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!

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.

The subject of web surfing doesn’t come up weekly from our clients, it comes up daily!  What are you employees doing while they should be working?  The numbers are staggering:

• 70% of all web traffic to Internet pornography sites occurs during the work hours of 9am-5pm.
• 64% of employees say they use the Internet for personal interest during
  working hours
• 37% of workers say they surf the Web constantly at work.
• 77.7% of  U.S. companies keep tabs on employees by checking their e-mail, Internet, phone calls, computer files, or by videotaping them at work.
• 63% of companies monitor workers' Internet connections and 47% store and review employee e-mail.
• 90% of employees feel the Internet can be addictive, and 41 percent admit to personal surfing at work for more than three hours per week.
• 60% of Security Breaches occur within the Company - behind the Firewall
• 30-40% of lost productivity is accounted for by cyber-slacking.
• 32.6% of workers surf the net with no specific objective; men are twice
  as likely as women.

Can you really afford to not be monitoring your business internet and e-mail usage?

This past week has been an interesting one in the number of client issues all centering around the client allowing the employees to “run the show”.  Employees coming and going as they please with no regard to Business Needs, Policies and Procedures, disregard for Safety Policies, or inappropriate behavior in the workplace.  As I have talked about many times before on this blog, we come back to the question; “What Does Your Employee Handbook Say”?  It is critical for businesses to not only have a solid handbook in place but equally important to ensure that your business is enforcing those Human Resource policies consistently and regularly.  Often we find that our clients just need our guidance on either rolling out their Employee Handbooks or teaching them how to deal with disciplinary issues; other clients have HRSolutions, LLC come in and carry out all the disciplinary problems directly with the employees.  The real question for this week is:

Are you comfortable that you are recognizing and addressing employee disciplinary problems or do you need some assistance?  Did you know that unaddressed disciplinary issues can impact your business revenue by 20% or more?

Scenario:  An employee has been with you for 2 years.  In the past their work has just been so-so, but you felt it was better to have a body in the role than to start recruiting.  Lately, however, the employee’s work habits have steadily gotten worse and you want to just fire them.  You call us for assistance in this termination, here are the questions we will ask:

• What does the employee’s most recent performance review state about quality?
• What documentation do you have of subsequent conversations about performance?
• Are there employees whose performance is the same or worse than this employee?

If you do not have documentation on the above bullet points it is critical that you start to gather this data.   Documentation is the name of the game, and that is written documentation.  Even if you talk to an employee verbally you should have documentation of that conversation.  Systematically documenting poor performance, along with a solid policy on your disciplinary structure provides a solid and legal foundation for terminating a long-standing employee.

As I begin to post this week's Human Resource Blog, my mind reels with a myriad of  topics to discuss:  Difficult Employees, Performance Management, ADA, Compliance on Files, Posters, etc, Policies, Recruiting, Job Descriptions, EEO, HR Practices, Discrimination, Harassment- I could go on forever.  Every critical topic will be covered and a new post will be added each Monday afternoon.

Job Descriptions – Why do you need them?

• Specifics on expectations from your employees that they understand
• Key component for performance management up to and including termination
• Required for legal recruiting including, but not limited to:  Physical Requirements and Work Environment
• Set a standard for recruiting; ensuring questions are consistent and applicable to the job.
• Used to justify accommodations made or not made for an employee with a disability

Job descriptions should be reviewed once a year along with performance reviews by both the employee and the manager. 

Not sure you want to tackle this project alone or feel you need some guidance? Contact us today 443-356-4352

Have you ever stopped to think about how you’re communicating with your employees?

Chances are, you’re thinking that, yes, I talk to my employees every day. What are you talking about – the job, the task at hand, how the family is? What about the communication that’s NOT talked about? 

Everything you say, write, do, or DO NOT do, sends a message to your employees, so you should always be thinking, “What message do I want to send?” Every action, verbal or non verbal, directly or indirectly, sends some message.

Let’s look at some examples... 

XYZ Company has had employee performance issues with Jack.  Jack has received coaching and counseling on a regular basis for the past 5-6 months, but his performance has not improved. All of this has been documented in his employee file. Finally, the time comes to terminate Jack.

At the same time, other employees of XYZ Company have watched a number of employees get fired, and the rumor is that the Director has a ‘hit list’. The employees are always wondering, “Who’s next?” 

If XYZ Company now fires Jack, what message do you think management will send to the other employees?  Hopefully you can see that the wrong message will be sent – that the rumored ‘hit list’ might be true – even though there may be no direct communication to the rest of the employees. 

Take a different situation:  Jane is late to work on a regular basis. It is affecting her work performance as well as negatively affecting employee morale. Her supervisors have conversations with her to remind her that she cannot continue to be late, but nothing else happens and Jane continues to be late. What message is her supervisor sending to the other employees? The message is, “It’s ok to be late.”  The supervisor is not holding Jane accountable. 

So, what do you do? It’s really a matter of thinking before you speak, write, or take action (or inaction). Think about what you are doing or not doing, and the message it may send to other employees. Then ask yourself, “Is this the message I really want to send?”

If the answer is no, or that you’re not sure, explore some alternative actions before taking an action that could be misconceived.