Overall, the experience with contracting thus far (only cresting past one month now) has been very positive. I continue to marvel at the small amount of stress associated with the job in comparison with accepting a permanent position. It has been incredibly easy to leave work tasks at work at the end of the day and to remove the personal attachment feature on many of the job tasks I’m involved in.
For instance, I deal with a solid string of employee relations issues with one of the divisions I support; everything from disputes with commission payments to harassment and retaliation claims. As crazy as some of them seem or as convoluted as the investigation might get, it likes there’s a built in light at the end of the tunnel. In reality, these aren’t “my” employees and even if they continue to be unhappy, their grip on me ends with the position.
It doesn’t change the effort I give to resolve the issues or positive feeling received when resolution happens, but by mentally placing myself in an outside consultant role, the stress of “owning” the issues is gone. I come, I investigate, I recommend, I leave. It’s all very professional… and very freeing.
I should try to do this for a living from now on. Oh wait, I am trying……………..
The flip side of the coin in accepting a full-time contracting position is that you’re the “catch all”. Special project…….contractor. Audit a spreadsheet……contractor! Something I don’t like……..where’s that contractor?!
Really though, it’s not that bad; mostly amusing. My new tag line is “Here to Help.” If that spreadsheet is important, then let’s get auditing. I’m here to take the stress off those permanent HR folks that will be left in my wake when I move on. Use me while you have me, because I’m not here forever.
Have a great week!
ZW
www.azmobilehr.com
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
The Phantom Employee
How do you effectively address employee concerns, especially when managing a geographically diverse organization from afar, when you can’t get the employee who supposedly has a problem to call or e-mail you back?
Maybe you’ve received an e-mail or letter or “tipster” call from an employee who uses all the right buzzwords; Retaliation, age discrimination, gender discrimination, etc.
Being the good HR animals that we are, and having effectively trained our managers to raise these concerns to our attention (wink, wink), we jump on the case and begin investigating. What, when, where, who, why, how?? We start our documentation trail and then we get stuck. Joe or Jane Employee, in all their initial dramatic flair, no longer seems interested in participating in the process.
What to do?
Fall back on the age-old HR proverb, “Document, document, document.”
You can’t force an employee to give you relevant information or even to return your repeated attempts at contact. However, you certainly can document the Company’s attempts to provide support, to take concerns seriously and to create an environment that fosters communication and conflict resolution. If, at the end of the day, the employee tries to come back and claim constructive discharge (being compelled to resign due to objectively difficult or unpleasant working conditions or outrageous conduct by the employer), you have an affirmative defense to such a claim. In AZ, there are specific and restrictive requirements that must be met for an employee to claim constructive discharge:
http://www.azleg.state.az.us/ars/23/01502.htm
Don’t be afraid to hold people accountable to their job requirements, but do make sure you communicate the right things in the right way. Partner with an HR professional and document, document, document!
ZW
www.azmobilehr.com
Maybe you’ve received an e-mail or letter or “tipster” call from an employee who uses all the right buzzwords; Retaliation, age discrimination, gender discrimination, etc.
Being the good HR animals that we are, and having effectively trained our managers to raise these concerns to our attention (wink, wink), we jump on the case and begin investigating. What, when, where, who, why, how?? We start our documentation trail and then we get stuck. Joe or Jane Employee, in all their initial dramatic flair, no longer seems interested in participating in the process.
What to do?
Fall back on the age-old HR proverb, “Document, document, document.”
You can’t force an employee to give you relevant information or even to return your repeated attempts at contact. However, you certainly can document the Company’s attempts to provide support, to take concerns seriously and to create an environment that fosters communication and conflict resolution. If, at the end of the day, the employee tries to come back and claim constructive discharge (being compelled to resign due to objectively difficult or unpleasant working conditions or outrageous conduct by the employer), you have an affirmative defense to such a claim. In AZ, there are specific and restrictive requirements that must be met for an employee to claim constructive discharge:
http://www.azleg.state.az.us/ars/23/01502.htm
Don’t be afraid to hold people accountable to their job requirements, but do make sure you communicate the right things in the right way. Partner with an HR professional and document, document, document!
ZW
www.azmobilehr.com
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Shock & Awe
For many years now, I’ve prided myself on being able to break the traditional HR mold and actually partner with operations managers to positively impact their businesses rather than just whine about not being invited to the table. Sometimes you have to settle for the “kids” table if you don’t get invited to the “adult” table, but I’m here to tell you that the kids table is usually where it’s at anyway. That’s where middle management lives and they are the key group that has to live with the day to day consequences of what gets discussed at the adult table. If you can make a difference to this group’s day-to-day struggles, you earn a reputation of trust and partnership that won’t easily be broken.
That being said, a lot of HR practitioners trudge through the day wondering where these operations managers were trained to interact with people; perhaps Mars or Venus where Men and Women are purportedly from. Unfortunately, everyone lives here on Earth now so the Mars and Venus-think doesn’t work on any of these employees. I know, I know, HR people are such snobs when it comes to people management skills. But seriously, if all you operations managers would just get it right, we’d all get along wonderfully.
As you know, I’m working a temporary contract at a local organization’s corporate offices. This is where the shock & awe comes in. Although I’ve only been here close to three weeks now, I’ve got to break out my gold stars. These folks actually get it. The majority of managers here not only “get it”, they take pride in people management and WANT to be part of the process. That’s right, I said want. In just three weeks, I’ve seen a couple of incredibly tough decisions made that had to be signed off at the highest level of the organization……… and they stepped up to the plate and did the right thing rather than the easy thing. Even in this economy, the final decision was about people (long-range financial implications), not short-term numbers.
I’m just happy that I’m still able to recognize and be impressed by these occurrences. It’s nice to know I haven’t been completely jaded by the dark side yet! If for no other reason than our own sanity, keep a look out for the good decisions that are made and try to increase their frequency.
Good day!
ZWwww.azmobilehr.com
That being said, a lot of HR practitioners trudge through the day wondering where these operations managers were trained to interact with people; perhaps Mars or Venus where Men and Women are purportedly from. Unfortunately, everyone lives here on Earth now so the Mars and Venus-think doesn’t work on any of these employees. I know, I know, HR people are such snobs when it comes to people management skills. But seriously, if all you operations managers would just get it right, we’d all get along wonderfully.
As you know, I’m working a temporary contract at a local organization’s corporate offices. This is where the shock & awe comes in. Although I’ve only been here close to three weeks now, I’ve got to break out my gold stars. These folks actually get it. The majority of managers here not only “get it”, they take pride in people management and WANT to be part of the process. That’s right, I said want. In just three weeks, I’ve seen a couple of incredibly tough decisions made that had to be signed off at the highest level of the organization……… and they stepped up to the plate and did the right thing rather than the easy thing. Even in this economy, the final decision was about people (long-range financial implications), not short-term numbers.
I’m just happy that I’m still able to recognize and be impressed by these occurrences. It’s nice to know I haven’t been completely jaded by the dark side yet! If for no other reason than our own sanity, keep a look out for the good decisions that are made and try to increase their frequency.
Good day!
ZWwww.azmobilehr.com
Friday, April 3, 2009
People Will Be People
With all the tumultuous changes going on in the world right now, it’s good to know that some things are consistent. Even though I’ve been largely out of the day-to-day HR realm of employee issues for the past 5 ½ months, it turns out that organizations still have their fair share of unreasonable, illogical and needy employees with issues that, at times, seem unbelievable to the 3rd party observer.
Now you might have thought that companies would be using these times of significant downsizing and re-structuring to ensure the talent pool at their disposal is made up of only the finest and most efficient resources. Well, I don’t have all the answers, so I’ll just let each of you look to your right and then look to your left and make up your own minds. Needless to say, there are still employee relations issues a plenty out there. 8.5% unemployment doesn’t seem to change that and unemployment may only make employees more willing to claim harassment, discrimination or other treachery in order to make a fast buck.
Businesspeople, keep your eyes peeled; be responsive to your employees’ claims; and partner with a professional so you don’t needlessly give the farm away in a settlement. Maybe even check out this great new resource I found online……..
www.azmobilehr.com
ZW
:)
Now you might have thought that companies would be using these times of significant downsizing and re-structuring to ensure the talent pool at their disposal is made up of only the finest and most efficient resources. Well, I don’t have all the answers, so I’ll just let each of you look to your right and then look to your left and make up your own minds. Needless to say, there are still employee relations issues a plenty out there. 8.5% unemployment doesn’t seem to change that and unemployment may only make employees more willing to claim harassment, discrimination or other treachery in order to make a fast buck.
Businesspeople, keep your eyes peeled; be responsive to your employees’ claims; and partner with a professional so you don’t needlessly give the farm away in a settlement. Maybe even check out this great new resource I found online……..
www.azmobilehr.com
ZW
:)
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