by Race in the Workplace special correspondent Erica Mauter

So You Have a Diversity Program — Has It Mattered? - Advertising Age
“I cannot speak on behalf of the [16 advertising agencies asked by the New York Commission on Human Rights to increase diversity], nor can I summarize the impact the Commission’s activities have had on their bottom lines, recruiting and retention strategies or client/agency relationships. But I can discuss, in general, the trends I have seen as they relate to diversity awareness within the advertising industry over the last year. Some provide hope and potential for a bright future, and others have provided nothing but a small band-aid for a large open wound.”

reference requests when you can’t give a good one - Ask a Manager
“[C]onsider honesty. Frankly, as someone who has to check references myself, I’m grateful when I encounter the rare reference willing to be candid about weaknesses. After all, reference checking (and the whole hiring process, for that matter) is all about finding out if the candidate and the job are a good match. If they’re not a good match and it’s not uncovered until it’s too late, the company will be stuck with a poor performer and the employee will be stuck struggling in a job and maybe even losing it down the road.”

D.C. Cir.: EEOC Questionnaire Satisfies Statute of Limitations - Workplace Prof Blog
“[T]he D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that the filling out of an EEOC Questionnaire, rather than a formal charge of discrimination, can satisfy the claimant’s obligation to meet the 180/300 day statute of limitation under Title VII.”

You Better Think… - The Black Factor
The first in a three-part series on things to consider when reporting instances of discrimination. [2] [3] “When it comes to dealing with racism in the workplace, those 3 words should be at the forefront of every victim’s mind, except when you are combatting racism, you better think about what you’re trying to accomplish (revealing racist words or actions, convincing members of authority to investigate a serious race-based issue, etc.).”

Do you jiibe? You should! - Chief Happiness Officer
The CHO reviews Jiibe. “[T]he website asks you a series of questions, and you tell it how things are at your current company and how you’d ideally like them to be. At the end you get a description of your ideal corporate culture and a list of the companies that match it best - based not on how those companies define themselves but on how other jiibe users rated their workplaces. I really liked the questions in the survey, which ask about day-to-day situations in a company. This means that they poll what values a company actually has - as opposed to the values they say they have.”

Transgender Employment Discrimination by Katie Koch, Richard Bales - Social Science Research Network
From the abstract: “The proposed approach has four advantages. First, it would create consistency among the federal, state, and local governments concerning the meaning of “sex” and the protection extended to transgender employees. Second, it would extend coverage to the entire transgender community rather than the piecemeal protection currently in effect. Third, it would provide protection to transgender employees immediately. Fourth, courts would easily be able to fit transgender discrimination into an existing legal framework.” (via Workplace Prof Blog)

Realist vs. idealist - Leadership Turn
Miki Saxon on comfort zones and the inclination to hire PLM (”people like me”). “The long-term cost to companies is high. This is especially true when there’s a change in management, since the new person’s PLM rarely matches her predecessor’s. When the choice is between the best applicant and PLM, PLM usually wins out, slowly lowering the quality of talent. PLM homogenizes the staff; reducing diversity of both thinking and thought (methodology and result) and it’s that diversity that supplies strength, creativity and innovation.”

Recommended Reading is a weekly feature where we link to some of our favorite workplace-related blog posts and articles. If you would like to suggest a link to Erica, please email [email protected]