Ah, the work jerk. The individual that was weaned on a pickle, doom and gloom, eager to ruin your day, leaving you with that "WTF was that" taste in your mouth- ugh!
There was never a shortage of work jerks; however, their population is booming. In Jerks at Work: Toxic Co-Workers and What to Do About Them (Tessa West), we learn from author Jessa West that "The C-suite is the place where, if there’s going to be a cultural contagion of jerks, that’s where it happens."
Beyond the C-suite, however, is a growing cultural shift away from behavioral norms (politeness, respectful tones, consideration of others, etc.) towards normalizing rude, boorish, callous and hurtful behavior towards others. In a 2019 GQ article ("Here's What Happens to Society When Everyone's a Jerk Online", Clay Skipper), author Geoff Nunberg (Ascent of the A-Word: Assholism, the First Sixty Years) summarizes this trend neatly: "There have been eras that took a far more intense interest in spectacles of cruelty than ours, but none that was so transfixed watching people act like assholes."
He's not wrong.
Our special guest, Katherine McCord, is an innovator if inclusivity and the apex predator against the dreaded Jerkosaurus Rex! Katherine built her career on inclusive innovation in People Operations and HR Tech. She lives by the motto that "different is not a deficit". In 2014, Katherine founded Titan Management, a national people operations consulting firm. Katherine shook up HR tech by designing the first fully accessible, anti-bias Applicant Tracking System plugin that fires the resume and showcases company diversity.
Join us as we discuss these exclusionary corporate cretins and have a lot- and we mean a LOT- of fun doing so!
Resources
Harvard Business Review- Five Types of Jerks at Work
GQ- Here's What Happens When Everyone's a Jerk Online
4 Tips to Help Support the Victims of Jerks at Work- SHRM
Dealing with Bullies, Jerks, and Toxic Personalities in the Workplace
Spotify Playlist
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