Who's Checking Up On You?

Many of you do background checks before you hire people. Now, job seekers are doing background checks on companies before they decide to accept a job. By going to websites, such as Jobster, LinkedIn, and Vault, they can find candid comments from current or past employees about your company or organization. And, they can contact individuals to delve into more details. Jobster is averaging about 600 postings about various companies each week.

This obviously can work both ways, depending on how your employees feel about you and what they may have posted. Some of the comments are really blunt. People can get the real scoop about company culture, salaries, dress codes, and the interview process. This should get you thinking about firing any toxic managers who are driving people out the door. These sites can also encourage people to apply, if there are many positive comments. The unfortunate thing is that people’s comments are often their perception and may not be the actual truth. And, of course, some just have an axe to grind.

Speaking English Only

My seminar on "Immigrant and Ethnic Workers" as you can imagine, is keeping me very busy these days. Since many of you are using a large number of immigrant workers, pay attention to this, and discuss it with those that do the hiring. In 2000, just under 18% of our population or about 45 million people spoke a language other than English at home. About 10 million spoke little or no English.

With this in mind, realize that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is closely watching hiring decisions based on language requirements. National origin and language discrimination lawsuits are rising. If you don't hire someone based on an accent, it better be for a job where that accent is interfering with their ability to communicate in English which is critical (i.e English teacher, air controller) to the position. Don't impose a language fluency standard that is too high for the position for which they are applying. Don't create blanket policies for the same fluency on all jobs, when some jobs do not need it. Also, be careful about the English only rules you create. These rules are only allowed by the courts in certain narrow situations, where employees must communicate with customers, co-workers, and bosses that speak English only.

Get Rid Of Those Time Vampires

In my time management seminar, "How To Manage Your Time When You Wear Too Many Hats" I talk about your biggest time wasters and those time vampires--people or things that suck the productivity out of you. Try running a contest to get rid of them. Make it a short contest, over just a few days, so the contest in itself does not become a time waster. Ask your employees for suggestions on which are the worst time vampires, such as wasted meetings, useless training, senseless time wasting reports, stupid needless systems, dumb processes, etc. Ask them specifically why and how it wastes time, and how the policy, process, or system needs to be changed to make people more productive, and in effect, happier. Then have people vote on which was the best suggestion. Pay a reward for the best suggestion, and then make the specific changes. Let everyone know the change came as a result of their input. You not only have helped people to be more productive, you have also shown them their opinion is important and that their opinion counts.

You Never Told Me

Did you ever stop to think of how many times you have had informal conversations with employees where you gave them quick, corrective feedback? How many of these situations do you document? You observe an employee doing something that you must correct on-the-spot, you tell them, and move on. You need to rethink those situations. Documentation can be crucial in a lawsuit, even if it is a very brief encounter. Simply create a quick memo and give it to the employee, keeping a copy for their file. Of course, you can do it by e-mail, but they can say they never got it. Cover yourself! You will never have to worry about an employee saying that it was just informal conversation of no consequence, or just a chat between friends.

What To Do With The Runner-Up?

Sometimes we have a difficult decision when making a choice between two good people on who gets promoted. If you have two people who expect the promotion, the one who doesn't get it is going to end up with hurt feelings, be de-motivated, and possibly quit. What do you do? You must sit down face to face with the employee not chosen and given them the reason for not being picked. Assure them that there are chances for advancement in the future. Suggest the types of training that will give them the knowledge and skills to move up the ladder. Create a career plan, setting some goals, so they can get to the next levels. Let them know of other future opportunities that will come up. If you show that you are genuinely interested in their future, the chances of them leaving are greatly diminished.

Fear of Empowerment

In my seminars, people often mix-up delegation and empowerment. Delegation is giving your people tasks, projects to do that you don't have the time, interest, or know-how to do. Empowerment, on the other hand, is giving people the authority and responsibility to make suggestions, but also to take action on their own when no supervisor or manager is there. For both, you need training and communication. If your people are truly empowered to make a decision, they should not have to find someone above them to get permission for that decision. Many managers who are control freaks are afraid to empower people. They feel they must be in on every decision. Stop controlling and start empowering.

If you want to empower people, then take away fear, especially the fear of making mistakes. If you come down hard on people for making mistakes, they won't want to make any decisions on their own again. They will wait for you to make them all. That does not mean we accept mistakes. We make mistakes a teachable moment, a time for training and retraining. Bad judgment is discussed in detail, so the employee can handle the situation in a better manner the next time. If you treat your people right and with respect, they will bounce back and do it right the next time.

Mentoring Squared

Here is a great idea for getting new employees up and running. Give every new employee two mentors. One should be a person who has been on board a long time and really knows the ropes. This person gives them the overall view of the company, company mission, service philosophy, management philosophy, etc. The other mentor is someone who has been with the company no more than three years, and can take the person under their wing and give them the lowdown on everyday stuff. The important thing is to get new people to understand quickly how things get done, so they can rapidly fit into the culture. Companies that we have implemented this technique with say that they saw turnover drop by at least 30%, and found that new employees were more productive and happier.

Ain't Nobody's Business But My Own--Or Is It?

How far can you go in regulating your employees' off-duty behavior without being sued? This question came up in my recent seminar on “Turning Around Turnover.” Be aware that 28 states and D.C. all have laws prohibiting you from preventing employees from engaging in lawful activities, such as drinking and smoking. Here’s the acid test: Does your employee’s behavior threaten your company in any way financially or legally? Does your employee’s behavior compromise proprietary material? If not, you may have a hard time trying to defend yourself in a lawsuit.

Make your determination on how their out-of-work behavior affects their performance while at work. If they are convicted of drunken driving or theft, then it may be a different story, especially if they drive for you or handle money. Check your state’s laws and discuss the situation with legal counsel before taking action.

Things You Need To Know About Firing People

One of the hardest problems for managers, supervisors, and business owners is firing someone. Here are some important things to help make it easier and protect you and your company. When firing someone, make sure to have a witness present. After the conversation is over, type up a memo for the witness to sign. In some cases lawsuits are unavoidable, but here are some things that may lessen your chances of a lawsuit (I am not giving legal advice): First maintain your composure. These situations can become heated, even violent. Your anger will not help the situation. Above all, don’t fire anyone in front of others (except the witness), and don’t denigrate the employee in any way.

The firing should not come as a surprise. If the employee violated a company policy or broke laws, they should have been aware of these policies through handbooks and training. If the firing is a result of behavior over a period of time, they should have been warned, verbally and in writing. They should have received regular feedback and performance reviews with suggestions for how to improve. Use probation and suspension whenever possible before firing.

Watch your wording. Sometimes people feel bad for the person being fired so they soften it by telling them about the good aspects of their performance. This should have been done during performance reviews, not during the firing. If you sugar coat it too much, they may remember what you said and,use it as a basis for wrongful termination.

Finally, don’t discuss the firing with other employees. This is between you and the departing employee. If you discuss it, the word often gets back to the fired person. You leave yourself open to a defamation or slander lawsuit.

We Want To Get But Not Give

What a dilemma! We all want to get information from references, but we do not want to give out information about former employees. Most people are afraid of legal action. You probably won’t have problems, as long as you stick to the truth and only discuss information pertinent to the job. Don’t give out any false information, where you slander the applicant. Don’t divulge information that is confidential or personal, or reveals protected characteristics. Finally, don’t mislead inquirers about a dangerous person. This is one you should check with your attorney about. If you hold back information about a violent person or make them seem really great, you could be in for a negligent hiring referral lawsuit.

How Bizarre Can Things Get?

Just when you think things can't get more bizarre....It seems that those that hire illegal aliens have something else to worry about. If you hire illegals, your firm can actually be sued under the RICO Act by another competitor, because hiring illegals reduces your cost and results in unfair competition. Yes, companies can sue competitors who hire illegal aliens. Imagine your competitor spying on you so they can prosecute you! It happened between two cleaning companies, and the Federal Second Circuit Court upheld it. Convictions and penalties under the RICO Act can easily put you out of business--especially if you are a small business.

Truth & Lies On Applications

I received many e-mails about this, so I thought I would give you a few hiring tips. Many candidates often leave out items on an application. Let them know they must fill out the entire application to be considered. There can be no gaps in employment, unless they can provide an explanation. Get at least five to seven years of employment history.

Job title and responsibilities, salary, and education credentials are areas where most lies are found. People also lie about criminal convictions. You can certainly verify the first two with references. Education and convictions can be verified with a background check. Have them prove their education with copies of degrees, certificates, and licenses. If they claim a place went out of business that they worked for, have them prove it with performance appraisals and pay stubs. When a candidate is a finalist, then do your background and reference checks.

Keeping The Best-Losing the B.M.W.'s

You need to have someone at your organization who is in charge of preventing turnover. Let's take this a step further... There are people who are really important to your firm, who would be difficult to replace. Have you identified them? Have whoever is in charge of preventing talent flight sit down with department managers and supervisors to identify the people you should keep. Then have each of them prepare an actual plan to prevent those employees from leaving. Think: what's is it going to take to assure that this person will stay with us? Obviously, you must know what motivates that individual. If you don't know, you need to ask them. Pay attention to those key motivators, and be sure you are doing what it takes to retain your best people.

You might be thinking, what about the b.m.w.'s (bare minimum workers) who feel they are being ignored? That's good! Maybe the b.m.w.'s will get the hint and move on.

Motivating Those BMW's

In my seminars I use the phrase BMW's to describe those bare minimum workers or those who are unmotivated. They are close to retirement and become masters of the minimal. They have been on the job for twenty plus years, and won't advance in position or salary, and they feel they have accomplished everything they can. They do just enough to get by. You would be hard pressed to terminate them because you have been giving them satisfactory reviews for years, and it would only create legal problems. What can you do about it?

Try making them a mentor to a new, young employee. This could give them a spark, and they may be flattered with the new responsibility and feel very important. I have seen people really come alive when they become a mentor, and they give it their all. You may want to ask them to assist in classroom training in some areas, as long as they have the communication and interpersonal skills. Also, try putting aside their regular duties, and give them special projects with a bonus incentive. If all else fails, sit down with them, and explain to them that you are concerned about their last years at the company, and want to be sure they are productive and happy. Ask them, what kind of work would they like to do more of that would give them job satisfaction.

What Workers Want

A majority of workers say an effective boss stands up for them, and backs them when needed. The best way to develop loyalty is to promote your employees' point of view, show respect and value for your staff, and limit gossip and politics through effective communication. Also, encourage your workers to develop their skills.

A survey done by Ajilon Finance, a specialty staffing and recruiting firm, supports this. Ajiolon found that people who stay in the same job for a long time, like their work, their boss, and their co-workers (no surprise here). They found that workers who feel respected are not looking for new jobs and are more productive. When they are unhappy, they are not productive, and spend time thinking about or looking for other work. Companies should invest in their people through training, rewards, and incentives to keep them.

Putting One Over On You

More and more HR Directors are finding fake degrees listed on resumes from mail order schools none of us ever heard of, except in advertisements. These mills are a cottage industry, doing very well. This is so easy to check out, that if they put this one over on you, you almost deserve it. Do a background check on the person and find out what they really did during the time they said they were attending college. You can also get a list of accredited schools through the accrediting agencies. Please realize that there are colleges where students don't attend, and do everything by computer and mail, that are legitimate and accredited.

Rank & Yank

When you do a performance appraisal, be careful about ranking employees. I know some of you do this because some of my clients have told me that they do it. The problem is that older employees (older by age not term of service) tend to be ranked the lowest. These people are often put on probation with the threat of firing. They fight back by suing for age discrimination. Goodyear and Sprint have been hit with these lawsuits. Ford paid out a settlement of over $10 million. If you are going to rank, you better have some good documentation to back it up, especially for older employees.

How Do Women Get Respect?

Many of you have immigrant workers. In a recent presentation I gave on Immigrant & Ethnic Workers to a group of landscapers and nursery people, the question was asked by a female supervisor about how to get employees to respect you when they come from countries where there are no female bosses.

What it boils down to is that it is critical to get the message across to the workers that in the U.S. female bosses are very common, and it must be accepted by them. They must understand this, if possible, before you hire them. I know it is difficult if you can't speak their language to communicate with them. If so, then write up an explanation of this and get it translated into their language. If they are going to work for you, they must learn the differences about working in their new country, and they must accept them. Sure there are things they can hang onto about their culture, but this is not one of them. Just always remember to treat them with dignity and respect.

Do Your Immigrant Workers Understand Why?

This problem came up in a recent seminar I gave about the fact that immigrant workers often find out that other immigrants employees are making more than they are, and will complain about it, especially if they have been with your company longer. In many other countries, people are used to being paid according to longevity. They may not understand the concept of being paid for performance, productivity, or work quality. This needs to be explained to them. You must let them know that the other, higher paid person has better skills, or gets more done, or the quality is better and that the pay difference has nothing to do with how long they have worked there. Let them know that if they can learn a new skill, become more productive, or increase their quality, they can increase their pay also.
Hope this helps to clear up the confusion that you may be dealing with.