Linked – Managers Need a Toolbox for the “Post-Everything” Era

Linked – Managers Need a Toolbox for the “Post-Everything” Era

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 3 minutes

Continue to be great at what you do and hope for an opening in management is not a career plan. That is what appears to be on offer at many companies though. They aren’t preparing anyone to be a manager in the future, and they aren’t increasing headcount that might require more team leads and managers, so how long do we expect people to wait? Add in the number of “senior” folks with higher salaries who find themselves part of a reduction in force, or the number of people who’ve watched their current job change over and over until they find themselves doing work they never signed up for in the first place, and it’s no wonder that workers are taking responsibility for their own growth, by choosing workplaces that give them better opportunities.

No one has to stay and work for you for the next 20-25 years. They can, and will, go elsewhere if there’s no clear path forward. I don’t blame them.

The Gap Between What Management Thinks about Mental Health and what Employees Experience

The Gap Between What Management Thinks about Mental Health and what Employees Experience

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

Leaders often throw benefits out to solve the problem, when work might actually be the problem. A great employee assistance program, health insurance that fairly covers mental healthcare, heck maybe they even threw in a few meditation app subscriptions for free. “See, we care!”

But the employee is quietly suffering from a lack of any connection to coworkers, poor communication with their boss, workplace stress, or even bullying and harassment, with no one in leadership to talk to. That’s not going to make them feel like you care.

Someone Might Just be a bad Culture Fit, Too.

Someone Might Just be a bad Culture Fit, Too.

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

Last week, I shared an article and some of my own experiences around “culture fit” being a code for discrimination. We all know that is all too common, and an excuse for organizations to continue to hire “people like us”.

I saw another article over the weekend that reminded us that while that is common, there are some cases where someone is a bad cultural fit and there’s no discrimination involved.

Shared Links (weekly) July 16, 2023

Shared Links (weekly) July 16, 2023

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 1 minute
Linked – Culture Fit – Another Way to Discriminate?

Linked – Culture Fit – Another Way to Discriminate?

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

There’s no simple answer here but I would look at how you define culture. There should be an organizational culture that includes diversity. Think more about “we value a variety of experiences and viewpoints” as opposed to “we like to work in a locker room environment” and then find the diverse group of people who “fit” your culture.

I will agree with Kevin on this though, “culture fit” is too frequently just code for people like me, and that needs to go away.

Linked – You don’t have a culture problem, you have a management problem

Linked – You don’t have a culture problem, you have a management problem

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

What I appreciate about the newsletter that I’ve linked below is that they go out of their way to point out how often we use language about a workplace culture that makes it seem like something we have no control over. It reminds me of the weather this time of year in South Louisiana. Everything we plan in the Summer is subject to the weather. An outdoor activity might get canceled because of storms, heat, hurricanes, etc. Weather events happen to us. We get no say.

That’s not what is happening in your workplace.