There has been a lot of discussion lately about the “unretired” – seniors who are returning to the workforce in droves for economic or personal reasons. I call this formidable group “Gen U™” because they represent an astounding number of people who have a completely different mindset from that of prior retired generations. Thankfully, smart companies are beginning to embrace their value, wisdom and experience.

In fact, even those who had plans to retire will not. A recent study by the AARP revealed that eight out of 10 of the 80 million Baby Boomers will work part- or full-time rather than retire. Those 64 million “unretiring” Americans will constitute the biggest demographic shift in the American workforce since Baby Boomers emerged.

The reasons Americans are returning to work in record numbers include, first and foremost, economic demands triggered by the deepest postwar recession, but also such factors as boredom, wanting more camaraderie, mental stimulation or a sense of purpose. Gen U laid the foundation for the high technology revolution and challenged the status quo of business in the 1960s. Now, they are challenging what we traditionally knew as “retirement” — to the benefit of progressive organizations.

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This week we welcome Margaret W. Jones, Ph.D, author of Not of Making: Bullying, Scapegoating and Misconduct in Churches. She shares with us her experience about being bullied in hopes this will help others overcome similar situations.

Overcoming Workplace Bullying

Over the years, I have directly experienced and witnessed bullying at work and in churches. Only at the time, I didn’t think of it as that. Bullying was something children do to each other at school. When they walked across the stage to pick up a high school diploma they magically mature and stop bullying others. No one ever told me adults often bully each other. That was something I learned later from my own painful experiences.

A number of years ago I accepted a job at a state developmental center. My immediate supervisor was concerned that the masters’ level psychologist on the mental health team was allowing the social worker to assume his responsibilities for developing and monitoring behavior plans. The social worker who lacked training in behavior modification and data analysis produced plans that were ineffective depriving clients of competent care. With little or no thought about the politics, I replaced the psychologist on the team. My boss was pleased with my work and shielded me from the inevitable complaints from the social worker. After six months my boss resigned and I got another supervisor who felt the masters level psychologist had been treated unfairly. That is when my troubles began.

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Creating a respectful workplace is not about having nice slogans or values statements about respect posted up on the wall. It is about creating a culture where business practices are fundamentally respectful.

Zappos an electronic commerce company and online retailer specializing in footwear is such a company. Their goal is to offer the best customer service in the industry. CEO Tony Hsieh knows that the way to achieve that objective is to focus on core values and company culture. Clearly he is on to something. Zappos grossed $1 billion in 2008, up from $1.6 million in 2000, the year Hsieh became CEO. 

Zappos has 10 stated core values. The word respect does not appear in any of them. From my perspective that is not what is important. What matters is whether or not their business practices demonstrate respect and there is no doubt in my mind that they do.

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Earlier this year Paul was interviewed for a story in Inside Business magazine about how to respectfully lay off employees.

His latest article as a featured expert on respectful layoffs appeared in the business section of the Cleveland Plain Dealer on Sunday, June 21, 2009.

The Difficult and Delicate Job of Laying Off Employees: Though Workers are Most Affected, Managers, Company Feel Impact
By Marcia Pledger

When Lloyd Buckwell accepted a new job last year, he knew he would have to lay people off.

Knowing it didn’t make it any easier.

“You’re trying to build and right-size an organization so it will survive, but at the same time, you’re dealing with people’s lives,” said Buckwell, who was involved in about 1,000 layoffs as director of human resources for Wastequip Inc., in Beachwood.

“It’s always personal,” Buckwell said. “I’ve had to be in the room as people are calling their spouses saying, I just lost my job. I’m coming home.’ ”

As the recession has lingered, hundreds of bosses like Buckwell have found themselves in the uncomfortable position of telling employees they’re losing their jobs.

How they handle the task could be one of the most important decisions they make in their working lives. It obviously has the most effect on the laid-off employee, but it also carries implications for remaining workers, the company’s reputation and the manager’s own emotional well-being.

And there’s no good way to do it. But some ways are better than others.

(Read the Entire Article)

Organizational Development and Learning Consultant, Chetan Borkhetaria is our newest and latest guest blogger to focus on diversity and the value that it brings to an organization.

What’s the Value of Diversity?       

Of course, we can all agree that having people from different races and genders is supposed to be a good thing. Isn’t that what companies on the diversity bandwagon are after?  But why is there such a focus on only race and gender?

Is it the easiest, or just the most salient? And if difference is a good thing, then how do you (or rather we) explain why these diversity initiatives often fizzle out, defy a positive ROI, or even worse – are the cause of interpersonal conflict and tension at work?

I believe it’s because we don’t understand the true value of diversity. Think for a moment about how we define diversity – it’s about all the ways we’re different. So is difference good or bad? Well, difference must be good because diversity is good. But wait! Do you really like difference? If you’re a meat and potatoes person, do you really want to eat sushi? If you’re a PC person, do you even want to think about using a Mac? No!! Generally, human beings don’t like difference. It’s work to deal with difference. So then why is it valuable?

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