WorkLifeBridge

From time to time, we’ll be rounding up the latest workplace-related stories for your reading pleasure. Here are today’s recommendations:

PhysOrg.com reports on a recent study that examines the influence of beauty, status and sex on job negotiations in “Hiring practices are influenced by beauty“.

Small Business Trends asks the provocative question, “Are Your Employees’ Hours Quality Time or Quantity Time?” How might you answer that about your own workplace?

George’s Employment Blawg takes a look at a harsh realization: “Much Employee Creativity Unused on Job“.

Online Guide to Mediation, a blog published by OptionBridge partner Diane Levin, looks at a new social networking web site that helps employees join forces to effect workplace change, among other things.

PersonnelToday.com lists the “Top 10 management issues companies get wrong“.

Finally, Life at Work, a New Zealand blog that takes an irreverent look at workplace issues from the perspective of an employment lawyer, asks, “Exactly why did you leave your last job?“

A 2006 book, The Female Brain, made the controversial claim that women speak almost three times as many words per day as men. Despite the fact that linguists swiftly debunked this claim, it and other gender myths persist.

A recent article from the New York Times, “The Feminine Critique“, examines the pervasive nature of gender stereotyping, which can affect our ability to accurately perceive men and women on issues that range from the expression of anger to salary negotiations — any of which can hold serious consequences for the workplace.

Says one researcher, “Most of what we learn shows that the problem is with the perception, not with the woman,” he said, “and that it is not the problem of an individual, it’s a problem of a corporation.”

The good news is that while we may be susceptible to stereotypes, we can overcome them, as we discussed here in October. But it requires a commitment and a willingness to face them. And you can begin by asking, what is your organization doing to counter stereotypes?

You just can’t beat email for its ease, convenience, and speed.

Yet Dan Goleman, author of Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships, describes the overlooked advantages that face-to-face communication has over the electronic kind in “Email Is Easy to Write (and to Misread)“, a recent article in the New York Times. Goleman observes,

Face-to-face interaction… is information-rich. We interpret what people say to us not only from their tone and facial expressions, but also from their body language and pacing, as well as their synchronization with what we do and say.

Most crucially, the brain’s social circuitry mimics in our neurons what’s happening in the other person’s brain, keeping us on the same wavelength emotionally. This neural dance creates an instant rapport that arises from an enormous number of parallel information processors, all working instantaneously and out of our awareness.

In contrast to a phone call or talking in person, e-mail can be emotionally impoverished when it comes to nonverbal messages that add nuance and valence to our words. The typed words are denuded of the rich emotional context we convey in person or over the phone.

And, as a result, email increases the likelihood that miscommunication and conflict will occur. In fact,

as the use of e-mail increases in an organization, the overall volume of other kinds of communication drops — particularly routine friendly greetings. But lacking these seemingly innocuous interactions, people feel more disconnected from co-workers. This was noted in an article in Organizational Science almost a decade ago, just as e-mail was starting to surge. Saying “Hi,” it turns out, really does matter; it’s social glue.

Does your organization rely heavily on email? If so, what does that mean for the quality of working relationships?

Personneltoday.com reports on a recent study of British workplaces which reveals how unprepared many organizations are to respond to or manage disputes:

A study … has found that nearly two-thirds of organisations do not educate staff on dispute avoidance, less than 30% update their policies in light of lessons learned from previous disputes, and only 38% of employers train staff in this area.

How prepared is your workplace?

Science Daily reports that while few people are free from prejudice, the good news is that our biases can be overcome through reconditioning.

Interested in testing the extent of your own hidden biases? Visit Project Implicit, a collaborative research project undertaken by researchers at Harvard University, the University of Washington, and the University of Virginia. This research project utilizes online tests to gather information about and gain insights into conscious and unconscious preferences on a wide range of topics, including religion, sexuality, gender, race, and even U.S. presidents.