Workplace Trends and Changes

Introduction
Three big trends impacting the workplace are 1) the effects of the #MeToo Movement and the need to implement policies to protect workers against sexual harassment, 2) the role that AI is playing in the workplace and the impact it is having on issues such as worker privacy, and 3) the problem of politics and how there may be gaps between the type of culture the administration wants to cultivate and the socio-political beliefs of some of its workers. For instance, Google has recently come under fire for demonstrating bias against conservative workers whose socio-political views do not reflect that administration’s Left-leaning politics (Ghaffary). This paper will discuss these trending issues, how they might impact the role of the administrative professional and the support they provide and how the administrative professional can positively influence any of the changes required as a result of the current issues as they give support to workers in the workplace environment.
MeToo
The #MeToo movement changed the way organizations think about sexual harassment in a big way—particularly with respect to how upper level managers talk to and engage with lower level workers. Part of the movement was its focus on leaders exploiting their positions of power by getting lower level workers to perform sexual favors. Workers would engage in these acts even if they did not want to because they felt pressured to do so—i.e., like their jobs might be lost if they did not.
The Administrative professional is impacted by this movement in terms of the support that must be provided to workers in the sense that administrative professionals must now be more sensitive to issues in the workplace regarding sexual harassment and they must also make sure that employees know they have a safe way to report sexual harassment without fearing reprisal.
Administrative professionals also have to be more careful about creating a respectful culture in which people of all gender identities feel welcomed. They can do this by addressing the issue of gender socialization. Gender socialization is the process by which an individual learns or comes to understand the norms and expectations regarding gender within the context of the culture of which he is a part. So, for example, if one works in an organization that is traditionally considered masculine (such as the oil industry) one is likely going to feel pressured to adopt a lower level role if one is a female—and this is something that administrators have to address by promoting a culture of equality. The way to do that is to promote values regarding what the organization sees as important—i.e., values like trust, accountability, and honesty—rather than the old values of masculinity and machismo. Gender socialization impacts career choices because people will go into certain careers based on whether they perceive it to be something befitting their gender. For instance, many women tend to pursue careers in health care: they become nurses, as this is a profession that is generally socially seen as being work that women excel at. Men tend to pursue careers in engineering or in management or in information technology—professions where there is a lot of critical thinking going on. The Administrator must be conscious of this fact and work to create a culture of openness where equality is a key element to the foundation of the organization’s commitment to values highlighted by movements like #MeToo.
The administrative professional would also have to be mindful to address the sexual double standard that can exist in workplaces (Kreager, Staff). The #MeToo movement has challenged the idea that men can be sexually aggressive towards women and take advantage of their position to get sexual favors. Thus, the administrative professional has to make sure that all managers know that they will be held to a higher standard today than was the case in the past. However, this is a fine line to walk because it is not just men who are crossing the line. The 4th wave of feminism has also changed the way women and sexuality are viewed. Whereas earlier waves of feminism viewed the male gaze as toxic, today’s wave of feminists view the male gaze as something that women themselves can exploit for their own gain—thus female pop stars like Britney, Miley, Rihanna, Beyonce, Katy, and several others use their bodies in sexually explicit performances to attract the male gaze and control the sexual discourse. Women in the workplace are also capable of doing this, too, and it is something administrative professionals have to be mindful to address: it is not just men crossing lines; women can do it as well. In fact, as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has noted, in 2015 nearly 20% of the sexual harassment claims were actually filed by men against women (PLBSH, 2019). This shows that times have changed and the pendulum swings both ways—and thus administrative professionals have to make sure that both males and females in the workplace receive training on what constitutes sexual harassment, when it should be reported, and what behaviors should be adopted to reduce the risk of it taking place.
Overall, it is important that administrative professionals act now because as O’Neil et al. note, “poor organizational responses to sexual harassment in the workplace can revictimise and exacerbate the negative effects” sexual harassment (2587). Thus, administrative professionals can positively influence the changes required by creating a more mindful workplace culture through the use of logical and rational explanations with employees about why this mindfulness is needed and why every worker should demonstrate respect towards all. The fact of the matter is that—so the administrative professional could explain—“sexual harassment compromises productivity, presenteeism, turnover, absenteeism, morale, and organizational culture. Additionally, sexual harassment prevents employees reaching their full professional and personal potential, accentuating gender-based inequalities that already exist in almost all employment sectors” (O’Neil et al. 2587). If the administration does not address sexual harassment concerns in the wake of the #MeToo movement, it will be putting itself in a hole and run the risk of falling behind the times.
AI
AI and the rise of virtual teams, surveillance, and digital communications means that the very nature of the workplace is changing. For some, these will be welcome changes, but not everyone is bound to agree. Concerns over jobs being replaced by robots, concerns about workers’ privacy rights being violated because organizations are watching everything they do, monitoring their calls and the work they do on company computers, and concerns about security—all of these are issues that the administrative professional must address as the digital age arrives in force and organizations are obliged to deal with the changing world of technology and what it means for the organization and its employees.
Administrative professionals should first of all always be mindful to provide support to workers in the ways the workers need it. If the worker is of an older generation and is finding it difficult to deal with all the new demands of the technology being used in the workplace, the administrative professional should pair the older worker with a younger one who will be a digital native and be more adept at understanding technology and how to use it. The younger worker will be able to assist the older worker and together they can help each other to overcome challenges—as the older worker will be able to give guidance to the younger in terms of what it means to show loyalty to a company and so on (Wong, Chin).
Workers will also want to know that they are valued, even as more and more robotics enter into the workplace or as more and more jobs are given to virtual teams. Those workers who remain will have to know that they have some job security. Administrative professionals will thus have to support the change of introducing more accommodations from the digital age by making sure those workers who remain do not feel threatened. Retaining employees depends upon making the right decisions as far as keeping and promoting the right people. The key is to make sure that every worker knows why he is there. The workplace should be a positive place where people can root for each other, drive one another, and support one another. That is the type of spirit managers should seek to foster—not a mutinous spirit. A mutinous spirit will be fostered, however, if managers do not explain, talk to, and support workers with direct, clear, and honest answers to questions about what the future holds for them. Job security is one of the best and most reassuring feelings in the world for an employee. He does not have to worry about losing his job or having his position taken away from him. He knows that if he does his job well it will be there for him for so long as he wants to work at it. He does not have to think about finding work elsewhere or applying for new positions. It is a load of stress off his shoulders knowing that he has job security.
Politics
Politics are nowadays more divisive than ever. The country seems more and more like it is torn between those who support Trump and those who hate him. Politics in the workplace can cause problems, as has been the case at Google (Ghaffary). The administrative professional has to make sure that workers are not feeling prejudiced against because of political beliefs, as their Civil Rights are protected on this matter. The polarized and hyper-emotionalized dialectic that is underway, however, can make it difficult to keep a calm, rational head when politics enter the workplace. As Google has found out, “how to deal with an increasingly vocal and growing group of dissenters to the company’s cultural status quo” can be difficult (Ghaffary).
Google has taken the approach of cracking down on opportunities for workers to exercise their free speech because it does not want a culture of dissent to become popular in the workplace: “According to multiple Google employees, the company has been holding fewer platforms for public discourse — specifically its once-weekly “TGIF” meetings, which are now held less frequently, closer to once a month, according to several employees” (Ghaffary). However, this is not really a constructive way to show support to workers who want to make sure their rights are not being violated. Thus administrative professionals should be more willing to support workers by providing more freedom, not less, in the workplace for workers to express themselves and their views—but they should also make sure there is a culture of mutual respect and appreciation and that this no tolerance for hatred or violence just because one person’s views differ.
Nilsson, for instance, focuses on reconciling the experiential nature of human social interaction with the workplace by creating a positive institutional workplace environment in which ideals of freedom and compassion, which people cherish, can be found and expressed and embraced within the all-too-often restrictive confines of the institution, where the impersonal and mechanistic functions of the day tend to take precedence over the emotions, thoughts, and experiences of the individual. The main point of the author is that the importance of the lived experience can be embraced by the institution because responsive institutions tend to already have an “experiential orientation” as Nilsson calls it (371). The goal should be of an institution to “realize its emancipatory potential” and allow workers to embrace the idea of freedom (Nilsson 371), which insofar as it is embraced can create and nurture a culture of innovation—which in turn can lead to big, positive returns for the institution. The argument Nilsson makes is that “scholars must more fully engage with the experiential nature of normative social purpose” (371) if the emancipation process is to succeed. To that end, positive organizational scholarship can aid the process.
Conclusion
The administrative professional professional can support workers in times of change and new trends by providing them with a culture of emancipation and respect. Whether it is #MeToo, AI or politics that is forcing the change, the administrative professional can create an environment of emancipation by embracing the concept of institutional work, which allows for intentional activity in a situated environment to be conducted in a creative way. It corrects some of the potential for destabilizing forces that exist when a responsive institution has an experiential orientation.
Works Cited
Ghaffary, S. Political tension at Google is only getting worse. Vox, 2019. https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/8/2/20751822/google-employee-dissent-james-damore-cernekee-conservatives-bias
Kreager, Derek A., and Jeremy Staff. "The sexual double standard and adolescent peer acceptance." Social psychology quarterly 72.2 (2009): 143-164.
Nilsson, Warren. "Positive institutional work: Exploring institutional work through the lens of positive organizational scholarship." Academy of Management Review 40.3 (2015): 370-398.
O'Neil, Adrienne, et al. "The# MeToo movement: an opportunity in public health?." The Lancet 391.10140 (2018): 2587-2589.
PLBSH. Yes, Men Can Be Sexually Harassed In The Workplace. PLBSH, 2019. https://www.plbsh.com/yes-men-can-be-sexually-harassed-in-the-workplace/
Wong, N. & Chin, Y. “Issues and Challenges Faced by Generation X While Managing Generation Y.” International Journal of Business and Social Science 7.2 (2016): 167-170.