In a new experiment called Work-Life Choice Challenge Summer 2019, Microsoft employees showed enhanced productivity. The company shortened the workweek and gave four Fridays off in a row. At the end of the project, the company reported a 40 percent increase in productivity and happier workers, Microsoft reported. In 2018, New Zealand trust management experimented with the four-day workweek and reported less stressed employees.
An ad featuring seven women employees of Fisher Investments, touting how great it is to work at the firm, was published in the Wall Street Journal. The advertisement is in response to a comment made by Ken Fisher, which brought the company culture under scrutiny. Fisher compared wooing clients to “trying to get into a girl’s pants”, reports Fortune. Fisher had issued an apology stating “I realize this kind of language has no place in our company or industry.”
Former Starbucks director, Susan Philips, has sued the company for racism. Allegedly, Starbucks terminated her following the racial profiling incident that took place at a Philadelphia store in 2018. The company faced public protests after one of its managers got two black men arrested. To convince the community, Starbucks retaliated against white people who were not involved in the arrest, Susan alleges.
CHROs are increasingly playing an influential role in organizational branding. According to Page, a global organization for communication executives, the influence is due to the growing focus on leveraging culture to attract and retain talent. As employee value proposition (EVP) and retention of right people contribute to a brand’s overall success, CHROs are increasingly becoming part of the branding success.
Mc Donald’s dismissed CEO Steve Easterbrook over a relationship with an employee. Easterbrook held the position since 2015. He relinquished his position from the company’s board as well. Steve, 52, “demonstrated poor judgment” involving the relationship, the company said in a press release. Across many organizations, scrutiny of executives has intensified since the #MeToo movement. Steve called the relationship a “mistake” in an email.
Google’s new community rules may not be as effective as they are expected to be. A new Google hire posted memes on Google’s internal message board in response to the hiring of Miles Taylor. Reportedly, Taylor supported Trump’s hard-line immigration policies. Two out of three memes were immediately removed. The new hire is accused of misleading employees, Bloomberg reports.
Medina Bardhi, a female WeWork staff, accused Adam Neumann, CEO of the company for discriminating and retaliating against her for pregnancy, Reuter reports. She said Neumann discriminated and retaliated against her soon after he learned that she was pregnant with her first child. In a complaint filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Bardhi said she got fired about six months post-delivery of her second child and weeks after raising her voice.
A lawsuit filed on Thursday accuses Facebook of letting ad targeting tools discriminate against women and older people in financial services ads, Reuter reports. “Women and older persons are entitled to full and equal services of businesses such as Facebook, and the financial service companies that advertise on Facebook’s platform,” attorney Handley said in a statement.
The disproportionate gender ratio in company boards has been a subject of recent hot debates. The number of women in the U.S board seats noted an increase up from 14.2% in 2018 to 17.6% this year. However, the country still needs to catch up with other countries like Norway, France, Sweden, Finland, New Zealand, and Belgium where women hold at least 30% of board seats, HR Dive reports.
Toshiba Corp takes its former facility manager at Houston-based Toshiba International to court on charges of fraudulent transactions, reports Reuters. Toshiba declares that it has evidence against him for defrauding the Japanese industrial conglomerate. It is alleged that he directed work to a contractor at inflated prices and received kickbacks. Toshiba is still investigating the scale of damages and the possibility of other employees’ involvement in the fraud.
The last few years saw traditional workplace norms crumble under new workforce expectations. Millennials expect employer benefits that match their values. A study from Globo force’s Work Human Research Institute and IBM’s Smarter Workforce Institute said the organization’s shared mission for employees’ work engagement is the single largest contributor to positive employee experience, HR Dive reports.
An inclusive workplace enables organizations to embrace diversity and value individual and group differences, reports HR Dive. In another study, Accenture revealed that businesses maintaining inclusive workforces outperformed competitors and delivered high shareholder returns. To achieve a greater talent pool, leaders must establish a baseline to access workplace culture while assuring accessibility standards for employees with disabilities.
In 2019, a small yet growing number of employers stepped in to help the young workforce with their student loan repayments. The move is cited as a new pitch to attract a talented workforce who are bogged down with financial burden that stunts their career growth. Further, they acknowledge that this program proved as an effective recruitment and retention tool to attract the best-educated talent. Keeping employees happy is imperative, and this effort fosters meaningful relationships between employers and employees.
According to a class-action lawsuit, the Walt Disney Company violates California’s Equal Pay Act and pays its women workers far less as compared to their male counterparts for the same job. Moreover, it excludes female employees for promotion, gives more work without extra compensation, and demotivates them at their jobs. The court filing represents an expansion of existing gender pay gap claims at Disney. Disney, on the other hand, seeks to have the claims decided at an individual level, Fast Company Reports.
Facebook workers denounced Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to allow politicians to post advertisements without fact-checking on their social channels. Previously, the social network had banned ads containing ‘false content’, but later waived the policy for politicians. This fueled the employees who spoke out against the policy by signing a letter and posting it on an internal communication message board.
A WFD research says employers must provide inclusive benefits to their employees. They must establish policies and practices to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach to gender identity and, must create cultural competence training and scale performance on merit. The findings reflect the opinions of employers, workers, parents of trans and nonbinary children, and gender identity experts, HR Dive reports.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) has ruled against a disabled employee’s plea for extended flexibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act's (ADA). ADA mandates employers to accommodate workers with disabilities, however, it doesn't cover any essential function to be removed. In person-attendance, regardless of disability, remains a fact-specific question.
Target employees work more hours than they did three years ago as the company is transitioning to USD 15-an-hour minimum wage, the company said in a statement. Reportedly, the company cut average work hours to 15 hours from 30 to 40 hours. Employees who average 30 hours of work per week are eligible for Target’s health insurance benefits, HR Dive reports.
Citigroup Inc. has promoted Jane Fraser to head of its global consumer bank and president, Reuters reported. This puts Fraser in a position to become the first female chief executive of the U.S. bank. Fraser is succeeding Stephen Bird as the head of the consumer business, the company said in a statement. The president’s position has been vacant since last year.
Millennial employees want flexible work hours and ownership of their schedules and this trend is expected to grow. “We’re fundamentally shifting towards, as a culture, is the place where you want to have autonomy over your skillset, how you apply it, how you work, and how you earn,” Alexa Von Tobel, founder and managing partner of Inspired Capital says.
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