Bullying: At Work & School
Dec 14, 20110 commentsDuring the past few weeks, strong anti-bullying messages have been circulating in an effort to end some of the the tragedies of student taking their own lives. Jonah is a 13-year-old boy with a disarming story. He tells his painful and often hard-to-watch journey in this video:
Perhaps I should have been stronger in my warning. As a parent of a child this age, Jonah’s plea is hard to watch. As a parent of a child who has been bullied, it is hard to watch. As a parent, I am just as lost as other parents about what to do to support a child when this happens. This insidious behavior can often leave our kids speechless - lacking the words to articulate and express what is going on. It may be their emotional, irritable or acting-out behavior that signals a problem. Thanks, Jonah, for putting words to what our kids are feeling.
As adults, we are just as perplexed about what to do when bullying happens in the workplace. The government introduced anti-bullying legislation in the workplace in Ontario 18 months ago and it has increased awareness about the problem, yet people are still unsure what to do if it happens to them, or if they see it happening to others. Bullying, in its simplest form, is one person being mean to another. It is an expression of an unmet need based in fear and characterized by threatening behavior.
I tell my kids that if they feel bullied, or if they witness behavior that appears to be bullying, they need to Speak Up, Speak Out and Speak Loud. They need to speak up to an adult or person of authority about the issue, speak out to the person mistreating them by creating boundaries around acceptable behaviors, and speak loud until they truly feel like they have been heard and the issue is being addressed by someone who can help. This isn’t always possible if children don’t feel safe in their school environment, and it isn’t possible if employees don’t feel safe in their work environment.
In addition to holding bullying behaviors to account, it is essential to understand what is at the core of the "bully’s" unmet need. This requires effective conversation and inquiry, which few of us have been trained to do. It is especially difficult when you are the parent of one of the children involved because it is such an emotional issue – staying calm and rational is not easy!
How have you navigated bullying behavior – either in your workplace or with your children? This is an issue that requires more conversation and an exchange of ideas. We’d like to hear yours… As parents, it is our responsibility to model impeccable behavior and perhaps we can do that by talking more about the issue.
New Innovation Video - Innovation in a Box by Rick Boersma
Apr 21, 20110 commentsLearn how a so-called "average" group using innovation tools can produce 500 percent more useful ideas than a "creative" group. Innovation in a Box™ unleashes the creative thinking that powers business success.
Inspiring Performance - Not Managing It!
Apr 14, 20110 commentsAlthough the industrial age is long over, most organizations’ key people systems, processes and practices still have roots from that era. Traditional performance management processes are no longer relevant. In fact, they deliver the opposite of the intended performance objective and de-motivate employees (see my article “Dirty Words in the Workplace – Performance Management!”).
The critical performance question business leaders would like to address is how to unleash potential in their organization.
Here are my Five Tips to Inspire Exceptional Performance :
- Ditch your current performance management process.
- Spend timediscussing your company’s vision, strategies, goals and values.
- Focus on outcomes by being flexible about how, where and when work gets done.
- Invest in developing GREAT people managers and leaders.
- Put people first. It’s really that simple.
It’s time to re-think how we work in organizations. I am passionately committed to helping organizations make significant changes for the better. What are you inspired to do? To read the full article by Susan Stitt, please click here.
By Susan Stitt, Director/Human Resources Business Partner, AstraZeneca Canada
Dirty Words in the Workplace - Performance Management!
Mar 15, 20110 commentsThank you for the opportunity to submit a blog post to the new Juice Blog!
Dirty Words in the Workplace - Performance Management!
From every perspective - employee, manager, business leader and HR practitioner - performance management systems have become an antagonistic tool. At many organizations, it is referred to as the annual de-motivation cycle. And it’s a fitting label.
Here are five reasons why I think “performance management” fails to achieve its intended goal:
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Compensation has taken over.
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Performance ratings are labels that de-motivate everyone.
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Goal setting gone awry.
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Risk, rather than Performance is managed
- Form vs. Function.
The bottom line is that organizations have lost their way with respect to performance management systems and forgotten their purpose. Instead of inspiring performance, most systems de-motivate and disengage employees.
Where do we go from here? Being aware of what’s gone wrong is the first important step! Next time, I will share practical and easy-to-implement solutions that will call forth exceptional performance from your employees. To read the full article by Susan Stitt, please click here.
By Susan Stitt, Director/Human Resources Business Partner, AstraZeneca Canada
Nurses vs Robots: No Contest
Mar 8, 20111 commentI am very pleased to be able to post a blog entry on the new Juice Blog and look forward to posting here again. Thank you for the opportunity.
Nurses vs Robots: No Contest
A recent article, Robotic Scrub Nurses Could Boost OR Efficiencies caused quite a stir in the nursing community.
Of course a "robotic nurse" would create a visceral reaction - the same reaction as if there had been an article on "robotic doctors" or "robotic teachers". The word means ‘automatic, technical, predictable’ and Nursing is anything but – it is dynamic, complex and requires a sensitivity and wisdom well beyond the perceptions of the profession by the general public – or even other members of the health care team.
Just a scrub nurse? Then you have no idea of the skill set which a good scrub nurse utilizes to orchestrate her/his entire OR environment. Even the seemingly simple passing of an instrument is much more than meets the eye. For when the surgeon asks for the wrong instrument on a bad day, the experienced scrub nurse reaches for the correct one with questioning eyes – eyes that speak volume – eyes that can convey encouragement, support, questions or concerns. Just handling instruments? I don’t think so.
Of course there are no reality TV shows that truly represent nursing – it’s not entertainment and never will be. Nursing is one human being’s presence, skill, compassion and energy guarding, advocating and guiding patients through their very complex journey in our dangerous health care system. And the real sore point is that the public doesn’t see or appreciate this critical role.
To read the full article, please click on the following title - Nurses vs Robots: No Contest.
Virtual Conversations with Your Kids
Feb 8, 20110 commentsImagine your daughter faces a dangerous situation, and rather than call 911, she updates her Facebook status to seek help. When two girls in Australia got lost in a storm water drain, that’s exactly what they did – they posted an update on Facebook.
Whether we like it or not, Facebook and other social media tools are becoming THE vehicles our children are using to communicate. It is perpetuated by the world in which they live. Social status is measured by friend counts, schools use these tools to update their students on news and events, and corporate brands like Skittles seduce our kids with special offers found exclusively on their corporate Facebook pages. (Please “Like” Juice. You can do it here).
I thought I was a few steps ahead of my tween children in understanding the dynamics of this media. I use Facebook as a connection tool to stay in touch with a large family and a close network of friends. I decided I would allow this platform to become one more opportunity to stay in tune with my children and let them know I trust them, but I would not allow it to replace the essential one-on-one conversations I know I need to have with them. And so, as long as I was a “friend”, and I received their username and password information, I allowed them to “get creative” about their age to get an account. I set the privacy features to the highest security settings and then I started to cheer them on in their wall posts, much to their embarrassment. But something changed on October 5, 2010, and all security settings in Facebook were re-set to “everyone”, meaning anyone can view almost all information on a Facebook page. I learned this through Chris Vollum , a Facebook “Security” expert who speaks to parents and kids at schools about how to safely play in this field.
His 90 minute talk was practical, fun and easy-to-understand. If you have children, here are three things you can do now, to make their account more secure:
- Go to “Privacy Settings” on their Facebook account and ensure the “Sharing on Facebook” chart is set to “Friends Only” or “Other”. If there are check marks under “Everyone” or “Friends of Friends”, select “Customize Settings” and change the access. Pay extra attention to photos, limiting access to “Friends” only.
- Select “View Settings” under “Connecting on Facebook” and limit access by “Everyone”. Again, change the setting to “Friends” in most cases.
- Within this area, limit the ability to see a “Friends List” by “Friends” only, and not “Friends of Friends”.
Virtual conversations are a reality in the workplace, and they are becoming a reality in our personal lives. We must remember they are simply tools, and nothing can replace the value of a face-to-face conversation to foster connection – especially with our kids.