Report IBM has been discriminating against older employees for years

Report IBM has been discriminating against older employees for yearsReport IBM has been discriminating against older employees for yearsLooking for a new job? If youre over a certain age, you may not be welcome at IBM.On Thursday, a new report by ProPublica and Mother Jonesalleges that the tech giant pushes out employees over 40 from their jobs by sidelining them, firing them, laying them off or forcing their rushed retirement, according to internal documents and personal stories provided by over 1,000 ex-IBM workers. In fact, ProPublica estimates that the company has cut more than 20,000 employees who are over 40 - a number that covers 60% of its total U.S. job eliminations - in the past five years.Under theAge Discrimination in Employment Act(ADEA), employers cannot discriminate against older workers. IBM has refuted the claims of age discrimination. We are proud of our company and our employees ability to reinvent themselves era after era, while always complying with the law, th e company said in a statement following the report. Our ability to do this is why we are the only tech company that has not only survived but thrived for more than 100 years.IBM was once known as a company where your loyalty would be rewarded with the stability of a job you could grow in for your entire career. But the stories of former IBM employees tell a different story.Report IBM cuts older employees to correct seniority mixAfter falling behind its competitors, IBM decided to shift its focus to cloud services and big data analytics in 2014. And as part of that shift, the company allegedly began targeting millennials over older employees. In presentations to senior IBM executives, a new goal was reportedly laid out toshift headcount mix towards greater percentage of early professional hires and to correct seniority mix.To make this correction happen smoothly, IBM started pushing its legal weight. After 2014, the company stopped providing lists that included the ages of the people being impacted by job cuts. To get around the ADEAs public disclosure requirement of knowing and voluntary waived consent, IBM changed its severance policy for layoffs. Employees no longer had to waive their right to sue on the basis of age bias to receive it - but now, they could only pursue their age discrimination cases through private arbitration, a process that overwhelmingly favors employers.There were other ways that IBM reportedly made its workplace inhospitable to older employees. The company changed its decades-old policy that supported telecommuting. Now, employees need to commute to distant locations thousands of miles away or face resignation, which had an impact on older employees.They basically knew older employees werent going to do it, ex-IBM product manager Eileen Maroney, 63, said. Older people arent going to move. It just doesnt make any sense. When Maroney was ordered to move from Aegean, South Carolina to Raleigh, North Carolina or face resignation, she resign ed.According to internal communications obtained by reporters, IBM managers also were discouraged from rehiring older workers.Words were not matching with actions. Employees said they were let go for having outdated skills, butwerethen rehired as contractors with fewer benefits and less pay. In a particularly bitter twist, some laid-off workers said they were told to train their overseas replacement before they left.In other cases, IBM employees told ProPublica that they felt forced to take a voluntary retirement or be fired. When 33-year IBM veteran Lorilynn King received her retirement papers, she wrote back in response It was never my plan to retire earlier than at least age 60 and I am not committing to retire. I have been informed that I am impacted by a resource action effective on 2016-08-22, which is my last day at IBM, but I am NOT retiring.

Body language that tells your team how you really feel

Body language that tells your team how you really feelBody language that tells your team how you really feelDo you know that your team is constantly evaluating your emotions through cues in your body language - and that they can do so in a fraction of a second?At the Center for Cognitive Neuroimaging at the University of Glasgow, researchers found that it takes only 200 milliseconds to read someones emotional state from his or her facial expression. So putting on a happy face isnt only a pleasant thing to do, it sends a powerful signal to those who work with you.During a major change, for example, your staff will be on high alert, constantly looking to you for clues on how to react. If you look upset or angry, that negativity can spread like a virus throughout the team, affecting attitudes and lowering energy. Conversely, if you come across as energized and positive, youre likely to make your entire team feel upbeat and optimistic.Of course, its notlage only facial expressions that send a message. Emotional signals come from other parts of your body - including your feet.I was in the audience when the chief executive officer of a financial institute was being interviewed, seated at the front of the stage, facing us. One of his staff sat across from him, reading a list of questions that had been submitted by attendees.As the CEO responded to the first inquiries, he shared his philosophy of relationship banking and the importance of employees to the companys brand. While doing so, his body language was open and relaxed. His posture, facial expressions, and hand gestures signaled comfort and confidence.Then came a series of questions about executive compensation. As the CEO answered these, his body language stayed constant except for his feet From a comfortable, loose leg cross, the executive suddenly locked his ankles tightly together, pulled them back under the chair, and began to make tiny kicks with both feet. He then re-crossed his ankles and kicked his fe et again. And this behavior continued throughout the entire set of compensation questions.If all the audience could have binnenseen was the upper half of the executives body, we might have been convinced that he was still at ease, but his feet told a different story one of anxiety and stress.Another way that leaders show emotion is through their posture. Because the heart, brain, and nervous system are so closely interlocked, your staff can often tell if you are happy or depressed by simply observing how you hold your body. If you are in a great mood, you are most likely walking around with your shoulders back and your head held high, but if disappointed or depressed, your shoulders will begin to round forward and youll cave in slightly at the chest.How you breathe is also telling. Holding our breath is a primitive instinct - a hard-wired reaction (the freeze portion of the flight, fight or freeze response) when facing a threat. Today, even though threats are more likely to be psy chological than physical, any anxiety can cause you to hold your breath or to breathe high in your chest in small, shallow breaths.Leaning is an unconscious way your body indicates emotion - especially your feelings about various people on the team. Positive attitudes toward those you like and whose opinion you respect tend to be accompanied by leaning forward - especially when sitting down. When two people like each other, youll see them both lean in. Leaning backward usually signals feelings of dislike, dismissal, or negativity. Its another hard-wired response from the limbic brain we subconsciously try to distance ourselves from anything unpleasant or dangerous.People will also judge the closeness of your relationships by the amount of eye contact you display the greater the eye contact, the closer the relationship. Theyll notice, too, when you begin to mirror someones gestures and facial expressions because by doing so you send strong signals of rapport or admiration.When memb ers of your staff are evaluating whether this is a good time to approach you, they will check to see if you look open or closed. In the ultimate, closed-body posture, arms are folded, legs are crossed and the torso or legs are turned away. In open and receptive body postures, legs are uncrossed, and arms are open with palms exposed or resting comfortably on the desk or conference table. If your arms are relaxed at the sides of your body while standing, this is also generally a sign of openness, accessibility, and an overall willingness to interact.And when your staff wants to know if you really meant what you just said, theyll check your say-do alignment. If your body language is congruent with your words, people will believe that what you are feeling internally is aligned what youre verbally expressing, and you will be perceived as authentic. But when your words say one thing and your body language indicates the opposite, you are evaluated as uncertain, indecisive, or deceptive.You r voice also conveys subtle but powerful clues into feelings and meanings. Think, for example, how tone of voice can indicate sarcasm, concern, or confidence. Or how an increase in volume and intensity grabs attention because of the heightened emotion (passion, anger, assertiveness, certainty) it signals.The effect of vocal prosody (how you say what you say) is so potent that it can make bad news actually sound palatable or, conversely, take all the joy out of a positive message. Ive seen leaders give unflattering feedback while still exhibiting warm feelings through their tone of voice - and those who were being critiqued felt positive about the overall interaction. Ive seen other leaders offer words of praise and appreciation in such a flat tone of voice that none of the recipients felt genuinely acknowledged or appreciated.This is because the limbic brain, where emotions are processed, also plays the primary role in processing vocal cues. Researchers from the University of Genev a in Switzerland discovered that they could tell whether a subject had just heard words spoken in anger, joy, relief, or sadness by observing the pattern of activity in the listeners brain.Vocal cues are important in any conversation, but they are most crucial when your communication is limited to an auditory channel - as it is on a phone call, a teleconference, or a podcast.As a leader, you convey emotions to your team through the content of your messages and your nonverbal communication but the latter is more powerful than the former. The Human Dynamics Group in MITs Tech Media Lab and the research centers at Xerox found that people are more likely to be influenced not by the spoken word, but by the kinds of signals that you (like most leaders) may overlook your vocal nuances and body language.Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D., is an international keynote speaker and leadership presence coach. Shes the author of The Silent Language of Leaders How Body Language Can Help or Hurt How You Lead and creator of LinkedInLearnings video series Body Language for Leaders. For more information, visitCarolKinseyGoman.com

10 career mistakes I wish I had never made

10 career mistakes I wish I had never made10 career mistakes I wish I had never madeIts good to learn from your mistakes. Its better to learn from other peoples mistakes. - Warren BuffetIn the belastung decade, I went from student to entrepreneur to freelancer to climbing the corporate ladder to blogger to teacher.Yes, thats not a normal career path, and its also not what I ever expected. But life hardly turns out the way you expect.Thats because were only human. And humans make mistakes.Recently I received an email from a reader. He asked about my biggest career mistake.That got me thinking. And writing. A lot.And after writing mora than 2000 words about my career mistakes, I thought Wow dude, youve made every single mistake you possibly could.Anyway, Ive cut out the obvious stuff and I made a list of my top 10 mistakes. I hope that one of the points is useful to you.1. Assuming that your career is linearThat is, by far, the most important lesson Ive learned. Firstly, Ive learned t hat assumptions are always bad. We collectively assume a lot of things without ever asking or researching.One of those assumptions is that careers progress linearly. Who ever said that? When I think about it, I have no idea why I believed that in the first place.It goes like thisYou get an education.Get an internship.Stay put for three years.Then try to become a low-level managerAfter a few years you move up.And if you stall, you move to another company for a better paying position.OrYoure a freelancer.You start doing work for free.You keep doing that for years.You cant make ends meet.You get a job.You quit your job because you hate it.You start charging for your work.And you increase your rate a little bit every year.Last one youre an entrepreneur, you start a geschftlicher umgang, you grow, you think youre awesome, you spend more than you make, you try to get investors, they own you, and you fuck up.Again Why do we do that stuff? Its so predictable. Lifes way too short for that bo ring stuff.Accelerate your learning curve. Focus on value. Learn more, earn more. Make leaps. And sometimes when you learn, you take a step back. But thats fine because you will earn more in the future.In todays economy, its more about what you have to offer. For the first time in history, a lot of companies (not all) dont look at age, gender, race, degrees - they care about what you have to offer.So offer some great work. How? Learn faster. Access to information has never been this easy. Use it.2. Prioritizing moneyIve done this. And if you do that, there are three things that can happenYou end up in a sales job you hate.You become an aggressive sales oriented business or freelancer.You say yes to work that crushes your soul.Theres nothing wrong with those things, but they are not sustainable. Im not trying to stop you from earning some cash money.But instead of focusing on money why not focus on other things that are more fulfilling? Things like learning, experience, doing work t hat you are interested in, adding value to other peoples lives.Will most people follow this advice? Probably not because they cant say no to money. Theres only one simple rule to money and freedom Live beneath your means. And yes, thats hard.If you want to know more about how you can train yourself not to depend on money, please read Seneca - Letters From A Stoic. He writes about it a lot.3. Wasting timeYou wont believe how many evenings and weekends Ive lost by watching tv, going out, pointless shopping, or whatever leisure activity.Sure, entertainment is good, but you dont have to relax every SINGLE free minute you have.Look, this is your life, and this is your career. Take it seriously.Can I ask you something? Whats your skill? What are you exceptional at?If you dont know the answer, its time to get down to it. Start learning, practicing, doing, whatever. Do something that turns you into an expert at something.4. Choosing a job over an industryIn the last decade, Ive tried my lu ck in several industries, including hospitality, fashion, IT, and banking. But in recent years, Ive only committed to consulting and education.I wish I did that earlier. Hopping from industry to industry has huge costs. You have to learn the industry, market, people, unwritten rules, you name it.Most people decide what they want to be (or they just roll into a profession). And then they try to find a job - they dont care about the industry as long as it pays. Or, they want to be an entrepreneur or freelancer and they follow the money.But thats not an effective strategy on the long-term because you will never become an expert at something. Instead, pick one or two industries that you love, and commit to finding an opportunity there.5. Getting comfortableAh, Ive worked hard and now Im good. Think again. Youre never safe.Life is competition. The next person is waiting patiently until you mess up, and then they will swoop in and take your position.Is that really true? Well, to be hones t, I dont know. But I sure like to think thats the case.Why? Because that keeps me on my toes. The last thing you want is to become comfortable.6. Not asking for thingsYes, youre a nice person. We get it. But dont be too nice.Other people will take your spot, push you over, and you will end up with nothing. You dont have to be a dick. Just know that when youre in business, its business.And everything is business Art, sports, media, work-relationships, colleagues, you name it.If you want to get something, you have to ask for it. Want a raise? Ask. No one will give it to you. What did you expect?Oh hey, youre such an awesome person. Heres a free bag of money. Never going to happen.7. Not following your interestsThere are two camps on this topic. People who say you should follow your passion, and people who say you shouldnt.The funny thing is, the people who say that you shouldnt follow your passion, didnt follow their passion. Get it? Why on earth would they encourage others to follow their passion? And vice versa.Now, I dont really like the word passion- and I dont like the whole discussion. But all I can say is thisLife is not infinite. Do you really want to spend your time doing shit you hate?8. Not listening to peopleWhen I got my Masters degree in Business Administration years ago, I thought I welches the man. I didnt listen to people who were more experienced than me. Big mistake.Practice is different from books. I didnt realize that.Now I prefer to be humble and listen to everyone. Also, that means listening to less experienced people. They often have the best ideas.9. Wanting too much, too quicklyEven though your career doesnt have to progress in a linear fashion, you cant make giant leaps every single day. And in the beginning, I especially tried to move too fast.But now Im more patient. Before I started blogging, Id written hundreds of essays when I was getting my degrees, and not to forget two big ass theses.And Ive worked in the trenches of business and marketing for years before I started coaching/consulting. No one ever saw that. And thats fine because thats how you learn.10. Not asking for helpMaybe youre too proud. Maybe you think people will believe that youre stupid. Maybe youre not raised that way.But if you dont ask for help, one thing is sure You will never get it.Almost everything in life is a team effort. Even if you work entirely for yourself, you still need people. And they need you.The Self-made success stories are all fake.Whenever youre spreading too thin, reach out to others. Reach out to colleagues, partners, friends, family. They will help you, and if they dont, theyre not your friends.Finally This is your careerWhy NOT take it seriously? Thats one thing I didnt do enough until a few years ago. I was too passive.If you find yourself unhappy with your career, or how its progressing Change. Thats the only universal advice there is.And do it today. You know why? If you dont do it today, when will you?You and I b oth know the answer to that.Thisarticlefirst appeared onDarius Foroux.