What are microaggressions?

Microaggressions are harmful small, everyday phrases or actions that are targeted at a person based on their membership in a marginalized group. These actions are often not explicitly about someone’s identity, but implicitly insult and other someone’s race, gender, sexual orientation or disability status. At work, they can make people feel alienated, unsupported, vulnerable, disrespected, uncomfortable, and hurt. Microaggressions often reinforce a message to people from underrepresented groups of, “You are not one of us. You do not belong.”

Work IssuesEmpower Work TeamDecember 19, 2018Workplace Issues, Issue 101, Tech, Microagressions, Microaggressions

You’ve heard the term “microaggression,” but what does it mean?

Shannon Lubetich talks about committing microaggression, an action that does not necessarily reflect malicious intent but can nevertheless inflict insult or injury, typically to members of marginalized groups and often related to someone’s race, gender, sexual orientation or disability status. They repeatedly send a message to people from underrepresented groups of, “You are not one of us. You do not belong.”

Read about strategies for if you experience a microaggression in the workplace, witness a microaggression, or even commit a microaggression yourself.

How I navigated the aftermath of a salary negotiation that left me feeling undervalued

Chris, one of our incredible volunteers, has generously chosen to share their story about reaching out to Empower Work as a texter. In this post they explore what the outcome was, and how it has changed they way they think about work.

Their issue: “I had just started a new job in a new industry and basically did a really bad job negotiating. I didn’t realize how much it was bothering me until a couple of months in. I feel like I struggle with salary a lot in several directions. Money should not be the way that people are valued. But also, in the world today, salary unfortunately represents the way your work is valued. I was struggling with feeling like my work wasn’t valued or respected.”

You've got an ethical issue at work. Now what?

Ethical questions within workplaces are arising more frequently in the public dialogue. Ethical issues certainly aren’t exclusive to tech. They happen across every industry and field, from banking to nonprofit to healthcare. Most of these don’t make headlines, but can affect our day-to-day experience at work--and our careers. We can’t just switch off our personal values when we step into the office. As Yale professor Daylian Cain explains, “work is often the place where we have the most societal impact; if you can’t bring your ethical values to work, where can you bring them?”

Work IssuesEmpower Work TeamSeptember 21, 2018Ethical Issue, Work Ethics, Workplace Support, Issue 101

Workplace Issues are Everywhere. Now What?

"Professor Says the Workplace Is the Fifth Leading Cause of Death in the U.S."
"Pregnancy Discrimination Is Rampant Inside America’s Biggest Companies"
"78% of Employees in Tech Report Experiencing Unfair Behavior or Treatment"

These are just a few recent headlines about the American workplace. From microaggressions and gaslighting to being groped by customers to HR teams that retaliate against employees for reporting issues, there’s no shortage of toxic and unacceptable behavior.

The headlines paint a bleak picture. And prompt a critical question: “now what?”

At Empower Work, we’ve seen that people have incredible ability to navigate complex situations if they have trained, informed support to talk through what they know of themselves, their employer, their boss, the players involved. Our text line provides a non-judgemental space to think through the implications, and if needed, get connected to additional resources from reporting tools to legal referrals.

That’s why we’re here. Workplaces challenges are universal. Support to navigate them should be too.

Work IssuesJaime-Alexis FowlerJuly 25, 2018Workplace Issues, Workplace Support, Empower Work

What Happened at Snap Isn’t an Anomaly

Shannon Lubetich’s story about Snap highlights not just problems with culture and diversity, but the lack of resources available for employees. People face myriad toxic workplace situations across a broad spectrum including, but by no means limited to, bullying, microaggressions, power imbalances, harassment, unethical practices, gaslighting, and discrimination, to name a small subset. These situations are so prevalent, employees will almost certainly face at least one, if not a combination, while they’re in the workforce. What’s not certain is whether they’ll get the support they need to address these situations as they arise. Empower Work is here to provide that workplace support.

Work IssuesJaime-Alexis FowlerJune 4, 2018Snapchat, Tech, Diversity & Inclusion

When it comes to workplace issues we need real humans, not listicles

Last week, I noticed this popular Forbes video and article making the rounds on LinkedIn. It had accumulated nearly two thousand likes and donned a compelling title: ‘4 Ways to Manage a Difficult Boss.’ But there’s inherent risk in oversimplified recommendations. Issues in the workplace are rarely black and white, and context matters.

Those important details can help shape decisions and next steps. When it comes to challenges in the workplace — whether it’s a conflict with a manager, toxic work environment, or job transition — people need the space to reflect on their situation.

Empower Work provides this space. Anyone facing a work issue can reach out via text and be connected with a trained peer counselor within minutes. Rather than give advice, our goal is to help people reflect — and ultimately find a next step that feels right for them.

Work IssuesLauren BrisboMay 29, 2018Workplace Issues, Workplace Support

Is my work issue normal?

Every day, across every workplace in America, people face challenges that don’t necessarily fall into a legal category. Instead, they fall into a vast gray area where solutions are rarely black and white. Empower Work is a new resource that fills this gap by putting employees first. We provide free, anonymous, and immediate support for people facing non-legal work issues. Our approach is rooted in inquiry and empathy. We provide the space to talk about your experience and work toward an outcome that feels right to you. Our goal is for people to leave the conversation feeling empowered with the tools and support they need to move forward.

Work IssuesEmpower Work TeamMay 9, 2018Workplace Issues, Workplace Support, burnout

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