It’s no secret that our society continues to change rapidly, and the norms that served us well only a few years ago often seem outdated today. That is as true in the workplace as anywhere else. Behaviors and statements that would have been perfectly appropriate not that long ago might now land an employee or an organization in hot water.
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Part of this has to do with movements like #MeToo, which has helped re-shape how we see sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior in the workplace. But it’s not just blatantly inappropriate behaviors like sexual harassment or assault that today’s organizations are, or should be, concerned about.
New Age Professionalism
Mayo CHRO Cathy Fraser shares her perspective on the topic, and she says that cultural change often happens in gray areas that aren’t easy to define or even discuss.
It’s in this context that she calls “New Age Professionalism,” which she defines as, a “clear and congruent set of professional expectations in an increasingly volatile and rapidly changing environment.”
Fraser points to technology and new societal values as big reasons for a need to change how we think about workplace professionalism. “The professional behaviors that were very appropriate and congruent with our values only a few years ago have to be expressed with social media, data security, environmental stewardship and other external trends in mind,” she says.
Policies That Work in an Environment of Change
So, if our values and norms are constantly changing, how can we create a set of policies that can succeed in the midst of so much change? Fraser says the better strategy is to focus on broader sets of principles than specific policies that could become outdated. “That’s why we launched our Pwshared commitment approach,” she says. “Not policies, rather commitments to a set of behaviors that allow people and Mayo to be successful.”
The world is changing rapidly around us, and that’s no different in the workplace where social norms, values, and expectations are constantly shifting and evolving. This means that we have to be flexible and proactive in our policies and adopt the kind of “new age professionalism” embraced by Mayo.
How would such an approach work in your organization?