All twitter, no stake?
Research required if you want employer that backs up words with action
Numerous companies normally not engaged in social issues took their ideology to the forefront during the recent protests, posting messages mourning the loss of those killed in recent scrutinized arrests, supporting the message and messengers of Black Lives Matters and tweeting statements critical of specific political actions and specific politicians.
But when it comes to working for a company that — at least on its social media accounts — appears to be aware of the issues facing the country and interested in working on change, how far would you go to make sure your own beliefs line up with those of your employer? And how can you even be sure those beliefs are held by the actual decision-makers and not just a quick-thinking marketing team?
“It’s tough to tell,” says Stephanie Brickton, a career adviser Houston, Texas. “Do you go all-in on getting a job with a company because you love their Instagram account? Do you quit a good job because you think your employer is making the world worse and not better?”
Brickton says she’s expecting to hear questions like that from her clients in the coming months and she’s not quite sure how she’ll answer. “For a long time, it was ‘you have to do what’s best for you.’ But this is a different time. People are beginning to realize that what’s best for them can be what’s worst for others.”
Brickton points to the recent in-house protests and resignations at Facebook because of CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg’s slow reaction to misleading and inflammatory posts. “Facebook is a dream destination for most people, the place they’ve wanted to work at forever,” she says. “And now you have people giving up those dream jobs. Add to that the people who’ve been protesting and then those people who’ve been arrested for protesting, and the playing field is completely different.”
Sympathetic to the cause
M., a musician born in Hong Kong currently living in Sweden who does not wish to be named, says potential problems for those arrested during protests could go beyond dealing with a criminal record. In fact, he says protesters are often faced with difficult decisions when dealing with potential employers who may hold vastly different political views of their current and prospective employees. “Many Hong Kong protesters and their supporters are aware of this problem and have openly called for sympathetic employers to employ these arrested protesters,” he says, referencing the “yellow economic circle” — yellow being the color of Hong Kong’s protest movement — which are sympathetic to the cause of protesters. “Job seekers may have to take extra effort to explain why they’re arrested but if employers know the full story and are sympathetic, then it wouldn’t be a hurdle in getting employed.
M. explains that it’s important that job seekers network with employers that are politically involved and sympathetic to the protesters’ causes. “Having a strong support network of those who care politically is also crucial not only in psychological support for arrested protesters but also could help empower them economically through increased access to job opportunities through sympathetic employers,” he says.
Gwendolyn Smith, 20, says after completing her degree in marketing in two years, she’ll definitely be mindful of the companies she approaches for work. “Will I go back and check their reactions on social media to Black Lives Matters? Will I look to see if they’ve actually taken steps beyond those posts and tweets to create a strong workforce by hiring young African-American employees and giving them the same salaries and opportunities to advance that they give their white students? Of course, I’ll be doing that,” says Smith, who lives in Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood. “I’m not spending any money on companies that refuse to acknowledge as a consumer, or worse, a company that’s hostile to my culture and my beliefs. I wouldn’t want to work for a company like that, either.”
Beyond words
In a recent article for Forbes, Janice Gassam asked that companies do more than tweet feel-good messages about their support for the black community. Instead, she suggests several ways companies can put those sentiments into action. One of her suggestions, to limit referral hiring, is especially noteworthy because it flips the traditional “it’s-who-you-know” strategy on its ear. “Many companies utilize a referral hiring system, but this can lead to an echo-chamber environment where groupthink becomes the norm,” Gassam writes. “Make a concerted effort to limit referral hiring and ensure that there is a rubric with objective criteria when selecting job candidates.”
That’s what Smith is counting on. “I know people and people who know people but I shouldn’t have to rely on a network if I’m just as qualified as the next person,” she says. “I get that it could work against me, that a company won’t take a referral from a black employee because they’d fear setting up a less diverse department but we’re nowhere near that. I mean, not taking referrals from black folks because you already have too many black folks in your company? That would be something.”