SIMMA IN THE NEWS
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Simma is frequently interviewed in publications
across the nation for her views and advice on diversity,
gender
communications, and stress
management. Excerpts from some of these articles and interviews can
be read below. If you'd like to view the entire article, email us and we'll gladly
send you a .pdf document of the original article (you'll need Adobe
Acrobat).
If you are a media representative and would like
to interview Simma about any of the topics in which she specializes,
please contact Simma Lieberman Associates
with the topic you are reporting on. Simma is available for radio and
television interviews for feature stories and commentary on current
events that impact diversity, stress, and workplace issues.
Check out all of Simma's newsletters
and articles.
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2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
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2003
2002
2001
Publication Excerpts
Bridging the
Generational Techno-Divide. Human Resources
Executive Online, May 2009.
This was a major issue at a large company that Simma consulted for, and
she was able to improve knowledge transfer between the two employee
groups through the development of a program that encourages back and
forth mentoring between Boomer and Gen Y employees. The program is
described in greater detail in the HRO article.
Excerpt: "The boomer managers were going to be retiring and the
younger employees needed their knowledge, but the groups were really
afraid of each other," she says. "The older employees were afraid they
were going to be made prematurely irrelevant, while the Gen Yers were
afraid the older people weren't listening to them."
With Lieberman's assistance, the company created a "cross-mentoring"
program in which the boomers created a process for transferring
knowledge to the Gen Yers, while the Yers taught the boomers how to use
technology to get their work done faster.
"Each group taught the other about generational differences," she says.
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Preventing Unintended
Offenses. Operation
Homefront, May 2009.
Excerpt: What is offensive regarding religion?
“What offends people most about religion in the workplace is when
someone tries to push their beliefs or practices onto others,” said
Simma Lieberman, co-author of “Putting Diversity to Work.” “Someone I
know, who was not religious at all, felt harassed by their manager for
organizing daily prayer services and [the manager] being insistent
about the staff attending it. That is simply inappropriate.”
Not only does religion in the workplace make people feel uncomfortable
and offend, but it also impacts workplace relationships and
productivity, Lieberman said.
Holidays are a particularly touchy time when it comes to religion in
the workplace.
“We are a multicultural country and must recognize that there are not
only two or three religions practiced in the world. And a lot of people
simply do not believe in Jesus Christ,” Lieberman said. “Therefore, any
celebrations that have religious overtones will potentially make people
feel excluded and offended.”
(later in the article)
Suggest alternatives.
“Celebrate seasons rather than holidays, or schedule quarterly
get-togethers,” Lieberman said. “For example, celebrate spring instead
of Jewish Passover or Christian Easter.”
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What We Think:
Hate Alive and Festering. Orlando Sentinel,
May 2009.
According to the piece, the number of hate groups in the United States
(926) jumped 4 percent last year and is up over 50 percent in the last
decade. In the quote, Simma made it clear that the onus is on
municipalities to protect minority groups during this rise in extremism.
Excerpt:
Local municipalities must take stock of what measures are in place
within their walls to counter hate and "set an example, create an
environment where people are comfortable discussing those issues and
constituents are comfortable bringing those issues to them"
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Lessons in Diversity. The Bulletin (Bend,
Ore.), April 2009.
Excerpt:
Simma Lieberman helps businesses with diversity issues. She thinks some
of the problems she encounters in workplaces wouldn’t exist if the
employees had learned how to interact with people who are different
from themselves as youngsters. The global nature of business now means
companies and businesses often work with diverse populations to be
successful. If kids aren’t exposed to different types of people, when
they are “going out in the world, they are in for a big shock.”
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Young Women More
Vulnerable During Layoffs. Wall Street Journal,
January 2009.
Excerpt: Companies have more work to do and fewer people to do
it, providing you an opportunity to volunteer for projects or offer to
help beyond your regular duties. Your employers will see you as
relevant and essential to the company. It will also show leadership
skills. "It's much easier to fire someone you don't know very well,"
Ms. Lieberman says.
But pick projects and tasks strategically, Ms. Lieberman says. "It's
not just that [your bosses] see you, but how they see you," she says.
For example, volunteer for important tasks that make you valuable to
your immediate team and the company as a whole, such as creating a
company blog or gaining a new client, not just "organizing the company
potluck," she says.
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Ways to Ditch a
Corporate Invisibility Cloak.
Baseline,
July 2008.
Excerpt: If
your company has a mentorship program, sign up. It will give you
exposure to senior management levels, and give you more visibility by
being seen with an executive who's well-regarded at the company, notes
Simma Lieberman, consultant and author of "Putting Diversity to Work."
A mentor can help direct career objectives and also become a champion
to a protégé, she adds: "Not only will you learn valuable
skills and information from your mentor, but other people will see you
together and begin to associate you with [him or her] in their minds."
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When
It Comes to Negotiating, Ask and You Shall Receive. Yahoo! Finance, June 2008.
Simma discusses the
importance of asking for what you want outside of the workplace as well
as within.
Excerpt: Simma Lieberman, a San Francisco consultant, says the
amiable approach worked for her when her teenager's mobile phone broke
and he tried to fix it himself, leaving a pile of electronic detritus.
T-Mobile initially said it couldn't provide a discount because the
family hadn't had the phone for a year.
"I said, 'I really like T-Mobile, I don't want to go anywhere else, but
his phone is broken and I really need you to do something for me' -- I
was really nice about it," says Lieberman. "They offered me a $180
phone for $29.99." A few weeks later, her son left his phone in his
pants pocket on the floor of his mom's bedroom. "I got out of bed and
stepped on his phone. There was no negotiation for that one -- T-Mobile
said that it was too soon."
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Gay Pride... or Hubris? The Edge (Boston),
June 2008.
Simma comments on LGBT rights and California's Proposition 8.
Excerpt: Also
citing the events in San Francisco as a cautionary tale of things to
come is Simma Lieberman, a diversity and inclusion consultant in
California. Liberman questions the logic of many political pundits that
believe that "the ballot measure is never going to pass." She
attributes their attitudes, in part, to complacency around gay rights
on the part of everyone from "older people glad homosexuality is no
longer illegal who’ve gotten apathetic" to "young people who don’t know
what it was like to grow up with so much gay bashing." As for right
wing opponents of gay rights, they’re "never complacent. They’re always
laying in wait for something like this," Lieberman continued. "As those
who are anti-gay become more vocal and summon up all of their power, we
absolutely cannot afford to be complacent."
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Tailoring the Message. Human Resources Executive Online, May 2008.
Excerpt: Simma
Lieberman, a diversity consultant in Albany, Calif., says she also sees
the trend growing, as employers attempt to identify the wellness and
healthcare needs of employees.
"Those issues are relevant to everyone, but one issue may be more
relevant to a particular group," she says. "Employers need to discover
what the key drivers are, and where they are going to start."
For example, while it's true anyone can develop diabetes, it's more
prevalent in specific groups, mainly Hispanic, Jewish and
African-American employees, Lieberman says. So employers want to get
the message out about diabetes to everybody, but especially to more
affected affinity groups.
"You can [also] go to a specific employee resource group, and it can
help you develop a strategy to get out the information to everyone in
the organization, not just in the affinity group itself," she says.
"That way, you can have them be champions of the benefit, but make sure
everyone gets the information."
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Finding a Job When
You Don't Know What You Want to Do. CareerBuilder.com, April 2008.
Excerpt: Your first step should get your brain working, according
to Simma Lieberman, a performance improvement consultant and coach.
"Make a list of jobs, careers and topic areas that have interested you.
Don't censor yourself or think of reasons why you shouldn't list them,"
she suggests. Then start researching.
Browse your social and professional networks for people in the
industries that interest you and ask them any questions you have. Try
to find experts in these fields who would be willing to have a brief
informational interview with you. "After your interviews and research,
list the pros and cons, skills and experience needed to be successful,
and determine what careers or jobs match your interests, needs and
wants."
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Manage
Your Multicultural Workforce. Lowes Commercial
Services, February 2008.
Excerpt: For
builders, diversity creates both challenges and opportunities, observes
Simma Lieberman, co-author of Putting Diversity to Work: How to
Successfully Lead a Diverse Workforce. As president of Albany,
Calif.-based Simma Lieberman Associates, she specializes in
multicultural communication and says that few managers realize the
impact of diversity on their organization.
"The more you understand about the people you work with, the easier it
is to work with them," Lieberman says. "The easier it is to work with
them, the faster you get the work done. And the faster you get the work
done, the more money you make. It all really does come down to the
bottom line."
Indeed, when you have a diverse workforce, cultural clarity is key.
Making sure that employees understand their jobs is paramount to their
survival and your success, as communication impacts the accuracy of
your work — and therefore its cost — as well as the wellbeing of
workers, who must be able to grasp safety regulations and learn to use
protective equipment on the job. "[Poor communication] could cost you
clients, money and workers," Lieberman says.
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Holiday Diplomacy: Holidays - Season's
Celebrations Can Require Sensitive Balance in Diverse Workplaces.
The
Register-Guard (Eugene, Ore.), December 2007.
Excerpt: As
more employers become attuned to the diversity in the community and
their work force, many are making their holiday celebrations more
inclusive, holding holiday, end-of-year or New Year's parties, instead
of Christmas parties.
Simma Lieberman, a diversity consultant and author of "Putting
Diversity to Work," said she began noticing this trend about five years
ago.
"People used to think about it as being, `Oh, you're just being
politically correct,' but what we're doing here is making sure that
everyone is included and everyone feels good," she said. "It's a
reality that not everybody celebrates Christmas. People have different
religions, or no religion."
She said she draws the line, though, at calling Christmas trees
"holiday" trees.
"When people say they're putting up a holiday tree, its not a holiday
tree, it's a Christmas tree," because decorating trees typically isn't
a practice in other faiths, Lieberman said. "There's nothing wrong with
it being a Christmas tree, that's what it is."
At holiday parties, some employers will have a Christmas tree, as well
as a Hanukkah menorah and symbols for other cultural winter
celebrations, Lieberman said.
"People love sharing culture," she said. "We get to learn and we ask
questions, and I think it makes our lives a lot richer."
Lieberman said she doesn't think employers should scrap holiday parties
altogether because they help workers get to know one another and can
build "team spirit" at an organization.
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Diversifying the
Religious Experience. Corporate
Responsibility Officer, December 2007.
Excerpt: The
issue of inclusion is especially prevalent during the holiday season,
when multi-ethnic sensitivity is a controversial topic, and a simple
seasonal greeting may seem to some like a dirty word.
“You can’t have a Christmas party at work,” says Simma Lieberman, a
diversity consultant and President of Simma Lieberman Associates, who
has done workshops and spoken at conferences on the issue. “You can do
a holiday party, a season party, and I really believe in New Year’s
parties. Helping people get together and network; that’s how people
move up. When organizations have Christmas parties, people may come,
but oftentimes they’re not very comfortable, or they come and still
feel like they’re the other.”
Lieberman recommends dialogue in the workplace that includes discussion
topics such as: What was it like growing up in your neighborhood in
terms of diversity and religion? What messages did you get about people
that were different than you? What was your first experience with
someone different? What is your life like now?
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What Afirmative
Action, Diversity, and Inclusion Mean to Workers. Military.com,
2007.
Excerpt: The
experts also recommend examining photos to see if the workforce looks
diverse. During an interview, ask direct questions about opportunities
for advancement.
Simma Lieberman, a Berkeley-based management consultant who focuses on
diversity and inclusion, suggests a tour can help you assess how
diverse a company really is. "Do people look like you?" she asks. "Are
they throughout the company or just at lower levels? And pay attention
to the caafeteria. Do different group seat together, or are they
separate?"
But Lieberman cautions that diversity takes many forms, not all of them
visible.
"White men can be diverse," she says. "A white man of 60 thinks
different from a white man of 20. And two white men of the same age
from different parts of the country think differently, too."
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Office Space:
Career Couch; Dealing With Low Morale After Others Are Laid Off.
The
New York Times, July 2007.
Excerpt:
Q. Recent job cuts have created low morale
among you and your colleagues. Is there anything you can do about it?
A. There are steps you can take, although the negative atmosphere may
be out of your control to a large extent.
The mood after layoffs is set by managers, said Simma Lieberman, a
management consultant in Albany, Calif., and if they fail to address
the situation from the beginning, morale can sink quickly.
''One of the worst actions management can take during this time is to
not acknowledge the situation and the impact it is having on
employees,'' Ms. Lieberman said. ''This only makes the situation
worse.''
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The Perfect Fit. Human Resources
Executive Online, September 2006.
Excerpt:
Simma Lieberman, president of a management consulting firm in Berkley,
Calif., that bears her name, says when evaluating reward programs, it's
not so much a matter of what's right or wrong but what could be better.
For instance, how can managers be more empowered to reward employees or
learn more effective ways to praise them?
Even managers with good intentions, however, can unintentionally
discredit a reward.
She tells the story of one employer that routinely rewarded its
employees by taking them to a nearby establishment to play virtual
reality games and drink beer. But employees didn't enjoy the experience
and believed their employer had financial ties to the place, which
discounted the entire reward.
"The impact is not going to be that the [employer] really cared about
the employees," she says.
Likewise, she knows of managers at another company who have no
discretionary funds to reward employees or even to treat them to lunch.
But those who are empowered can really make employees smile. She
recalls one manager giving an employee--a single parent and avid
baseball fan--the day off, two box seats to a San Francisco Giants game
and a free parking pass. Another gave several hundred dollars' worth of
gas on a credit card to an employee with a long commute. One boss even
rewarded one young worker who loved music with an iPod and a
certificate for iTunes.
While this approach may take more time, she says, it's well worth the
effort. Happy employees are usually more productive and loyal, and take
less time off of work.
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Secrets in Bad Job Habits. Investor's
Business Daily, August 2006.
Simma describes how she overhauled her own life to gain control, and
provides strategies for effective stress management. Excerpt:
One of the lessons she
learned in adopting a healthier lifestyle was to set small goals,
achieve them and then set slightly higher goals.
"If you over commit to a goal, you'll feel like a failure if you miss
it," Lieberman said. "So I didn't push myself too hard. I'd meet
my
goal of walking three miles. Then I'd try to run a little and walk the
rest. "Then I'd walk — and eventually run — three and a quarter miles.
Make progress in increments and you'll feel great."
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Embracing
the Rising Sun. Fast Company,
Fast 50 Entrant
Leader, 2004.
Simma comments on the strategies used by Craig Smith, CEO of Nakano
Foods, Inc. to bridge cultural differences while working with the
Japanese.
Excerpt: Unlike many other
companies that
do business internationally, Craig took the time to understand the
culture of the organization and was able to use what he learned to
build a workable business strategy that turned this company around. I
can see that his strategy is designed to create ongoing results and not
just to be the flavor of the month. Unfortunately many US companies
still don't understand the importance of not imposing our own
ethnocentrism in working cross culturally. As a diversity consultant
and author, I can say that Craig Smith is a model leader that other
leaders can take lessons from. Simma Lieberman - Albany, CA
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Office Space: Career
Couch; What? We Don't Do It That Way Anymore? New York Times,
October 2005.
Simma was intervied on the topic of sharing contructive criticism in
the workplace.
Excerpt:
Q. With whom should you share your misgivings?
A. Talk to colleagues you trust, but do it quietly, in a way that the
boss cannot construe as gossiping or backbiting. Employees may even
want to appoint one of their own to act as a moderator for such
discussions. Simma Lieberman, a management consultant in Albany,
Calif., said constructive conversations could end up convincing
employees that a new policy was palatable.
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A Tight Fit: Squeezing
Exercise into Even the Busiest Schedule. Jugglezine,
January 2004.
Simma suggests her effective 2-for-1 strategy for effective time
management.
Excerpt: Use
trainer Simma Lieberman's 2-for-1 strategy: Exercise at the same time
that you're doing something else productive, e.g., walking and talking
business on a cell phone, listening to work-related material on CD or
tape while walking, running, or doing other exercise. If you're put on
hold, use speakerphone and do yoga or stretching.
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Ventas: Quiero Matar a mi
Cliente (Sales: I Want to Kill my Client!). Diario el Zonda
(Argentina), October 2003.
Simma's talks about the power of silence in negotiation for this
Argentenian business site.
Excerpt:
Simma Lieberman, una consultora de Berkeley, California, coincide: “Si
permanezco en silencio, tanto en una conversación
telefónica como en una entrevista, es porque quiero más
que lo que mi interlocutor me está ofreciendo,” dice. En este
caso, el vendedor debe hacer esfuerzos para descubrir si el potencial
cliente está usando el silencio como una táctica, y, de
ser así, decidir si le conviene seguir avanzando con la
negociación.
English Translation:
Simma Lieberman, a Berkeley, California consultant, agrees: "If I
remain silent, whether in a telephone conversation or in an interview,
it is because I want more than what the person is offering to me," she
says. In this case, the salesperson must make an effort to determine if
the potential client is using silence as a tactic, and if he/she is,
decide whether or not to continue with the negotiation.
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Reinventing Yourself
in the Corporate Environment. Black MBA,
Conference Issue, Fall 2003.
Simma provides tips on ways people can position themselves
strategically at the workplace.
Excerpt: Be
honest too about whether you need an attitude adjustment. Are you your
own worst enemy? Counter that with a can-do attitude. Says Simma
Lieberman a diversity consultant and speaker in Oakland, California,
"Be the first to volunteer for strategic projects that can showcase
your strengths in a way you might not get to in your daily activities."
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Striking a Healthy
Worklife Balance: How to "Get a Life" While Staying Productive. Economist Intelligence
Unit, 2003.
Read Simma's tips on effectively balancing technology and time
management.
Excerpt: Much
of the extra time that people spend in the office is wasted. It can
help to use e-mail rather than the telephone to communicate, for
example, particularly with chatty co-workers. But use caution here. “A
lot of people sit in front of their computer and answer every single
e-mail,” warns Simma Lieberman, president of Lieberman Associates, a
corporate productivity consulting firm. "Don’t let your e-mail in-box
set your agenda or divert you from more pressing tasks.
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7-Eleven Shows Ethnic Pride. Human Resources
Executive, March 2003.
Simma explains how 7-Eleven's innovated approach to diversity differs
from traditional approaches
Excerpt: This kind of approach, in which differences are valued and
utilized, is not the way most organizations have historically managed
diversity, according to Simma Lieberman, president of Lieberman
Associates, an Albany, Calif.-based consulting group specializing in
diversity and gender communications. Failing to recognize that
differences could be beneficial to the organization, she says,
companies typically have stressed sameness and focused their efforts on
helping people tolerate differences, rather than leveraging them for
the overall good of the business.
"They wouldn't look at a situation and say, 'We have all these people
from different cultures with different perspectives; how can we use the
differences they bring to the organization to help us achieve our
goals?' They weren't being strategic," says Lieberman, who is also the
co-author, with Kate Berardo and George Simons, of "Putting Diversity
to Work."
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Marist Students Participate
in MonsterTrak Leadership Weekend. Career Watch,
Newsletter for the APCA Commission for Career Development, Winter 2003.
The Career Watch highlights Simma's training work with Monster.com and
MonsterTrak.
Excerpt: Also
during the career-networking program, a diversity presentation was
delivered by Simma Lieberman, formerly of the Bronx, NY, but currently
lives in Albany, California. Lieberman generally provides talks on
stress management, diversity in the workplace and gender communications.
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Over the Rainbow. Upscale Magazine,
August 2002.
Simma provides tips on creating mentorship programs that are valuable
and helpful to all employees.
Excerpt: "The
program needs to be formal, with clear guidelines and goals," says
Simma Lieberman, a diversity consultant in Albany, Calif. "A buddy
system is also a good idea. New people should have someone assigned to
teach them the norms."
Affinity groups have also worked well. Groups of African-Americans,
other minorities and women, for example, can offer themselves the kind
of support needed to navigate the choppy corporate waters.
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How Much Face Time is Enough?
Working
Mother, June/July 2002.
This column about spending time with coworkers outside of the office
features Simma's opinion about the advantages of relationship building
through informal events.
Excerpt:
Q. My coworkers socialize after work, and my company hosts family
events on weekends. I like my colleagues, but I see enough of them at
the office.
Do I need to go?
A. People don't get promoted on qualifications alone. Bosses promote
people they're comfortable with, and one way to get to know people is
through informal events. Be strategic about what you attend. Decide in
advance whom you want to talk to and how long you want to spend at the
gathering. You can also suggest alternatives: If you don't want to join
your coworkers at a bar, suggest going for coffee or having lunch
together.
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Experts Advise
Americans to Savor Summer. Fox News,
Saturday, June 2002.
Simma talks about the importance of making time for family.
Excerpt:
Lifework-balance and stress-management consultant Simma Lieberman, of
Berkeley, Calif., said learning to relax can be accomplished in
increments.
"Can you not take a lunch hour, leave an hour or two earlier so you
have more time with your family?" she said. "You have to be more
flexible instead of saying, 'My child is going to sleep at 7 p.m. every
night no matter what.' Little things like making lemonade together with
your child instead of having to worry about homework - that's really
important."
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Failure to Coach
Welfare Workers Spurs Hostility. Managing Workplace
Conflict, June 2002.
Read Simma's tips on how to effectively manage and coach
welfare-to-work employees.
Excerpt: The
experts recommend that managers evaluate [their] employee's
understanding of the workplace expectations. Lieberman recommends that
you explain the overall mission of the organization, the formal and
informal rules, how conflict is managed, dress code and how to address
others, despite what [the] orientation program covers.
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Diversity Drives
Dollars for Corporate Communications. Public Relations
Strategist, Summer 2002.
Simma discusses the value of conversation and communication to widen
perspectives and promote better working relationships.
Excerpt:
"People get promoted based on informal networking," says Simma
Lieberman, a consultant who has worked on diversity initiatives with
organizations like Pillsbury, GE, and Lucent Technology. "It's as
simple as encouraging people to talk about their weekends, their
personal lives, their families."
Lieberman, like Harlan, advocates strengthening the fabric of an
organization through increased communications, not preaching on the
importance of tolerance and inclusion. She frequently breaks up
employees into groups of two and invites them to discuss their lives
outside of work. In one session, a lesbian and a conservative
Christian, both parents, empathized with each other about the rigors of
raising children. "It really changed how this [straight] person looked
at this lesbian woman," says Lieberman. "It made for a more comfortable
work relationship."
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Diversity Matters. Restaurants USA,
November 2001.
This magazine of the National Restaurant Association features tips from
Simma on working with people from different cultures and with different
native languages.
Excerpt:
Leave your biases at home, says Simma Lieberman, a diversity-training
consultant in Salem, Calif. For example, don't assume that employees
who don't speak English are less intelligent than those who do. They
may have great potential, says Lieberman. "Don't be afraid to ask
questions about their culture. They'll appreciate your effort. If you
don't know how to pronounce their name, ask them to write it
phonetically."
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Have you Been
Attacked by the Ambition Vampire? Cosmopolitan,
British Edition, November 2001.
In an article about increasing job ambition and performance, Simma
identifies and discusses telltale signs of workplace stress.
Excerpt: When
the ambition vampire strikes, you can genuinely become too poorly to
work and find yourself going home feeling ill. Feelings like this are
typical, according to stress-management expert, Simma Lieberman. You
might begin to get headaches at the same time every day or wake up and
find you can't get out of bed because you feel so low.
Another tell-tale sign, says Lieberman, is if you're obsessively
fretting out of hours. If you lie awake at night worrying about your
career, something needs to changes. "The triggers for any of these
three signs can be anything from general overwork to difficult
workmates," says Lieberman. "People don't take on board the fact work
stress can take a serious toll on your health if you don't listen to
the warnings."
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Managing a
Multicultural Staff. Bread &
Butter, November 2001.
Simma provides advice on recruiting and retaining a diverse staff.
Excerpt:
Although most managers know it's illegal to discriminate on the basis
of traits such as race and religion, they sometimes unconsciously hire
and promote people who are similar to them, because they feel
comfortable with them, says Simma Lieberman, a diversity-training
consultant in Berkeley, Calif. By recognizing this tendency, you can
avoid this biased behavior.
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