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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
Eliminate sexual harassment, unconscious bias, ethical lapses and other HR nightmares!
Companies spend millions on legal compliance training and initiatives to eliminate workplace drama and the resulting low morale and lawsuits, but don’t always get the results they want. Most organizations understand that simply checking legal compliance boxes around sexual harassment, bias, etc. isn’t enough, but are at a loss on how to implement solutions, especially in today’s post-#MeToo world.
Patti Perez is an attorney, HR expert, trainer, and former state regulator, who has conducted over 1,200 workplace investigations. In this unique book, she explains the secret to avoiding all forms of drama, legal exposure, and low morale: A healthy workplace culture. Patti combines the lessons learned from 25 years of professional experience with robust data from behavioral science research to debunk common myths, including the belief that a focus on legal compliance leads to a healthy workplace culture. (In fact, it increases the likelihood of getting sued).
The Drama-Free Workplace includes a section with easy-to-understand causes, effects and solutions to problems related to:
- Sexual harassment
- Bias and diversity
- Ethics lapses
The book also includes helpful information on:
- Becoming an organization that values and practices fearlessness, fairness and freedom
- Anticipating situations that give rise to drama, with detailed advice on how to prevent it from happening
- Using emotional intelligence to communicate more precisely and persuasively about sensitive, controversial topics in the workplace
Finally, the book’s DIY section guides companies on how to:
- draft and enforce helpful policies (that employees will actually read and *want* to follow)
- design and deliver powerful and effective training programs
- investigate and resolve claims of sexual harassment and other types of misconduct.
Together, these practical tools will help all your employees feel valued and motivated, and keep drama, disengagement, and lawsuits, away.
Sie lesen das E-Book in den Legimi-Apps auf:
Seitenzahl: 398
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019
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This book is smart, practical, funny, and revolutionary. Patti has combined decades of expertise, a fresh voice, and cutting-edge academic research to create an indispensable guide.
—Alexandra Bodnar, Deputy General Counsel, Volt Information Sciences, Inc.
My work involves advising corporate leaders, including directors, on issues related to ethics, compliance, and corporate governance. In The Drama-Free Workplace, Patti Perez identifies root causes of lapses in these areas and offers real-life, actionable solutions that will help any company not only achieve compliance, but also achieve corporate health. This book should be on your reading list if your job involves any of these areas.
—Angelica Espinosa, Vice President, Compliance and Governance and Corporate Secretary, Sempra Energy
Patti’s ability to weave academic research findings with practical experience and real-life examples is the perfect blend for anyone who wants to better understand why issues such as sexual harassment and bias still plague our workplaces. The Drama-Free Workplace is an authentic, no-holds-barred collection of Patti’s 25 + years of experience providing real-world solutions to these important business challenges.
—Carla Boren, General Counsel and Head of Human Resources, Otonomy, Inc.
This book could not have come at a better time. HR professionals have continually struggled with the critical question posed in this book: “Can we really eliminate drama at work?” The emergence of the #MeToo movement has elevated the need for real life practical solutions that can be adopted in the workplace. Patti offers many business-savvy solutions throughout the book that are grounded in legal knowledge and experience. Her ability to eliminate legalese, pose solutions in easy-to-understand English, and go beyond compliance will serve as a valuable reference guide for HR practitioners, and ultimately contribute to making the workplace healthier, more productive, and more profitable.
—Debora Burke, Vice President, Human Resources, General Dynamics NASSCO
The Drama-Free Workplace is packed with keen insights about what causes workplace conflict. More important, it’s filled with practical solutions for how to resolve drama, how to increase employee trust and engagement, and how to create and maintain a healthy and productive workplace culture. This is a must-read for any business leader who intuitively understands the link between the lack of drama and business success, but needs tools to implement a plan to address it. The result will surely be an increase in your business value.
—Pete Leddy, PhD, Board Member, Chief People Officer
Tension, anxiety, and conflict at work all fuel what is known today as “drama” in the workplace, causing loss of income, productivity, and profit to all involved parties. Finally, help is available.
Highly respected attorney and consultant Patti Perez has written an easy-to-read manual offering step-by-step instructions for addressing the issues, diagnosing the problem, and implementing a resolution.
Ms. Perez offers, in everyday language, a guide to climbing the workplace-culture pyramid to achieve goals for improving and enhancing a satisfying work environment. Her “Roadmap for Creating and Maintaining a Drama-Free Culture” offers simplified checklists for conducting investigations and creating workplace policy.
This real-world guidebook belongs on the shelves of enlightened supervisors, managers and business leaders everywhere.
—Donna M. Dell, Former Labor Commissioner for the State of California
The Drama-Free Workplace is a much-needed solution to the people challenges that keep executives up at night. Whether you define drama as ethics lapses, harassment, unconscious bias, resistance to change, or lack of accountability, Patti Perez tackles these issues and more head on. Better yet, her roadmap solutions for creating and maintaining a drama-free culture are practical and relevant, no matter what industry, company size, or geography you find yourself in. Make this mandatory reading for your leadership team and in your MBA classes!
—Paul Falcone, HR executive and bestselling author, 101 Tough Conversations to Have with Employees and 101 Sample Write-Ups for Documenting Employee Performance Problems
This is a first-of-its-kind book—it leverages Patti’s deep expertise and gives leaders and HR practitioners a robust toolkit to help them build their own authentic, drama-free workplace. When we—re faced with tough workplace situations, it’s great to have a toolkit of sound, proven methodologies to rely on to help us navigate the situations and emerge with a return to harmony in the workplace. This is a must-read for all HR practitioners … I’ll be issuing this out to my team!
—Tonya Cross, Senior Vice President, Human Capital, Lytx
The Drama-Free Workplace is a forward-thinking manual on how to foster the workplace of the future. Patti’s thought leadership and years of in-depth workplace problem-solving experience are brilliantly woven together in a manner that provides readers with the practical tools to generate a healthy workplace culture. Leaders focused on moving beyond compliance and toward talent growth and workplace success should include Patti’s book in their library.
—Mishell Parreno Taylor, Shareholder, Littler Mendelson
The Drama-Free Workplace is sure to become a text that will be read by HR professionals, employment attorneys, executive coaches, and really anyone in the modern workplace who wants to do their part to reduce unnecessary conflict. As a lawyer who has seen the drama up close, both as in-house advisor and as outside counsel dealing with the aftermath, I welcome this type of direction for my clients. Too often, companies fail to prevent or address drama because their focus is not genuinely rooted in making the workplace better for all but is instead focused on avoiding lawsuits. Patti’s methodical explanation of the root causes of drama, combined with her no-nonsense, practical solutions make The Drama-Free Workplace an easy read that users can go back to repeatedly for ideas and guidance.
—Nestor Barrero, Senior Counsel, Costangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP. Formerly Vice President–Employment Law, NBC/Universal
Patti Perez understands the American workplace. She is a seasoned employment lawyer, an investigator of countless workplace harassment claims, and is a woman who can easily slide into the shoes of the lowest-level non-manager or the CEO. In The Drama-Free Workplace, Patti taps into her deep understanding of the law and people, and uses plain language and real-life tales of workplace woe to deliver an analysis of where workplaces go wrong. She provides bold yet practical prescriptions for creating a workplace that is goal-focused, fun, productive, and, yes, drama-free. Spoiler alert: skittishly striving for mere legal compliance won’t cut it; you need to define, create, and maintain an actual culture. I’ll be sending copies of The Drama-Free Workplace to clients and friends.
—Mike Cramer, Employment Law Shareholder, Ogletree Deakins, Chicago
For many companies, glossy brochures market a culture of inclusivity, fairness, and respect. However, for many of those same companies, all that fancy marketing masks a drama-filled, toxic culture that is anything but inclusive, fair, and respectful. But toxic workplaces can be fixed, and even better, they can be avoided altogether. Relying on the basic tenants of authenticity and trust, Patti Perez applies commonsense principals, solid research, and years of experience to demonstrate how drama in the workplace can effectively be managed out of existence.
Patti Perez rejects the hyper-legalized and reactionary policies that have been shown to stifle effective workplace communication and increase workplace drama. Instead, the book offers a fresh, holistic approach to creating a vibrant and respectful workplace culture. Patti Perez shows how companies can take a page from the workplace safety playbook and encourage employees to work together to identify, address, and resolve challenging issues related to sexual harassment, microaggressions, and implicit bias. Gone, says Patti Perez, are the lengthy policies that police employee conduct; and gone are the disingenuous zero-tolerance policies and selective enforcement. Instead, TheDrama-Free Workplace offers an alternative approach to conflict prevention and resolution—one that reduces policing and increases engagement and trust.
If your organization is looking for a practical and effective tool to reduce workplace drama and foster a healthy culture, you would do your organization a great service by taking the journey with Patti Perez in her new book, TheDrama-Free Workplace.
—Dawn T. Collins, Esq., Employment Lawyer, Co-founder and Partner, CollinsKim LLP
Patti Perez is a well-known industry expert on the topic of workplace drama—how to identify it, how to prevent it, and how to fix it. This book compiles her decades of experience and is a must-read for anyone who wants to address workplace strife in ways that are proven to be effective.
—Diego Arp, In-house counsel
the drama-free workplace
HOW YOU CAN PREVENT UNCONSCIOUS BIAS, SEXUAL HARASSMENT, ETHICS LAPSES, AND INSPIRE A HEALTHY CULTURE
patti perez
Cover design: Wiley
Copyright © 2019 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Published simultaneously in Canada.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Perez, Patti, 1967- author. Title: The drama-free workplace : how you can prevent unconscious bias, sexual harassment, ethics lapses, and inspire a healthy culture / Patti Perez.
Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., [2019] | Includes index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2018055956 (print) | LCCN 2018058851 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119546443 (ePub) | ISBN 9781119546436 (ePDF) | ISBN 9781119546429 (hardcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Personnel management. | Employee morale. | Problem employees. | Organizational behavior. | Corporate culture.
Classification: LCC HF5549 (ebook) | LCC HF5549 .P4164 2019 (print) | DDC 658.3/12—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018055956
To my mami and papi, my first and best teachers on living drama free
CONTENTS
Cover
Foreword
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Introduction
PART I. Diagnosis Drama: What You Can Do to Identify, Prevent, and Fix Workplace Drama
Chapter 1. How to Blow Up an Organization (and Rise from the Ashes)
#WorkplaceDrama: Identifying Problematic Behavior
Root Causes of Workplace Drama
Legal Compliance: Friend or Foe?
The #1 Culture Problem in Organizations: A Lack of Authenticity
The Courage to Be Different (and Therefore Effective): Focus on the Good
Chapter 2. Why Is Sexual Harassment Still a Thing and What We Must Do to Fix It
The Road to #MeToo
Are We All on the Same Page? Key Legal Definitions and Clarifications
Leading Predictors of Workplace Sexual Harassment
Other Factors That Contribute to Sexual Harassment
Sexual Harassment: The Cure
Notes
Chapter 3. Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging . . . Not Just PC BS
Unconscious Bias Explained
D, I, & B . . . What’s the Difference (and Why Does it Matter)?
Best Practices and Emerging Trends for Creating, Executing, and Selling Your Initiative
Notes
Chapter 4. Ethics LapsesThey’re More Common Than You Think
Where Ethics Lapses Begin
Leading Causes and Warning Signs of Unethical Behavior at the Corporate Level
Best Prevention Techniques
Notes
PART II. “Hiking” to the Top of the Healthy Workplace Culture Pyramid
Chapter 5. Reaching the Top of the Healthy Workplace Culture Pyramid The Three Fs
Getting Started
Fearlessness
Fairness
Freedom
Why Your Hike Requires Measuring Risk
and
Opportunity
Notes
Chapter 6. Anticipating and Preparing for Drama-Causing Events
Anticipating Workplace Drama
Leading Drama Producer: Corporate Change
Leading Drama Producer: Faulty Processes that Lead to Poor Decision-Making
Leading Drama Producer: Failure to Observe, Analyze, and Course-Correct
Notes
Chapter 7. Make Your Journey Easier
Choose the Less Treacherous Path
What We Can Learn from Companies That Embrace a Safety Culture
Translating Safety Accomplishments to Achieve a Healthy Workplace Culture
Accident/Injury Reduction versus Drama Reduction: A Side-by-Side Comparison
Notes
Chapter 8. Reduce Drama Through Precise and Persuasive Communication
The Most Common Communication Failures That Lead to Drama
Improve Your Emotional Intelligence to Communicate More Precisely
Using Emotional Intelligence to Keep Drama Away
The Cassandra Curse: How Not to Be Persuasive
Breaking the Curse: How to Be More Persuasive
Notes
PART III. A DIY Roadmap for Creating and Maintaining a Drama-Free Culture
Chapter 9. Policies, Schmolicies . . . How to Write and Enforce the Right Rules
Policies Should Set Expectations, Not Restrict Freedom
Top 10 Mistakes in a Typical Sexual Harassment Prevention Policy
Say Goodbye to Legal Jargon and Hello to Clarity and Positivity
Notes
Chapter 10. Your Step-by-Step Guide to Designing and Delivering Effective Workplace Training
What’s Kept Training from Moving the Needle?
What Does Work?
Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing a Successful Training Program
Notes
Chapter 11. How to Effectively Investigate and Resolve Claims of Workplace Misconduct
Best Practices for Getting Started
The Qualities of an Excellent Workplace Sleuth
Determining Whether a Full Investigation Is Necessary
Conducting Investigations That Get to the Truth and Fix Problems: A Step-by-Step Guide
Appendix.
Supporting Documents for Conducting Investigations
Checklist
Potential Witnesses
Documents to Review
Other Notes
Introduction
Witness Background
Closing the Interview
EULA
List of Illustrations
Introduction
Figure I.1 The Healthy Workplace Culture Pyramid
Chapter 2
Figure 2.1 The Difference between Men’s Perception and Women’s Perception of Sexual Harass...
Chapter 8
Figure 8.1 Emtrain’s Workplace Color Spectrum
Chapter 10
Figure 10.1 The Steps for Creating a Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Program
Chapter 11
Figure 11.1 The Pyramid of Workplace MisconductThis pyramid makes a distinction between bad...
Guide
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
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Foreword
Times have changed. The old way of managing (but not solving) employee conflict doesn’t work anymore. Social media has increased transparency in every organization and our changing demographics make it more important than ever to be authentic and promote a healthy workplace culture.
The #MeToo movement is the culmination of employers taking the wrong approach to solving conflict, and it was during the unfolding of this movement that Patti joined our team at Emtrain.
This watershed moment created an instant bond between us—two California employment lawyers who understand that intentions drive results, and that the intent should always be to create a healthy culture, not mere legal compliance. Patti and I are both on a mission to educate people on workplace issues and ensure we solve problems in a more authentic, effective way. The Drama-Free Workplace is Patti’s latest effort in this mission and her practical guidance and strategies are invaluable for any leader who wants a healthy, drama-free workplace.
As you’ll read in The Drama-Free Workplace, that doesn’t mean taking actions that might increase your risk for claims. It means widening your view and treating the workplace in a more integrated, holistic way, rather than narrowly focusing on the symptoms (claims) of an unhealthy workplace culture.
You’ll learn about the root causes of workplace drama and, especially relevant for today’s climate, you’ll learn in detail what is most likely to give rise to sexual harassment at work. Given that we find ourselves in the middle of a cultural transformation about the definition of appropriate and inappropriate conduct at work, the topics covered in this book are a must-read for any business leader, emerging leader, or employee who wants to learn how to keep drama out of the workplace.
Janine Yancey, Founder and CEO Emtrain
Acknowledgments
While my name appears as the author of this book, The Drama-Free Workplace would have never come to fruition had I relied solely on my own abilities. It took more than a village to write this book—it took a family of committed and giving people who were always willing to help.
First, my deepest thanks to my friend and colleague Paul Falcone, who recommended me to the Wiley family. His generosity is indescribable and I’ll be forever grateful to him for trusting me enough to recommend me.
Next, my two main points of contact at Wiley have been incredible. Richard Narramore believed in the book concept from the beginning and had a vision for making this book come to life. My editor, Vicki Adang, has been my life raft. From her gentle first message (“That was good, but not quite right”) to the ones that followed (“Yes, you’ve got it!”), I couldn’t have done this without her guidance. Her abundant patience and kindness kept me going when I thought I’d never be able to quite articulate what I was thinking. And her encouraging words helped propel me more than she’ll ever know. Thanks, Vicki!
Writing a book while working full time is no easy feat, so I’d also like to thank my wonderful teammates at Emtrain, especially Janine Yancey, who serves as equal parts mentor and cheerleader. And to the rest of the Emtrain team, thank you for your understanding and unwavering support while I wrote this book!
I need to thank more friends than can be mentioned here, but I’ll start with the guy who has been my brother since freshman year in college. Ray Nieto not only read and edited several versions of the book, but he also helped me with ideas for how to get the word out about the content. Thanks, Ray, for always being there for me! My other BFFs, especially Joyce Magsarili, were, as always, only a phone call away when I was panicked about a deadline or about whether my content would resonate. Joyce, for 30-plus years you’ve been my “ride or die” girlfriend, my third sister, and truly my best friend! And to the rest of my friends, those who helped me flesh out concepts, those who encouraged me in real life and in the virtual world, and those who promised to read and share the book—thank you, thank you, thank you.
While this book is dedicated to my parents, humble immigrants from El Salvador who gave up everything to give their kids a better life, it’s really a tribute to my entire family. My parents, Maria and Francisco Chavarria, taught my sisters, brother, and me that love and family are what it’s all about. They had the most drama-free marriage of any I’ve known, and raised us in a loving environment where each one of us learned to keep our lives as uncomplicated as possible. Thank you, Annie Chavarria, Margie Esquivel, and Edward Chavarria for being the best siblings anyone could ever ask for! And thanks to my brother-in-law Tomas for putting up with us for almost 40 years and for giving me the best niece and nephew I could ever imagine. Tommy and Karlita, I love you and thank God for making me your tia.
I was fortunate enough to have been born into a big, fat Salvadoran family, and became even luckier when I married into an equally crazy and loving Philly Italian family.
My husband, Tom Scutti, has been my rock throughout this process and I thank you, sweetheart, from the bottom of my heart. I know the “I’ll get to that as soon as I finish my book” refrain got old, but you never showed that you were tired of hearing it. Your love and commitment to me and to our kids are inspiring. Thank you for supporting me through this process, and through every other crazy idea I’ve had. My life doesn’t work without you in it.
And thanks, too, to the other Scuttis in my life—my two fabulous bonus kids. Nick, I love your beautiful heart and your dedication to your craft. Thanks to you and Katie for always listening to my crazy rants, about my book and other topics. Christina, your passion—for your family, your work, and your sports teams—is infectious. Thanks for being my test audience for many of my theories about how to live a drama-free life.
And finally, to my baby boy (who isn’t a baby anymore, but . . .), Tony Perez, you are my love, my rock, my passion. God gave me the greatest privilege when He gave me you to raise. Looking at you now, a young man starting his journey into adulthood, I see that the legacy of your abuelito Paco lives in you and I’m grateful for any part I’ve played in making you who you are today. Words aren’t enough to describe the immense love and pride I feel, but I think you know.
To everyone who has heard me advocate for doing all you can to keep your life (including your work life) drama free, thanks. I’m so grateful for everyone’s help along the way. This book couldn’t have happened without each of you touching my life in some way.
About the Author
Born in El Salvador, Patti Perez began living as a compassionate sharpshooter early in life. Patti and her family moved to the United States when she was three, and throughout the next several decades, she lived in San Francisco; Los Angeles; Houston; Washington, DC; Mexico City; and San Diego. These experiences taught her to be flexible and open-minded—making diplomacy and communication key skills.
Patti has continued to hone these skills in her professional life. A graduate of UCLA and the UCLA School of Law, Patti began her career as an employment law litigator, but quickly learned that the life of a litigator was not her calling. Her post-litigation career included leading an international judicial education program in Mexico City, working as the head of HR at Skadden Arps in DC, and serving as a shareholder at Ogletree Deakins in San Diego. Patti also founded Puente Consulting and for 14 years she dedicated her career to helping prevent and address workplace drama, including conducting more than 1,000 workplace investigations, training thousands of professionals, and serving as an expert witness. During that time, two California governors appointed Patti to the Fair Employment and Housing Council, where she authored a number of regulations clarifying various aspects of the state’s employment laws.
Patti currently serves as Vice President of Workplace Strategy for Emtrain, a culturetech company offering comprehensive online training programs, expert guidance, and insightful data analytics—all with the goal of creating healthy workplace cultures and eliminating workplace drama.
Patti and her husband, Tom, live in San Diego, where they spend their time enjoying the life of empty nesters but still miss their kids: Nick, Christina, and Tony.
Introduction
Companies are hungry to find ways to differentiate themselves, to become employers of choice, to present themselves as organizations that deserve to win the “war for talent.” Cue the calls for a dynamic workplace culture as the secret weapon to make all this come true.
Workplace culture has become a familiar term in corporate America. But despite all the talk about how much culture matters, few companies actually do the work required to build and maintain a healthy and productive environment at work. Research validates the fact that a healthy culture drives business results, but little attention is paid to how to actually improve your culture and keep it healthy.
First, let’s define the term. In short, workplace culture encompasses the beliefs, values, and behaviors that guide your company. There are many components that define and measure the health of a culture at work, including employee engagement, employee satisfaction, happiness at work, compensation, benefits, and other workplace perks. People confuse these individual elements with defining their culture. (“We have a great culture . . . our employee surveys indicate our workforce is engaged.”)
As outlined in Figure I.1, a healthy and productive workplace culture has various components. Like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, you can’t get to the top rungs without first satisfying basic needs.
Figure I.1The Healthy Workplace Culture Pyramid
A company that provides the basics—fair pay and benefits, and a generally safe workplace—has a mediocre culture. People come to work for their paychecks. There is little innovation and profits are flat. (Note: Companies that don’t provide even these basics are cultures that are usually seen as toxic, and this toxicity eventually destroys the company’s ability to succeed.)
A company that goes a step above and provides additional perks and takes steps to ensure an engaged and connected employee base has a good culture. Their employees understand the company’s mission, they feel connected to it and to each other. In terms of employee relations, these companies focus on and follow the law.
Then there are the companies with fantastic workplace cultures. The secret to these companies’ success is threefold:
They are intentional and relentless about planning and executing a strategy to put culture at the center of everything they do;
They have leaders who walk the walk and set the tone; and,
Because
culture
refers to the norms that govern how people approach problems and develop solutions, these companies also see preventing, managing, and addressing conflict (drama) as a vital part of their culture.
And the results are undeniable: a cohesive and collaborative workplace that leads to innovation and, as study after study shows, increased revenue and profit.
Think about a company that boasts about its engaged and satisfied employee base. Now think of how well this company fares if information comes to light about an executive who is allowed to remain on the job despite credible allegations of sexual harassment or some other ethical lapse. The weak foundation that holds up the fallacy of a great workplace culture collapses under the weight of the hypocrisy.
In today’s post-#MeToo world, it is more important than ever to find groundbreaking solutions to address harassment, bias, and ethical lapses in the workplace. Without addressing these concerns—drama at work—a company’s claim of an excellent workplace culture is incomplete.
While much has been written about topics such as employee engagement, climate surveys, and the introduction of Ping-Pong tables as tools to build a healthy culture, little attention has been paid to how critical conflict prevention and resolution are to a company’s ability to provide employees with an environment in which to thrive. This book addresses that very topic and introduces an innovative and fresh approach to reducing or even eliminating workplace drama.
This book is for the leader, for the emerging leader, and for anyone who has to manage drama at work. A recurring theme throughout the book is that it will take each and every one of us to achieve the goal of a drama-free workplace.
The book is divided into three parts:
Part One: Diagnosis Drama: What You Can Do to Identify, Prevent, and Fix Workplace Drama. This section gives the reader an overview of the root causes of drama and practical solutions to rid the workplace of it, followed by detailed chapters on the three most common types of drama at work: sexual harassment, bias/diversity, and ethics lapses.
Part Two: “Hiking” to the Top of the Healthy Workplace Culture Pyramid. Using the metaphor of hiking, this section provides some essential and easy-to-implement formulas for making your workplace healthier. It also draws from analogous fields (safety, emotional intelligence, persuasive communication) to provide cutting-edge solutions on how to become drama free.
Part Three: A DIY Roadmap for Creating and Maintaining a Drama-Free Culture. In this section, I’ll share my very practical, step-by-step roadmaps on how to write and enforce policies, how to provide effective training, and how to investigate and resolve workplace drama.
And one last note: Don’t forget that a healthy culture is a fun culture. There is a misconception that in order to be drama free you have to erase all things entertaining and amusing. But who wants to work in that type of environment? A culture that is healthy, inclusive, and respectful can and should also be fun.
You can read the book from beginning to end, or you can turn to the chapter that has information about your most pressing need. The goal is to introduce you to a fresh approach to prevent and address drama at work so that yours can be an organization that is proud of its culture.
I’ll use case studies and real-life examples throughout the book. I’ve collected these stories from my work as an employment attorney and HR professional, as well as my experience as a workplace investigator—a specialist in the field of drama prevention and resolution. This work has given me a bird’s-eye view of how drama unfolds. More important, it has given me insight into how the need to prevent and fix workplace drama is a key ingredient in the secret sauce of creating and maintaining a healthy workplace culture.
Whether your organization is already on its way to the top of the Healthy Workplace Culture Pyramid or you’re starting from scratch, this book will provide you with a roadmap to identify, prevent, and resolve workplace drama. And whether you’re a leader, an emerging leader, or an employee who wants to stay drama free, the tips in this book will help you be a part of the solution we’re all striving for—a workplace free of useless drama.
PART IDiagnosis Drama: What You Can Do to Identify, Prevent, and Fix Workplace Drama
1How to Blow Up an Organization (and Rise from the Ashes)
Chances are, you encounter drama in your workplace on a daily basis. My guess is that if you had a nickel for every time someone asked for advice because they’d been “harassed at work” or they have to deal with an employee who is “gaming the system,” well, you’d have lots of nickels.
Some of the drama is subtle and nuanced, related more to perception than the actual facts of the story. Other times the stories you hear are blatant and in your face. These are the stories that make you cringe and ask yourself, “Did she really do that?”
The skills required to address these situations vary, but regardless of where the drama falls on the intensity spectrum, you need to do everything in your power to manage, if not eliminate, it. Will it really take blowing up your organization to identify, prevent, and fix workplace drama? Yes (but not literally!).
#WorkplaceDrama: Identifying Problematic Behavior
Workplace drama takes many forms, but all drama is rooted in conflict and heightened emotions. The drama might involve just a few people (at least initially). But like a progressive disease, the drama spreads if it isn’t dealt with swiftly and effectively. And too often unchecked drama ends up infecting an entire department, division, or company. Identifying the problem is vital to ultimately figuring out how to prevent it and solve it.
So how does drama manifest itself at work? Here’s a partial list:
“Harassment.”
This word is in quotes for a reason; it’s a word that is misunderstood and therefore misused. Too often, people use the term to describe behavior that is annoying or bothersome. While that is the dictionary definition of “harassment,” the legal meaning is quite different. More than likely, you’ve had this conversation before. You’ve had to explain this distinction between the layman’s definition and the legal definition, though hopefully you’ve made it clear that even behavior that is “less than” illegal is nonetheless problematic and needs to be addressed. Harassing conduct takes many forms and involves the entire gamut of personal characteristics, but the type of workplace harassment that is most often discussed remains sexual harassment. And of course, in the post-#MeToo world, it’s taken on an additional urgency. In many instances, an employee complaining about “harassment” is actually referring to disrespectful, rude, or demeaning conduct, and, in more severe cases, workplace bullying. Having a respectful and civil workplace environment is vital to having a truly healthy workplace culture, but a problem can’t be fixed if it is imprecisely stated. It requires a new plan and it is one of many ways that a company needs to blow up before it can rebuild.
Harassment: It’s important to distinguish between exposure to annoying or bothersome behavior (the dictionary definition of harassment) and unlawful harassment, which involves a protected category and must meet other legal requirements, including unwelcomeness and either severity or pervasiveness. (See Chapter 3.)
Bias – conscious and unconscious.
You’ve seen bias, or at least allegations of it, every day, right? It may take the form of a boss who is playing favorites, inaccurately describing someone’s performance, or making judgmental comments. Undoubtedly, you’ve also had discussions about unconscious bias—whether it involves African-Americans who are arrested for waiting for a friend at a coffee shop or women who say they experience “mansplaining” at meetings. The reality of unconscious bias and the ways in which it affects our decision-making is well chronicled, even if the average employee still doesn’t understand it completely.
I’ll use the term “unconscious bias” throughout this book. Unconscious biases are social stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals form outside their own conscious awareness. Sometimes the term “implicit bias” is used instead of unconscious bias, particularly by academics. Implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. (For more, see Chapter 3.)
Perceptions of unfairness.
“I work just as hard as Sarah, but Joe always gives her a higher rating and a higher raise.” “I just wish I knew the rules of the game so I could succeed at this company.” “They tell us that there is a procedure to deal with this issue, but we all know rules are bent if you have the right title.” “I honestly have no idea why my boss dislikes me and treats me so disrespectfully.” Whether these examples ultimately uncover
actual
unfairness ends up being of little consequence. If employees have a reasonable perception that an individual or “the company” is treating them unfairly, you have workplace drama you need to deal with. (More on this in Chapter 5.)
Ethical lapses.
Many examples of ethical lapses involve a lack of thought and analysis. While there are certainly examples of employees embezzling money or committing other blatently fraudulent acts, in many instances the ethical lapse is an employee receiving a gift from a vendor, a committee leader advocating for his friend’s company during an RFP process, or a manager going against policy and hiring someone without going through the pre-established procedure. Regardless of whether the conduct is purposeful or is due to laziness, ethical blunders, and how the company deals with them, are a common source of drama at work. (More in Chapter 4.)
There are, of course, many other examples of workplace strife, but these examples of drama at work are the ones we see most often.
Root Causes of Workplace Drama
Just as important as identifying and recognizing drama (preferably early, when it can still be easily addressed), is recognizing its root causes. Any one of these examples—not to mention a combination of them—has the potential to devastate your company.
Inauthentic leadership:
A lack of authenticity creates or perpetuates a belief that management is hypocritical, that they only talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. In this environment, employees lose enthusiasm for their jobs, passion for what the company represents, and, most dangerous, they lose trust.
Problem-solving deficit:
A lack of authenticity leads to inconsistency, usually seen in the form of the failure to implement solutions in an even-handed way. Over time, this creates
actual
unfairness (and also creates a strong perception of a lack of workplace justice).
Persistent confusion: Unfair or illegal?:
Repeated inconsistency in dealing with conflict (e.g., ignoring misconduct, conducting sham investigations into claims of misconduct, uneven distribution of consequences when misconduct is proven) not only leads to the erosion of trust, but it also increases the probability that employees will perceive any level of misconduct not only as unfair, but also as illegal. This increases the chance that they will make internal or external claims of legal violations. If made internally, the company must go down the compliance route and conduct a formal workplace investigation. Or the employee might choose to file a lawsuit. And in today’s social media–filled world there is another choice. An employee’s grievance could end up on a blog, an employer review website, a social media site, or as an exposé on the front page of a national newspaper. Yesterday’s biggest workplace fear might have been an employment lawsuit. Today, brand value is more easily lost with one press of a button . . . a button that says “post.”
Imprecise use of legal terms
Similar to the misunderstanding about the term “harassment,” employees (including managers) also use the terms “hostile work environment,” “discrimination,” and “retaliation” imprecisely. Each of these are legal terms of art; an employee must establish several specific elements to prove any of these legal violations. But these terms are often used in the workplace to point to behavior that is irritating, biased, or vindictive. Use of precise language—which then leads to an appropriate corporate reaction and resolution—is vital. But make no mistake, this is a two-way street. Just as it is important for employees to learn to precisely report their concerns, it is equally important that employers, especially managers and HR professionals, learn to establish an effective way to then address those complaints, regardless of whether the behavior is unlawful.
Lack of transparency:
Long-standing fear of getting sued has, paradoxically, led to decisions that increase the chance an employer will be sued. (I discuss this in great detail in the “Fearlessness” section in Chapter 5 by walking you through the litigation-avoidance paradox.) A prime example is with the lack of transparency. Convinced that they are prohibited from sharing “confidential,” “private,” or “personal” information, companies create shrouds of secrecy. In some instances, it’s inaccurate or incomplete information about why someone was disciplined or fired. In others, it’s making large-scale corporate changes (reorganizations, selection of new leadership, etc.) behind an impenetrable wall, with no employee knowledge or input. No matter the specific secret, two lessons are clear: Employees know more than you think they know (so trying to pull the wool over their eyes is obvious to them) and you do more harm than good since employees know you’re lying (employees have a very well-honed BS meter). Old-fashioned though it may sound, it really does pay to be honest.
Communication gaps:
Confusion between unfair and illegal behavior, an uneven playing field (or the reasonable perception of one), and secrecy do not mix well. To make matters worse, employers only teach employees “legal language” (that is, employees only learn about “harassment” and “discrimination”). This gives employees one of two messages. The first is: Don’t come to me with a complaint unless it’s one of unlawful conduct. When this happens, employers don’t find out about problems until they reach crisis level. The second message is: When you do eventually report your concerns, do so by using charged legal terminology such as “hostile work environment” and “retaliation,” rather than reporting facts and consequences. This then causes the company leader to go into defense mode rather than problem-solving mode. This merry-go-round of posturing makes it clear that we need to establish a common and productive language at work . . . one that actually has the goal of fixing the workplace drama problem.
Precision in reporting
Which of these “reports”—both of which essentially say the same thing—is most likely to decrease the temperature and prevent further drama?
“I need to report sexual harassment. Charlie is such a jerk. He’s always calling us ‘chicks’ and ‘babes’ but never uses those types of nicknames for any of the guys. And, ugh, I hate that he talks about his dating life. It’s so gross.”
Or
“I’m having a hard time working with Charlie. I don’t think he respects women. He calls us ‘chicks’ and ‘babes’ but never uses those kinds of nicknames for the guys—they’re always referred to by their names or by ‘chief’ and ‘bro.’ And his constant talking about his dating life makes me think that he only sees women as potential romantic partners. I don’t know if he realizes that all of this makes me feel belittled and makes it harder for me to do my job. Can we work together to help him understand how his words and actions are affecting me?”
Increased division:
This confusion drives an us-versus-them mentality that causes even further division and mistrust. With increased division comes an erosion of empathy and self-awareness. It becomes nearly impossible to see the issue from the other person’s perspective and to be self-aware and humble enough to admit mistakes. Viewed through this lens of suspicion and selfishness, actions are more likely to be negatively interpreted which makes drama inevitable.
Culture of complicity:
The us-versus-them culture becomes permissive and tolerates bad behavior. And tolerance inevitably leads to even more egregious behavior (since the bad actor is emboldened by the tolerance). After all, in this type of culture, trouble is always blamed on the person on the opposite side. What results is a failure to view situations objectively and we instead view them through the expedient lens of quick blame. We hide behind “business decisions.” Sure, Charlie is hard to take, but he’s so valuable to the company. Yes, Jessica has made some decisions that push the bounds of ethics, but it’s only because external factors make it nearly impossible for her to do her job effectively. Once you start making these types of excuses, you’ve crossed a dangerous line and drama will be ever-present.
Precision in response
Using the Charlie example, which of these responses is more likely to decrease the temperature and prevent further drama?
“I don’t really see this as a harassment issue and it sounds more like Charlie’s management style. You haven’t said anything about him being sexual or making a pass at you. Maybe this is just his way of motivating his team. I guess I’ll talk to him about the nicknames, but you’re just going to have to learn to get along with him. I mean, he is the boss.”
Or
“Thanks for letting me know about this. I can see why Charlie’s behavior makes you feel as if he doesn’t fully value your contributions. I’m happy to talk with him, but before I do, I’d like to hear more details from you, and then I’ll also talk to Charlie to get his perspective. My goal here is to make sure everyone’s voice is heard and to make sure that everyone feels valued and included.”
Blind spots pop up:
As each side begins to think the other is out to get them, we develop blind spots, and our ability to anticipate and respond to drama becomes weaker. Of course moving someone to a lower position on the organizational chart during a reorganization will lead to hurt feelings and claims of unfairness, but reorg strategists think, “Hey, they’re lucky to have a job.” Yes, it’s true the company has lost one-third of its female leaders in the past six months, but that’s just a coincidence and says nothing about the company’s commitment to diversity—unless you ask the remaining female leaders. The ability to anticipate and plan for drama is a critical skill that is unfortunately missing at most companies. (See Chapter 6 for more on how to take action in situations that are known to result in drama.)
Wrong solution:
