Workplace Trends

Moving Away from the 

Toxic Work Culture

By Mike Moen
Producer, PNS

 

    North Dakota - (PNS) - 5/17/2022 - North Dakota has seen recent examples of staffing shake-ups among certain employers where a toxic environment was cited. It coincides with rhetoric about the need for companies and agencies to offer a more compassionate work setting.

    Earlier this year, Fargo Police leaders publicly responded to reports of low morale among officers. Similar issues prompted an internal investigation within Cass County Human Services.

    Dr. Hope Umansky, a psychological consultant for Innovations Advocacy Group, said those in management need to pay closer attention to how the workforce has responded to the pandemic.

    "I don't think people, with the shift in the last two years, are going to put up with just neglecting their families, their homes, their kids anymore," Umansky contended. "A good thing has been a reset toward, 'We don't need to be so busy all the time.' You know, like it's not healthy for anybody."

    She emphasized the mindset includes no longer feeling a sense of loyalty to a job if the person doesn't think they are valued by management.

    A recent report from MIT Sloan Management looked at turnover data during the "Great Resignation." Researchers found a toxic culture was the leading predictor of attrition.

    Umansky pointed out employers who do not look inward and improve leadership will face more instability, which could threaten the company's future.

    "If your [organizational] structure, your staff, your people aren't healthy psychologically and happy and thriving, the business isn't going to grow," Umansky stressed.

    She added while it's not an issue of ageism, younger generations have different expectations of a work-life balance. She suggests because it has been harder for them to obtain financial security, they have a different set of priorities as it relates to work.

References:
Police video City of Fargo 01/14/2022
Great resignation study MIT 01/11/2022 

Law and Justice

NARAL Calls Supreme Court Draft

 Opinion on Roe v. Wade

 Shocking, Without Precedent

    (NARAL) - 5/4/2022 - Following reports that a majority of Supreme Court justices are planning to strike down Roe v. Wade and allow states to ban abortion in the coming months, NARAL Pro-Choice America Mini Timmaraju released the following statement:

    “This is the most ominous and alarming sign yet that our nation’s highest court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to abortion as we know it and ripping away our freedom to decide if, when, and how to raise our families. While this is a draft opinion and abortion is still legal, we need to brace for a future where more and more people are punished and criminalized for seeking and providing abortion care. Now more than ever, we must support those working to provide abortion care and elect champions who will relentlessly fight for reproductive freedom and take bold action to safeguard abortion rights.”

    The court's shocking and unprecedented leak follows multiple other signals that the Supreme Court is poised to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case that recognized the constitutional right to abortion. Meanwhile, abortion care is already almost entirely out of reach in Texas because a vigilante-enforced law banning abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy rendered Roe meaningless in the state. Other states are clamoring to follow Texas’ lead even before the Supreme Court announces its opinion in the Jackson Women’s Health case.

    Should Roe fall, 28 states are poised to take action to prohibit abortion outright. Of those, 13 states already have “trigger bans” in place, which would ban abortion automatically if Roe is overturned. These bans and attacks on abortion access fall hardest on those most marginalized, including people of color, LGBTQ people, people with low incomes, and those in rural communities.