Your Culture Matters as Much as Your Legal Compliance

by May 23, 2024

Legal compliance serves as the bedrock of any organization. While it lays the foundation, a positive workplace culture breathes life into your organization. A strong, supportive culture fosters employee engagement, boosts morale, and enhances productivity. 

This balance between compliance and culture was at the heart of our discussion on last week’s Catherine’s Corner, where we explored California Laws 2024 and Their Effect on Workplace Culture. 

Catherine was joined by employment lawyer Jenna Leyton-Jones and HR consultant Anita Nygaard, and together they unpacked the significant changes coming our way.

If you missed the live show, don’t worry! You can catch the recording right here:

Here are the new laws in California that are set to make a significant impact:

Here are some key takeaways from the conversation:

  • These new laws underscore California’s dedication to creating safer, harassment-free workplaces.
  • Fostering a positive work environment requires clear organizational values, respectful communication, and a focus on work-life balance. 
  • Upstander training empowers employees to address toxic behavior by teaching them how to intervene and support targets. With that said, we made our course, Bystander Training: From Bystander to Upstander, FREE for you! Check it out now! 
  • Auditing risk factors that contribute to toxic behavior is essential for organizations to identify and address underlying issues. 

As July 1st approaches, it’s a great time to ensure your organization is up-to-date with these changes, especially if you’re in California. But remember, the principles of workplace safety and positive culture are universal and benefit everyone, no matter where your team is based.

Recognize that culture and compliance efforts are two sides of the same coin, each enhancing the other to drive our organizations forward.

PS: We are delighted to announce that Suzanne Hoffman, PhD, has joined our team as our Workplace Violence Expert! She offers an interactive and practical workplace violence prevention training program designed to help attendees recognize and report concerning and threatening behaviors.

For more information on our training programs, check it out here or get in touch with us

webinar

PPS: Don’t forget to register for our upcoming webinar! Our expert speakers, Catherine and Bob, will equip you with invaluable strategies to manage conflicts arising from political conversations at work, whether in the upcoming elections or global conflicts.

Reserve your spot today. You definitely won’t want to miss this!

 

Written by: Jennifer Areola

Civility is the platform for organizational success—it is absolutely necessary for an organization to reach its goals. Download our Ebook on Seeking Civility to learn more on how to create a workplace free of bullying and abusive conduct.

 

Catherine

About Catherine Mattice

Catherine Mattice, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, is the founder/CEO of Civility Partners, an organizational development firm focused on helping organizations create respectful workplace cultures and specializing in turning around toxic cultures. Civility Partners’ clients range from Fortune 500’s to small businesses across many industries. Catherine is a TEDx speaker and an HR thought-leader who has appeared in such venues as USA Today, Bloomberg, CNN, NPR, and many other national news outlets as an expert. She’s an award-winning speaker, author and blogger, and has 50+ courses reaching global audiences on LinkedIn Learning. Catherine’s award-winning book, BACK OFF! Your Kick-Ass Guide to Ending Bullying at Work, was hailed by international leadership-guru, Ken Blanchard, as, “the most comprehensive and valuable handbook on the topic.” Her latest book is Navigating Toxic Work Environments For Dummies (Wiley),

3 Cultural Faux Pas You Might Not Realize You’re Making

Cultural missteps happen to everyone, even the most seasoned leaders and global brands.  Recently, American Eagle launched a campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney with the tagline “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Genes.” The pun on “jeans” was meant to be playful, but it...

HR, Are You Part of the Incivility Problem?

You already know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of workplace “drama.” Complaints about rudeness, tension between team members, and employees quietly disengaging are all part of the daily grind. You know it’s expensive. You know it’s draining for you to...

4 Strategies to Infiltrate Civility Into Your Global Organization

At its core, civility is the foundation of a thriving culture. It shapes how people communicate, lead, resolve tension, and show up, especially when challenges arise. Civility doesn’t look the same everywhere, however. What feels respectful in one culture might come...

Is It Okay To Bully AI?

According to a Pew Research Center study, 79% of Americans interact with artificial intelligence (AI) almost constantly or several times a day. Gartner predicts that by 2026, 80% of enterprises will be using generative AI in some form. That means we’re not just...

What Exactly is Civility vs. Incivility?

August is National Civility Month! Civility has recently climbed to the top of search trends, and with SHRM’s #CivilityAtWork initiative, the conversation is gaining real traction. But here’s the question: do you truly understand what civility means in the workplace?...

Is your workforce survey measuring the right things?

Many HR leaders rely on employee surveys to gauge the health of the workplace culture, but not all surveys are created equal. Whether you're using an engagement survey, a Great Place to Work® survey, or another tool, the question is: Are you gathering the right data?...

Conscious Unbossing: Why Gen Z Is Saying “No Thanks” to Leadership Roles

According to DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2025, 80% of HR professionals lack confidence in their leadership pipelines. CEOs are just as concerned, ranking “developing the next generation of leaders” among their top four worries. Gen Z is shaking things up. They’re...

The Workplace Culture Model Every Leader Needs to Know

We all want a workplace where people feel seen, heard, and valued. But building that kind of culture takes more than good intentions and inspirational posters. It demands a clear-eyed look at how people behave, how leaders lead, and how the organization itself either...

From Desperation to Determination: Reflecting on 16 Years of Growth

I just got an email from a spammer offering SEO help for my very old website — www.NoWorkplaceBullies.com. I hadn’t thought about that site in ages, so I typed in the link... and there it was. The original website I built the day I started my business — though it...

Sick of HR getting the blame for bullying? (For Dummies Excerpt)

As I was writing my upcoming book, Navigating a Toxic Workplace For Dummies (Wiley), I was reminded about all the research on workplace bullying that indicates HR gets the blame for bullying, HR is not helpful, and, in fact, according to the research, most often makes...