Employee Burnout

As a result of the weak economy, employers downsize, oftentimes creating a "domino effect" that is easily visible to organization and employee both. In response to the loss of personnel, the organization reassigns job duties. The existing employee experiences an increase in the workload. Hand in hand with the increase in workload comes stress and burnout for the employee. The organization experiences reduction in work hours due to increased employee absenteeism, tardiness and reduced productivity. Additionally, employee burnout can be visibly felt by other employees thereby lowering team morale.

Stress in the workplace can be hurtful to both employees and organizations as employees loose interest in their jobs, feel tired and depressed. Morale can be the fuel that drives an organization forward or the fuel that feeds the fires of employee discontent, poor performance, and absenteeism (Ewton, 2007).

CareerBuilder’s annual survey on absenteeism shows 29% of workers have played hooky from the office at least once this year. Let's be honest. Yes, we have all done it. The survey states that 27% of employers think they are seeing an “increase in bogus sick excuses from employees due to continued stress and burnout caused by the weak economy.”

Here's how employers are responding:

• 29% reported they have checked up on an employee who called in sick.
• 16% said they’ve fired a worker for missing work without a proven excuse.
• Of the employers who checked up on an employee, 70% said they required the employee to show them a doctor’s note.
• 50% called the employee at home.
• 18% had another worker call the employee, and,
• 15% drove by the employee's house or apartment.

To help employees avoid burnout, insist employees use their vacation / PTO time. Try to reduce overtime. If overtime is required, try to give as much advance notice as possible. Give the employee a "mental health day."

Email Communication & "Netiquette"

During the drive into work this morning I was, as always, listening to my favorite radio station. This morning a listener phoned in with a rather unique dilemma. She had received (erroneously) an email from her Corporate Human Resources Department with an attachment that contained the salaries of all her co-workers. Ouch. (And shame to HR!) It seems as though she shared the same last name as the intended recipient. This issue aside, do you practice email “Netiquette?”

Ninety two percent of Internet users in the United States use email. That's a huge number since 73% of those living in the U.S. use the Internet (Information Please® Database, Pearson Education, Inc., 2008). At 92%, the potential for workplace email faux pas is tremendous. So what can you do to avoid potential errors?

1. Avoid being quick on the trigger. Remember that you can’t recall an email that has been sent in haste. It can’t be “unsent.”
2. Re-read your emails before sending them out, it could be a life-saver in the end.
3. Fill in the “to” section last to avoid sending the email prematurely or to the wrong party.

A couple of other email issues come to mind:

Is it possible for the message to be lost in a cloud of “fluff?” Yes! Try to be concise and clear with the message you wish to convey. Is the information that you mean to include in the email actually there? Did you answer all the questions thereby pre-empting further questions?

Can someone be offended by your “tone” in an email? Yes! Intent and meaning are hard to convey since the recipient receives only the words. They have no clue as to your frame of mind, or mood, at the time you wrote the email. And please, do not write in CAPITALS, no one wants to hear you SCREAM.

Is it possible to be too casual in an email? Yes! Avoid using the texting shorthand that has become so popular. Written communications are becoming short and abbreviated due to the increase in texting, Twitter, etc. This texting shorthand is a language tailored more for IM'g than email. Also, please use a salutation in your email, and maybe a closing. A courteous greeting may make your email less demanding and terse.

My rule of thumb has always been that, if it’s a business email, be professional. Avoid those little smiley faces. And, use spell check! Remember, your correspondence says a lot about you. Good or bad!

Pre-Employment "Testing"

There are personality tests and aptitude (cognitive) tests. There are personality tests that tell you "which side of the brain you use more." Reportedly they “minimize the high cost of employee turnover”.

Career Builder offers career and personality testing such as The Job Discovery Wizard - “discover what jobs are a match for you based on your skills with the Job Discovery Wizard.” The Career Planner Quiz - “Get a snapshot of jobs that are a fit for you. Use this insight for planning for a career or if you are considering switching jobs.” There is also the Career Planner Report and the Job Satisfaction Quiz.

My question to you - are these tests truly an effective measure of a person’s mental ability or potential?

Now there is another test for use in the pre-employment process, the Color Career Test. It uses color preference to determine which career path will be successful for an individual.

I poked around on one website. It was rather entertaining and provided a rather unique perspective. Before you read any further, take a look at the color options below and choose the one that best fits your personality!

1. Orange
2. Gold
3. Green
4. Blue
5. Red

Now that you have picked your "personality" color, read the below to see what the professionals say about you.

Orange:
The color is related to energy, strength and power. Your preferred choice of orange shows you are a fighter. You love to win (okay – who doesn’t?). You are a competitor. You are considered more suitable for careers in sports, architecture and engineering. Color personality tests term you as an energetic motivator.

Gold:
Represents loyalty and responsibility. If it’s your primary choice, you are an organizer. You love a peaceful environment. You value work and service-oriented tasks. You have a greater degree of performance, stability and orderliness.

Green:
Represents persistent, decisive and resistant state of mind. You are considered assertive. You care very little for feelings and focus on the available information before making a decision. They consider you to be suitable for careers in science, research, accounts and auditing.

Blue:
Calmness. With it as your primary color, you are considered creative, balanced and harmonious. You avoid too many conflicting opinions. You are peaceful and possess a developed aesthetic sense. You are considered suitable for careers in art, music and literature.

Red:
The color excites. It is associated with enthusiasm, strength and competitiveness. You love and hate with a certain degree of intensity. You are courageous. You are considered better for careers in surgery, emergency medical services, athletics, etc. You can communicate well and tend to be talkative. When you start listening to others, you can solve problems with others.

Aren't we better judges of our career choices than a psychological instrument?

What do you think?

The "No Asshole Rule" Part II

The Ivey Business Journal (November/December 2003) defines workplace bullying as "status-blind interpersonal hostility that is deliberate, repeated and sufficiently severe as to harm the targeted person's health or economic status".

While I hate to do this, let's remove the "people" from the equation for a moment and focus on the economic impact to the organization. The Orlando Business Journal cited an estimated cost of $180M in lost time and productivity to American businesses each year. The Workplace Bullying Institute estimates that between turnover and lost productivity, a bully could cost a Fortune 500 company an astounding $24,000,000; then add another $1.4 million for litigation and settlement costs.

Employers have begun to consider the impact of negative emotional behavior on work productivity. When people feel mistreated and are dissatisfied with their jobs, they are unwilling to do extra work (discretionary effort) to help their organization. Employees experience a significant loss of motivation. Employers see increased absenteeism and turnover, expend time reorganizing departments, interviewing, recruiting and training the replacements for the victims and/or bullies that are no longer with the company. Then there's the potential legal costs; settlement fees, legal fees associated with counsel. Increased health insurance or worker's compensation as a result of stress, EAP's, etc.

In The No Asshole Rule, Robert Sutton sites a study completed by Frank J. Smith in the late 1970s. The industrial psychologist demonstrated the power of work attitude on "discretionary effort" in a study of three thousand employees at the Sears headquarters in Chicago. "Smith found that attitudes didn't predict which employees were absent from work until the day a crippling snowstorm hit Chicago. On that day, when employees had a good excuse to stay home, employees who were more satisfied with their supervision and other parts of the job were far more likely to make the tough commute into work than those that were dissatisfied. When I am stuck working for, or with, a bunch of assholes, I don't go out of my way to help, But when I admire my superiors and colleagues, I'll go to extreme lengths."

Oftentimes bullying is poorly understood. But face it, it affects the overall "health" of an organization. Eliminate bullying in your organization. Have your managers and supervisors examine their own behavior to ensure they aren't engaging in inadvertent bullying behavior. Communicate to your employees that bullying will not be tolerated. Tell employees who are being bullied to report it to management immediately.

The "No Asshole Rule"

The title is rather eye-catching isn't it? I was browsing the business section of Barnes & Noble Bookseller recently, specifically looking at books relating to Human Resource issues, and I ran across this little gem. Curious, I picked up the book and read the inside cover. It's "the definitive guide to working with - and surviving - bullies, creeps, jerks, tyrants, tormentors, despots, backstabbers, egomaniacs, and all the other assholes who do their best to destroy you at work."

Bullying in the workplace has become a hot topic over the past few years. It's something that no longer happens in just the schoolyard. Bullying can be covert or overt as described by Tim Field (see the "Serial Bully"). "Bullies are deeply prejudiced but at the same time sufficiently devious to not reveal their prejudices to the extent that they contravene laws on harassment and discrimination."

On July 30, 2010 at the University of Virginia, the 52 year old managing editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review committed suicide. Co-workers said they had "warned" university officials about his growing despair over workplace bullying.

Is this an isolated incident? Perhaps not. Workplace Bullying is a problem because it has invaded the life of 37% adult Americans. It disrupts the persons' immediate job and career. In its more severe forms, it can trigger stress-related health complications. Complications such as hypertension, auto-immune disorders, depression, anxiety and even PTSD.

As an employer, how do you identify Workplace Bullying? Workplace Bullying is defined as repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators that takes one, or more, of the following forms: verbal abuse, offensive conduct/behavior (including nonverbal) which are threatening, humiliating or intimidating. And, last but not least, work interference - sabotage - which prevents work from getting done.

There is a grass-roots movement in many states to pass anti-bullying laws. "Workers' rights advocates have been campaigning for years to get states to enact laws against workplace bullying, and in May they scored their biggest victory. The New York state senate passed a bill that would let workers sue for physical, psychological or economic harm due to abusive treatment on the job. 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." (Time Magazine, July 21, 2010)

Are the courts taking notice? Yes. In 2008, the Indiana Supreme Court struck a blow against workplace bullying when it upheld a $325,000 verdict against a cardiovascular surgeon. A medical technician who operated a heart and lung machine during surgery accused the surgeon of charging at him with clenched fists, screaming and swearing. The formal legal claims were intentional inflection of emotional distress and assault, but the plaintiff argued it as a bullying case, and had an expert on workplace bullying testify at trial.

Check back with me for Part II!

Social Networking Sites & Recruiting

On August 25, 2010, the Associated Press reported that a German law has been drafted making it illegal for prospective employers to spy on applicants' private postings. This draft law is the government's latest attempt to address privacy concerns about online services including networks. Under the proposed law, employers will still be allowed to run a search on the web on their applicants. Posting on networks specifically created for business contacts such as Linkedin won't be prohibited. But in contrast, it "will become illegal to become a Facebook friend with an applicant in order to access private details."

According to CareerBuilder, out of more than 2,600 hiring managers, 45% reported using social networking sites to research job candidates' backgrounds. The hiring managers either verified, or supplemented, information provided on the resumes. Social media's integration into the workplace is a growing trend. Job boards are growing and the social media is being used as an extension to the recruiting process. Companies are looking for new, cost-effective ways to recruit new talent.

But there are legal pitfalls in using social media in the recruiting process. While readily available, social media and the information available to employers has the potential to lead to discriminatory hiring practices. Laws prohibit bias based on race, color, religion, sex, nationality and age, as well as prohibit employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities.

Social media such as Facebook provides a basic profile on all users. Easily accessible in the profile is personal information that you can't ask in an interview - race, religion, sexual orientation, relationship status, etc. The accessibility of this information creates a multitude of compliance issues. You have found the information on the internet. It's public knowledge. Now that you have the information, what do you do with it? Once you, as an employer, become aware of this information, how do you eliminate the protected information from the hiring decision? Does this information impact your decision?

Some companies recognize the potential misuse of the information and are taking steps to safeguard the integrity of their recruiting process. In 2009, Amegy Bank of Texas developed a policy prohibiting the use of social networking sites during the hiring process. To enforce the policy, Amergy's internet system blocks all social networking sites.

A report, Jobvite Social Recruiting Survey 2010, is based on an online survey by 600 participants between May and June. The social networking site most used by companies for recruiting is Linkedin (78%), followed by Facebook (55%).

Facebook? Obviously social media's involvement in job recruiting is more than just hype.

But the debate continues regarding the use of social networking sites during the hiring process. Is it possible to filter the information that is visible on an individuals' social networking site? Can you prove that you did not use protected information in the hiring decision.

Reinventing Human Resources

Employees are often confused by exactly what HR does, or is supposed to do. Managers transfer employees to the HR department because they don’t know what to do with the “bad” employees. HR runs to the handbook for everything. HR is the “hammer.” HR is the “bad guy.” I think I have heard it all. Realistically - HR is viewed as a pain in the butt. All those rules, regulations and policies. Sorry, we’re not here to make your life hard. But I guess it looks that way.

Human Resources has traditionally been a tactile, administrative function with responsibilities such as benefits, payroll, recruiting and lots and lots of paperwork. This is all secondary to enforcing policies and procedures. While one of the roles is to represent employees, HR additionally keeps the best interests of the organization in mind.

But the role of HR is changing. The HR department in most companies now has a more active, strategic role in an organization. However, HR needs to maintain that “customer service” frame of mind to truly meet the needs of both the organization and its employees.

So let’s talk about reinventing your HR department.

Step One:
Begin to look at employees and managers as your business partners/customers and Human Resources as a service center. Know who your customers are – people are the key to the success of any organization. Know the key areas of improvement that are required in your organization. If you don’t know – you are not in touch with your customers! Have group discussions with the departments and/or teams and ask one single question: “How can HR be your partner?” Remember, you are there to deliver service whether it’s to an employee, a manager or a supervisor. You’re running a business, a “people” business.

Step Two:
Human Resources should be viewed as a friendly, helpful department, so make any interaction a positive experience. Hold yourself accountable for improved “customer service” for the organization. Be accountable for what you said you would do. Regularly assess the attitudes of the organization’s managers and employees. Follow up with your customers on a timely basis. Ensure that each individual feels he/she are valued by the organization.

Step three:
Become an advocate for the managers in your organization. Managers are given the most vital resource in the organization – its people. Mentor, coach and support the managers, assisting them to become leaders to the people they work with. So many problems with workplace productivity can be traced back to management issues and/or lack of management training. Managers are often overworked and stressed out. As a result, they may overlook the needs of their own staff. HR can assist both the employees and the manager in forming healthy departments and developing enhanced communication.

Step four:
Be proactive versus reactive. Head problems off before they become problems. Yes, this may require a bit of creativity on your part – but use common sense. And communicate. Use face-to-face meetings, emails, whatever it takes. There are so many ways to ensure that good clear communication happens. Be out there and foster communication within the organization. By maintaining open lines of communication with your business partners, you will be able to create trust and credibility. Remember to always, always follow-through on your commitments.

Step five:
Make the change and ensure that the change has a positive effect on the organization. Change is often hard to sell. While you may have a seat at the table, make sure you have earned it. Make sure you know the business, know your customers. Connect with both! Talk and walk company values and assist the managers and employees in aligning with those values.

I read the following line somewhere. I don’t remember where, but I’d like to borrow it for this blog: “Build a relationship first, do business second.”

My on-going thanks to Mrs. Emily McGowan for her proof-reading services.