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Productivity: the Art of Accomplishment
2007-09-20 16:35:00
One can easily view the workplace as a sweatshop where poor employees toil on endlessly under unbearably harsh conditions. While there may be an element of truth to that perspective in some parts of the world, it is hardly an accurate characterization of work in the USA. When I ask my graduate students, as I do every year, to describe a workplace that is desirable to them, inevitably work is viewed as a place to accomplish something. They find that it is not enough to simply get paid for the time you spend at work. Satisfaction is directly related to a sense of achievement. Many of the graduate students are working on advanced degrees because they view public service as a personal value. In other words, work becomes a better place to be when I leave each day feeling that my efforts have resulted in measurable, positive outcomes. On the other hand, it is discouraging to leave work with the gnawing sense that my time has been wasted. This is one of the reasons why
Read more: Productivity , Accomplishment

Building a Positive Workplace Culture
2007-08-06 16:07:00
I want to introduce you to a new web site that I have created (www.makingworkabetterplacetobe.com) that is dedicated to promoting concepts related to building a positive workplace. Positive , of course, in the context of how employees feel about the place. A great workplace has four foundational elements: 1) a great culture, 2) high levels of productivity, 3) quality relationships, 4) opportunity for growth. I'm dedicating the next four posts to further exploring each of the foundational elements. We start, therefore, with looking at what it takes to build a great organizational culture. When I think of organizational culture, my mind immediately goes to two constructs. The first involves what can be called the informal rules of behavior -- the way we do things around here. Another way to express this point is the concept of a boundary between what is acceptable activity and what is not acceptable. By the word activity I am referencing actions related to work and relationship - how w
Read more: Building , Workplace

Making Work a Better Place to Be, Revisited
2007-01-03 21:14:00
In April of 2006, I wrote an e-zine titled Making Work a Better Place To Be. That e-zine marked a transition into both a new format and a specific focus. My goal was to develop each topic with the underlying purpose of making the information helpful in creating a more dynamic, constructive workplace. I have decided that, for a couple of reasons, it is time to revisit that topic. The workplace, of course, is defined by the people in your employee. Obviously, therefore, the concept of making work a better place is specifically focused on how employees experience the workplace. From a leadership or HR perspective, it is very easy to focus on specific factors such as compensation, benefits, employee orientation, performance management and other such concerns. What about the bigger picture, however? My father was a minister and, like most preachers, loved a good story. One of his favorites, that I heard many times, involved the building of a great cathedral – think Notre Dame of P
Read more: Revisited

Attendance Control Programs: Summarizing My Thoughts
2006-12-01 22:22:00
Last week a local newspaper ran a front page story about sick leave abuses in the Sheriff’s Department. Overall, sick leave usage was substantially increased over just a few years ago. It seems that the new Sheriff has not been nearly as diligent as the old Sheriff in policing sick leave usage among deputies in the corrections department. When interviewed the Sheriff indicated that he believed his hands were tied by the labor contract and the fact that the deputies were only using sick leave that had been legitimately accrued. Maybe, but let’s think about that.As noted in the last e-zine, the main topic for this month is the effectiveness of attendance control programs. As the above article helps illustrate, this is a timely topic and one I frequently receive questions about. Over the years I have reviewed a number of surveys conducted with HR managers on important issues. Tardiness and absenteeism has been, on every single survey, the number one concern. In a prior e-zine I
Read more: Control , Programs

Employee Discipline: Rethinking Strategy and Tactics
2006-11-01 21:39:00
A short while ago I attended a social event and one of the other attendees had brought a local police officer as a guest. The two of us ended up in an extended conversation. It seems that he had just been notified that an appearance before the discipline review board was mandated. He was uncertain about what he was being called before the board and was clearly agitated by the fact. Our discussion focused on the way discipline was administered in the department and how the discipline review board was used as a tool of intimidation and fear. Originally I had intended to write this e-zine on the topic of discharge for absenteeism. The above conversation, however, stimulated my interest in sharing some thoughts about why the discipline process is so often ineffective. My purpose is to focus on some basic principles that are necessary to ensure the effectiveness of your discipline program. I am offering the following seven points as a way to stimulate your thinking about the manner
Read more: Employee , Discipline , Strategy

Making Work a Better Place to Be
2006-04-06 02:48:00
This is the first e-zine that I have created in the last few months. I have spent the intervening time contemplating how I can better focus the e-zine as a HR tool. There are a number of changes that I have decided to implement. The most obvious of these is the look of the e-zine. A second objective is to make the e-zine more interactive. The addition of a reader question section is my response to this objective. Perhaps the most significant change in focus, however, is my intention to tailor the e-zine towards my primary research and consulting interest: the creation of workplaces desirable to employees. You’ll notice that I have titled this e-zine Making Work a Better Place to Be. This title comes from a line in a song, It’s Amazing What Praising Can Do. The following are some preliminary thoughts about the steps that an organization can take to help build a desirable workplace. The different HR functions have to work together as a system. Recruiting, training, c


Administrivia, the Bane of Human Resource Management
2005-10-03 18:06:00
Recently I was reading a copy of Fast Company Magazine, one of my favorite sources for recent information about business and organizational life, when I ran across an article I found totally intriguing. The title of the article was, “Why We Hate HR.” The article was written by Keith Hammonds, the deputy editor of Fast Company Magazine, and can be found in issue 97 (August 2005) at page 40. I found this article stimulating enough that it drove me to provide my reaction in written form. At the outset of this article, the author announces that he does not like HR, and goes on to explain why: The Human-Resource s trade long ago proved itself, at best, a necessary evil – and at worst, a dark bureaucratic force that blindly enforces nonsensical rules, resists creativity, and impedes constructive change. HR is the corporate function with the greatest potential – the key driver, in theory, in business performance – and also, the one that most consistently under-delivers. One
Read more: Management , Human Resource

Trial Services: Making the Marriage Work (by Chris Flamm)
2005-08-05 21:27:00
Earlier issues of this E-zine focused on the legal aspects of the Trial Services period, and discussed the idea that this is the ideal time to bring the employee into alignment with organizational culture. In this issue we will explore some specifics of how to do precisely that, as well as explore the genesis of culture in an organization.The Trial Services phase of employment has too often been viewed as a weeding out period. Many employers use this time to focus on what may be undesirable about an employee while they still have the ability to discharge that employee with no liability attached. However, in terms of building a strong and successful organization, this time period can often be used to much greater success if it is viewed as a time to plant, fertilize, and nurture, rather than a period to deliberately seek for and weed out employees who shouldn’t make the cut. What seeds do you want to sow in your organization? What good habits and behaviors do you want to take r
Read more: Chris

In Defense of the Trial Service Period
2005-06-08 21:57:00
Often times new e-zines come from a problem presented to me either through the arbitration process or one of my other professional activities. This e-zine is the second in a series of three related to the trial services period. During this past week I ran into a familiar problem dealing with the trial services period. In this case, the employer has a 90 day trial services period and a practice of dismissing an unsuccessful employee on the 89th day of employment; perfectly acceptable practice per the last e-zine. As a matter of policy, no reasons are given for the dismissal other than the statement that the employee has not successfully completed the trial services period. Problem! In this case, the employee was deaf; a fact that constitutes a disability under the ADA. The plot thickens, the employer, during the prior two years, has only dismissed two employees during the trial services period; the instant employee and one prior. The prior employee was also deaf. Now we are in
Read more: Trial , Defense , Service , Period

Thoughts on Trial Service Employement
2005-05-03 19:05:00
Private sector employment includes non-profits (private corporations with non-profit status). The law, however, does not always treat public sector employment the same as private sector employment. When writing these e-zines, I have attempted to carefully draw this distinction, when the distinction is important. Last month, I wrote an e-zine on severance pay. Unfortunately, as one of the recipients kindly pointed out in a return e-mail, I overlooked the fact that severance pay is by and large forbidden in public employment. Various federal and state statutes prohibit the “gifting” of public funds and severance pay is typically considered a gift – no work, no pay. Thus, while there may be a gray area over whether the employee must work the last few days before leaving employment in order to receive full compensation, clearly multi-month severance packages cannot be put together for public employees. I feel much better now that I have cleared the record on this issue. On to
Read more: Trial , Service

The Facts on Severance Pay: What's Required and What's Advisable
2005-04-01 17:41:00
Severance pay has recently become a topic of discussion with a client and, as a result, I took some time to do a little research. Severance pay is extra compensation (treated like regular wages) paid to employees as a result of involuntary termination or as an enticement to voluntary termination. Since severance pay is treated as wages, it would go on the employee’s W-2 just like any other wage. If you are in a situation where you might consider offering or providing severance pay, there are a few facts that you should be aware of. Severance pay is not covered under federal wage and hour (FISA) legislation but is covered in a few state statutes. For example, the State of Maine requires severance pay in the case of relocations or shutdowns. Therefore, an employer should check with their state department of labor before determining whether to offer severance pay and, if offered, how much to provide. While many employers provide severance pay for managers and executive lev
Read more: Severance

Guidelines for the Use of Administrative Leave
2005-02-22 17:16:00
A recent consulting activity raised the question of the appropriate use of administrative leave. Sometimes it may be necessary to place one of your employees on leave. The most common reason for doing this is to safeguard the employer during an investigation into allegations of misconduct. Administrative leave includes both the temporary removal of the employee from all job duties or the temporary re-assignment of an employee to a different job pending an investigation. Administrative leave is not a disciplinary action, and it should not harm the employee’s record or performance appraisal. If the investigation confirms wrongdoing on behalf of the employee, disciplinary action should be imposed following the investigation. You, as the employer, may question whether the nature of the alleged infraction is significant enough to warrant placing the employee on administrative leave. The critical question is not the seriousness of the infraction, but rather the vulnerability of th
Read more: Guidelines , Leave

Tattoos and Piercings Galore: Implementing a Modern Dresscode
2005-01-05 17:45:00
I recently came across a problem area that I thought might be important enough to put into an e-zine. The issue has to do with body piercings and tattoos. What are the employer’s rights with regard to “controlling” employee decisions to decorate their bodies with tattoos or provide uniquely situated piercings? Of course, what I mean by the term “employer rights” involves the current state of employment law as it implies to any right of the employer to control-sanction-prohibit the free expression of employees related to decorating their bodies. My first response to the above question is to encourage all of you to acquire the book Weirdos in the Workplace by John Putzier, published by Prentiss Hall with a 2004 copyright. This book briefly summarizes, in a somewhat entertaining fashion, the interaction between employment law and a host of issues related to unusual employee behavior in the workplace. For our purposes regarding this e-zine, page 48 from the book will do nice
Read more: Tattoos , Modern

A Thoughtful Review of the Latest Changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
2004-09-06 21:22:00
Having received a couple of requests for info on the new overtime regs, I decided to provide a comprehensive overview of the changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Basically, despite Congressional challenges, new federal overtime rules are in effect that substantially change the overtime status of millions of American workers. The “Overtime Security Rule” is a revision of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) which was implemented by the Department of Labor (DOL) on August 23rd of this year. The revision of the FLSA represents only the third time that overtime rules have been updated since the FLSA went into effect in 1938. The last revision occurred in 1975. How Have the Rules Changed? The most significant changes in the 474-page revision of the FLSA are an increase in the salary cap of workers who are automatically eligible for overtime and a change in the determination of which employees are exempt from overtime pay. Under the new rules, any employee who earns up to $23,660


Sick Leave and Chronic Absenteeism
2004-07-05 22:14:00
I recently came across a study that caught my interest. Have you ever wondered how many of employees who call in sick are actually ill? A 2003 study by Harris Interactive found that only 36% who claim to be sick are sick. Not only is this figure disturbing, the trend is disquieting. It seems that back in 1995 45% of those taking sick leave were sick; we have lost 9 % in 8 years. A summary of the full study is available at www.cch.com in an article titled Unscheduled Absence Survey. The actual data on the reasons given for using sick leave, as provided by Harris Interactive: 36% Sick 11% Stress 13% Entitled to their sick leave 18% Personal matters 22% Family Matters 100% The study also viewed the data from the standpoint of companies with very good morale (12%) and good morale (44%), fair morale (34%) and poor morale (10%). As you might guess, morale did have a marked impact on absenteeism. Companies with very good/good morale had an overall absenteeism ra
Read more: Leave

The Limits of Conflict Management Training
2004-05-02 21:49:00
Interpersonal conflict resolution is often an area that clients want to discuss. Generally, the topic is approached because of a specific work team that is going through a highly conflictive stage. Many times the issue is presented to me through a question like, “Do you think we can improve the situation by providing interpersonal conflict management skills training?” I have a very strong belief in the value and importance of providing training within an organization. For example, I have found that providing skills training in conflict management to new supervisors can have substantial payoffs to the organization. However, there are many situations where I do not believe that training is the answer to the problem. Using training in an attempt to reduce the conflictiveness of a work team is one of those areas. Yes, it is often true that individual team members can benefit from the conflict management training. I am very well aware of programs that I think have value for t
Read more: Management , Limits , Conflict , Training

Spotlight on Integrity
2004-03-09 21:53:00
I recently received an informational request, asking whether I could provide a one-day training program on the topic of Integrity . Frankly, I was somewhat surprised with this request. For one thing, I have never heard of a full-day training program on a topic like integrity. There are many programs on the general topic of ethics, but to single out one element seemed unusual. The more I thought about it, however, the more I found myself intrigued by this request. I began to realize that while I have not presented a full-day training program on the topic of integrity, that subject is woven throughout many of the training programs that I do conduct. For example, a program that I frequently conduct deals with the topic of supervision and the effective use of “power.” A basic premise of that course is that power used with integrity builds relationships, while power used without integrity destroys relationships. Likewise, much of the work I do in dispute resolution/prevention emph
Read more: Spotlight

Vacation Usage (or Lack Thereof)
2004-02-09 18:49:00
A graduate student in one of my Public Administration classes recently wrote a paper on the use of vacation time in the United States. It turns out that employees in this country annually turn back some $21 billion of unused vacation time. This represents 1.8 days of returned vacation per employee nationally. Here are some figures with regard to average annual vacation usage to think about: U.S. – 13, Japan – 25, South Korea – 25, Canada – 26, Great Britain – 28, Brazil – 34, Germany – 35, France – 37 and Italy – 42.What ought to be of concern to an employer about these statistics is that an average score is probably not very significant. For example, to say that 1.8 days of vacation are returned by each employee in the country is not very revealing because the data is undoubtedly bi-modally distributed. As most every HR or Employee Services Director can attest, there are a group of employees who take every possible day off just as soon as they can. These emplo
Read more: Vacation , Usage

Quantum Culture: The Physics of the Energized Workplace
2003-11-01 22:00:00
I recently arbitrated a dispute involving a Teamsters bargaining unit and a large non-profit organization in the State of Washington. Their labor history, in my view, might best be characterized as what not to do. It was marked with extensive conflict, including a recent strike by the employees that lasted almost four months. As I listened to the testimony of various witnesses, I found myself repeatedly attempting to understand why there was so much negativity in the workforce. It is easy to arrive at the conclusion that the negativity is a product of having a labor union represent the bargaining unit employees, but that analysis seems superficial to me since there are numerous examples of labor management relationships which support a positive workplace environment.That arbitration hearing influenced my decision to write about negative and positive energy in the workplace. While an employee work stoppage is an obvious example of negative energy at work, it does not take a strike
Read more: Workplace , Physics

Managing the Dysfunctional Employee
2003-10-06 18:41:00
I was recently asked to make a presentation at an annual conference for public sector human resource management professionals. Specifically, I was asked to speak on the topic of Managing the Dysfunctional Employee . I thought it might be useful to those of you who receive this e-zine for me to repeat some of the key points made in that presentation. Obviously, the first place to start is with the point that dysfunction is a broad, difficult and ambiguous topic. That being said, I offer the following points. As an arbitrator, I have always made a distinction between a discipline and/or a discharge case involving a matter of misconduct as opposed to unacceptable performance. One of the practical distinctions between the two is the extent to which the employer expects an immediate behavior change versus a situation where the employee is expected to grow into the ability to perform. For example, if you have an employee that you can prove is stealing from you or sleeping on the job, i


Thoughts on Issues of Performance, Attendance and the ADA
2003-08-03 22:09:00
As promised in the first edition of the Williams’ HR Insights e-zine, I am providing additional information into the implementation of a no-fault attendance policy. If you are contemplating a no-fault policy, give careful consideration to the following points: -- A fault based attendance program rests heavily on the requirement that employees provide a doctor’s statement for absences related to an illness or accident. A bona fide doctor’s statement justifies the employee’s absence, and bars the employer from taking action against the employee. A no-fault policy does not require a doctor’s slip for any absence. I like this fact because doctors will always provide a statement, even if it says no more than, “patient X visited me on X day and reported that he had a sore throat.” Notice that this statement does not indicate whether or not the employee could have worked. In fact, as most of you know, it often seems that a doctor’s statement is one element of an
Read more: Issues , Performance

Relationships: Quality is Not a Luxury
2007-12-03 03:48:00
I am sure you have heard the phrase, “I am professional; I do not have to like you to be able to work with you.” While there is obviously some level of truth to this saying, it clearly does not describe an ideal situation. The simple fact is that business is much easier to conduct when relationships amongst the players are positive. I believe that all of us find it easier to work when our professional relationships are marked with respect, trust and a positive affect. This is the third in a series of four e-zines which are looking at what I call the foundational elements for creating a great workplace. The first of the four looked at the organizational culture, the second at the concept of productivity and the last will look at growth and advancement. This e-zine focuses on the quality of relationships under the belief that attractive workplaces are marked with great relationships. While it may be simplistic, I believe it is fundamentally true to say that all great thin
Read more: Relationships , Quality , Luxury

Challenge and Growth: The Keys to Life-Long Satisfaction
2008-01-22 17:26:16
This is the last of the series of e-zines that are written on what I consider to be the four foundational elements for building a positive workplace. In the prior three e-zines I looked at the topics of building a positive culture, productivity and quality relationships. In this one, I want to look at the relationship between continual learning and viewing the workplace as a positive experience. My hypothesis is that work is more attractive when an employee experiences challenge and growth on a regular basis. As is true of all the e-zines, the following reflects some of my thoughts on the topic as compiled from my reading and experiences.I feel the need, however, to begin with a disclaimer. I do not believe that all employees desire challenge and growth. This fact is not necessarily
Read more: Challenge , Growth , Satisfaction

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