On July 20, 2021, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”) filed a lawsuit against software company Activision Blizzard Inc. The lawsuit alleges that Activision Blizzard promoted a “pervasive frat boy” culture that discriminated against female employees. The lawsuit comes on the heels of a two-year investigation concerning Activision’s treatment of its female workforce. The […]
This has to be one of the truly great stories of culture building in a business. Years before taking on his role as US Secretary of the Treasury, Paul O’Neill accepted the role of CEO at aluminum producer, Alcoa. Before assuming his duties, he had three months to think about what he wanted to do […]
Have you ever walked past the breakroom or water cooler while at work and noticed a small group of employees speaking in low, hushed tones? There’s a good chance that these folks might be engaging in workplace gossip. Gossip doesn’t just take place in the office – for example, traveling salespeople who rarely see other […]
We all want to experience a workplace culture where employees are encouraged to conduct themselves ethically. That’s why our organization makes ethics and compliance a top priority – by taking steps such as creating a code of conduct, providing ethics training and offering access to an anonymous hotline for reporting misconduct, we hope to create […]
In the past several years we have seen a number of important societal changes that have increased awareness of offensiveness and incivility in the workplace. From the #MeToo movement’s focus on sexual harassment and assault in the workplace to increased attention on marginalized race and ethnic groups via horrifying interactions between minorities and the police, […]
The prevention of workplace harassment has evolved in recent years from liability avoidance to cultural improvement and incident prevention. In order to facilitate cultural change, it is necessary to offer the workforce an education program that goes far beyond what is required for legal compliance. The issue of harassment has evolved from the pure legal […]
The opportunity to work in a foreign country can be exciting and challenging, and it can also enhance your career prospects. You’ll establish qualifications and acquire new skills that can make you an asset to your organization now and in the future. However, you’re also likely to discover that overseas employment can be much different […]
We all want to feel good about where we work, and we want to believe that the organization adheres to the highest ethical standards. But what happens when you take a job that falls short of your expectations from an ethics perspective? And what should you do when what used to be a great environment […]
In any group situation, it’s essential that everyone understands what constitutes appropriate and unacceptable behavior. In the workplace, a code of conduct, also referred to as a code of ethics, is the document that serves as the blueprint for comportment that every member of the organization is expected to follow. Some companies provide code of […]
Understandably, most employees do not relish the thought of becoming a “whistleblower,” which is an individual who takes the bold step of reporting incidents of misconduct or noncompliance. It takes courage to move forward with a complaint without knowing what the outcome will be. Concerns range from being labeled as a “snitch” and becoming an […]
