First of all, thanks to those of you who responded to my inquiry about silver lining(s) in today’s “new normal.” Thank you for your willingness to share your silver linings with me so that I could collect them and perhaps help others shift their focus for today. Maybe, just maybe we can collectively support people in thinking about how they want to show up now and when the lid comes off—when we can shake hands and hug again and when, as some would say, “we can get back to the business of working.” My hope is that your silver linings will inspire others to look for and live into their silver linings now and in the future.
While the number of Americans who work from home has tripled during the past 15 years, over these past few weeks, millions more now telecommute. The coronavirus has drastically changed life around the globe as people isolate themselves in order to slow the pandemic. Remote work is one of those changes as Google, Amazon, Facebook, JPMorgan, and even the federal government have requested that non-essential employees stay home.
Did you know that more CEOs of large U.S. companies are named John (5.3%) than are women (4.1%)? Although non-discriminatory hiring practices are on the forefront of today’s corporate culture discussions, bias remains a problem. Unfair hiring practices lead to less gender and racial diversity, which affects your bottom line. According to one McKinsey study, gender-diverse companies are 15 percent more likely to outperform their non-gender diverse counterparts. Ethnically diverse companies are 35 percent more likely to outperform.
As financial markets reel upon news of the pandemic, you as a leader can respond to the spread of the coronavirus with calm rationality. "Giving a sense of calm is important if there is an outbreak," said John Beattie, whose consultancy analyzes companies’ ability to handle an outbreak of infectious disease. "Employees should feel like they're in good hands with management and that managers are concerned about them."
Did you know that Gallup now conducts monthly rather than yearly employee engagement surveys? We are in an employee engagement crisis – and businesses both big and small crave solutions.
People’s experiences and relationships within an organization define its corporate culture. More specifically, work culture can be broken down into 6 core elements:
64% of women experience microaggression in the workplace.
Psychological safety underpins both employee engagement and productivity. According to Dr. Amy Edmondson at Harvard Business School, psychological safety is:
