You want to challenge people to get them to raise their game, as opposed to criticizing them, which makes them raise their defenses.

William D. Green, chairman and C.E.O. of Accenture, as interviewed by the New York Times, November 22, 2009.

Mr. Green makes a good point, one that also has valuable implications for managing legal risk and legal costs. 

According to Green, caring is one of the most important traits a business leader can possess.  ”Nothing today is about one individual,” he says. “[It's] all about the team, and in the end, this is about giving a damn about your customers, your company, the people around you, and recognizing that the people around you are the ones who make you look good.”

It therefore helps to remember that when employees raise an issue or identify a concern, they are trying to help you and the company.  They do it because they care and want to do a good job for you.

On the other hand, employees whose defenses are raised typically don’t voice issues or concerns.  Their top priority is making sure they don’t get blamed for problems, not helping to avoid them.  As a result the flow of meaningful information is choked and problems, including legal issues, surface only when they’re too big to hide. 

Listening and caring lets you make small course corrections that sidestep liability in the fraction of the time and cost it takes to make a macro course correction later.  Best of all, by raising your employees’ game you’ll also raise your company’s performance.

Copyright © 2009 Corporate M.O., LLC

A tip of the hat goes to the law firm of Howrey LLP who announced a new apprenticeship type program for new associates.  More specifically, program aims to train the novice lawyers on the firms’ dime, not the clients’.  That’s great news for client budgets . . . and for the associates who will be more likely to hit the ground running when they are turned loose. 

I give that initiative two thumbs up!

I am delighted to announce that on the next edition of Ask the No Nonsense Lawyer, I will be interviewing New York Super Lawyer Elise Bloom, a partner at the NY firm of Proskauer Rose, LLP where she specializes in a wide range of labor and employment issues. 

Elise is a practical and highly experienced lawyer who has been recognized as a leading employment lawyer in Chambers USA, the Guide to the World’s Leading labor and Employment Lawyers, and US Legal 500.

The complimentary teleseminar will be on June 16^th at 8 pm (Eastern) and 5 pm (Pacific). 

Employment issues are hot as our economy struggles to get back on its feet.  Visit Ask the No Nonsense Lawyer to submit your employment question, reserve your “seat,” and receive your call in number.

Today is Election Day in the United States.  Those participating in democracy by casting their vote for president will be making history today.  We will either have the oldest president to take the oath of office or the first African-American president.  Either will be a first and both require looking past stereotypes about age and race.

Stereotypes are mental shortcuts and broad brush generalizations about what certain characteristics represent.  They are an opinion.  Opinions are fine.  But in the workplace, when decisions are based on such generalizations without additional objective support you can wind up with bias and unfair favoritism.   

The law bans certain biases.  It calls them illegal discrimination and employers looking to avoid lawsuits will profit from understanding what type of behavior constitutes illegal discrimination and how to avoid it.

The first part of the task, identifying what is illegal discrimination is relatively easy.  Figuring out how to avoid it is much taller order because it challenges stereotypes we may have grown up with, “comfortable” ways of thinking, and in some cases deeply entrenched cultural expectations. 

Take for example the subject of pregnancy discrimination.  Thirty years after discriminating on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions was made illegal in the U.S., data shows that between 1995 and 2007 the number of pregnancy discrimination cases increased 65% even as national birth rates dropped.  That’s sad. 

You’d think avoiding pregnancy discrimination would be pretty straightforward, but it’s not as Michael Maslanka points out in his humorous article titled Check Assumptions at the Door in Employment Law Matters.

The laws may differ internationally, but persistent gender stereotypes continue to hamper gender equality in the workplace and often contribute to actionable pay gaps. 

Most employees don’t bring an economic, tax, or other political agenda to work with them.  They just want to do a good job and be treated fairly.  So let’s jettison the stereotypes and get down to business.  Objective decision making is not just the smart thing to do; it’s the ethical and right thing to do.