logo

Your partner in

Business strategy

Creating an inclusive workplace

What is your company doing today to ensure success tomorrow?

Articles and News

Article Listing:
Articles listed here have been published in The Business Monthly, ANLA Today, and other publications.

Understanding Religious and Belief-system Diversity at Work

Harassment Prevention for the Small Business Owner

You Need an Inclusive Environment—Here’s Why (and How!)

Are You Missing the Message? Follow Easy Guidelines to Email Effecively

Articles: Note—all articles are copyrighted. Reproduction in whole or in part without prior written approval by a principal of Strategy and Training Partners, LLC is strictly prohibited. Please contact us at mail@strategyandtraining.com for approval.

News Listing:
Here's what's new at Strategy and Training Partners, LLC:

Strategy and Training Partners, LLC Expands Inclusive Environments Practice: Individual Coaching Added to Programs

Emailing Course Designed to Protect Employers and Improve Employee Effectiveness

Herding Cats: How to Get Your Kids, Your Job, and Your Life Going in the Same Direction



Articles:  


Understanding Religious and Belief-system Diversity at Work



So much of what happens at work – both good and bad – happens because of how employees and leaders perceive others and how they believe others perceive them. As the variety and visibility of minority religions and creeds (belief-systems) grows in the United States, religious diversity at work is becoming both an increasing challenge and a strategic basis for competitive advantage in employee and customer outreach and retention. Many Human Resource practitioners and business leaders are unaware of how religious diversity has affected and continues to affect the work environment. Further, many lack religious cultural competence, basing decisions on incomplete, or worse, incorrect information.

Example: A devout Baptist employee played radio Gospel music during the workday because it reminded her that she must work with diligence as “all work is for God’s glory.” Her Atheist office-mate began playing heavy metal so she wouldn’t have to hear “Jesus music.” The dueling radios got louder and louder until coworkers complained. HR, fearing the conflict would tear apart the team, decided to end its policy allowing music at work. The loss of this perk infuriated everyone: some were angry with the Atheist who “wouldn’t just live and let live”; some were angry with the Baptist who “wouldn’t leave her religion at home”; everyone was angry with HR.

Example: A Wiccan employee caused uproar when she wore a pentagram necklace in the office. Her coworkers, fearing she was a “devil-worshiper” complained to HR that the star represented a threat, fearing “the Wiccan employee would use it to put a curse” on them. They asked that the star be removed under the company’s violence-prevention policy. The employee refused, asserting her right to religious expression. HR required the employee to wear the star only under her shirt where it would not be visible.

Because the coworkers were not educated that there is no concept of the “devil” in Wicca nor that Wiccans do not put curses on people, they began to avoid the Wiccan employee, calling her “the witch,” and continuing to fear her. The employee felt increasingly outcast.

In these examples, and every day on the job, decisions are made based on incomplete information and understanding by business leaders doing their best to respect all views – or at least maintain order.   Managers and team-members need religious cultural competency and an expanded awareness of how differently we view religion and other creeds and their “place” at work to sustain productivity. 

HR Practitioners use these understandings to build cross-cultural competencies, create inclusive environments and meet the legal, logistical, and relationship challenges that may be presented by their employees’, suppliers’, and customers’ diversity of religions and creeds. Leaders use this knowledge to create a competitive advantage by going beyond a limiting monolithic culture to one that values the religious and creed diversity of all its constituents.

Illysa Izenberg conducts training programs in Understanding Diversity, Religious Diversity at Work, Coaching to Create Sustained Superior Performance, Managing Multiple Priorities, Project Management, Preventing Harassment, and others.



Harassment Prevention for the Small Business Owner

A supervisor reprimands an employee accused of harassment with, “I don’t know what you say in Louisiana, but we don’t talk that way in Maryland.”

A receiving clerk mentions to her foreman that a “nasty note” was left on her desk. He tells her to let him know if it happens again. He neither asks for the note nor tells the company owner or personnel office—thereby disabling any investigation.

A strong man hired to engage in physical labor complains to his boss that a female customer keeps asking him out and sending him love letters. His boss laughs, and says, “what, can’t you handle a woman?”

A company-owner instructs an employee accused of harassment to apologize in writing to his accuser. Instead, the accused goes to the woman’s office—ostensibly to offer his apology in person—and asks her what was said to offend her. The accuser responds that she cannot remember. He assumes the situation is closed.

Each of these true situations occurs daily in workplaces around the country. They seem harmless enough, yet in each case management has not utilized successful tools for preventing harassment; worse, it has set the stage for further conflict. And in each case, it is the company owner who will be held financially liable for future harassment.

Small business owners—many of whom do not have in-house human resources professionals upon whom to rely-- must learn the legal and practical definition of harassment, obtain tools for identifying behaviors that can be seen as harassing, understand their liabilities, and focus on ways to prevent harassment.

Many business owners understand that Courts will minimize punitive damages when companies show reasonable care in preventing harassment. Showing reasonable care is also the first step toward creating an inclusive, respectful, and productive workplace.

There are four components to showing reasonable care in preventing harassment:

1. Provide a harassment policy: this clearly written policy covers the definition of harassment, the behaviors the company finds unacceptable, procedures employees should follow if they witness or experience harassment, and what may result from an investigation. It is disseminated to all employees—and, if necessary, translated into commonly used languages.

2. Institute a formal complaint procedure: the policy must include the names and phone numbers of people to whom an employee may complain. We recommend the business owner assign at least two other people in addition to him/herself for this role to avoid any perception of bias. Some organizations institute both formal and informal procedures to enable those who just want the behaviors to stop to complain without instigating an investigation.

3. Communicate disapproval of harassment: train all staff and encourage managers to model appropriate behavior to ensure they understand you intend a harassment-free workplace.

4. Respond swiftly and decisively: the company must respond as soon as a complaint is made. Delays send mixed messages, provide opportunities for further harassment or retaliation, and weaken a company’s proactive defense.

When employees follow complaint procedures and the company responds by ensuring the behavior stops, lawsuits are nipped in the bud, teamwork continues unimpeded, and employees and customers feel confident in a respectful workplace.

The loss of key employees because of their behavior or the behavior of others toward them and the lost productivity in a team experiencing harassment cost businesses far more than monies lost in a lawsuit. An ounce of prevention early in the process may be all it takes.

© 2002 Strategy and Training Partners, LLC

You Need an Inclusive Environment—Here’s Why (and How!)

Your company buys, or is bought by, another company—which culture will prevail? The demographics of your customers or employees have changed dramatically in the last five years—are your managers able to lead a diverse team? Are your salespeople able to sell to diverse customers? Your business grows rapidly, forcing quick hiring—are you selecting warm bodies or skilled staff that fit your company culture?

Gain the competitive advantage of an inclusive environment: expand your customer and employee base and skillfully utilize your diverse workforce. In this article, you will learn the “what, why, and how” of attaining an inclusive environment.

What is an inclusive environment? Each organization must decide for itself what its employees, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders require to be included in the organization’s processes. Nonetheless, inclusive cultures share six commonalties:

1. From senior management to the front line, employees see strengths in difference. They define “group” beyond race and gender to include family status, nation of origin, thinking style, position in hierarchy, work experiences, etc.

2. All employees contribute to expectations—fully utilizing their knowledge, skills, and abilities without the distraction of others’ perceptions about the groups to which they are believed to belong. Here’s a test: if you have a few employees who are asked frequently to speak for their “group” (e.g., a visible minority)—evidencing the assumption that minorities think, act, or feel alike—you may have a non-inclusive environment.

3. The organization expects and accepts cultural misunderstandings. For example, one technology firm’s workforce hailed from the U.S., Canada, India, Pakistan, China, Taiwan, and Israel. Because language and cultural misunderstandings were par for the course, these teammates learned to ask for and provide feedback and to check assumptions.

4. Employees are heard, regardless of group identity. Here’s a test: if the same team-members’ ideas dominate most meetings, you may have a non-inclusive environment. Managers must learn to elicit contributions from everyone to capitalize on hired skills.

5. Employees chosen for challenging, visible and critical team assignments represent different education levels, thinking styles, generations, and skills, rather than fitting one demographic. One negative example: a retailing company purchased another, retaining some managers. When the company formed a due diligence team for another acquisition, these managers were not included. The company lost valuable insight not only on this acquisition, but also on other projects as managers became disenfranchised.

6. Employees feel comfortable communicating across cultures. For example, interaction is untroubled between customers, coworkers, and direct reports from different socioeconomic classes, who speak English as a second language, or who have a physical disability. Here’s a test: if members of certain groups consistently report they do not receive enough feedback, and/or managers tell you that they’re “walking on eggshells” around certain groups, you may have a non-inclusive environment.

Why should we create inclusiveness? Organizations undertake this challenging journey for many reasons, but successful ones do so because of both profits and integrity.

As a result of changing markets and demographics, organizations must be able to communicate with many diverse customers. Employing a diverse workforce that contributes fully may provide access to and understanding of new markets. Inclusiveness enables organizations to attract and retain strong job candidates seeking growth.

Studies show that “diverse groups tend to be more creative problem-solvers when their differences in background and perspective are all brought to bear. Diverse companies, therefore, have the potential to be more innovative.” (HR Magazine, December 1999). One caveat, however, is that diverse groups tend to have more conflict as they may lack communication-enabling shared identity.

Finally, inclusive organizations reduce their risk of illegal harassment and discrimination—harassing environments cannot, by definition, be inclusive.

How does an organization become more inclusive? By following three steps:

1. organizational assessment

2. strategic planning

3. comprehensive implementation of strategy

1. Organizational assessment includes employee (and sometimes customer and supplier) surveys, focus groups, and interviews. The assessment analyzes how employees experience the culture and whether that experience differs for members of different groups (see chart). It provides a benchmark against which future progress may be tracked.

2. The strategy is based on the assessment—not leadership’s assumptions—and be bottom-line focused. It coordinates with the organization’s overall mission, strategy, and resources. Also, the strategist determines how employees and leadership define inclusiveness and whether their definitions conflict with resources and ideologies.

3. Implementation can require training and changes in policies, procedures, or even workspace design and layout. Define tasks, timelines, and accountability. Be prepared to adjust the plan based on employee and customer response, yet recognize that regardless of results, some may leave disgruntled. Be prepared for a long, challenging process.

At a minimum, all employees must learn to prevent, identify, and respond to harassment, to define diversity and inclusiveness, and to communicate respectfully and clearly.

Managers must learn to focus on knowledge, skills and abilities, communicate across groups, and create an environment where inclusiveness flourishes.

You can prepare your organization to meet changes and challenges successfully by following the three steps to creating an inclusive culture.


Sample from Organizational Assessment Report

Percentages of respondents agreeing with statement at left:

African-American or Black

European-American or White

Variance

Staff members respect each other regardless of differences

45%

83%

38

XYZ Co. provides equal opportunities to all staff members

35%

65%

30

Promotions are based on merit

30%

60%

30

Our salespeople are comfortable dealing with all types of people

61%

81%

20

It is acceptable to discuss with supervisors or coworkers issues of racism, sexism, or other biases experienced at work

50%

69%

19

Performance evaluations are fair and unbiased

50%

63%

13

*Respondents self-identified their race/ethnicity.

© 2001 Strategy and Training Partners, LLC


Are You Missing the Message?
Follow Easy Guidelines to Email Effectively


At the end of a recent college grad’s e-letter job application was a sexually explicit joke— his automatic salutation. He hadn’t intended its transmission; he just forgot to turn off this feature before hitting send. He didn’t get the interview.

One coworker sent another an email with an attached file titled “yourmess.doc”. “Gee thanks,” thought the recipient, ”I guess this is my mess now.” She worked on the project dejectedly, sending her colleague a final draft. “I’m so glad you got the information from your message,” replied the colleague. “Yourmess.doc” was a shortened version of your message! But the impact was far different.

These situations – where the intent of the email does not match its impact on the recipient—play out every day where email has overtaken mail, most faxing, and nearly half of all phone calls. Entire relationships are now email-based, with over 65% of respondents to a survey stating they know someone with whom they communicate strictly by email (source: Vault.com, 2000).

The challenges of email use—ensuring that intent matches impact, preserving the integrity of computer systems as well as the organization’s and individual’s reputations, and maintaining control over one’s time—can be overcome by learning a few simple tips.

In this article, you will learn these tips for sending, receiving, and organizing email.

When sending email, don’t send:

Do


Remember: email is “cold”; all other forms of communication—letters, phone calls, and face to face meetings—may be hot, warm, cool, or cold. Don’t assume your tone can be expressed using underlines, bolds, or italics: font styles may not appear on your recipient’s screen.
“More than a third of internal email is unnecessary. That translates into lost productivity because employees spend so much time trying to manage email.” (Source: Gartner Inc. 2001). In our email classes we discuss the best communication tools to use in different scenarios to ensure that intent matches impact.

When receiving email, protect your system by not opening attachments from unknown sources, attachments from a known source that you do not expect, and any attachment with an .exe extension. Be sure you can recognize hoaxes, urban legends, chain letters and scams.

Many email users don’t realize the tools available to organize email and save time. As a result, workers average an hour per day managing email. Organizations can gain productivity and protect themselves from viruses and litigation with a clearly stated email policy and short informational training programs.

© 2003 inSITE Training and Development, Inc. 's March newsletter.


News:

Contact: Illysa Izenberg, 301-602-6414

mail@strategyandtraining.com

Strategy and Training Partners, LLC Expands Inclusive Environments Practice:

Individual Coaching Added to Programs

July 6, 2001, Columbia, MD: Strategy and Training Partners, LLC (www.strategyandtraining.com), a business strategy and inclusive workplace consulting and training firm, announces its expansion into individual coaching.

"We’ve trained thousands of employees in harassment prevention—how to prevent, identify, and report harassment in the workplace," said Illysa Izenberg, Managing Principal of Strategy and Training Partners. "We kept getting calls that individuals needed personal coaching in this area, so it was a natural for us to expand our practice in that direction."

Often, organizations implement training and coaching to meet requirements resulting from mediation programs or lawsuits. Other organizations take a more proactive approach, investing in training up front to lower the risk of a lawsuit and help create a more inclusive environment. Strategy and Training Partners has helped many regional, national, and international businesses train all employees and coach individuals.

Coaching is either for managers who must fully understand the law, their organization’s policies and procedures and how to respond when someone complains or employees who have been accused of harassing others.

"Organizations are realizing that just having a policy in place is not enough," said Tracy Rusch, Principal. "Employees and especially managers must fully understand the behaviors that may constitute harassment under certain circumstances. They also need communication tools to respond to a harasser without escalating conflict."

Training generally can be conducted in about three hours, and include group discussion, lecture, reading, and video case studies for practice. Participants learn how to communicate in non-confrontational ways when they feel they have witnessed or experienced harassment. "Most importantly, participants feel empowered to put out the small fires to keep them from becoming lawsuit bonfires," says Rusch.

At no time in the training or coaching sessions are blaming, shaming, or other emotional triggers used. The programs are enjoyable yet informative, non-therapeutic, and professionally facilitated.

Since 1994, Strategy and Training Partners, LLC has enabled corporate, not-for-profits, and government agencies to understand their industries—their customers, competitors, suppliers, and employees. This knowledge is used to develop actionable business plans for an optimum industry position, and train employees to meet the needs of their changing environment. The Strategy and Training Partners multi-faceted team, with offices in Maryland and Delaware, is comprised of experts in marketing and business strategy, inclusive environment practices, and corporate training. Strategy and Training Partners, LLC ensures its clients are doing today what is necessary for success tomorrow.

Contact: Illysa Izenberg, 301-602-6414

mail@strategyandtraining.com

Emailing Course Designed to Protect Employers and Improve Employee Effectiveness

August 6, 2001, Columbia, MD: Strategy and Training Partners, LLC (www.strategyandtraining.com), a business strategy and inclusive workplace consulting and training firm, has developed a new program: "Missing the Message: Effective Emailing Tools to Save Time and Face". This program is designed for brown-bag lunch seminars, enabling employers to offer information in a fun, accessible environment.

"Missing the Message" is an enjoyable yet imperative program that ensures employees understand the legal ramifications of forwarding inappropriate content, sensitive data, and intellectual property. Over half of employees polled stated they have received sexually explicit emails.

"Many employees do not understand that hitting the ‘delete’ key does not mean the message is completely gone," said Illysa Izenberg, Managing Principal of Strategy and Training Partners. "These employees place their organization at risk for a harassment suit by forwarding the message on to coworkers who may or may not be comfortable receiving the material."

In "Missing the Message", a Strategy and Training Partners trainer presents timesaving tools for effective email management and communications tools to ensure a message’s intent matches the impact it has on its recipient(s).

Tracy Rusch, Principal, says that many of the CEOs and Senior Managers with whom she consults receive up to 30 emails an hour. "My clients believe that 75% of these emails are unneeded. They waste time clicking on each one in case it entails important data or find themselves ignoring many messages altogether only to discover its value too late."

Employers utilize short, brown bag lunch ‘n learn programs as a time and money-saving tool that enables even the busiest of employees to learn useful tools in a comfortable enjoyable atmosphere.

Since 1994, Strategy and Training Partners, LLC has enabled corporate, not-for-profits, and government agencies to understand their industries—their customers, suppliers, competitors, and employees. This knowledge is used to develop actionable business plans for an optimum industry position, and train employees to meet the needs of their changing environment. The Strategy and Training Partners team, with offices in Maryland and Delaware, is comprised of experts in strategy, market research, business analysis, inclusive environment practices, workshop design and facilitation, marketing, and implementation. Strategy and Training Partners, LLC ensures its clients are doing today what is necessary for success tomorrow.

Contact: Illysa Izenberg, 301-602-6414

mail@strategyandtraining.com

Herding Cats: How to Get Your Kids, Your Job, and Your Life Going in the Same Direction

September 8, 2001, Columbia, MD: Strategy and Training Partners, LLC (www.strategyandtraining.com), a business strategy and inclusive workplace consulting and training firm, has developed the brown-bag lunch seminar "Herding Cats: How to Get Your Kids, Your Job, and Your Life Going in the Same Direction".

"Herding Cats" is a humorous presentation in which working parents learn to juggle their many responsibilities with panache. "Employees with children find themselves constantly trying to keep up, especially in those early years when confusion combined with guilt interferes with productivity," says Illysa Izenberg, Managing Principal of Strategy and Training Partners, LLC.

Working parents will learn tools to help them triage responsibilities and that parenthood is a marathon not a sprint—it doesn’t get easier when the children reach a magic age.

Employers are utilizing short, brown bag lunch ‘n learn programs as a perk that enables even the busiest of employees to learn useful tools while having fun.

Since 1994, Strategy and Training Partners, LLC has enabled corporate, not-for-profits, and government agencies to understand their industries—their customers, suppliers, competitors, and employees. This knowledge is used to develop actionable business plans for an optimum industry position, and train employees to meet the needs of their changing environment. The Strategy and Training Partners team, with offices in Maryland and Delaware, is comprised of experts in strategy, market research, business analysis, inclusive environment practices, workshop design and facilitation, marketing, and implementation. Strategy and Training Partners, LLC ensures its clients are doing today what is necessary for success tomorrow.

301.602.6414

mail@strategyandtraining.com

Home | Strategy Practice | Inclusive Environments Practice | Programs| Presentation Design | Partners | News | Feedback

© 1994, 2002 Strategy and Training Partners, LLC

All rights reserved