Continue reading »Share and Enjoy - Simply Communicating • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS ]]> Regardless of the size of your company, if you hire people to work for you; you need to seriously think about the process you are using to do that.

It seems easy enough – you have a job to be filled– you place an ad – and people apply . . . but the reality of it is – not everyone works in the same way and you don’t know who you’re attracting. Are they good workers?  Or are they not good workers?   There is a way to find out who some of the good workers are likely to be if you put some time and energy into properly interviewing them.

When we continue to hire people that are not the right fit for our businesses, we continue to lose money. And that’s just not very smart or business savvy.

We lose money through turnover, through continued errors, through continued customer complaints, returned items, sick days, lack of presenteeism (meaning they are there in body but not in mind and spirit).  Having a swinging door with new employees continually coming in and out will cost you!

Remember the definition of insanity according to Einstein?  We keep doing the same things over and over again and expect different results.

Maybe it’s time to start thinking about a way to do things differently so we get different results. When we hire people, we should have some understanding of what it is we’re hiring them to do.  I mean, if you don’t know; how could they possibly know?  It’s your company!

If you don’t have one already, create a job description for the positions in your business.  Get a sense of what you need this job to do in the business.  Sort out who does what and what skills are needed to do those things.

Once a job description has been crafted, think about what kind of questions you would need to ask to find out if people who want to work with you have those skills.

You need to also find out how to learn more about the individuals – what motivates them – how do you know they will be good workers?  There is a way to find this out – but it will take some of your time to learn – or you can continue to do everything the same way you’ve always done it and say goodbye to your hard-earned money.

Hiring the wrong people can eventually cost you your entire business if you choose the route of ‘insanity’.  This is not opinion based – it’s fact based!  So, if you want to be successful in your business – learn how to interview and hire the best people!

Once you’ve hired the best people you can – you seriously need to think about how to integrate them into your workplace.

I’m talking more than just a one or two day orientation.  I’m talking about the first few months and up to a year of time.  It sounds daunting; but it’s not once you learn how to do that.  You help your employees find success by making their roles clear to them. Making your expectations clear.  Letting them know who their networks are and how they get their job done in the best way possible. You develop a process that is repeatable and consistent.  You help employees understand what the policies and procedures of the company are and you live by those policies as well.

Yes, it takes time at the front end, but it’s no different than when you do most anything else – you get out what you put in.

Everyone has a desire to belong and to do well.  Regardless of what kind of job each of us has, we want to feel like we’re doing it well.  If I work somewhere that doesn’t seem to really care about you or your work, guess what?  Pretty soon you don’t care!

“K-a-c-h-i-n-g” – More money!

But, I know, it takes time and you don’t have time . . . that’s O.K. because you’ve got money . . . oh, you don’t have more where that came from?

Then take your hiring, orientations and on-boarding seriously.  Think of your employees as an investment.  An investment that is a lot more predictable than in making you money than the stock market!

There have been countless studies all over the world, in a number of different working environments from small to mega-size organizations alike that say the same thing!  People want to know what’s expected of them (in all relationships, not just employment); how they can be successful at what they do; and they want to be acknowledged or recognized as human beings.

Hire the right people, bring them in the right way and help ensure they will succeed, and recognize them for what they bring to you! Once employers get this magical truth, they can start to see money coming in rather than going out.

Continue reading »Share and Enjoy - Simply Communicating • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS ]]> I recently had the opportunity to speak on the Bill Good show (CKNW Radio 980) about the topic of workplace bullying and whether or not employers should be concerned about bullying. (This interview is approximately 30 minutes long. It includes other speakers at the beginning of the interview and we recommend listening to the whole interview to understand the context of the discussion.)

What prompted the discussion were articles written by reporter Michael Smyth  (Province reporter and frequent commentator on CKNW) about the Public Service Employees writing into a BC Public Service Discussion forum with complaints of bullying at work.  Mr. Smyth stated he was bombarded with stories from a variety of employees about the problems they had under the hands of bullies at work.

While I most certainly cannot comment specifically on the BC Government as an employer – or any individual employer for that matter – I can comment on the increase in complaints that I’ve seen with respect to bullying in the workplace – and it’s becoming evident through case law and legislation that it is indeed a problem.

There are policies put into place in a number of companies; however, as I mentioned on the radio show, writing the policies is not enough.

Employers must live according to the policies they have written.  Those who manage people within an organization must understand what the policies mean and how to properly complete the processes they offer for resolution to complaints.

There has been a marked increase in Linked In with groups forming to specifically discuss workplace harassment and bullying, abuse of authority, psychopaths in power (Corporate Psychopaths), as well as an increase in requests for training on how to manage workplace bullying. I will be speaking at a conference in April  in Vancouver as a direct result of those requests.

And of course, we’re now seeing radio talk shows and newspaper articles bringing this issue to light – studies are being done on the problem – books and articles are being written – legislation is changing (review Bill 168 in Ontario and the newly proposed WorkSafe BC Bill 14 with resepct to stress) and as mentioned, case law examples to validate why businesses need to take bullying seriously.

If bullying were not an issue, would we see this increase in attention to the topic?

Here are some of my thoughts on how we can deal with this issue and work on building and maintaining healthy employment relationships:

• First and foremost, recognize and acknowledge that all ‘may not’ be well in the world of work
• Review your policies and procedures with respect to identifying what harassment is; what bullying is; what abuse of authority is; lateral violence, etc
• Make the processes easily understood
• Do not make promises in your policies or procedures that you cannot keep – for instance – complete confidentiality
• If a complaint comes forward, review its merits as quickly as you can
• Communicate with the parties that are involved on a regular basis
• If the complaint involves a manager at a mid or senior level, consider external resources to assist you
• Keep your policies updated

My goal has always been to create healthy workplaces – and I fully recognize the right managers have to manage – I am a business owner myself – but I believe that if I am going to be successful in the long run, it is through my people that this will be done. One only needs to look at the costs of bullying to organizations to realize the importance of respect in the workplace. Fear tactics ‘may’ work for a while; but eventually, you have employees that are coming to work in body but not in spirit and mind.

Respect in the workplace is the only way to succeed and that means saying NO to Bullying at all levels of the organization.

Continue reading »Share and Enjoy - Simply Communicating • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS ]]> Let’s face it.  Social media is not going away any time soon.  As much as there are some very beneficial aspects to social media and on line networking, we must also realize that there is also a dark side and employers must protect themselves. their clients and customers, and their employees. 

Employers must accept some responsibility for how their employees manage social media – in and out of the workplace.  And . . . as with many other things in life; it may not seem fair, but nevertheless, the responsibility for spelling out what is and is not appropriate behaviour must fall somewhere.  Since an employer could ultimately terminate an employee for his or her comments via social media – it makes sense that it would rest with the employer.

Remember the Stanley Cup riots in Vancouver?  Social media had a part to play there.  People were fired because of their participation in those riots – and how did the employer learn of their participation?  Why, through social media of course.  How many of the employee dismissals will be upheld remains to be seen but in some cases, I suspect they will stand.  As an example, let’s say that you are employed as a security officer and your employer sees you on video that has been posted to Facebook, looting a neighbouring store.  That could certainly be viewed as damaging an employer-employee relationship irreparably; hence, supports the employer’s decision to terminate.  No doubt, social media has and will continue to make a significant change in our lives.

I’m sure those of you who keep up to date with BC Employment Law are also familiar with the firings that occurred over Facebook comments about a supervisor (West Coast Mazda Lougheed Imports Ltd.   c.o.b. West Coast Mazda), [2010] B.C.L.R.B.D. No. 190). To this point in time, the firings have been upheld.

From here on in, I think we will always have instances in which social media content will find its way to our courts – and employment law cases will be but one part of our future with social media.

While we all have our right to ‘talk’ with our friends, we should consider whether or not our ‘talk’ can damage another person’s reputation or that of a company.  Social media utilizes a different communication method (as opposed to face to face conversation) but realistically, ‘content is still king. ‘

The best thing that employers can do is create proactive policies that spell out very clearly what is deemed to be appropriate and inappropriate use of social media.  Some companies already have policies that relate to email and Internet misuse; but we need to go a step further and include social media and identify what that is. 

Ambiguity does not hold up well in court.

When you hire people, let them know from the beginning that such a policy exists – educate those that are already in the company about the policy (this could mean change to existing policies or new ones created) – let everyone know the consequences (up to and including dismissal) of inappropriate behaviours – and identify examples of what inappropriate means.  Also, make sure that policies are signed off and linked to other related policies.  For example, confidentiality; code of conduct; privacy, harassment, etcetera, could all be linked to social media.

In terms of writing policy, a good rule of thumb might be to communicate to employees that they should ask themselves if what they are about to comment on, using any form of social media , could be said in a face to face conversation.  Ask them to think about how they would react if what they were about to publish out in the world of the Internet were said about them.  Take a moment to pause . . . and decide if the ‘world’ is ready for their message.

Common sense, unfortunately, is not so common – so employers must spell it out – clearly!

Clearly, any breach of policy would still need to be viewed on a case by case basis and some situations may be very complicated and could even involve external workplace or computer forensics  investigations or legal counsel.  But a good starting point is going to be through the use of effective, clearly communicated and well-constructed policies.

So, like it or not, we need to come to terms with the fact that social media is going to continue to evolve and therefore, change relationships in our personal and working lives. 

Prepare yourselves as employers and do the right thing – develop good policies and find a way to embrace the changes we’re up against.  Your employees, your customers and your shareholders will thank you for it.

Continue reading »Share and Enjoy - Simply Communicating • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS ]]> I recently asked a question on one of my Linked In networking sites as to when a workplace-investigation should ensue. I was somewhat surprised to see the responses I received in that other professionals had differing viewpoints and I expected more alignment.

The truth of the matter is – it really depends on the organizational culture in many ways. For some folks, it was felt that as soon as you are made aware of a problem, there should be some sort of investigation. For others, it depended on the severity of the problem – or complaint. Still others said they would not proceed without a complaint being done in writing.

Most often, the respondents felt that investigations could be dealt with internally; however, it was strongly agreed that whoever did the investigation should have some kind of training.

As with many other things in life, there is no one size fits all. A workplace-investigation can definitely be taken care of ‘in house’ if you have trained HR personnel or In House Counsel.

But, let’s now take a look at examples of harassment complaints and see if we can’t gain  more clarity around whether we should move internally or externally into the handling of an investigation.

If one employee is complaining about another employee harassing him or her, then as employers, we must take that seriously and do an investigation. Whether we choose to go externally or not, will depend, I suppose, on a few different things. If the complaint is from peer to peer, as long as the investigation is done as fairly and impartially as possible and according to the procedures laid out in policy, there should be no concerns about handling this internally.

Remember though, that the complaint must be dealt with as quickly as possible and appropriate interviews must be done. All parties should be reminded about the importance of confidentiality in as much as is possible.

Sometimes, depending on the nature of the information being revealed; confidentiality cannot be promised as the purpose of the investigation is to get to the truth. To reveal the facts of the situation. As an example – If person ‘A’ overheard something person ‘B’ said and he was the only other person present – it is obvious that we cannot keep him anonymous to confirm the facts.

Now, let’s assume an employee complains of harassment by a supervisor.

In this case, you may wish to consider an external investigator. The main reason I would recommend this is that the HR personnel or In House Counsel could be ‘perceived’ to be biased. Why? Well, in many cases, one of the roles that HR is seen to have (or In House counsel) is in protecting the organization. It only stands to reason that an employee could feel somewhat powerless against a supervisor and that he or she might believe the organizational representatives will side with the supervisor.

Even if the investigation is completely impartial – the opportunity for wrong appearances and believed biases would remain.

Another opportunity given to those who chose to go externally is that along with the investigation there can be recommendations made to improve upon processes. An external party may be able to see flaws in the system that the managers of the system don’t see. That is not to say that there are always broken systems – not at all – it just means that ‘if’ there are; it’s easier for someone from the outside to see things more clearly.

Coming back to the question of when we should investigate – I think looking into complaints at all times is extremely important. Whether or not a full blown investigation is required is very dependent upon what your initial inquiries reveal. It also depends on how many parties may be involved.

As a general rule, internal personnel have day to day duties that they must perform. If it seems that an investigation is going to take some time, it is best handed over to someone that can put 100% of his or her time into completing the investigation quickly.

When people are waiting to hear the results of their concerns, time moves very slowly. The sooner you can come to some sort of resolution, the better for all concerned.

Hopefully this post has helped to give some understanding of when and why you may want to investigate – and whether or not it’s best to handle it inside or out.  I’ll keep you posted on any other responses.

Continue reading »Share and Enjoy - Simply Communicating • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS ]]> I’ve been part of a couple of discussion boards regarding bullying and there is no doubt that this behaviour negatively impacts the schoolyard and eventually, our workplaces.

Bullying is destructive behaviour that hurts other people and most certainly impacts businesses in a negative way.  In an attempt to correct this behaviour, we develop policies.  School teachers and principals are expected to manage bullying in the schoolyards.  Bullies are supposed to be dealt with early on in life.

In later years; we develop policies for the workplace and we expect supervisors and managers to take on the role of correcting bullying behaviours.

This all sounds like a good plan; but here’s the problem I see in depending on policies to handle these behavioural issues.  Chances are, the bully has been allowed to get away with the behaviour since he or she was a mere child just out of diapers – it happened before the child even entered the school ground.

Case in point…I was watching some children in the playground while I was there with my grandchildren.  I saw one little boy push another little boy off a swing when the mother’s back was turned. The little boy that was pushed off the swing went to the mom and told her what happened.  What did the mother do?  She told the ‘tattle tale’ not to tattle.  What happened to the boy that pushed the other one off the swing?  Absolutely nothing!  I saw him walk away all smug and proud of himself because he got away with what he did and in fact, the lack of action on the mother’s part to correct his aggressive behaviour, was actually condoned.

Shame on the mother and – shame on me too – because I said and did nothing!  Why?  Because at the time, I thought, it’s none of my business how she raises her children.  But the problem is, those children grow up to be adults; adults that repeat the behaviours and teach them to their children.  Instead, I chose not to interfere even though I witnessed the incident.

A couple of weeks later, in my home; my two grandsons got into a bit of a battle over some toys.  My step-daughter’s son, Ryan, grabbed a toy away from my daughter’s son, Brad.  Brad told my daughter what happened.  What did I hear my daughter say?  “Don’t be a tattle tale and stop whining. Nobody likes a tattle tale.”  This time, I decided to speak up.

I thanked Brad for telling us and I told him that I would talk to Ryan about not grabbing toys away from others.  My daughter was quite angry with me for getting involved and told me not to question her parenting.  I explained why I did what I did and she just looked at me not sure of what to say afterward – but I think maybe a little light went on. I sure hope so.

I did tell Brad that he could just tell us clearly and didn’t have to whine about it; but that he definitely should tell us when someone treats him unfairly. Children live by the examples we teach.

Policies we write won’t change that.

If we truly want to change behaviours, we need to be aware of the examples we provide. If we see bullying behaviours in our schoolyards – we must stop allowing it and take a firm stand against it.

As adults, it very well may mean policy development to deal with it.  However, if that’s what it comes down to; then we have to live according to the policies we write.  We need to treat the situation with respect, thank those who are brave enough to come forward; and let those that are not being appropriate know that while they may have been able to bully when they were younger – we will not tolerate it now.

I specialize in writing policies and managing workplace investigations – and oftentimes – there is bullying or overly agressive behaviours involved – and that’s why I am called in.  It is unfortunate that adults behave in this way, but they do.

As a result, we may have no other recourse but to develop policies in an attempt to change poor behaviours and if that’s the way it must be, then that’s the way it must be.  But until we practice what we preach (and write in policies) we can’t really expect any kind of change to take place.

Our discussions about this important topic should continue. We have to stop the cycle and talking about it is one way to move forward.  Let’s keep the discussions going and let’s keep an eye on our own behaviours with the children we have exposure to.

If bullying stops even before kids get to the schoolyard – it will have little to no chance of survival in the workplace.

Continue reading »Share and Enjoy - Simply Communicating • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS ]]> Many years ago, I had the good fortune of working for a manager in an organization that took the whole new employee orientation and integration process very seriously. I stayed with the organization for 18 years.

Of course, I didn’t appreciate what kind of an impact this type of employee integration and solid leadership would have on me throughout my working career until I went on to work with others.

Let me explain . . .

This was my experience of coming into this organization as a new employee.  I went to the reception desk and I stated that I was here to see Tony (I have been asked to use his first name only). I stated my name and the receptionist called Tony to advise him I was in the lobby. While I was waiting for his arrival, she introduced herself and said, “Wow! You’re first day – how exciting. I hope you really enjoy working here, and if you need anything at all, just ask.  My name is Audrey.”

Now realize, I hadn’t told her that it was my first day of work – I only gave her my name. So, I felt recognized and welcomed immediately! It was obvious she knew I was coming.

Tony then came into the lobby (possibly 2 – 3 minutes later) and shook my hand, had a big smile on his face; turned toward Audrey and said, “This is the young lady I was telling you about, Kellie, meet Audrey.” We both let him know we’d introduced one another and engaged in a bit more small talk and then he said, “Well, let’s go on a bit of a tour and meet a few of the others.”

He told me that I would be assigned to a trainer and that part of my training would involve spending a bit of time in each department so I could get an understanding of how my job related to others in the company.  He also explained the organizational structure in terms of who reports to whom; and while he acknowledged that there would be some paperwork for us to complete, he thought it was more important that I see the building and meet a few people first.

For the first 3 months that I worked with the organization, I was frequently visited by Tony. He struck me as truly being interested not only in me but in all of the employees that worked for him.  I did some job shadowing just as he said I would; I had small quizzes and tests and the ability to demonstrate how much I had learned against very clear job specifications, and I always – always felt that I knew how to get help whenever I needed it.

I was able to contribute to the team fairly quickly and I had a pretty good handle on what was expected of me. Tony made sure to let me know that he was pleased with my progress – and more importantly – I was content in knowing the reason my job existed and what that meant to the organizational flow of things. I was able to integrate very quickly and because of working in the various departments, I knew who had whatever information I needed in order to do my job effectively and I knew within the organization the folks to connect with in the various departments.

Something I also want to make note of at this point in time, is that there were other new hires that did not meet the required standards and unfortunately, they were not kept on with the company. But, because of the way the orientation and on-boarding process was handled, I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that they were given
every opportunity to succeed – I saw first-hand what attention was given to new ‘recruits’ as we were called at that time.

So, what happened after I’d left that organization?

Well, let’s fast forward to the last 10 or so years of my work experience history.

I had the opportunity to work for a number of different organizations and have to tell you, that most of them were exceptionally good; excellent pay and benefits, nice offices to work in, nice people for the most part – however – I was never ever, in my entire work life since given a repeat of being orientated to the workplace the way I had been by Tony – and truthfully – it was only quite recently that I put a lot of thought into this fact.

I knew that something was missing in all of these organizations – I just couldn’t quite articulate what that was – until I really looked at my entry into these various places.

My big ‘aha’ moment came when I reviewed the new employee orientation and onboarding process that I encountered at an organization I could hardly wait to begin working for.  There was a huge, gigantic missing piece and it was very clear to me what was missing!

Compare this to the experience I mentioned above and you’ll see what I mean . . .

On my first day, I introduced myself at reception.  The front desk person called to my new department head but no one was there. He called a couple of other people from the department but only got answering machines with everyone he called. He left a message on a couple of the phones and just asked me to take a seat, which of course; I did.

Almost 2 hours later, there was still no one there to collect me.

During that period of time, the receptionist had tried on a couple of occasions to track someone down to no avail.  Finally, the recruiter (the person that actually hired and interviewed me) came to the door. The manager of the department still wasn’t available but I was told she would be soon.  I was brought up to the general office area in human resources, which was the department I was going to be working in.  They weren’t entirely sure of where I was going to sit for the day; but the recruiter that came and collected me, introduced me briefly to a few of the girls and went to find the manager. I knew one of the ladies from the department, so she and I talked a bit about things in general to pass the time.

Finally, my manager came and apologized profusely for having left me waiting but explained that an emergency meeting had come up. She sat me down at a computer terminal and explained that this would not be where I would be working as they hadn’t yet found a place for me; but I could at least stay here for the balance of the
week and go through the things I needed to know about my job and the company.

She logged me into a computer using her password as they had not yet added me to the system, and directed me to go through the Intranet site that housed the policies and procedures as well as the internal employee communications network.  She introduced me again to the girls in the open office and told me that she had to run off again but that if I had any questions, I could ask ‘Suzy-Q” in the corner and she’d be happy to help me.  “Suzy-Q” had her back to me (not her fault…just the positioning of the desks) and had headphones on, she was tapping her foot and nodding her head, obviously in tune with the music she was listening to, and seemed totally engrossed in whatever it was she was doing.  My boss tapped her on the shoulder and made sure she was at least aware of the fact that I was there. To my recollection, she didn’t even smile; just nodded at me, turned back around and went back to her foot-tapping.

For the entire week, I was left on my own.  I can honestly tell you I’ve never had such a L O N G drawn out week ever before or since that time.  I didn’t really understand why I was even there, to tell the truth.  I wanted to leave within a few days of being there; and needless to say, I did leave shortly thereafter.

So, as a result of these experiences (both good and bad) I decided that I would make it my mission to help organizations see the value in providing the best orientation and on-boarding for their employees that they can.

First impressions are quite lasting and can make all the difference between really ‘wanting to stay’ with an organization and ‘having to stay’.

What’s the point of this story?  When you say “Welcome, we hope you stay a while” – be sure you mean it!

Continue reading »Share and Enjoy - Simply Communicating • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS ]]> Ontario’s OHS Bill 168 has had its first case go through the courts and after a verbal threat was made by one co-worker to another the person uttering the threats was fired.

Now, at first glance, it may seem like over-kill to be terminated for a verbal threat but I think that people should be able to work in a safe environment and I am personally quite pleased to see that Bill 168 may have some teeth in it. I think the arbitrator made the right decision in this case (see link below)

Link to PDF file…

It has been proven that verbal threats, harassment and bullying frequently escalates into physical violence.  Confirm this with almost any policing agency or spousal abuse hotline.

So, knowing this, why have we allowed verbal abuse and bullying to take place on the worksite for so long?

Maybe this is the beginning of saying no and really meaning it!  Who knows, maybe some worksites will take another look at their workplace policies and provide training in a different way to ensure everyone understands what this means to the workplace.  Maybe people will begin to speak up where they never did before because there was always this underlying belief that nobody would do anything about it anyway.

In BC, the newly passed Work Safe BC Bill 14 regulation may also now begin to impact employers in terms of taking any complaints of bullying and harassment more seriously.

Bill 14 is different than Ontario’s Bill 168 but similar in that both are recognzing threats, bullying and harassment are not acceptable in the workplace and changes are needed in order that people can go to work in a safe place.

Bill 14 will now allow employees to go off work on stress leave that is slightly different than it was previously.  Stress under Bill 14 used to mean a specific traumatic event or serious incident that created PTS disorder.  Now, it also includes stress due to bullying or workplace harassment and in so doing, victims of bullying and harassment can make a WCB claim.  If employers don’t take that seriously, they will see significant increases in their insurance rates.

Of course, an  employee must do his or her part by letting the employer know and providing an opportunity for a proper investigation in order to allow for corrective action if necessary.

Minister of Labour, Citizens’ Services and Open Government Margaret MacDiarmid said, “Our government recognizes that we need to treat job-related mental stress the same way we treat physical illness and injuries. We know mental stress has a significant impact on workers, their families and their workplace.”

The new bill was introduced on November 3, 2011; so I don’t believe any claims have yet come forward; however, I do believe it will, like Bill 168 in Ontario, require employers to ensure they educate their workers to better understand the implications of the legislation.

Link to PDF file…

I recommend you read the links attached to this blog and find out for yourself what it means if you are an employer in
either Ontario or BC.

Simply Communicating provides policy development, training for implementation and investigates workplace complaints and we’d be happy to help you in understanding how to educate your management and employee group.

Continue reading »Share and Enjoy - Simply Communicating • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS ]]> Have you ever been employed at one of the “Best Places to Work” and wondered, what is behind the rating? What the criteria are to measure the designation?

When I was first offered a position at one of the best places to work, you can’t imagine my excitement.  Wow!  I’d been waiting a long time to have this  opportunity.  I followed this particular business for some time and when I was offered employment with them, I jumped at it.  In fact, I didn’t think twice! I mean, it was rated as one of the best.

After I’d been there for a while, I started to do some more in depth research about how these ratings were achieved.  I found out that a number of companies that compile the lists of what constitutes the best places to work, look at things such as: work environment and facilities; social activities; wages; benefits; performance management; vacation and time off and flexibility of scheduling.

Depending on which ratings company is collecting the data, the criteria may change slightly; but most gather very similar information.

What I was quite surprised to learn is that it is the employers themselves that provide the information that gains points toward being one of the best.

The employees don’t take part or have a voice in terms of submissions for ratings – so what that means – is that while an employer may have all the niceties anyone could ask for (a gym, a cafeteria with a great menu at fantastic prices, blackberries and many other assorted toys) it may not really be one of the best places to work on a day to day basis.

Don’t get me wrong – I certainly enjoyed all of the things that were offered in terms of perks – and initially – during the honeymoon phase – these things definitely seemed great and were appreciated!

So, that being said – you might wonder what the problem was.

Well…I discovered the not so good things or the dark side – as it were – such as: several examples of nepotism; favouritism; inbalances in compensation; departments that were completely separate from one another (silos) which created enormous communication issues; unfair work distribution (Oh – and the social activities?  Only a select few could take part…the same select few I might add…everyone else had to work); and several other dysfunctional business practices.

And what about performance management?  Well – to be honest – no one understood it and those that worked on developing it didn’t have any personnel management or human resources backgrounds.  In fact, almost the entire HR department (I soon learned) was made up of employees that started with the company several years prior and they were just promoted into these roles with no training in their ‘specialized areas’ of HR.

Many in the executive and management team were the same.

I honestly believe that we need to groom people to take on these roles and I completely understand and support people that have the urge to grow with the company and seem to have the drive, ambition and good skills; however, the key is to be sure those with the right skills are given the opportunities for growth.  Once that has been established, then give people the tools to work with so that they really be successful and the organization can live up to being one of the “best places to work”.

Have you ever heard the statement that people don’t quit their jobs; they quit their managers?  Well, this is why truly being one of the best employers has to be about more than just perks and money.

So, now I’m wondering – was this just my experience – or are there others that feel their companies have a long way to go even though they are classified as one of the “Best Places to Work”?

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.

Continue reading »Share and Enjoy - Simply Communicating • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS ]]> Finding the right person for your job isn’t easy.  If it were; we’d all be happy and businesses would be humming along contentedly without any conflict whatsoever because we’d all be living in the fantasy world as illustrated in the satirical movie, “The Stepford Wives”.

So, we need to be honest here and figure out what you can realistically do to ensure you find the right person.

What I am going to suggest may sound to some of you like it’s too much work – but my years of experience have taught me that doing the work up front will save you ten-fold as you begin to move forward and people are indeed doing what it is you hired them to do.

Things you need to think about:

• Define the job that you need to fill clearly
• Identify the primary duties and the order of importance of those duties
• Be clear on the skills needed and what level those skills need to be at.  (For example, if you need someone to do accounts receivable and payable – will the candidate need to use Excel or a similar spreadsheet program – or do they need to have experience with a particular software package to do the work efficiently?)
• Determine who this person will report to
• What is the culture of your company (if new, think about your vision and who would fit that)
• How will you pre-screen the potential candidates
• If there a way to test for the specific skills required, and are the tests you’re going to use validated and legally defensible
• Do have standardized interview questions that will adequately provide what you need to know to make a hiring decision
• Do you know how to do meaningful reference checks that will assist you in making your hring decision
• When you’ve decided who you want to offer the position to, have you constructed an offer letter – and if you have, are you clear on you need to cover to define the relationship
• Do you have a plan on how you will bring this person into the organization, in terms of who will provide him or her with the orientation and on-boarding
• Do you have performance management in place
• Do you know how you will evaluate this person and how often

As I mentioned at the start of this writing, this may feel like a lot of  work at first; but like anything else in life, if you prepare a solid foundation, you can feel more comfortable about the stability of the structure.

The most successful businesses are those that have repeatable processes and systems in place, so I encourage you to think about
your systems and processes with people management.

Take the time to do your homework and planning up front and when your business starts to grow, you can relax in knowing you have the right people in place to keep things moving forward.  Anything worth having is worth working for – and I truly believe finding the right fit is well worth it in the long run.

Feel free to contact kellie@simplycommunicating.ca if you have any questions about how you can find the right fit for your jobs.

Continue reading »Share and Enjoy - Simply Communicating • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS ]]> With more and more folks becoming aware of human rights and anti-bullying legislation coming into effect (Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan have passed provincial legislation against bullying and BC now has an advocacy group – http://bullyfreebc.ca) there has been an increase in complaints being brought forward concerning bullying, not only to employers but also to human rights council.

As someone who does workplace investigations, I have had the opportunity to see first-hand how harassment and bullying can impact organizations in terms of lost productivity, decreased morale, deterioration of trust and employee turnover.

I understand why it is more important than ever to investigate complaints promptly and thoroughly, develop policies and educate all employees to ensure that bullying will not be tolerated.

As most of us know, Canadian and Provincial Human Rights laws protect against harassment and sexual harassment for protected groups but as mentioned, complaints are beginning to expand to personal harassment and bullying because while it is recognized that discrimination against protected groups is important, it shouldn’t stop there.

• The first thing we need to think about is treating complaints quickly and efficiently.  The longer we hold off on doing an investigation once a complaint has been brought forward, the worse the situation will get.  This is also something that employers should avoid in the event a complaint does go to a human rights tribunal and they will take a dim view of an organization that doesn’t recognize the importance of a prompt and thorough investigation.

• We need to take preventative action and communicate clearly that bullying will not be accepted and we need to encourage everyone to come forward if indeed they are being treated poorly.  We need to create a safe environment in which this can occur.

• One of the first recommendations I make following investigations is to make sure policies are up to date and that there is very clear communication of the policies as well as training for everyone.   We know about school yard bullies and we know how we tell our children to deal with them – it’s no different in the workplace.

Adult bullies, like their schoolyard counterparts, tend to be insecure people with poor or non-existent social skills and little empathy.  They turn this insecurity outwards, finding satisfaction in their ability to attack and diminish the capable people around them. (http://safety-council.org/workplace-safety/bullying-in-the-workplace)

I recently attended a workshop put on by the BC Human Rights Coalition and the thing that really stood out for me was the increase in complaints with respect to harassment.  It was also very clear that much of the way the investigation is handled and how quickly it is handled has an impact on how the rulings were made.

Many of the complaints that came forward were concerning a supervisor or a manager that was harassing employees; but there has been an increase in complaints about one employee to another.

Personal harassment and bullying is reaching media attention as well, and possibly this has a part to play in terms of increases in complaints.  There is also a great deal of information on the Internet about the topic – so again – education that is helping people in understanding what bullying looks like.

If you have complaints concerning harassment or bullying – be sure to investigate.  This does not mean that it can’t be done internally or informally; however, remember that there are external resources available for this purpose and it doesn’t always need to be done by lawyers.

Be sure that you use trained workplace investigators and be sure that you act promptly.  You can also use external workplace investigators to help you in the development of policies and education, if required.

Harassment and bullying is not O.K. and turning a blind eye to it (in other words, condoning the behaviour) will eventually cost your organization far more than any investigation, education or development of policies ever will.