Lisa Sherman Case Analysis
Lisa Sherman Case Analysis:
October 2010
Summary:
Lisa Sherman worked for Verizon for many years. While there she never revealed her sexual orientation .Then one fated day, there was a diversification workshop with her fellow managers. The outcome of this was that her coworkers were bigoted towards homosexuality. Lisa Sherman had a tough decision to make, whether to stay or to leave. The following analysis shows a suggested solution.
Lisa Sherman Case Analysis:
Lisa Sherman spent many years not being true to who she was. She never told her coworkers that she was gay during her 15 years at Verizon Communications. Then, the company decided they wanted to hold diversity training. This is what led Lisa Sherman to the tough decision of whether to stay working at Verizon or put in her notice.
The diversity training displayed general statements about different types of people, with statements such as “gay people are…” written on poster boards. The corporate leaders then formed groups and wrote on the poster boards what their first concept of a particular group of people was. Their statements of groups such as Blacks and Jews involved only positive messages. However when they got to the board regarding homosexual people, it was nothing at all positive, with comments such as “immoral, pathetic, perverse, and spreading disease.” (Audenaert and George, 2008). How could Lisa now open up and tell these people that she herself was Gay, when they thought such horrid things?
Not only were negative derogatory statements bad for Lisa Sherman they were also bad for the company. The CEO Ray Smith wanted to enact a policy of diversification, to take Verizon into a more flexible and creative company. He planned to establish policies that barred not hiring someone because of their ethnic background, religion, race, sex, and sexual orientation. However if his highest level managers felt this way about Gay people what did the rest of the company feel?
Lisa Sherman was
October 2010
Summary:
Lisa Sherman worked for Verizon for many years. While there she never revealed her sexual orientation .Then one fated day, there was a diversification workshop with her fellow managers. The outcome of this was that her coworkers were bigoted towards homosexuality. Lisa Sherman had a tough decision to make, whether to stay or to leave. The following analysis shows a suggested solution.
Lisa Sherman Case Analysis:
Lisa Sherman spent many years not being true to who she was. She never told her coworkers that she was gay during her 15 years at Verizon Communications. Then, the company decided they wanted to hold diversity training. This is what led Lisa Sherman to the tough decision of whether to stay working at Verizon or put in her notice.
The diversity training displayed general statements about different types of people, with statements such as “gay people are…” written on poster boards. The corporate leaders then formed groups and wrote on the poster boards what their first concept of a particular group of people was. Their statements of groups such as Blacks and Jews involved only positive messages. However when they got to the board regarding homosexual people, it was nothing at all positive, with comments such as “immoral, pathetic, perverse, and spreading disease.” (Audenaert and George, 2008). How could Lisa now open up and tell these people that she herself was Gay, when they thought such horrid things?
Not only were negative derogatory statements bad for Lisa Sherman they were also bad for the company. The CEO Ray Smith wanted to enact a policy of diversification, to take Verizon into a more flexible and creative company. He planned to establish policies that barred not hiring someone because of their ethnic background, religion, race, sex, and sexual orientation. However if his highest level managers felt this way about Gay people what did the rest of the company feel?
Lisa Sherman was
Cited: Alboher, M. (2008, June 2). When Intolerance Becomes Intolerable. NYTimes . Audenaert, B. G. (2008). Lisa Sherman. Boston: Harvard Business School. Pratt, C. (2005). Life Change- 6 Reasons Why We Are Afraid to Change. Retrieved October 2010, from Life with Confidence: http://www.life-with-confidence.com/life-change.html Smith, M. L. (2010). Sexual Orientation Discrimination and Harassment in the Workplace. Retrieved October 2010, from HRHero, Your employment law resouce: http://www.hrhero.com/topics/sexual_orientation_discrimination.html