Thank you RBG. It’s now time for us to carry the torch for equality
-Although best known for paving a way to legal and financial equality for women and advocating against discrimination on behalf of both sexes, RBG’s playbook also provided a roadmap for fighting injustices against the LGBTQ community.
The real cost of racial discrimination affects all businesses financially
-A blistering study released this week by Citigroup highlights the “real costs of long-standing discrimination against minority groups, especially against Black people” and exposes it as an economic shortfall borne by all, not just those directly affected.
Business integrity is not optional and silence is the enemy
-“Recognize that integrity is not an optional subject anymore. You’ve got to get over your discomfort as a leader and recognize that silence and ambiguity are the enemies of integrity. This is part of the leadership that your employees and the world need from you.”
Declining mental health and the ethical workplace
-The abrupt life changes caused by the pandemic continue to propagate elevated stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues among the global workforce. A report released this month reveals that the risk for depression among US workers has risen an alarming 102% since February of this year and shows little sign of abating.
Pressure to ignore ethics grows under COVID
-According to the ECI, globally, more than one in every five employees feels pressure to compromise their organization’s ethics standards, policies, or the law.
The real Women’s Equality Day is still over the horizon
-Women’s Equality Day is a bit of a misnomer, historically speaking. It’s even a misnomer in the context of the present day. Equality, for all women, is still a long way off, especially when it comes to representation in the workplace.
Misconduct claims hit share prices hard
-There’s new data out showing the impact of sexual misconduct at work on a company’s share price. Companies with complaints of harassment or discrimination perform far worse than others in the same sector, according to University of Manitoba Assistant Professor of Finance Shiu-Yik Au.
4 steps to an effective speak up program
-Every organization will have misconduct at some point in some form, it’s a statistical probability and has little bearing on how ‘good’ a culture is. So a good speak up program becomes about uncovering or surfacing misconduct and resolving it before it grows and enables a toxic culture.
The role of compliance in speak up culture
-One of the many things 2020 will be noted for is an increased focus on the intersection between the functions of compliance, legal, and HR – more specifically regarding the direction of a company’s culture and whether the company and its employees act with integrity.
Diversity is like a workplace safety program
-If you had a series of accidents in your company that resulted in lawsuits and reputational damage, you would create a systemic program looking at work redesign, communications, training, metrics, rewards, and incident reporting. Diversity in business is no different and should be treated like a safety program.
