the company can help in achieving the life/work goal.
Posted by: Anna Farmery at June 27, 2006 6:03 AM
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| TrackBackJune 20, 2006
If you're trying to understand wikis, read this
Just when I feel like communicators are finally at long last starting to understand what blogs are and what impact they're having on societal and business relationships, along comes the wiki. Although not a new thing at all, it is growing in mainstream coverage thanks due mostly to the popularity of Wikipedia, a very good example of a wiki directed at a common populace, rather than a group of techie programmers.
Wikis, which are websites that can be edited by any user, often make my corporate clients cringe -- the thought of surrendering control to the masses, mostly. This recent article in the New York Times, however, talks at length about the self-policing and self-correcting nature of Wikipedia, and also how they balance editing with locking certain entries for "cooling down periods." A must-read, in my opinion.
Posted by Christopher at 6:31 AM
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| TrackBackJune 11, 2006
Robert Scoble moves on
It's been an interesting 24 hours in the blogosphere since Robert Scoble of Microsoft announced that he's leaving that company to join PodTech as a vice president. The electronic frenzy at one point crashed PodTech's servers, as people tried to figure out what organization could create an opportunity that would lure him away from Microsoft.
There is much being written about Robert and his role as poster child of corporate bloggers, so I won't repeat it, but instead remind all communicators out there to take this opportunity to study his story as a compelling case of how one person (who is not a senior executive) can indeed shape and influence corporate reputation. Some of this tale is told in a great book that I highly recommend called Naked Conversations, written by Scoble and Shel Israel earlier this year.
In the meantime, best of luck to Robert! It will be interesting to see what happens with the cadre of employee bloggers at Microsoft that he leaves behind -- he has certainly blazed a trail in a way that few others can say they have.
Posted by Christopher at 3:37 PM
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| TrackBackJune 8, 2006
Impact of paltry vacations on younger workers
Over my career, I've seen both ends of the vacation spectrum: my very first job (in the communications department of the pharmaceutical company Bayer) came with two weeks of paid vacation, whereas my last corporate position (still with Bayer but based in Germany), came with the European luxury of six weeks of paid vacation with up to another four weeks of comp time to make up for time I worked in excess of the standard 37.5 hour work week. (For the record, I have four weeks of paid vacation in my current role at Edelman).
So even though I'm in good shape vacation-wise now, I remember the days of only two weeks off and how impossible it was to achieve relaxation or live life in general with only 10 days to do it in. An article in the New York Times on this subject details an interesting trend among younger workers: to get around having so little vacation, many are just quitting, taking time off, then finding a new job. While this is certainly a small percentage of workers, it should be somewhat alarming to companies that would ultimately benefit far more from giving workers additional vacation rather than having them walk out the door and need to be replaced.
Perhaps the real solution is a continued move toward "work/life flexibility," where companies realize that the days of the 9-to-5 workday are gone and provide employees with corresponding flexible hours and working arrangements. This could (and should) be extended to freely granting employees unpaid time off, extended maternity/paternity leaves, sabbaticals and the ability to pool or buy/sell vacation time.
Posted by Christopher at 2:56 PM
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Christopher, thank you for this posting as I also read the NY Times article. As a 30-something marketing professional, I agree with you that more companies should move toward 'work/life flexibility'. And offer more alternatives for enabling time off such as unpaid leave, buying/pooling pool time, etc. I recently got laid off because I took too much time off and hadn't 'accrued enough time'. I had the 'misfortune of getting sick' with the flu on one occasion and bronchitis on another occasion, and had to stay home so that I could get better in order to be more productive in the office. I actually support the individuals in the article who chose to leave their current employers as a lot of companies, due to their lack of flexibility, in essence don't leave their employees with any other choice. Too many companies force employees to choose between work and spending time with family, taking care of health issues, going on holiday, etc. And they make you feel guilty for wanting to have a life outside of your career. I grew up in the West Indies and we 'holiday' based on the European system--just as you were rewarded during your Bayer tenure in Germany with paid holiday & comp holiday time. Unfortunately, some companies still don't get it, ultimately losing very valuable resources & brand ambassadors-their employees-and don't see that they benefit far more from giving additional holiday time rather than having employees walk out the door and need to be replaced.
Posted by: Raycent at June 27, 2006 7:22 AM
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| TrackBackJune 5, 2006
What does best practice in internal communications look like?
This is a question that I am often asked and while there's no short answer to it, I recently came across a brief list based on research done by Watson Wyatt (the latest version of their 2003/2004 ROI Study) that's helpful. Based on this study that analyzes linkages between communications effectiveness and business performance, Watson Wyatt found that companies falling in to the "high effectiveness" category report being competent in a number of communications practices, including:
1. Having a communication program in place to support an orgainzational change effort.
2. Openly communicating with employees about matters that affect them and the reasons behind major decisions.
3. Linking communication objectives to business objectives.
4. Sharing business plans and goals with employees.
5. Engaging senior managers and eliciting their support in the communication process.
6. Linking pay and benefit programs to achieving the business strategy.
7. Effectively coordinating internal and external communication.
8. Regularly providing communication counsel and insight to the CEO and senior management team.
9. Treating managers as a key audience and sharing information with them in advance.
While I can't disagree with any of these findings, I would have liked to have seen the study focused more broadly on employee engagement, rather than just communications. Even the most effective employee communications programs can be negated by human resources, organizational development and other initiatives if all things touching an employee are not in complete alignment. But all in all, a great study that every communicator should read, especially for the statistics on correlation between effective communication and shareholder return.
Posted by Christopher at 9:17 AM