In a departure from the historical norm, under which companies abstained from commenting on socio-political issues lest they alienate consumers, corporations spoke out one after the other against racism, and in some cases against police brutality, following the death of George Floyd in May.
They did so in part out of necessity, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins told the audience during Fortune‘s virtual Brainstorm Health conference on Wednesday.
“Frankly, society is calling on us to actually stand up, take positions and be more vocal than we were in the past,” said Robbins. “So I don’t think we have a choice.”
Robbins put out what was perhaps among the most visceral of corporate statements after Floyd, a Black man, died when a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. The CEO called the incident “maddening” and “truly abhorrent.” Citigroup chief financial officer Mark Mason—among Wall Street’s highest-ranking black executives—published a blog post that repeated Floyd’s final words, “I can’t breathe,” 10 times.
Since then, other companies have been criticized for not taking more forceful stances. Social media company Facebook has dealt with protests from employees and boycotts from advertisers after it decided not to take action against a series of controversial posts from President Trump, including one whose language echoed racist rhetoric from the 1960s.
“I think that the business community stepping into issues like police reform and focusing on our Black communities,” Robbins said Wednesday. “The CEOs, particularly the ones that I engage with in the U.S., are super involved in these social issues. It doesn’t mean you won’t ever have to make hard decisions. It just means you have to have consideration for all your stakeholders.”
By: Lucinda Shen
Source: Fortune
The vast majority of business leaders responding to a recent survey said they’re concerned they can’t train employees quickly enough to keep up with AI and tech developments in the next three years. A similar amount said AI and other tech disruptions will require companies to rethink skills, resources and new ways of doing work.
If you were to ask a random person on the street what an HR professional does, their answer would probably be conflict resolution, or that HR folks deal with employee salaries and benefits. And while that is part of an HR professional’s responsibilities — to ensure employee safety, respect and accountability — that doesn’t even scratch the surface.
With remote work destined for good to be a fixture of the modern workplace, almost half of companies are monitoring remote employees’ online activities. Monitored activity can include active work hours, websites visited, chats, and messaging logs. Almost a third (31%) of respondents said their employers are monitoring their computer screens in real-time.
