American Companies Keep Getting More Gay-Friendly

In recent years, workplaces have become increasingly friendlier places for a greater number of workers. As companies compete for the best and brightest talent, many employers have revamped corporate policies to include language and programs that create safer and more welcoming work environments for a broad range of groups, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

Given the economic turmoil caused by the Great Recession, which has pushed the national unemployment rate to around 10%, it might seem that companies could forgo such outreach because the nation’s current pool of available talent is as broad and deep as it has been in many years. But despite challenging economic times, more employers than ever are finding reasons to adopt LGBT-friendly policies, a recent survey shows.

“The private sector has realized that treating all of its employees fairly is actually a better way to create a productive workforce and to attract the best and brightest employees, regardless of their background,” says Daryl Herrschaft, director of the Workplace Project at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, a gay-advocacy organization.

A Wide Variety of Top-Scoring Companies

More than 300 Fortune 1000 companies this year achieved a perfect score (100) on a rating system HRC has developed, known as the Corporate Equality Index. That’s an increase of 45 companies compared to last year, and a more than 20-fold jump since the CEI was established in 2002. The survey gathers information from employers on a host of workplace issues such as nondiscrimination policies, diversity training and benefits that provide parity among same-sex and different-sex couples and then assigns a score.

The companies that achieved the top score this year are as varied as Boeing, Ford Motor, Goldman Sachs, Constellation Energy, Time Warner, Anheuser-Busch, Campbell Soup, Dow Chemical, Dell, Apple, Xerox, Microsoft, Accenture, IBM, Marsh & McLennan, UnitedHealth, Chevron and many others.

“Competition has really driven a lot of interest in the index,” says Herrschaft, adding that companies don’t want to fall behind in the marketplace — of either employees or customers. The goal of HRC’s Workplace Project isn’t just to rate companies but to provide them with robust resources to implement policies that the CEI examines. “Rather than just administer the survey, we work with them extensively,” Herrschaft says.

A Few Holdouts

Still, some large corporations have been reluctant to adopt LGBT-friendly polices. In announcing its ratings this year, HRC noted two in particular: energy companies the Laclede Group and ExxonMobil, both of which scored zero. ExxonMobil continues to lose points, HRC says, “for resisting shareholder pressure to amend its nondiscrimination policies.”

Rather than adopt policies similar to those of competitors, ExxonMobil continues to use federal government employee policies as its benchmark, Herrschaft says. But those standards are long outdated. Uncle Sam had previously set the precedent for advancing employment policies by passing laws that prohibited job discrimination based on a number of characteristics. But in recent decades, corporations have taken the lead in promoting and advancing workplace equality.

Today, the federal government would likely score only 40 or 50 on the CEI index, says Herrschaft, noting that it can’t earn a score on some measures, such as philanthropic engagement, for example. Still, Herrschaft says the federal government is “creeping up on the scale,” noting that its score is higher than it was just a year ago, when it would have received a score of about 25.

Herrschaft says federal and state governments have been slow in adopting the best employment practices — or even the mainstream ones that most major U.S. corporations have. That puts states and Uncle Sam at a disadvantage in retaining top talent to meet the challenges most governments face these days.

Uncle Sam Needs to Lead

Further, if the federal government, as the nation’s largest employer, were to improve its employment policies, the action would likely cascade to the private sector. Companies that hadn’t yet moved on the issue would likely reconsider, Herrschaft says.

Still, it won’t be easy. Updating federal employment policies would in many instances require an act of Congress, he says, “which is something that HRC is actively working on.”

But in the meantime, LGBT workers can at least take pride in knowing their skills and talents are increasingly being recognized within the private sector.

source: dailyfinance

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Senate Kills Unemployment Compensation Extension

The U.S. Senate on Thursday killed a bill that would have extended payment of unemployment compensation benefits through Dec. 31, 2010. As a result, says the Wall Street Journal, some 1.3 million unemployed Americans will almost immediately lose their assistance.

The American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 (H.R. 4213), stalled when Senate Democrats failed to get the 60 votes needed to end a Republican filibuster against the bill. The motion to end the filibuster, known as a “motion to invoke cloture,” failed by a vote of 57-41.

The bill also contained provisions that would have funneled more federal assistance to the states, funded summer youth jobs programs and extended several business tax breaks.

Opponents of the bill objected to its $85.5 billion cost, an amount they said would have increased the $1.26 trillion federal deficit by $35 billion.

The states typically pay unemployment compensation benefits to eligible unemployed workers for up to 26 weeks. In periods of very high and rising unemployment nationwide or in individual states, “extended benefits” may be paid for as long as 13 to 46 additional weeks, depending on state law. The cost of the extended benefits is paid equally from state and federal funds.

Grouped By Vote Position:

YEAs —57
Akaka (D-HI)

Baucus (D-MT)

Bayh (D-IN)

Begich (D-AK)

Bennet (D-CO)

Bingaman (D-NM)

Boxer (D-CA)

Brown (D-OH)

Burris (D-IL)

Cantwell (D-WA)

Cardin (D-MD)

Carper (D-DE)

Casey (D-PA)

Conrad (D-ND)

Dodd (D-CT)

Dorgan (D-ND)

Durbin (D-IL)

Feingold (D-WI)

Feinstein (D-CA)

 Franken (D-MN)

Gillibrand (D-NY)

Hagan (D-NC)

Harkin (D-IA)

Inouye (D-HI)

Johnson (D-SD)

Kaufman (D-DE)

Kerry (D-MA)

Klobuchar (D-MN)

Kohl (D-WI)

Landrieu (D-LA)

Lautenberg (D-NJ)

Leahy (D-VT)

Levin (D-MI)

Lieberman (ID-CT)

Lincoln (D-AR)

McCaskill (D-MO)

Menendez (D-NJ)

Merkley (D-OR)

 Mikulski (D-MD)

Murray (D-WA)

Nelson (D-FL)

Pryor (D-AR)

Reed (D-RI)

Reid (D-NV)

Rockefeller (D-WV)

Sanders (I-VT)

Schumer (D-NY)

Shaheen (D-NH)

Specter (D-PA)

Stabenow (D-MI)

Tester (D-MT)

Udall (D-CO)

Udall (D-NM)

Warner (D-VA)

Webb (D-VA)

Whitehouse (D-RI)

Wyden (D-OR)
NAYs —41
Alexander (R-TN)

Barrasso (R-WY)

Bennett (R-UT)

Bond (R-MO)

Brown (R-MA)

Brownback (R-KS)

Bunning (R-KY)

Burr (R-NC)

Chambliss (R-GA)

Coburn (R-OK)

Cochran (R-MS)

Collins (R-ME)

Corker (R-TN)

Cornyn (R-TX)

 Crapo (R-ID)

DeMint (R-SC)

Ensign (R-NV)

Enzi (R-WY)

Graham (R-SC)

Grassley (R-IA)

Gregg (R-NH)

Hatch (R-UT)

Hutchison (R-TX)

Inhofe (R-OK)

Isakson (R-GA)

Johanns (R-NE)

Kyl (R-AZ)

LeMieux (R-FL)

 Lugar (R-IN)

McCain (R-AZ)

McConnell (R-KY)

Nelson (D-NE)

Risch (R-ID)

Roberts (R-KS)

Sessions (R-AL)

Shelby (R-AL)

Snowe (R-ME)

Thune (R-SD)

Vitter (R-LA)

Voinovich (R-OH)

Wicker (R-MS)
Not Voting – 2
Byrd (D-WV) Murkowski (R-AK)

sources: about.com and senate.gov

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Top Ten Tips for Working With Other Cultures

a As companies continue to grow internationally, more employees are finding themselves working with people from other countries and cultures that they are not familiar with. Don’t make the mistake in assuming there is no difference in the work environment. Our values and personalities develop largely from the values and belief systems of the cultures we grow up in. However, not all cultures value the same things or in the same priority. Improve your knowledge of your co-workers cultures and you will improve your work experience as well.

1. Remember they are human beings with the same basic wants and needs that you have. You are working for the same goals and outcomes. It isn’t about you vs. them or one culture vs. another

2. Make an effort to learn a bit about their culture if you work with a variety of nationalities. Have a sincere curiosity in their language, rituals, holidays etc.

3. Remind yourself that your cultural approach and views are only one way of looking at it not necessarily the right way or only way. Be willing to try another cultures approach. You may surprise yourself with what you find. In turn, if you have ideas that might work better approach your colleagues with baby steps and see which ones they may be willing to try as well.

4. Remember that the language spoken may be someone else’s 2nd, 3rd or 4th language. Be clear with your ideas and avoid slang. Check-in with the person or group and see if anyone has questions and understands your message. Don’t assume they understand just because they haven’t asked a question. Learn to rephrase ideas throughout your communication to help them process what it is you are saying

5. Become confident in who you are and the culture and/or country you represent. Avoid bad mouthing your country to others as you become a representative of that country to all you meet. Focus on what is positive in your country and the positives you are aware of in someone else’s country. Leave the negative international politics at the door and you will remain professional and attract respect from your international co-workers.

6. Address confusion in working styles immediately. Remember that culture comes through in a corporate setting as well. Meeting structures, decision-making processes, and the chain of command will most likely look different from culture to culture. Accept the approach that is used within this group and focus on your strengths within that approach.

7. Develop an outside support system. Working in an international setting can have additional stresses; it may take longer to accomplish simple tasks or work through the language barriers. Find ways to manage the stress and use an outside support system so it doesn’t reflect back on your job.

8. Enjoy the experience. The world is an exciting and diverse place. International co-workers allow us to explore areas of ourselves and the world we may not have previously explored. Use these contacts to enrich your life and in turn enrich theirs.

9. Accept that humans make mistakes. Focus on the solution so the mistake doesn’t occur again. This way you can avoid the trap of assigning a mistake to a culture. In other words, if you have a co-worker who continually does the same thing wrong, help them resolve it instead of internalizing it into – Grrr; (insert nationality) people don’t know how to do their jobs.

10. Listen. Learn to listen – at all levels. Allow the other culture the time and approach that they need to share their thoughts and express them. You want to be heard…so do they.

source: waytodeal.com

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