An Atlanta columnist had an interesting HR spin on this week’s student walkout. School shootings and active shooter drills have caused kids to be in constant fear that their lives are in danger and their killer may well be sitting at the desk next to them. What if adults feared for their lives at work every day? What if we had to practice shooter drills regularly and wonder if Fred in accounting will open fire on casual Friday? The entire U.S. workforce would be enraged that their companies weren’t doing enough to prevent the next shooting. Atlanta Journal Constitution
There’s a lot of talk about how corporate culture affects a company’s brand and bottom line. United, are you listening? Last year, the carrier’s new CEO was charged with cleaning up United’s culture, described as “toxic and anti-customer.” A series of customer service disasters that went viral in the past year alone, including this week’s horrible incident in which a puppy died in an overhead bin, shows that the CEO and his HR department have a sky-high task on their hands. LA Times
When the president fired the secretary of state on Twitter this week, the entire HR community did a collective face-palm. We all know that firing an employee is difficult for most people. But doing it in a dignified, respectful, even helpful way isn’t just the right thing to do for your exiting employee, it’s the right thing to do for your brand. It boosts your rep and creates goodwill inside and outside your four walls. The Washington Post
Unions are holding their breath as the Supreme Court gets ready to hand down the most important labor law decision, perhaps ever. It involves a case in which a man challenged the $45 fee he has to pay to the union each month despite not being a member. He doesn’t want to pay the fee and took the case to the Supreme Court, which is leaning toward ruling on his side. What will it do to unions? Weaken collective rights, leave unions with fewer resources to lobby, and potentially cause chaos in unionized workplaces. HR Dive
More bad news for resort communities, hospitality, landscaping, and other industries that rely on seasonal workers. Those that typically hire foreign workers for their peak times are scrambling to find help this year, because the federal government switched to a visa lottery system and thousands of foreign workers are being denied visas as a result. It doesn’t look like the Feds will raise the cap on H-2B visas. It also doesn’t look like Americans are filling the gaps. Journal-Advocate
Five years ago this month, Sheryl Sandberg’s NYT bestselling book, “Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead” hit the streets, giving women a guide to triumphing in male-dominated workplaces and sparking a phenomenon along the way. It has sold 4.2 million copies, made Sandberg a mentor for a generation, and led women nationwide to create “Lean In” groups to support each others’ careers. Did it pave the way for #MeToo and this tsunami of women saying they’ve had enough already? It’s hard not to make the correlation. New York Times
