HR News & Views Blog » Communication

January 19, 2012

Are Your Workplace Policies Alienating Flexibility?

Filed under: Communication,Management Practices,Work/Life Balance — Olivia @ 12:35 pm

A couple of months ago, I blogged about ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment). For many, the thought of changing the way we work is just a little bit too “out there.” Some managers are so ingrained in the belief that if they can see their employees, they know they’re working, they can’t imagine anything else working.

The topic of flexibility is thrown around – every company thinks they provide it to their employees. Take a moment, though, to consider the policies, procedures, and tools you have in place at your organization. Do they facilitate flexibility, or do they bring it to a screeching halt?

One of my favorite blogs to read is Suzanne Lucas (aka Evil HR Lady), and yesterday’s blog was one of the best I’ve ever read. Her discussion centers around a couple of emails she received: one from an employee who is penalized by arriving to work 5 minutes late; the second is from a new manager who is concerned about their employees showing up 15-30 minutes late.

Of course, she acknowledges that in some cases, arriving late can be bad: “If your employees are nurses and the last shift can’t give report and go home until the next shift is there, then that’s a bad thing. If you’re a call center that starts taking calls at a certain time, then that’s a bad thing.”

The takeaway point is this – spend time focusing on what really matters when it comes to your employees. What kind of results do they achieve? How is their performance? Use a calm sense of reason to manage your employees. If you spend too much time watching the clock, you may find your best employees headed straight for the door.

Evil HR Lady’s Blogpost: “Stop Managing by the Clock.”

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December 15, 2011

Communication: Best Way to Prevent Fraud (and it’s Free!)

Filed under: Communication,Compliance — Olivia @ 10:45 am

Years ago when I worked as a young teller, I can remember how strict bank policy was with regard to safeguarding customers and the bank itself. The bank took care to secure its assets and protect against theft – internally as well. We practiced “dual control,” for transfers among general ledger accounts, for example. Even with those preventive measures, there were still stories around the water cooler of employees who had embezzled money from the bank.

Occupational fraud – embezzling, theft, or misuse of resources – is a concern year-round. The added pressure of holiday stress could present the missing catalyst that propels an employee to commit fraud when they otherwise might not.

Of course, you have taken precautions, such as exercising “dual control” and locking things up around the office, but Teresa Bengston writes that you may be missing something in your measures: accounting for the fact that your employees are human.

She suggests some best practices to reduce fraud, especially during the holiday season:

Communicate with your employees – Make it a point to go over policies and procedures that are in place to prevent fraud. If they see anything of concern, they should notify management. Use every channel available to communicate with employees to be sure they receive the message.
Teach employees to identify concerns among their coworkers and help them understand the true cost of fraud and how it relates to their job.
Use your Employee Assistance Program or another source to offer help to employees who are struggling – the holidays are stressful and can be more so with added financial pressure.

As the economy shows sluggish signs of a gradual recovery, no organization can afford the extra drain of fraud, especially when low to no-cost ways of helping prevent it are as simple as communication.

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November 3, 2011

Could Employees Tell You Why They Matter?

Filed under: Communication,General HR Buzz,Management Practices — Tags: motivation — Olivia @ 9:34 am

My first “real” job – aside from babysitting and a stint working at the movie theater (I still shudder at the thought of cleaning the popcorn popper!) – was at a bank. As with most young women starting out in banking, I was a teller. I had one of those bosses who had a genuine passion for his work. He had started out as a teller as well, and had progressed to branch manager over the years. He was a father of four, which undoubtedly accounted for his patience with a group of young employees.

Andy listened to what we had to say during our staff meetings, and integrated our ideas into plans to make the branch better for our customers. When it came to a misunderstanding or issue with a customer, Andy always stood up for us because he knew we were doing what we were supposed to do. He told us often how every part of our job contributed to the success of the branch.

I thought of him today when I read Patty Azarello’s blog via TLNT. She gives an example from a leadership book she read about a young man who believed his job replacing pens and deposit slips didn’t matter. She discussed a perennially-popular topic in HR: motivation. She suggests three keys to successful motivation:

“Every job matters.” As a leader, you need to understand every job in the organization, and how that job connects to the big picture.
“Make sure each employee knows why their job matters.” She writes of making time with employees to connect the dots. It is not generally apparent to a frontline employee how their job affects the business, so you have to do that for them.
“Employees who know why their work matters do a better job.” When someone knows why what they do for a company makes a difference, they can be empowered to do more.

“Helping everyone understand how the P&L works and if their job is part of the P or the L, and how their job impacts the profit, makes a big difference not only to morale, but to cost reduction, creative thinking, and innovation.”

Andy made sure that the employees he worked with knew that they mattered. What can you do today to connect the dots for your employees?

Read Patty’s blog and share your thoughts on employee motivation with us.

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November 2, 2011

Weekly Wednesday Acronym – Do You Have a BYOD Policy?

Filed under: Communication,Compensation,Compliance,General HR Buzz,Management Practices,Privacy — Joyce @ 9:40 am

Surprisingly, this is an acronym for the workplace and no, it’s not “Bring Your Own Drink”. BYOD stands for “Bring Your Own Device”. With the smartphone revolution over the past three years, more and more personal smartphones are being used for work with the lines blurring between personal and work use of mobile devices.

Why are employees bringing their own mobile devices to work? For many, it is because they are not happy with the functionality of employer-provided mobile devices. For others, it may be that they just simply prefer using their own.

Whatever the reason, employers need to review their employee communications use policy. The primary issue raised by business use of personal mobile devices and use of social media is the “privacy gap”. The employee and employer expectations need to be defined as to what should be private and who should control use of communications.

The usage policies should address the following items:

What is acceptable within your company culture in terms of reasonable expectations of privacy?
What access does the employer have to retrieve data, such as work-related emails?
Will you reimburse for work-related use of personal mobile devices? Determine the reimbursement policy, if any.
What are the system requirements? In order to be compatible with company requirements, connectivity and data security standards by the employer should be established.
What if the device is lost or stolen? Determine what will happen with the contents of the mobile device if this should happen.

Managers and employees should receive regularly training on the policy, which should be revisited at least annually. Because, as we know, technology changes frequently…and rapidly.

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October 13, 2011

Communicating Employee Benefits

Filed under: Benefits,Communication,General HR Buzz — Mike @ 2:57 pm

Your company likely invests a great deal of time and effort in evaluating, implementing, and delivering employee benefits programs. Your HR staff and benefits professionals must research the alternatives, determine what is best for the organization, and then communicate the value to the employees in a way that keeps everyone informed and satisfies the letter of the law.

Granted, summary plan descriptions are a good start, but reading one leaves me with the same feeling I have after reading the list of precautions that comes with a prescription antibiotic – do I really need this?

Employers need to evaluate whether they are truly communicating benefit information in a meaningful way – or, just checking the box. Eric Parmenter, Vice President of Consulting for HighRoad, suggests the following, “Read some of the federal guidelines on health reform and you will see what not to do. SPDs are the primary source of information for plan participants. SPDs are not just conveying the information—it’s conveying information so the audience not only understands the topic, but also understands the impact on them.”

Eric also suggests that employees must take greater responsibility for knowing the details of their benefit plans.

Read Eric’s five steps for better employee benefit communications here.

Source: FoxNews.com

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October 6, 2011

What Steve Jobs Taught Us About Leadership

Filed under: Communication,Management Practices,Work/Life Balance — Tags: Leadership, Steve Jobs — Olivia @ 8:55 am

Last night, I found out – along with the rest of the world – Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, passed away. I wasn’t watching television, or checking news sites on my computer. More fitting, I saw the posting from a news application that I accessed on my iPhone. Like most people my age, my first exposure to Mr. Jobs’ innovative and creative spirit came in the form of the Macintosh, the personal computer he created in the mid-80’s.

Steve Jobs has epitomized creativity and innovation for many of us. Author of The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs and Forbes contributor Carmine Gallo (view the video here) presented seven lessons we can learn about leadership from Steve Jobs.

Do What You Love – “Do what you believe is great work. The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking, and don’t settle.”

Put a Dent in the Universe – Jobs and Apple created a computer that everyday people would feel comfortable using: the Macintosh. He changed the way we listen to music (iTunes) and the movies we watch (Pixar) as well.

Connect Things to Spark Your Creativity – After officially dropping out, Jobs studied calligraphy in college. The course had no practical application, but he was passionate about it. Ten years later, Apple created the first computer with beautiful fonts and typeface.

Say “No” to 1,000 Things – He was proud of what Apple did, but also of what it chose not to do. Simplicity is the elimination of clutter. (One button on the iPad; no keyboard on the iPhone.)

Create Insanely Different Experiences – He innovated the customer’s experience. Apple stores have 17,000 visitors every week and make more money per square foot than most other retailers.

Master the Message – Jobs was a great “corporate storyteller.” Think visually – there were often very few words on his presentation slides. The audience will remember the message if it is connected to a picture, called “picture superiority.”

Sell Dreams, Not Products – When Apple was facing bankruptcy, he reduced the number of products they offered to better match core customers’ needs. Jobs believed if you make their dreams come true, customers will buy your products.

In 2005, Jobs delivered the commencement address to graduates at Stanford University – 15 minutes of inspiration and a thought-provoking message:

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.” Steve Jobs

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October 4, 2011

Dealing With the 10 Most Unwanted

Filed under: Communication — Olivia @ 8:58 am

Last week, I highlighted the 10 most unwanted personalities at work. (For the record, I am not going to share which one I am – the people I work with know, and I have bribed them to keep quiet!) Today, I want to discuss how to deal with those people, or anyone you come into conflict with.

Set the Meeting

So, there is a clear conflict among team members or any group in your office. Setting a meeting to discuss the situation is a great first step. Begin by notifying everyone involved of the topic of discussion in advance. Blindsiding an already agitated person will certainly not help! Find the most neutral location available for your meeting. Be sure to schedule the timing of the meeting at the most convenient as possible for all participants.

Define the Problem

This may take some time and needs to be thoughtfully considered by everyone involved. Work past the superficial issues that often mask the true issue. Get over the intense desire to get the confrontation over with as quickly as possible (or, if you’re me, trying to avoid it all together). This can add to the problem as well. Clarify the problem with active listening, summarizing others’ concerns to be sure you understand.

Solutions: Developing, Narrowing, and Choosing

When you begin this stage, think broadly about all possible solutions and encourage everyone to participate – think of this as your brainstorming session. Next, narrow the options down to real actionable choices. The options should be linked directly back to the problem. Finally, selecting the ideal solution should be workable and be able to be implemented. The individuals affected most by the decision should have participated in the earlier parts of this discussion.

Monitoring the Process

Accountability is the name of this game. Set a time and date to reconvene and discuss progress on the solution. Take a moment to celebrate the success of your team.

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September 29, 2011

Change Management: Avoid Meltdown Mode

Filed under: Communication,Management Practices — Tags: Change management, Facebook, strategy — Olivia @ 9:05 am

“Mornin’, Mama!” My two-year-old daughter says to me brightly. “Milk?” she asks. At this moment, I steel myself for her reaction when I have to explain that the milk is “all gone.” She collapses on the floor and in about 1.5 seconds, is in complete meltdown mode. This continues for an eternity (or about a minute – I can’t remember because I’ve blocked it out). Fast forward to five minutes later, and she is happily engrossed in putting her baby dolls “night, night,” and all is right with the world again.

Most adults have matured enough to react in a slightly more reserved manner when changes occur. At least, that’s what I thought before last week. If you use Facebook – and you probably do, just like 800 million others worldwide – then you know all about the updated profile and news feed changes last week. Likely spurred by the immediacy of posting status updates (an individual’s stream of consciousness in some cases), I got to read exactly what everyone thought of those changes.

TLNT’s Lance Haun wrote a great blog this week demonstrating that the reactions to Facebook’s changes highlight universal concerns that are applicable to the workplace. Following is a great quote:

“Large swaths of people will initially hate all change. While something changing on Facebook should be inconsequential to life in general, we know that large groups of people will react negatively to this. Think about that when we add in the fact that work is how we make our livelihood, and changes at work can be much more traumatic. Even if politics or culture won’t let them openly express it at work, you should know that any change is going to be hated by many folks.”

Suggestions for a change management strategy:

Create a Vision. What are goals that must be achieved? Draft goals that can be completed within three years, then break them down into smaller, one year goals.
Communication. Not enough, unclear, or inconsistent communication will hinder any change in the organization. Utilize multiple avenues to communicate the change effort.
Empowerment. Sometimes, managers themselves are a hindrance to the change strategy. Employees and leaders must be empowered to make the changes
Short-term Wins. Improvements and completed objectives along the way create and maintain a sense of momentum and urgency for employees. Make sure some of the goals are short-term.
Planning for More Change. The momentum gained from short-term wins will give employees and leaders incentive to address bigger projects and problems that are not in line with the change strategy.

On my news feed at least, upset over the Facebook changes has largely gone away. At home, my two-year-old has long forgotten about milk. We adjust to change because it is inevitable. However, we can make life easier for everyone – including ourselves – if we take a proactive approach to change.

How do you handle change? Comment below and share it with us!

Read This! Think People Have a Tough Time with Change? Just Ask Facebook

Facebook Changes: Is Everyone Really Happy to Accept it?

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September 22, 2011

The X Factor: Are We the Forgotten Generation?

Filed under: Communication,General HR Buzz — Tags: Generation X — Olivia @ 10:53 am

By now, we all know that in the workplace, we are faced with multiple generations trying to get along. Each time a new article or blog appears telling me how I can relate to Generation Y, I become just a bit more apathetic. But wait, that’s a defining characteristic of our generation, right? We didn’t have helicopter parents; most of us lived in households where both our parents worked or single-parent homes.

Generation X could be regarded as the forgotten “middle child:” sandwiched between the firstborn achievers, the Baby Boomers and the gold-star loving Generation Y babies of the family. Our generation is the smallest in the workforce today: a mere 46 million compared to the 78 million Baby Boomers and 70 million Generation Y employees. In spite of that fact, a new report lends some credence to the assertion that Generation X may be the most critical generation of all. The non-profit Center for Work-Life Study released a report this week entitled The X Factor: Tapping Into the Strength of the 33- to 46-Year Old Generation.

Key Findings:

43 percent of women are delaying or opting out of having children.
Ambition is gender-neutral: 75 percent of women and 72 percent of men consider themselves ambitious.
Debt determines many Generation Xers’ career choices.
41 percent of Xers say they are unhappy with their level of advancement, having been thwarted by Baby Boomers that have not retired and threatened by Generation Y.
The “slacker” generation enrolled and graduated college in record numbers: over a third hold bachelor’s degrees and 11 percent hold graduate degrees.

According to the press release, the study was “comprised of virtual strategy sessions, ten focus groups, one-on-one interviews, and a survey of 2,952 U.S. college-educated men and women in white collar occupations.”

“Xers may have become accustomed to being invisible but ‘the X Factor’ proves that no company can afford to ignore them now.”

Where were you the first time you heard this?

To quote Kurt: “Here we are now, entertain us.”

September 20, 2011

The 10 Most Unwanted at Work: Are You one of Them?

Filed under: Communication,General HR Buzz — Olivia @ 3:22 pm

We all encounter difficult people, sometimes it seems that is all we come across. Most of the difficult people we come into contact with are in the place we spend most of our time – work. Dr. Rick Brinkman and Dr. Rick Kirschner are authors of Dealing With People You Can’t Stand. They identify 10 types of difficult people:

1. The Tank. She rolls right over you, or anyone else who gets in her way. This person bullies and attacks others and their ideas.

2. The Grenade. Silent one moment, exploding the next – that is this guy’s modus operandi. The explosion itself is all-encompassing and he rants about issues that are rarely the immediate concern.

3. The Sniper. A not-so-subtle roll of the eyes, biting sarcasm, or talking behind your back are tactics this person uses – all designed to make herself look better than you do.

4. The Know-It-All. Don’t even think about contradicting this person! He knows everything, just ask him. Rest assured he’ll blame you when things go wrong.

5. The Think-They-Know-It-All. A legend in her own mind, she can fool some of the people all of the time. She is great at pretending she knows it all to get attention.

6. The No Person. Imagine spending all your working hours with a two-year-old, and you’ll have a good idea what dealing with him is like. He has ONE word in his vocabulary, “NO!”

7. The Yes Person. She is always swamped, because all she says is “Yes.” This person is so overcommitted that it is sometimes impossible to get her to actually complete a project.

8. The Maybe Person. You can never get him to commit to anything. He waits so long to make a decision, the decision makes itself.

9. The Nothing Person. This person’s response is not yes, no, or maybe. You get nothing from her.

10. The Whiner. Misery loves company, and there is plenty to share when this person is around. Everyone is out to get this person, and he is constantly overwhelmed.

By this point, if you are past the denial point of believing that you do not fit into any of these categories yourself, come back next week for some tips to deal with these personalities – even if it’s you!

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