“This is an unbelievable opportunity to remake culture. It’s rare in a leader’s lifetime to have such a clean drop for reshaping how you run the place.”
— Bill Schaninger, McKinsey & Co. Advisor; Expert on Culture, Values and Leadership
Toxic workplace culture is 10.4 times more likely to contribute to an employee leaving than compensation according to an analysis of 1.4 million reviews on Glassdoor. A toxic culture includes failing to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion; unethical behavior; and workers feeling disrespected. On the flip side, companies with healthy cultures have three times greater total returns to shareholders.
For decades corporations have focused on one thing: Getting. Work. Done. And employees are saying: No. More. Perhaps the pendulum is starting to swing in the right direction? According to an analysis of S&P 500 earnings calls, the frequency with which CEOs talk about issues of equity, fairness, and inclusion has increased 658% since 2018. But talk is not enough. Leaders must evolve compliance programs to protect employees and build cultures that reinforce safe, compliant, and fair communications, especially in newly hybrid and remote work environments.
Problem: Protecting employees from behaviors that fuel workplace toxicity
Tesla in particular has been a poster child for workplace toxicity. In October 2021, a federal jury ordered Tesla to pay a former Black contractor $137 million over claims that he was subjected to racial discrimination at work. Tesla’s workplace toxicity comes from all angles, including from its highest position of leadership, CEO Elon Musk. A former manager who worked directly with Musk, stated, “The worst part is the toxicity that Elon creates—unrealistic stretch targets without a realistic plan in order to achieve them.” Another employee noted, “a constant sense that your company does not care about you at all, that you simply do not matter.”
While Tesla is an extreme example of workplace toxicity, harassment and hostility are widespread in corporate culture and have been on the rise in remote channels during the pandemic. According to Ellen Pao, CEO of Project Include,
“Our research shows harassment and hostility have moved from physical and in-person actions to online and technology-based forms. They range from public bullying attacks on group video calls to berating employees over email to racist and sexist link-sharing in chat and more.”
Solution: Build a healthy culture through just-in-time communications training
It’s clear digital channels such as email, instant messaging, and video have emboldened some violators, giving them a place to openly and blatantly harass coworkers. How then can HR and compliance leaders prevent harmful communications which contribute to a toxic culture? One way is to prevent harmful words from ever happening.
Fairwords Guide enables HR and compliance leaders to proactively foster a healthy and safe culture by continually tracking the health of their organization’s written communications. By providing in-the-moment feedback as messages are typed, Fairwords’ AI-powered training software helps employees choose the right language before sending a message. Plus, HR and compliance leaders can prove the efficacy of their compliance programs through anonymous dashboards and analytics that track how workplace culture and behavior are improving.
Fairwords Guide provides in-the-moment training as employees type, helping them recognize possible violations and revise their language before hitting send.
Result: Create a safe, compliant, and fair communications culture
What could Fairwords have done for Tesla? Fairwords would have flagged harmful language while keeping employees’ identities anonymous, helping HR and compliance identify growing toxicity through dashboards and analytics. Additionally, Fairwords would have provided employees with in-the-moment training as they type, helping Tesla take steps to proactively promote a safe workplace and avoid the extent to which its culture deteriorated.
Technology is evolving with the remote work landscape affording HR and compliance leaders the power to prevent harmful and discriminatory language from fueling a toxic culture. With technology like Fairwords, HR and compliance leaders now have the ability to evolve and prove the efficacy of their programs by tracking how workplace culture is improving–all while employee communications data remains completely anonymous.
Here’s how Fairwords’ clients ensure healthy and compliant communications cultures:
- In-the-moment training as employees type continuously reinforces company policies and values, thereby protecting others from receiving harmful communications
- Cloud-based software works with any application on desktops where employees are writing
- Anonymized dashboards help HR and compliance leaders evaluate flagged words, words in use, and track improvement over time
- HR and compliance leaders can prove the effectiveness of their programs while reducing the risk of litigation, employee complaints, brand impact, and financial loss
Give employees just-in-time training to help them write inclusive, compliant, and fair communications. Get in touch for a free demo.
