Summary
Employees are returning to the workplace after years of working remotely or partly remote. They are also bringing their concerns about world changes, their political leanings and their personal beliefs. With pivotal societal changes continuing to happen, employees are speaking more strongly and loudly about their preferences and political inclinations. Sometimes those preferences conflict with others. Because political discussions will likely continue to enter the workplace, it is important to manage their effect on working relationships. This discussion will focus on how to prompt employees to treat each other’s opinions with respect, how to ensure that no workplace bullying or retaliation takes place as a result of someone’s leanings and how to recognize a brewing issue before it becomes a serious problem. The presentation will also focus on ways to engage in and encourage proactive conflict management with fellow employees, effective communication methods, de-escalation techniques and other practices that will be helpful to HR when potentially explosive conversations take place at work.
Speaker Bio
Susan Fahey Desmond is a principal in the New Orleans, Louisiana, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She maintains an active practice in both Louisiana and Mississippi.
Susan focuses her practice in the areas of labor and employment and civil litigation, including representing employers in Family and Medical Leave cases, discrimination claims relative to age, sex, disability, race, religion, and sexual harassment, and handling EEOC charges and other administrative complaints through the administrative and judicial process. Susan also specializes in wage and hour litigation as well as noncompete litigation.
Susan also routinely counsels clients on a variety of employment practices, including employment contracts and employee handbooks and policies. She conducts employee training seminars, harassment investigations, and frequently speaks on employmentrelated topics for groups such as the Society for Human Resource Management, Aurora Training Center, Edupliance, Audiosolutionz, and other management organizations.