Throughout every industry, Black people experience disproportionate bias and discrimination in the workplace due to their natural hair and the policies in place that create an unequal environment. The notion that straight hair is better than curly or “kinky” hair has become widespread and created a societal standard that black hair and the different hairstyles…
The Changing Nature of Harassment Harassment claims look very different than they did five (5) years ago. Harassment in 2023 will primarily rely on context and the nuances of a situation to understand how the person complaining perceives the workplace situation based on their protected characteristics. Harassment these days is less about blatant overtures or…
Why Memorial Day is Celebrated Memorial Day began in 1868 as a tradition to honor the lives lost during the Civil War. This was the first war in US history that saw so many deaths, resulting in the need for the first national cemeteries. People of the community started to decorate the fallen soldier’s graves…
Many organizations simply go through the motions of having their employees take the mandatory trainings and focus on the legal risk. Although this meets the minimum requirements, it doesn’t actually benefit work culture and doesn’t improve employees feeling of belonging and respect. The research done by the Center for WorkLife Law and Emtrain shows that…
Amongst Emtrain clients, there’s a fan club for the Workplace Color Spectrum®. In my first meeting with one learning & development leader, I asked if he was familiar with the Workplace Color Spectrum®. A second later he held up our infographic that he had printed and laminated. (You’re awesome, Matt!) We’re often told stories about…
“Go back to where you came from!” “You don’t belong here!” “Didn’t the virus start in China?” “Why Black Lives Matter? All Lives Matter, too” Some of us may have heard these words in person, read them online, watched clips on social media, or have had these words said to us. It’s triggering. The 2020…
We are living in unprecedented times. Politics consumes discourse, and polarization causes rifts in families and friendships. While political discussions in the workplace aren’t necessarily inappropriate, such conversations can interfere with work relationships, productivity, reputation/brand of the company, morale, and possibly even the civil rights of employees. It can also alienate customers or clients. So…
In 2020, most of us will be working alongside people from different generations and different cultural backgrounds, and when it comes to creating a respectful culture, the real emerging challenge is reaching a shared understanding of what “respect” means to all of us. Our perspectives flow from our life experiences and when our life experiences…
According to a recent HR Dive article, a manager that allows employees to control their work tends to see better results than a manager that feels the need to micromanage all aspects of a worker’s job. It is no surprise that a pleasant and collaborative company culture keeps employees engaged – but that is not always…
Having mutual respect for your coworkers does not start and end with simply following the rules. Mutual respect goes beyond that; it is the cornerstone of virtually every successful organization. It is one of the reasons that mutual respect is covered within every organization’s Code, and can be a key factor in an organization’s reputation…
