In the past few months, 2,600 Google employees have signed a petition asking the company to do more about harassment–and to make HR investigations transparent, according to The Wall Street Journal.
It’s one of the many changes going on at Google when it comes to employee communications. Google has encouraged dialogue unrelated to the workplace for years, and now it’s not working out so well.
Last year, Google fired James Damore for expressing his views about how choice and biology may be the true driver for the lack of women in tech, saying that his views perpetuated gender stereotypes and violated the code of conduct.
But, not everyone at Google agreed with the decision. And, it seems, that there is very little at Google that everyone agrees on. Because the company encouraged message boards and the like to discuss non-work issues, they are dealing with trolls and hurt feelings and it’s a big mess.
To read more, click here: Google Wants Employees to Work Instead of Arguing Politics
“when you have a culture that has employees trolling and doxxing each other, perhaps there is an HR problem.” Perhaps, but the real problem was identified several decades ago by the philosopher Pogo who stated, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” The Bible tells us that each one of us has an evil heart, and while HR (or any number of other entities) may be able to proscribe our behavior, only Jesus Christ can give us a new heart.
In google-speak “don’t be evil” should apply to employees too. Yet what is ‘evil’? One of my informal Bible-teachers once remarked that, when she was young, she thought the verse about everyone “doing [the] right [thing] in their own eyes” sounded wonderful; until she realized that there were a lot of weeds growing wild in the wheat fields as a result of that policy…
Blaming HR for people’s behavior is stupid, because all HR does is present the rules as determined by the company. That problem described at Google is just another example of allowing a “free range “ thinking atmosphere. I strongly reminds me of the Montessori method used in education. Eventually the scope of “free range” has to have a limitation in order to keep everyone in focus. I am quite sure Google didn’t foresee bullying tactics coming up when encouraging impulsive thinking of ideas. Now that it has risen its ugly head, Google needs to set up a methodology for expressing differentiation in views with becoming a bully, and protocol for discipline for the abusers/bullies of others. This way, the free expression of thought continues as long as civility is maintained.
That’s silly. Google’s problem is exactly the opposite — it has encouraged its managers to bring their political prejudices into the office as discrimination policies, and now faces a well justified lawsuit by Damore which I hope will stop the practice permanently. An employer that really supported free thought would strictly abstain from concerning itself with its employees’ political views, and would simply suggest they leave them at home.
“Google has encouraged dialogue unrelated to the workplace for years, and now it’s not working out so well.”
Gee, who would have ever guessed it wouldn’t work out?
Nope, no feeling sorry for Google – they created their own monster and now they have to deal with it.
Kind of reminds me of what was my local gym. They put up a whiteboard that anyone could write messages on. Originally, the intent was for people to find each other, sort of like: “looking for someone to work out with, spot each other, motivate each other, etc.”
Instead it turned into a political free-for-all. And a lot of the stuff was just down-right nasty and mean. Despite many of us complaining to management that we came here to work out and didn’t want to see offensive messages written on the whiteboard – management did nothing about it.
Needless to say, that is no longer my gym.
That’s one of the beauties of the free market, I was free to go elsewhere. Goggle will soon find itself with the same free market loss – good employees will go elsewhere.
Google and Amazon both are notorious for working their employees well beyond a 40–hour workweek and — as a result — experiencing high levels of employee burnout and turnover. That’s why they have so many on-site perks — because employees are, basically, “living” at work. That’s why — unless they change their entire business model and workplace culture — they can’t, realistically, demand that their employees don’t bring their “whole selves” to work and leave their personal opinions at home. That being said, they’re right to ban bullying, trolling and doxing. Damore was fired for circulating what was — essentially — hate speech against his female co-workers. Had he made the same false aspersions against, say, Blacks, everyone would have — immediately — recognized it was wrong. Google does try to remain politically neutral in enforcing its employment rules, and the fact that employees all over the political spectrum are complaining may actually be a sign that Google’s succeeding in maintaining that neutrality.
This is the first time that i heared this information of Google, thanks for sharing it with us.
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