Insubordination

We have all heard the term "insubordination," an employee's willful disregard for a supervisor's direct orders.  But what does insubordination really mean?  How do you determine whether insubordination has occurred and what should you do about it?  Simply complaining about an assignment does not constitute insubordination. 

Insubordination can be active or passive.  Active insubordination may be the refusal to do something, challenging the directive, confrontational behavior, the use of abusive language or even physical violence.  Passive insubordination may be exhibited by the employee's willing failure to complete a task. 

To prove insubordination you must establish three important elements:

1. It has to be recognized as a direct order. 
2. The employee received and understood the order.
3. The employee refused to obey the order through an explicit statement of refusal or through nonperformance.  

A few words of caution.  Before any claims of insubordination are raised, take a moment to:

1. Assess how the order was issued.  It can't be a suggestion.  Whether verbal or written, did it clearly communicate the who, where, what and when? 
2. To establish insubordination, the order must relate to work being performed.  Always validate that the order was reasonable.
3. Could other factors influence the employee's actions?  Perhaps the employee did not willfully intend to disobey.  Does the employee have a pattern of unacceptable behavior?
4. An employee has the right to refuse an order if they are being asked to do something illegal or dangerous, or in violation of a published safety rule. 
5. The employee must be told that failure to perform the task/assignment is grounds for disciplinary action on the basis of insubordination.
6. Allow employee adequate time to comply with order before discipline is imposed.  You can't ask an employee to complete a 2 hour task in 30 minutes.

Abusive language by employees towards supervisors can also be considered insubordination.  However, you must always consider the context in which the incident occurred.  To confirm that an employee was engaged in insubordination, the abusive language:

1. Was not provoked by the manager.
2. Occurred in the presence of other employees or customers.
3. Was not an example of "shop talk" in the workplace.

While our first reaction to insubordination may be to fire the employee immediately, allow a cooling off period.  Take the time to review your disciplinary policy. Review the employee's past history. Carefully consider all the facts, all the actions, prior to punishing the employee.   On occasion employee insubordination can be attributed to a breakdown in communication.   While termination may still be the correct course of action, you'll have all your facts in place.   
 

Is Your Office Hazardous To Your Health?

The personal injury law firm of Brent & Adams Associates released a list of the most common worker's comp-worth maladies:

• Repetitive stress injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome
• Lifting injuries
• Slip and fall injuries
• Injuries resulting from tripping on stairs or loose carpeting.
• Deep-vein thrombosis, caused by prolonged sitting.
• Strains from bending or falling out of unstable desk chairs.

Who knew that working in an office environment could be so hazardous? 

When people think of occupational safety and health needs, they picture dangers around constructions sites or factories.  However, office workers face many unique challenges to their safety and health.  As an employer you should provide your employees with training and education to improve their workplace safety and health.  Need a resource?  Look to OSHA for guidance.

Summer Workers

CareerBuilder's annual Summer Job Forecast shows that the summer's hiring expectations reflect a continued improvement over the years immediately following the recession.  Nearly three in 10 employers report plans to hire seasonal workers.  That's an increase from an average of 21% (2008 - 2011) to 29%.

Most likely to hire seasonal workers:

• 47% leisure and hospitality
• 34% manufacturing
• 34% IT
• 33% retail

Employee Absenteeism

When I mention measuring employee absenteeism the first thing that comes to your mind is firing employees because they missed too many days at work.  Right?  Well, maybe it shouldn't.  You can measure absenteeism for many purposes including workforce planning, lost wages and reduced productivity.  But can you also use it to measure employee morale?

Employee absenteeism is a major concern for employers.  Yes, there is oftentimes a sense of entitlement in the workplace that it's okay to be absent.   And where there is an excessive pattern, or a trend in the days the employee is absent, then it is time to take action. But, we also need to acknowledge that people get sick.  In those situations where you perceive a pattern of excessive absenteeism is developing, I highly recommend a discussion with the employee in order to determine if there is a potential FMLA, ADA issue to be addressed.

Absenteeism can be due to a variety of reasons.  If an employee is stressed about their workload, this may manifest itself through absenteeism.  Stress with the job routine and/or job satisfaction, the environment (cold, hot, noise) even with management (style, personality traits).  If stress is a factor, you need to discuss strategies to resolve the stressor.  If one employee is experiencing stress, perhaps others are as well.  We all have more to do and less time to do it in today's business environment.

In those instances where there appears to be an unacceptable level of absenteeism:

1. Meet with the employee.
2. Express your concern.
3. Provide the employee with an opportunity to explain themselves.

Some random statistics for you:

According to a 2012 global workforce survey, "highly engaged employees have lower 'presenteeism' (lost productivity at work) and less absenteeism than disengaged employees. The former lose an average of 7.6 days per year to presenteeism, compared with an average 14.1 days for the disengaged employees....

According to a 2010 Metlife report, "employees with eldercare responsibilities were more likely to report missed days of work. This was driven by the much higher absenteeism among younger caregiving employees, ages 18 to 39. Overall, 9% of non-caregivers missed at least one day of work over the past...

According to a 2009 survey by the National Alliance for Caregiving, "over seven in ten caregivers were employed at some time when they were caregiving (73%). Among them, two-thirds (66%) have gone in late, left early, or taken time off during the day to deal with caregiving issues (66%). One in five...

Territorial Behavior in Employees

When we were children we were taught to share our toys.  Through sharing we learned patience (waiting our turn), problem solving (who gets to play with what) and social skills (discussing and reaching solutions). 

Now, let's fast-forward a few years into the work environment where one of the most important assets any organization has is the combined knowledge and expertise of its employees.  "Combined knowledge" would infer that information is shared in the workplace.  Where information is not shared, information silos develop having a profound effect on your ability to develop a cooperative work environment.

So, why do some employees guard information so carefully?    On a very basic level, its job security.    If knowledge is power, sharing knowledge is a loss of power.  Company information is seen as intellectual property for the individual. Territorial employees control the flow of information in an effort to make themselves irreplaceable.    If the employee feels threatened, he/she may become territorial and retain information or information is meted out in meager portions.  Be observant.  Territorial behavior isn't restricted to only employees.  It can be observed between managers and even departments. 

End your turf wars.   Work with your employees to foster an environment of sharing. 

Safeguard the Front Door

Great title, right?  In response to my recent blog on Candidate References, an associate forwarded an article to me for my reading pleasure.  While I can't identify who wrote it or when, I felt I needed to share a portion of it.  He/she did a fabulous job in writing this.  So, here goes .. .

"Rule one in minimizing risky behavior is to prevent questionable job candidates from ever becoming employees.  It isn't enough to study resumes closely; studies have shown that over 50% of them contain inaccuracies.  Basic controls include employment and background checks.  As a recent example, a simple background check would have saved the Yahoo board the trouble of ousting Scott Thompson, the company's fourth CEO in five years, because he falsely claimed a computer science degree.  A growing number of companies conduct behavioral and honesty testing to screen employees."

Paperwork people.  It's all about paperwork.