We've all seen it at one point or another: a bully in the workplace. This person can be a boss, an owner, someone in power or someone just on a power trip. They can work in any department and they come in many shapes and sizes. But Human Resources needs to be aware of these people and take care of them before they dominate and intimidate the workplace. Like a school bully, it can be intimidating to stand up to these workplace bullies, but someone needs to do it. And that someone needs to be from either management or human resources.
A few articles on the subject:
Bloomberg Businessweek starts us out with ten signs of a fear-based workplace so you know what to look out for (H/T Wendy). Some of them are more obvious than others but #10 seems to sum it up: "When senior leaders make virtually all decisions in secret, dole out information in unhelpful drips, and base hiring on sheeplike compliance rather than energy and talent, and the PA system all but blares "Be glad to have a job, stop whining, and get back to work," your company's fear problem is off the charts."
TIME via Yahoo! News is next with an article saying that New York just passed a bill which may make workplace bullying explicitly illegal: "If New York's Healthy Workplace Bill becomes law, workers who can show that they were subjected to hostile conduct - including verbal abuse, threats or work sabotage - could be awarded lost wages, medical expenses, compensation for emotional distress and punitive damages"
This would seem to be good news for the group of workers who have filed a class action lawsuit against New York chain Pio Pio according to Grub Street New York.
Lastly, the Employment Law Blog cautions against terminating in haste and says that you need to have a total command of the facts before you decide to let someone go, even for what seems like a misdeed.
Rabu, 28 Juli 2010
Selasa, 27 Juli 2010
Astronology - Leaders and Supervisors and Managers, Oh My!
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Kamis, 22 Juli 2010
"No" Doesn't Always Sound The Same Way
We've all been rejected. Whether it be in high school on the person we had a crush on, when we were applying to college, when we've interviewed for jobs, or even when some of us have been let go from that a job that we've all been told, at one point or another: "no". But there's many different ways to say no and doing it in the right way in both the hiring and firing process, a company can help candidates and former employees as well as helping their own self-image. Let's take a look at the three types of candidates and how is a bad and a good way to say N-O.
External Job Candidate
These are the easiest people to say no to out of the three groups we'll talk about, but there are still proper ways to go about this. I know one former classmate who was told they had a prestigious position at an investment bank coming out of business school only to have that invitation revoked once the company hit some skids. How did this person find out they weren't going to be employed at this large bank? The news. Seriously. Instead of calling/e-mailing/writing the candidates to let them know their signed offers were not going to be honored, they instead let the news organizations reporting the story know and the classmate found out by reading about the company online. That's rough--and wrong.
The best way to go about it was done a few years back for me. I applied for a job that was I pretty sure I was under-qualified for--but I really liked the company, job, pay, and thought it would be worth it to apply. After speaking with the Human Resources representative for a few minutes on the phone the day I applied, she told me they were sifting through applications and she would get back to me. She did get back to me--later that evening and told me that they were not going any further with my application. Instead of just not calling me back (which is happened to many people I know plenty of times recently), she called me on her drive home to discuss why they were going elsewhere. She talked me through the strong points in my resume and where they felt I may not fit for the job. She also told me they would keep my resume on file and I shouldn't hesitate to reapply in the future. I was shocked by this phone call and certainly appreciated it. "No" didn't sound like "no" that time.
Internal Job Candidate
Probably the most difficult person to say no to out of the group. At least when you're laying off someone you're ushering them out the door and outside job candidates you don't know from Adam usually--but internal job candidates who don't get the job are still going to be walking around those same floors every day. The worst way to do it is to do it impersonally and/or string that person along. Most internal job applications require a candidate to tell his or her boss and/or human resources representative. Then they need to interview at the same company they already work (which usually is accompanied by a good deal of inter-company gossip). To say the least, these people are sticking their necks out and putting their jobs on the line. Many bosses probably are not so happy with a candidate saying they're looking for another job in the company and if they don't get hired by the new hiring manager, fear of retribution from the original manager can be strong.
So it's not a surprise that I shook my head at one story I heard recently of how an internal job candidate was strung along for a month and half only to not got the job. Worse yet, instead of the hiring manager or human resources representative letting the candidate know they weren't going to get the job, they received a call from the home offices from someone they never spoke to before who was in charge of breaking the bad news to them. Not only does this person have to run into the people who didn't want to hire them every day, but they also had to deal with the fact that none of them would have the common courtesy to tell the candidate themselves.
Instead, internal candidates should be met with an open and honest process. Companies should clamor to keep good employees and if an employee is looking for a new position internally, it's a good bet they're looking externally as well. Even if the candidate is ultimately not hired, he or she needs to be given every form of support possible to make sure that they don't become angry, resentful or disenfranchised with the company. Sometimes this can be done in the form of offering the candidate more training to improve their skills or some sort of financial incentive to thank them for trying to stay but keeping them satisfied all at the same time.
Letting Go Of An Employee
In this economy, almost every company has at least had to think about cutting back on employees. The recession has hit every industry hard and difficult personnel decisions have had to be made all across the United States and the globe. But there is a right way and a wrong way about doing things. One prestigious investment bank--which has been in the news a lot recently for other unethical practices--certainly did this the wrong way. Instead of letting employees know that there would be some layoffs coming, they leaked it out to a few internal members and let them spread around the rumor. Hysteria set in for a day but no one was let go. The next day, when people tried to swipe their key cards to come into the building, some of the employees had key cards that didn't work. It wasn't a glitch--those employees had their key cards shut off because they had been laid off. How embarrassing must it have been for those people to stand in the lobby of this large building as their still-employed co-workers are passing by? How confusing must this have been for many of them. When these people went to security to find out why their badges weren't working, they were each handed an envelope with severance information and a number to call if they had questions. That's just awful.
I also heard of other companies doing right by their employees. There were stories of small business owners who knew they had to shut down operations and instead found creative ways to stay open--sometimes even getting the employees to sacrifice some benefits so that everyone could keep their jobs. There were stories of CEOs who instead of taking a fat paycheck for reducing payroll, took that fat paycheck and put it back into employees salaries so that no one would be let go. But when employees have had to be let go, there were right ways to do this too. Some companies offered long severance packages, vested previously unvested retirement investments, provided job search support or future job training, and some even kept the door open for rehiring. While sometimes there's very little way to avoid it, you want people to leave your company with the least sour taste in their mouth as possible.
So what way do you use to say no to employees? What are best practices that you've established? What about any horror stories you may know of? Let us know in the comments below
External Job Candidate
These are the easiest people to say no to out of the three groups we'll talk about, but there are still proper ways to go about this. I know one former classmate who was told they had a prestigious position at an investment bank coming out of business school only to have that invitation revoked once the company hit some skids. How did this person find out they weren't going to be employed at this large bank? The news. Seriously. Instead of calling/e-mailing/writing the candidates to let them know their signed offers were not going to be honored, they instead let the news organizations reporting the story know and the classmate found out by reading about the company online. That's rough--and wrong.
The best way to go about it was done a few years back for me. I applied for a job that was I pretty sure I was under-qualified for--but I really liked the company, job, pay, and thought it would be worth it to apply. After speaking with the Human Resources representative for a few minutes on the phone the day I applied, she told me they were sifting through applications and she would get back to me. She did get back to me--later that evening and told me that they were not going any further with my application. Instead of just not calling me back (which is happened to many people I know plenty of times recently), she called me on her drive home to discuss why they were going elsewhere. She talked me through the strong points in my resume and where they felt I may not fit for the job. She also told me they would keep my resume on file and I shouldn't hesitate to reapply in the future. I was shocked by this phone call and certainly appreciated it. "No" didn't sound like "no" that time.
Internal Job Candidate
Probably the most difficult person to say no to out of the group. At least when you're laying off someone you're ushering them out the door and outside job candidates you don't know from Adam usually--but internal job candidates who don't get the job are still going to be walking around those same floors every day. The worst way to do it is to do it impersonally and/or string that person along. Most internal job applications require a candidate to tell his or her boss and/or human resources representative. Then they need to interview at the same company they already work (which usually is accompanied by a good deal of inter-company gossip). To say the least, these people are sticking their necks out and putting their jobs on the line. Many bosses probably are not so happy with a candidate saying they're looking for another job in the company and if they don't get hired by the new hiring manager, fear of retribution from the original manager can be strong.
So it's not a surprise that I shook my head at one story I heard recently of how an internal job candidate was strung along for a month and half only to not got the job. Worse yet, instead of the hiring manager or human resources representative letting the candidate know they weren't going to get the job, they received a call from the home offices from someone they never spoke to before who was in charge of breaking the bad news to them. Not only does this person have to run into the people who didn't want to hire them every day, but they also had to deal with the fact that none of them would have the common courtesy to tell the candidate themselves.
Instead, internal candidates should be met with an open and honest process. Companies should clamor to keep good employees and if an employee is looking for a new position internally, it's a good bet they're looking externally as well. Even if the candidate is ultimately not hired, he or she needs to be given every form of support possible to make sure that they don't become angry, resentful or disenfranchised with the company. Sometimes this can be done in the form of offering the candidate more training to improve their skills or some sort of financial incentive to thank them for trying to stay but keeping them satisfied all at the same time.
Letting Go Of An Employee
In this economy, almost every company has at least had to think about cutting back on employees. The recession has hit every industry hard and difficult personnel decisions have had to be made all across the United States and the globe. But there is a right way and a wrong way about doing things. One prestigious investment bank--which has been in the news a lot recently for other unethical practices--certainly did this the wrong way. Instead of letting employees know that there would be some layoffs coming, they leaked it out to a few internal members and let them spread around the rumor. Hysteria set in for a day but no one was let go. The next day, when people tried to swipe their key cards to come into the building, some of the employees had key cards that didn't work. It wasn't a glitch--those employees had their key cards shut off because they had been laid off. How embarrassing must it have been for those people to stand in the lobby of this large building as their still-employed co-workers are passing by? How confusing must this have been for many of them. When these people went to security to find out why their badges weren't working, they were each handed an envelope with severance information and a number to call if they had questions. That's just awful.
I also heard of other companies doing right by their employees. There were stories of small business owners who knew they had to shut down operations and instead found creative ways to stay open--sometimes even getting the employees to sacrifice some benefits so that everyone could keep their jobs. There were stories of CEOs who instead of taking a fat paycheck for reducing payroll, took that fat paycheck and put it back into employees salaries so that no one would be let go. But when employees have had to be let go, there were right ways to do this too. Some companies offered long severance packages, vested previously unvested retirement investments, provided job search support or future job training, and some even kept the door open for rehiring. While sometimes there's very little way to avoid it, you want people to leave your company with the least sour taste in their mouth as possible.
So what way do you use to say no to employees? What are best practices that you've established? What about any horror stories you may know of? Let us know in the comments below
Senin, 19 Juli 2010
Running a Business Like George Steinbrenner
George Steinbrenner was known as "The Boss" in his time owning the Yankees. When he passed away last week, Steinbrenner took with him a complicated legacy as an owner who produced championships but a boss who could torment his employees. He was at the same time charitable (he had a saying that if more than one person knows about a good deed you've done, you've done it for the wrong reasons) and a criminal (made illegal contributions to Richard Nixon) but always interesting. Today the New York Post went through how to succeed the Steinbrenner way, but while they have praised the man and the team's success, it's also helpful to note that "The Boss" was not always the ideal boss:
BE FOCUSED From the day George Steinbrenner bought the Yankees for $10 million until he permanently stepped down last week, the former shipping executive had one all-consuming goal: to win. And he seems to have spent pretty close to every waking minute thinking about how to make it happen — just ask the minions who fielded his constant phone calls, endured his tirades and his meddling, and spoke of his obsessive attention to every corner of the organization. And his focus never let up, even in the off-season.
“Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing,” he famously said.That was just one of the pieces of advice put forth by the post article. The others included "work tirelessly", "don't be afraid to shift gears--even if you swore you wouldn't", "fire when ready", "be a boss, not a friend", "hire top talent, and pay them well", "demand results", "set clear goals", "never always criticize your employees in public", "pay attention to the little things", "don't give your stars preferential treatment", "build your brand", "have a heart OK", and "don't rest on your laurels". All of these are good advice for someone running a business and while George M. Steinbrenner III was very good at accomplishing some of these in a way that helps an organization, some of his actions certainly hurt his organization and his employees. A good balance is certainly needed for an organization to have successful leadership.
Jumat, 16 Juli 2010
Wall Street Hiring, Vacation Time, The White House and Chris Rock
Some Friday links before you start your weekend.
From the New York Times via MSNBC, come word that Wall Street is starting to anticipate a recovery--and hiring has started with it. This is not news Main Street wants to hear about Wall Street:
Next from Yahoo! News comes a list of how much employees get paid in the Obama White House (who have even cut 3.5% of their workforce)
Lastly, from ExecuNet, we have Chris Rock's Guide to Job Search (H/T Wendy)
Enjoy, stay cool and have a great weekend!
From the New York Times via MSNBC, come word that Wall Street is starting to anticipate a recovery--and hiring has started with it. This is not news Main Street wants to hear about Wall Street:
The increase in hiring and cautious optimism stand in sharp contrast to the mood among workers in other fields, where jobs have been slow to return or are disappearing altogether. Since June 2008 the number of jobs has shrunk by nearly 14 percent in manufacturing and by 22 percent in construction, but only by 8.5 percent in the financial industry nationwide.Next, Monster has some advice about being smart about vacation time. The big advice they give is to be aware of your benefits, prepare before you go, and to have set rules about contact while you're gone.
It is also the opposite of what is going in other highly paid, white-collar professions like law, where employment nationwide in June was the lowest since late 2001, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The financial work force in New York has shrunk by more than 28,000 since its peak in January 2008, but is still slightly above its level in 2003 after the tech bubble burst, meaning it actually weathered this recession — the worst since the Depression — better than the previous one. Nationally, staffing is back to where it was in late 2005, while employment in the overall economy is near 2004 levels.
Next from Yahoo! News comes a list of how much employees get paid in the Obama White House (who have even cut 3.5% of their workforce)
Lastly, from ExecuNet, we have Chris Rock's Guide to Job Search (H/T Wendy)
Enjoy, stay cool and have a great weekend!
Selasa, 13 Juli 2010
Astronology - Eliminating Workplace Negativity
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Kamis, 08 Juli 2010
A New Generation Chasing the American Dream
On Tuesday the New York Times posted a column about a new generation of Americans who are finding the "American Dream" elusive in the current economic environment. The article is still the most e-mailed piece on the New York Times website, and rightfully so. As the article talks about "an age group — the so-called millennials, 18 to 29 — whose unemployment rate of nearly 14 percent approaches the levels of that group in the Great Depression." The rest of the article is equally bleak for the millennials:
That type of optimism is why companies should be looking at millennials as potential candidates as they start hiring again. It's not that older employees are bitter and are not worth hiring, but they may seem like better choices because of their experience. But the optimism and education that comes with millennials is worth considering as well. I am somewhat biased being a millennial myself, and seeing what my peers are going through who are unemployed, but I think that companies need to make sure to give them their equal shot at the American Dream.
For young adults, the prospects in the workplace, even for the college-educated, have rarely been so bleak. Apart from the 14 percent who are unemployed and seeking work, as Scott Nicholson is, 23 percent are not even seeking a job, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The total, 37 percent, is the highest in more than three decades and a rate reminiscent of the 1930s.
The college-educated among these young adults are better off. But nearly 17 percent are either unemployed or not seeking work, a record level (although some are in graduate school). The unemployment rate for college-educated young adults, 5.5 percent, is nearly double what it was on the eve of the Great Recession, in 2007, and the highest level — by almost two percentage points — since the bureau started to keep records in 1994 for those with at least four years of college.
Yet surveys show that the majority of the nation’s millennials remain confident, as Scott Nicholson is, that they will have satisfactory careers. They have a lot going for them.
“They are better educated than previous generations and they were raised by baby boomers who lavished a lot of attention on their children,” said Andrew Kohut, the Pew Research Center’s director. That helps to explain their persistent optimism, even as they struggle to succeed.
That type of optimism is why companies should be looking at millennials as potential candidates as they start hiring again. It's not that older employees are bitter and are not worth hiring, but they may seem like better choices because of their experience. But the optimism and education that comes with millennials is worth considering as well. I am somewhat biased being a millennial myself, and seeing what my peers are going through who are unemployed, but I think that companies need to make sure to give them their equal shot at the American Dream.
Kamis, 01 Juli 2010
Self-Policing In Your Organization
The Tampa Bay Rays baseball team has hit a rough patch. Although they held on to first place in the toughest division in baseball throughout the first few months of the season, they've been no-hit twice and lost their grip on the division. This past week their centerfielder, B.J. Upton lollygagged his way to the ball. For a team struggling to score runs, this was not the effort you want to see. Upton has been benched before for not hustling and this seemed to be another case of him just giving up on a play. When he got back to the dugout, 24-year-old Evan Longoria approached him about his behavior and the two went face-to-face and had to be separated by teammates. I wrote on a sports blog I post on regularly about this incident and about how it brings back memories to one sports writer of a young Derek Jeter, who had, at 24, called out one of his veteran teammates for showing up another teammate. This is seen as a great leadership skill in an organization--self-policing.
I bring this up because while this type of approach may work in baseball, it most likely has no place in an organization. If a co-worker is not pulling his weight or is trying to show up another co-worker, it should not be left to self-policing. Although a good measure of "that is not right" should come from everyone involved and whistleblowing is encouraged at times, the problem itself should be handled by upper-management and Human Resources. Employees can become embarrassed on confrontational when they are publicly called out. Instead, a manager should be doing the discipline--and doing it in a private environment. Publicly calling out a co-worker for a mistake or leaving an office to be self-policed may work in baseball but it is not a good way to handle an office.
I bring this up because while this type of approach may work in baseball, it most likely has no place in an organization. If a co-worker is not pulling his weight or is trying to show up another co-worker, it should not be left to self-policing. Although a good measure of "that is not right" should come from everyone involved and whistleblowing is encouraged at times, the problem itself should be handled by upper-management and Human Resources. Employees can become embarrassed on confrontational when they are publicly called out. Instead, a manager should be doing the discipline--and doing it in a private environment. Publicly calling out a co-worker for a mistake or leaving an office to be self-policed may work in baseball but it is not a good way to handle an office.
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