Marcus Williams Training Academy

Behind the scenes at "The Happiest Place on Earth," things were not quite so happy for Conner Howell during his role as Hans in "Frozen." The role started out as a dream until the director changed and Howell was faced with harassment and discrimination. We talk about what happened and how things could have been handled differently, even though we only have one side of the story. 

 Music Credits: Spy Glass Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...  

Episode Transcript:  https://www.williamsconsultgroup.com/forum/podcast-episodes/misconduct-in-the-news-frozen-live-at-the-hyperion?origin=business_manager  

Articles Used: https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10163695898520054&id=617980053

Contact me to share your workplace story for our series: Misconduct in Real Life

The world was rocked when allegations that Ellen DeGeneres, the founder of the "Be Kind" movement was accused of overseeing a toxic workplace environment. In this episode we explore the story and ask if the toxicity was due to misconduct and what you can do to avoid the same issues in your organization. 

 Music Credits: Spy Glass Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...  

Episode Transcript:  https://www.williamsconsultgroup.com/forum/podcast-episodes/misconduct-in-the-news-the-ellen-degeneres-show?origin=business_manager  

Articles Used: 

https://www.insider.com/ellen-degeneres-mean-backlash-nikkietutorials-timeline-2020-4  

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2020/07/30/ellen-degeneres-apologizes-show-staff-after-mistreatment-complaints/5550464002/  

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/krystieyandoli/ellen-employees-allege-toxic-workplace-culture  

https://www.npr.org/2020/07/28/896253475/the-ellen-degeneres-show-is-under-internal-investigation

Leaders frequently believe that because they haven't received any reports of misconduct that none is occurring. It is the hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil approach, or in other words - denial. Misconduct is happening and you can only deal with it if you know about it. Improve your process and increase trust so that your employees feel confident your response will be professional and competent.  

Music Credits: Spy Glass Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 

Listen on your favorite podcast app or read the transcript at: https://www.williamsconsultgroup.com/forum/podcast-episodes/misconduct-myths-nothing-to-see-here?origin=business_manager

After receiving an allegation of sexual misconduct against anchor Ed Henry from a former employee, Fox immediately hired a law firm to conduct an investigation and Henry was fired less than a week later. I talk through the case from an investigator's perspective.  

Music Credits: Spy Glass Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...  

Episode Transcript:  

https://www.williamsconsultgroup.com/forum/podcast-episodes/misconduct-in-the-news-ed-henry-and-fox-news?origin=business_manager  

Articles Used: 

https://www.npr.org/2020/07/01/885956385/fox-news-host-newly-fired-for-sexual-misconduct-had-inspired-earlier-warning

 https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-53254656  

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/01/media/ed-henry-fired-fox-news/index.html  

https://www.npr.org/2020/07/21/893394261/civil-suit-against-former-fox-news-anchor-ed-henry-alleges-rape-sexual-misconduc

In this episode of the Marcus Williams Training Academy Podcast, we talk about alcohol in the workplace and the increased risk of misconduct that alcohol consumption creates. Alcohol is strongly tied to workplace misconduct and poor decision making. Creating a culture where meetings, parties, or relationships revolve around alcohol is creating unnecessary risk and liability. It also alienates and creates discrimination against those who don't drink for personal, health, religious, or other reasons. If I were in charge, well, that's what this episode is all about.  

Music Credits: Spy Glass Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Links to articles used in the podcast:

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/alcohol-and-work-holiday-parties.aspx https://www.ethoscopywriting.com/blog/2017/1/30/how-many-drinks-should-i-have-at-a-business-meeting-or-happy-hour https://www.inc.com/john-discala/how-to-lead-a-successful-business-meeting-over-drinks.html

Transcript: https://www.williamsconsultgroup.com/forum/podcast-episodes

In this segment, we take a current news story involving an organization struggling to properly handle misconduct. I walk through the publicly available information to discuss what should have been done and what needs to happen in the future to rebuild trust and create a professional misconduct response program.  

The subject of this episode is Ubisoft, the international gaming company known for game franchises like "Assassin's Creed" and "Splinter Cell."

Music Credits: Spy Glass Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 

Podcast Transcript: https://www.williamsconsultgroup.com/forum/podcast-episodes/misconduct-in-the-news-ubisoft 

Articles Used: https://kotaku.com/ubisoft-employees-have-grave-concerns-over-toronto-stud-1844277486 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-21/ubisoft-sexual-misconduct-scandal-harassment-sexism-and-abuse https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent-ubisoft-allegations-of-harassment-20200712-zcynk3gzrfegtlm4ym4ixiigoa-story.html

Although it is important to conduct thorough background and reference checks before hiring, there is no way to prevent your employees from engaging in future misconduct. You can minimize the risk but never make it go away. Preventing misconduct involves good hiring practices, good policy, training, and a culture built on trust.  

Music Credits: Spy Glass Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Listen on your favorite podcast app or read the transcript at: https://www.williamsconsultgroup.com/forum/podcast-episodes/misconduct-myths-preventing-misconduct-through-hiring?origin=business_manager 

Articles cited: 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/10/14/corrupt-ncis-agent-who-was-besotted-with-fat-leonard-begs-judge-for-mercy/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/ncis-special-agent-shared-classified-information-with-her-terrorist-suspect-lover-prosecutors-say/2018/10/02/d1ba3140-c65b-11e8-9b1c-a90f1daae309_story.html

I sent an email out to over 2200 title ix coordinators, all of which I had found and gathered manually, one by one. In the last episode I talked about title ix websites. In this follow-up, I share what happened after I hit send on the email.

I viewed over 2000 college and university Title IX websites. There was a disturbing number of very poorly designed sites - potential barriers to effectively helping students. Is that truly the message they are trying to communicate? I walk through what I learned and how you can create a website that truly reflects your desire to help your campus community.

After working as a Title IX investigator, I realized that Title IX, Human Resources, and other internal investigators are expected to conduct quality investigations but are not provided with quality training. I had to solve that problem, so the Williams Consulting Group and Marcus Williams Training Academy were born.