A recent news report that junior investment bankers at Goldman Sachs shared on social media their complaints about burnout and demanding bosses should raise red flags for every business leader.
“The sleep deprivation, the treatment by senior bankers, the mental and physical stress ... I’ve been through foster care and this is arguably worse,” one Goldman analyst said,” CNBC reported.“My body physically hurts all the time and mentally I’m in a really dark place,” another analyst said.
Nicole Sharp, the managing director of corporate communications for Goldman Sachs, said, “We recognize that our people are very busy, because business is strong and volumes are at historic levels. A year into Covid, people are understandably quite stretched, and that’s why we are listening to their concerns and taking multiple steps to address them.”
When And How To Respond
As with any crisis situation, it is important to respond strategically, effectively, and quickly to all allegations or charges that are made by employees. Failure to do so can lead the public to assume the accusations are valid. And be sure to consult with your legal team about any risks or liabilities that may be associated with the allegations and how you respond to them.
Ideally, you will have accounted for employee-related issues in your company’s crisis management plan, and practiced responding to various worst-case crisis scenarios related to the public disclosure of confidential or embarassing information about the organization. If you haven’t, then the incident at Goldman Sachs should be a powerful reason to do so as soon as possible.
And don’t assume that just because a group of employees have remained quiet about their working conditions that they won’t speak up now, encouraged by the actions of the junior bankers at Goldman Sachs.
Learning From Goldman Sachs
Karen Oakey is the director for human resources for Fracture, an e-commerce photo service. She said, “...Goldman Sachs should pause and listen to its employees regardless of whether the grievances are internal or publicly shared.
“Management should take notes based on what the employees share and find ways to take actions that reduce the issues that are causing their people to experience these negative sentiments. Tip: when employees (or let's be honest, people in general) are in a negative space, nobody wins - productivity will never be a sustainable outcome when your workforce feels oppressed,” she said.
Oakey said there are four lessons business leaders should remember from the situation at Goldman Sachs.
- Don't wait for issues to bubble and explode with your employees.
- Be proactive in obtaining a pulse on how your team is doing through any variety of measures such as engagement surveys, town halls.
- Have open-door policies where they know that action will be taken on any feedback so insights are shared freely.
- Foster a workplace culture that positively engages the employees and encourages them to willfully share will usually result in an environment where subversive public actions aren't the route taken to express dissatisfaction with management.
She counseled that, “If an employee does go public and it comes to the company's attention, loop in your People Ops team to assist in addressing the complaints or concerns swiftly. There may be legal compliance issues that the organization needs to be aware of but, ultimately, hear the employee out and see what might be able to be done to resolve the issue in a way that sufficiently satisfies all parties.”
Squeaky Wheels
Dustin Sleesman is an associate professor of management in the Lerner College of Business and Economics at the University of Delaware. He said, “... the reality is that employees often don’t want to bring their concerns to the attention of their managers for a variety of reasons. It could be due to a lack of communication or trust—or even fear of backlash. Sure, the squeaky wheel may get the grease, but it may also get replaced with another wheel.
“For many employees in jobs that are critical to their career, they don’t want to risk drawing the ire of their boss. And it’s pretty easy nowadays to rely on social media to air their grievances, and anonymously if they wish.”
Blending Management And Public Relations
Sleesman observed that, “Employees are increasingly turning to social media as a source of leverage for getting their leaders to take action. This has created the need for organizations to adapt by blending their management and public relations functions. In essence, organizations are trying to align management’s response with the image projected by their public relations strategy.
“Although this sounds like a reasonable idea, it creates an interpretation problem for employees because they don’t know if the response from management is genuine or just public relations spin. ……To respond effectively to employee concerns, managers need to have open and honest conversations with employees,” he said.
Sleesman advised, “When the problem surfaces, managers need to start a dialogue with employees so they can collaboratively work out a solution that meets the interests of both sides. Too often, managers offer half-hearted solutions that merely put a bandage on the problem—and employees can see right through it.”
Other Quagmires
Of course, employees who publicly voice their concerns and objections about work-related issues can create one type of corporate crisis. Employees who disclose or leak important and confidential company information can create entirely different kinds of crisis situations.
Ronald Schirtzer is a labor and employment lawyer at Weinberg Wheeler Hudgins Gunn & Dial and a trial lawyer with diverse experience in complex commercial litigation matters.
He said, “When employees have publicly disclosed negative, sensitive and/or potentially confidential information, employers face a myriad of potential legal and public relations quagmires when formulating an appropriate response.
“If the offending employees can be identified, from a legal standpoint, disciplinary action, up to and including termination of the employees disclosing the information may be an available response,” he said.
Avoiding Complaints
Schirtzer cautioned that, “... care needs to be taken to avoid potential whistleblower and retaliation complaints [and other legal actions] if the disclosed information involves potential violations of regulations or statutes affecting the company.”
Confidentiality Rules
He said, “the ability to undertake disciplinary action may also be impacted by whether the company has adopted and enforced confidentiality rules and/or agreements that clearly identify the disclosed information as being within the type of information that may not be shared outside of the company.”
Preventing PR Nightmares
According to Schirtzer, “Even if disciplinary action is legally available to the company, care should still be taken to avoid public relations nightmares associated with appearing to be heavy-handed in the company’s treatment of employees, and/or seeking to prevent the disclosure of information about the company’s operations and/or products that customers and consumers might feel they have a right to know.
He said companies can, however, take a number of steps to minimize the likelihood of potential disclosure of negative, sensitive and/or confidential information. They include the following:
Policies
Adopting company policies in employee handbooks and/or company guidelines that preclude employees from publicly disclosing information regarding their employment and authorize disciplinary action.
Agreements
Requiring employees to sign non-disclosure confidentiality agreement that preclude disclosures regarding internal operations.
Restrictions
Limiting access to sensitive and/or confidential information on a need-to-know basis.
Ombudsman
Considering utilizing an employee ombudsman and/or open-door policy that provides an opportunity for employees to express their concerns about working conditions without fear of retaliation or being viewed as disgruntled or malingering.
Management And Communication
Incorporating best practices for employee management and communication regarding working conditions into management training programs to reduce the risk of employees feeling they have no other recourse but to take their complaints public.
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March 24, 2021 at 01:57AM
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What To Do When Employees Go Public With Work-Related Complaints - Forbes
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