Workplace Culture Starts and Stops with the Board
******* This week we read about Wall Street and the Weinstein clause. If you missed it, it's the wordsmithing added to big-money merger agreements, guaranteeing that corporate leadership behaved themselves ahead of acquisition. In some cases potential purchasers can be compensated if subsequent executive sexual misconduct comes to light. Non-profits like museums rarely merge, but they do appoint new board members all the time, and while the change feels incremental, boards should take note. Even if you're enough of a negative Nelly to think the #MeToo movement hasn't moved the needle, it has. Maybe not enough, but social diligence and value-driven behavior isn't nothing any more. The tide is turning and executive behavior is in the spotlight. Most board members and museum leaders work hard to avoid choices that lead to negative press. Financial malfeasance, sexual misconduct, racist or xenophobic comments or workplace affairs are not the stuff of blissful social media. Yet unethical behavior happens. In three comments and a blog post last week we heard about asking a staff member to behave a certain way with donors, comments about race and gender, unethical hiring and firing, sexual harassment, and workplace bullying. What would happen if we actually polled for this kind of information? As last week's comment writers told us, the buck stops with the board. And where the heck were they? In both Kay Smith's post and in their subsequent comments, the board either failed to take action or were openly contemptuous of the employees in question. From failing to police their own members to failing to be ethical employers, they didn't do their jobs. We've written about board bad behavior in the past, but it seems the museum sector--particularly the small museum world-- might need a wake-up call. Just because you're a board member for a small non-profit does not mean you and your organization get to break the law. If the thought bubble over your head says, "But it's not me," that's not enough. Remember what Archbishop Desmond Tutu said: "If you are neutral in situations of oppression, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." So if you knowingly countenance a board member pawing a young, female staff member and don't speak up, you're on the wrong side. If you permit sexist or racist comments around the board table, you might as well say them yourself because the person hearing them doesn't know whether you believe them or not, only that you stood silent. Museum and heritage organization directors and their staffs often do a lot with a little. Raising money in many communities is difficult. Why compound a challenging situation by failing to create an equitable, supportive environment for staff? So to board members out there, here's our wish list: Know what your museum stands for, not just externally, but internally. It's a lot easier to eliminate racist comments at work if the organization says it doesn't tolerate hate speech; Make sure you have an HR policy; Comply with state and federal employment law (Hint: that means knowing the law first). Last, if you witness sexual harassment, racist comments or workplace bullying, imagine what you'd do if this were your child, your sibling, your best friend. Create ways to support and help your ED and her staff. In the end you'll have a stronger museum. Joan Baldwin
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