Will Findings Force Uber’s Kalanick and Michael to Drive Off into the Sunset?

The results of former U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s investigation have been released and I applaud the report for recommending that Uber undergo a systemic change. This includes dismissing Senior Vice President of Business Emil Michael, a top lieutenant of CEO Travis Kalanick, and having Kalanick take a three-month leave of absence. According to an article in Sunday’s New York Times, the Uber board has voted unanimously for all of Holder’s recommendations.

As I discuss in my book, From Bully to Bull’s-Eye: Move Your Organization Out of the Line of Fire, no amount of small-scale changes will fundamentally fix a company as plagued as Uber. The only way to make lasting change is to make a complete shift in how business is conducted and institute the Ethic of Reciprocity as a core value. 

Stripping the misbehaving CEO of a key ally is a step in the right direction, but there must be safeguards in place for the health and well-being of all employees, including the founder. According to the Times article, Kalanick hasn’t taken time off since 2009, not even for an accident that killed his mother and hospitalized his father. How can such a man understand the need for a psychologically healthy, safe and fair workplace? No wonder employees have been driven to the point of suicide.

Will Uber follow the recommendations laid down by Holder and approved by his board? Only time will tell. But one thing is for sure—to ignore these findings could bring the entire company crashing to a halt.

Photo credit: MMM

Issues at Uber Debunks Study that Social Responsibility is Bad for Business

It’s time for Uber to move out of the line of fire or risk losing the company. There’s a reason that I used that phrase in the title of my book, From Bully to Bull’s-Eye: Move Your Organization Out of the Line of Fire. Too often when companies install a culture of bullying and personal harassment they need to get rid of the bullies at the top in order to survive. 

Uber has given me no end of issues to write about recently and today isn’t any exception; the New York Times reports that 20 employees have been fired following a sexual harassment investigation. The outside law firm Perkins Coie was hired to look into 215 allegations of harassment, discrimination and bullying and found reason to take action in 58 cases. According to the Times, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is also looking into workplace culture as part of a larger investigation.

When you add these firings to the massive exodus of top executives, including the company president, the heads of finance and product, the East Coast general manager and high-level engineers, Uber begins to look like a car wreck. This news follows shocking revelations about sexual harassment revealed by a former female engineer and the suicide of an African-American engineer.

Uber’s troubles directly contradicts studies such as the one conducted by Florida Atlantic University College of Business that report corporate social responsibility as bad for shareholders. Consistent malfeasance and bullying in the workplace doesn’t seem to be doing much to bolster Uber. Isn’t it time to set aside the teachings of Milton Friedman and Harvard Business School that only shareholders count and start building psychologically healthy, safe, fair and productive workplaces?

Illustration credit: MMM