Employee Relations: March 2009 Archives

Q: In a class we talked about an executive from Vodafone who discarded his executive suite and now works everyday with the other employees. My question is this, is it really such a wise move for him to be with his staff everyday? Wouldn't the lines start being blurred between him being a boss and just another worker? I understand he wants to keep a good perception of his work environment but I think it could be just as effective if maybe once a week or once a month spend a day with his staff. Not to mention, can you really get as much work done as an executive without your own space? 

Q: What are some of the intended consequences of applying behavior modification based on the growing problem of absenteeism and excessive sick leave?

One best practice I saw employed at a retail business was to give employees voluntary overtime on a regular basis rather than hire an additional full-time employee.  It enabled the store to keep two or three employees happy.  These employees didn't want to have to go out and get a second job, so by offering them regular overtime each week, they were able to fill an entire line of shifts with these people rather than spending the money on the benefits and training of a new employee during peak periods.

Many businesses I see seem hesistant to run overtime, but in the end, in some places, it may make more sense to operate like I mention above rather than hire somebody who you may not need in non-peak periods.

Likewise, you don't want to run into an "undertime" situation where you run your staff so thin that you work your managers excessively and have them doing upwards of 60 hours a week on salary while also performing hourly duties.

Undertime to me is any time over the expected management commitment that involves managers working more than a 40-45 hour workweek and/or take on responsibilities that should go to the staff.

Coming from someone who has worked some undertime in my time, I find that the leaders who end up working overtime end up exascerbating the problem of understaffing.  They take on roles that are more suited to their subordinates, and take away from the bigger picture issues that leaders must address.

Q: Suppose that you had a very creative member of your team. They're constantly coming up with excellent ideas that should be brought up at meetings. However, this persons etiquette isn't the best. Would you let others voice their ideas and keep them out of the meetings and in the background, or would you try to help them with their manners so that they can be taken seriously from a group of higher-ups?

A: Although ideally we'd hope everyone would contribute to meetings and respect each other's opinions, sometimes some voices become louder than others.  Rather than have this person removed from the meeting, I suggest taking them aside prior to your next meeting and express some of the feelings you have about the situation.

It sounds to me like this person is a valuable contributor to the team, but maybe just needs a little charm school or perhaps just some clarity on how to carry themselves in a meeting.

One word of caution - be careful in your approach.  Sometimes I've experienced situations where if someone is approached about their attitude in an accusatory way, they can take it the wrong way.  Give them kudos for their contributions, and then talk about the issues.

Q: I am currently working with a small corporation and have been given the responsibility in training supervisors.  The supervisors are very different in their backgrounds; some with extensive work experience in a leadership role and some very new to the responsibilities.  In seeing the differences in their personalities and leadership abilities I have specialized the training sessions for each supervisor.  At this point I am working on having each supervisor focus on their strengths and weaknesses, core values and short-term/ long-term goals with the company.  My real challenge is keeping them all positive and motivated to improve personally and professionally, modeling this for the employees working with them.  What successes have you found that would help in this situation?  

1.  Lining them up with a mentor in the operation to supplement the work you are doing with them.

2.  Focus on growing their strengths, which will often eliminate most if not all weaknesses.  For their weaknesses, use those opportunities to find ways that these managers can find those same weaknesses as strenghts in others to fill in the gaps.

3.  Encouraging the new leaders to develop processes that seem natural when it comes to adapting to the culture of the organization as well as its employees.  One of the things that has worked well for me in the past is to have regular informal and formal meetings with staff members to encourage free discussion.