
Remember last year’s furor involving the Cambridge police arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and the subsequent beerfest hosted by President Obama at the White House for Mr. Gates and the police sergeant?
In many ways, we’re seeing a replay of that situation in the current controversy over the remarks made by Georgia USDA official Shirley Sherrod. If you’re not familiar with the story, you can read the latest in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
While the USDA story is being reported in political terms, it is actually a workplace story. Ms. Sherrod lost her job when an incomplete airing of her remarks became public.
Two ELI clients recently asked me, “What does your company offer to refresh the Civil Treatment® learning we’ve just done?” or “What workplace ethics and compliance training should we provide next?”
In some cases, these questions are prompted by new regulatory initiatives such as the Department of Labor’s new Plan/Prevent/Protect compliance strategy. For these clients, the immediate solution may be Wage & Hour-FLSA training.
For other HR executives, the more important and fundamental question is “What can we do now?” rather than “What can we do next?”
I vividly recall a conversation I had in 2002 about a training company called ELI.
The blatant cases of harassment and discrimination are gone, people keep telling us.
Beyond the political significance of Barack Obama’s epic speech this week, whatever its effect on this year’s election, I hope and believe his remarks will kindle continued, thoughtful discussions about what race and color mean in our daily lives.
We’re updating our Civil Treatment® programs now, a complex, creative, and exciting process.
Sometimes it’s hard to say goodbye to old friends – or, in this case, old characters who feel like old friends.