{"id":36511,"date":"2011-01-27T09:58:29","date_gmt":"2011-01-27T09:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/blog\/?p=36511"},"modified":"2011-01-26T14:05:00","modified_gmt":"2011-01-26T14:05:00","slug":"a-nice-place-to-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/a-nice-place-to-work\/","title":{"rendered":"A Nice Place to Work . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"


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Last week Katherine Ratkiewicz, a Senior Research Analyst at the Human Capital Institute, published a thought-provoking post<\/a> on one of the HCI blogs.\u00a0 Ratkiewicz recaps recent events in the U.S. that have prompted a national discussion about civility, and suggests the discussion should extend to workplaces as well as political institutions.<\/p>\n

Office politics can be just as intense as any election campaign, and there\u2019s no doubt that once toxic talk gets started in an organization, it can easily spread.\u00a0 As Ratkiewicz points out \u201cnothing is worse for an organization\u2019s productivity and effectiveness\u00a0than toxicity”–yet all too often there is no plan in place for recognizing and reshaping problematic situations.<\/p>\n

For example . . . what happens when a project is behind schedule, or a particular unit is underperforming?\u00a0 If the response is blame-shifting, finger-pointing, and\/or scapegoating, the result is likely to be harmful to morale, and not particularly productive.\u00a0 When this is the norm within an organization, there will be a lot of unhappiness.<\/p>\n

These days, social media can alert job-seekers\u2014and desirable passive candidates\u2014to toxicity in organizations.\u00a0 If there is negativity in the company environment, HR may or may not be able to surface the problem, and may or may not be able to foster a solution.\u00a0 But if your company has a positive<\/em> environment . . . how can the Careers website communicate that?<\/p>\n

Just proclaiming that you have a happy workplace may not carry much weight.\u00a0 Even employee testimonials, video diaries, event snapshots, and similar online promotions won\u2019t convince most visitors that your company is a little slice of Eden.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s important to avoid the impression of overselling the environment, lest it appear there is something to hide.<\/p>\n

A better strategy is to ensure that everything on the Careers site maintains a pleasant, respectful tone.\u00a0 And design also sends subtle signals\u2014a frenetic look (too much color, needless motion, etc.) can suggest a nervous environment.<\/p>\n

For more thought-provocation about workplace communications, check out a new book from experts Vincent Waldron and Jeffrey Kassing: Managing Risk in Communication Encounters: Strategies for the Workplace<\/a>. <\/em> <\/strong>Despite the somewhat daunting title, this brand-new text is practical and readable\u2014and<\/em> it covers territory that is often left out of happy-talk manuals.\u00a0 The focus here is \u201crisky interactions that threaten identities, relationships, and sometimes careers, including voicing dissent, repairing broken relationships, managing privacy, responding to harassment, offering criticism, and communicating emotion.\u201d\u00a0 Worth a browse!<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

(Thanks to the Yorck Project for this image of Giovanni di Paolo\u2019s fifteenth-century painting Paradise<\/a>.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week Katherine Ratkiewicz, a Senior Research Analyst at the Human Capital Institute, published a thought-provoking post on one of the HCI blogs.\u00a0 Ratkiewicz recaps recent events in the U.S. that have prompted a national discussion about civility, and suggests the discussion should extend to workplaces as well as political institutions. Office politics can be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":36518,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-36511","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-best-practices","8":"category-careers","9":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nCareers: communicating a positive culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Social media spreads news of corporate culture fast; your corporate web estate communicates your corporate culture\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/a-nice-place-to-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Careers: communicating a positive culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Social media spreads news of corporate culture fast; 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