Ethikos Weekly Editor’s Picks – September 23, 2015

0
836
Editor’s Top Choice:

Should Employers Ban Email After Work Hours?
By Jim Harter, writing for Gallup Business Journal:

Like many of you, I often work outside regular office hours while at home, in the airport, or on vacation. Mobile technology has created a “new normal” work life for a lot of us: Gallup research reveals that nearly all full-time U.S. workers (96%) have access to a computer, smartphone, or tablet, and 86% use a smartphone or tablet or both. A full two-thirds of Americans report that the amount of work they do outside normal working hours has increased a little to a lot because of mobile technology advances over the last decade.

But is this a net gain or net drain on our well-being? And how should leaders manage this after-hours work?

To answer these questions, it’s important to understand why we turn to mobile technology in the first place. For many people, it’s because we’re excited to share an idea with a colleague or want to finish a task so it doesn’t become a burden the next day. Yes, taking care of work during non-work time may hurt our relationships with family and friends. But more than three-quarters of full-time workers tell Gallup that the ability to use mobile technology outside normal working hours is a somewhat to very positive development. Read more


Other Featured Picks of the Week

A Team is a Reflection of Its Leadership
D. Ryan Setzer:

While an individual’s behavior is always their personal responsibility, influences do happen that can affect their performance and a team’s morale. In a business environment, any number of distractions, interruptions, or unpleasant interactions can take place and completely shutdown an employee’s concentration and shift the focus from their task. The employee cannot always directly handle many of these situations and, often, the rest of the team will turn on them and view them as the problem. Therefore, not only is their performance affected, additionally, their attitude, willingness, and desire to cooperate can be damaged. Then, the team as a whole will severely suffer. Does your workplace play fair? Here are some fundamental elements of fairness. Read more


3 Qualities of People Who Drive Transformative Change

From Ekaterina Walter writing for Inc.:

Transformation isn’t easy. It means making people think and feel a different way—not a simple task.

But in the history of mankind, there are plenty of inspiring examples of people who brought forth transformative change. Facing plenty of negativity, they did so fearlessly, never giving up, never backing down. So the question becomes: What is the magical human formula that drives people like that?

This week at Inbound in Boston I had the pleasure of hearing Malcolm Gladwell, who talked about the same very topic. According to him, people who drive transformation share three traits. Read more


Organizational Culture Has Reached a Tipping Point
Larry Senn writing for Culture U, “My fascination with culture began more than 40 years ago when another young industrial engineer named Jim Delaney and I started a process improvement consulting firm not long after graduating from UCLA. I quickly discovered that it was easier to decide on change than to get people to change. I observed that companies, like people, had personalities, and while some were healthy, most were like dysfunctional families. They had trust issues, turf issues and resistance to change. The difference between working with Sam Walton on the supply chain at Walmart and working with Woolworths was like night and day. It was clear one company would succeed and the other would fail because of the mindset and habits of the firms.

That led me to a professor at University of Southern California who had published a book containing articles that described a phenomenon called Organizational Character. Since I had clients, he convinced me to join the doctoral program and conduct research on the phenomenon. My dissertation, published in 1969, became perhaps the first field study ever of corporate culture at the organizational level.” Read more


What Dogs Can Teach Us About Corporate Social Responsibility
From Allen Adamson, of Forbes:

I like dogs as much as the next guy. Hey, we have a dog, adorable Zoe, who I take for walks more often than do the two adorable kids who promised they’d be the ones to do so. Zoe has become a member of our family, an integral part of our home life. Now, before all you cat people jump off to another article, let me quickly make clear that this article is not about dogs, per se. It’s about marketing and, specifically, something known as corporate social responsibility marketing, or CSR. More specifically, this article is about the difference between using CSR as a business model and using it as a promotion.

Recently, I was made aware of the incredibly creative and heartwarming initiative undertaken by Ikea called Home for Hope. Originating in Singapore and now going global, its dual objective is to raise awareness of the plight of shelter animals and to promote their adoptions. While I love the effort and can definitely see the connection between a pet making a house a home, it raises an important question: Does Ikea believe Home for Hope will prompt consumers to make Ikea their home furnishings brand of choice? Asked another way, does the company think it will fundamentally change how consumers think about its brand? It’s a legitimate question, and raises a couple more: What differentiates corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a business model from a promotional one-off? And, what are the key factors for success when using CSR as a promotional tactic? Read more


If you are not yet a subscriber to the weekly business ethics email, click here to sign up for the free news and information delivered to you weekly.