HR Solutions Weblog

Over the next couple of weeks I want to focus on the “Employee Performance or Termination Conversations” for which every manager seems to struggle.

This week we start with the basics… Solid Employee Communcations!

Unless you are laying employees off, there is a way to put a positive spin on almost every employee conversation.  This is a critical aspect of these meetings.

No matter if you are discussing performance, attendance, attitude, lateness complaints etc.,

• Always bring the employee away from the work area to have the discussion privately. 
• Be sure your emotions are not running high!  If so, come back to this later in the day or the next morning.
• Speak calmly and with thought.  Do not rant.  Do not under any circumstances raise  your voice.  Remember, the minute you start yelling you have lost control of the meeting.
• State the issue and give your employee the chance to speak.

…….more to follow!

Every business, no matter how big or how small, has at least one person who seems to be constantly complaining and whining about something on the job.  Overall, I think most business owners think of this as only frustrating…but wait!!  There is a much larger impact. 

When employees are complaining to everyone around them they are not the only ones being non-productive.  Everyone they are talking to is either listening to them and making the problem bigger or are frustrated that you are not stopping this person.  Once it appears that the business accepts this type of behavior; it will only spread.

If you take the time to talk to the person, or if this has been a problem for a while, talk to the group of people, and encourage them to propose a resolution to the issue and they can hopefully use the time they were ranting to create a workplace that makes them happier.

Create an environment of open discussions.  Even a monthly meeting where employees are asked “what is going well” and “what could be better” can have a huge impact if you make the meeting about resolution and not just whining.  Encourage a meeting style that allows others to offer changes or suggestions to improve the workplace.

We are coming up on that time of year when many businesses start thinking about year-end performance of their business and their employees. We hear it over and over again from our clients “but performance reviews take up so much time”.  They really don’t have to and they are critical.  Let’s start with your handbook…what does it say about performance reviews and when they will be completed?  Your employees are counting on you to formally let them know how they are doing.  It is also your opportunity, now that you are looking at business performance too, to set up new goals for the business and your employees and help them to understand how their performance, whether positive or negative  impacts your business. There are many performance review options to help you be as consistent as possible while conducting a process that has the opportunity to be subjective. 

Top five performance review issues to avoid:

1. Overemphasizing Recent Performance—This is why it is so important to keep a mini record on each employee
2. Not Giving an Employee Specifics – This is an opportunity to help the employee understand specifically how their behavior contributes to or hurts the business.
3. Being Overly Positive or Overly Negative—Be sure to find a solid balance, remember, performance reviews are meant to motivate,  not discourage them.
4. Waiting for Appraisal Time to Give Feedback— Employees should not be surprised when they receive their performance review.
5. Talking without Listening— Be sure to come to a mutual decision on how/where the employee can grow.  Without their buy-in, you were talking in vain.

For decades, HR professional have been touting the results of National Employee Satisfaction Stations data.   The same top 5 have always remained the same: 

The only thing that changes through the years is the order, however, you will find it interesting that Compensation, through strong economic times and weak one, has always hovered around #5.

During these past few years, we have definitely seen a shift in where Benefits fall.  With so many dual-income homes down to just one working partner, benefits have become a critical component of job satisfaction due to the back-up benefits disappearing.

The key to stopping absenteeism abuse is to have an attendance policy that clearly defines not only what absences are allowed, but also what is unacceptable and will be subject to discipline. 

We are often asked:  “Is there any type of incentive I can use?”  It has been proven over and over again – cash incentives do not work!  However,  there are a few options that have had some success, but as a rule of thumb;  rewarding good attenders with cash bonuses generally has been ineffective. Sick-time abusers value time away from work more than money, so they are not motivated to modify their behavior.  Employees either have a good work ethic or they do not.  That is why a solid absenteeism policy won’t necessarily cure the employee but will allow you to discipline them out the door and bring in someone new with a better work attitude.

Absenteeism not only impacts your overall productivity numbers as an organization, but also breeds dissent in the workforce.  It is critical not only to have the policy but to insure it is enforced consistently.  Experience shows that better attendance is synonymous with better quality, lower costs, and greater productivity. 

New employees can be scary!  How can you be sure they have the skills they claimed on their resume?  What if they don’t fit into your organization?  What if they turn out to have attendance issues?  What if their performance is sub-par? 

The surest way to protect yourself is to ensure you have a solid handbook that includes a policy on an Introductory Period.  Even more importantly is to ensure you mark your calendar at least 1 week prior to the introductory period being over so you can assess this new employee’s ability to be successful in your organization.

Did you know……

• you cannot make direct deposit mandatory for your employee’s paycheck?
• Maryland State Law does not require you to offer breaks to your employees?
• you can be held criminally responsible for not verifying your employees are legally able to work in the United States?
• 80%  of employers are out of compliance with federal and state laws resulting in wage and hour class action suits. These actions have emerged as one of the most significant employment law trends of this decade, which now outnumber all other employment class actions combined, and this trend will continue.
• $7,000 is the average cost to replace a $20,000 employee.

Pay out of Vacation/PTO Upon Termination

As an employer have you ever thought, “Do I have the correct employees in the job?”  Employees that are a natural fit are happy in their job, remain on the job longer and are most productive.  Often in business, clients promote employees into jobs because “they are doing well in their current role”  so there is assumption they can and should be promoted into something with more responsibility.  Unfortunately, more often than not, these employees fail in the new role, and management is baffled. 

Other times, as we start small businesses, we hire the people that we feel will be most loyal – friends and family.  That works fine for a few years until the business starts to grow; suddenly your college buddy who majored in “communications” is running your operations department.  All is fine when you are  putting out 1000 orders per year and your profit margin is 2%.  But now that you’ve been marketing you have taken on 20 new clients, your production is going to increase by 300%, your warehouse needs to grow by 40%, you need to hire 20 new production workers and some management personnel….can your old college buddy still handle the job? Probably not.