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Thinking of Hiring Employees? Start with a Strong Foundation

One of the things that I think has helped my business grow and thrive for the past 10 years is that I spent significant time at the beginning building a strong foundation.

As I mentioned last time, I went to a SCORE workshop to learn about the requirements (and challenges) of running a small business. I also made sure that I put the proper systems in place to manage my finances, do required reporting, etc. I invested in getting a basic website up and developing quality marketing materials to create Connect to HR awareness. I researched and joined relevant networking groups to build business connections.

Starting and maintaining a strong foundation will help see you through the good times and the challenging ones.

If you have or plan to have employees, there are additional foundational steps you need to take. Here are some key foundational HR items you need to address.

Effective hiring. As you identify the need to hire employees, be sure that you have developed a workforce plan that clearly defines job roles and requirements. Check out my previous blog about effective workforce planning for some tips. Don’t forget, in California there are required notices and forms that employers must provide new hires. Connect to HR offers a new hire tool kit that makes it easy for companies to understand their compliance requirements in the new hire process.

Job descriptions. Detailed and up-to-date job descriptions will help you recruit the right talent and assess their performance. They are also key in ensuring that you are legally compliant. A detailed job description not only protects you when you terminate an employee for non-performance, it also ensures that you comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other legal requirements.

Goals and objectives. Setting and communicating clear goals and objectives for employees (that are tied to company goals) will help reduce performance issues and keep employees engaged. Goals are a great tool to help monitor performance with clear standards. We suggest you review them with employees monthly, at a minimum, to ensure they are still relevant over time.

Labor law posters. Be sure you post all the required federal and state employment posters and have a system in place for managing your HR records. These posters are required for all businesses with two or more employees.

Employee Handbook. It’s important to have an Employee Handbook that includes basic employment policies as well as policies specific to your company. You can avoid employee and legal issues if you clearly communicate expectations about work hours, conduct, etc.

Health and safety. Company management is responsible for creating and maintaining a safe and healthy work environment. In California, all employers should have an Injury Illness and Prevention Program (IIPP).

Terminations. Just as it’s important to have an effective hiring process, it’s important that you have an effective (and legally compliant) process for terminating employees. Creating and following a Termination Checklist will help ensure that you cover all the bases. Terminating an employee is never easy, but putting some structure around it can make it less stressful for both you and the employee.

Please reach out to me at michelle@connecttohr.com if you need guidance on any of these items.

Avoiding That Difficult Conversation? Don’t!

Very few people jump at the chance to have what they know will be a difficult conversation. Whether it’s delivering bad news (“we have to lay you off”), providing negative feedback (“your report had multiple errors and needs to be redone”) or breaking off a relationship (“it’s not you, it’s me”) most of us will go out of our way to avoid initiating that conversation. In fact, according to a survey by VitalSmarts, a leadership development firm, 70% of employees avoid difficult conversations with their boss, coworker or direct report. Thirty-four percent say they have put off holding a difficult conversation for at least a month, and 25 percent have put off holding a difficult conversation for more than a year.

Unlike wine, these conversations do not improve with age. In fact, when leaders put off having that difficult conversation with an employee, it can severely impact morale on the rest of the team, and may even result in the loss of customers.

Here’s an example. A company I was working with hired a new Sales Manager. Over time, this manager’s team began to complain about a number of things. He wasn’t cooperating with the rest of the team. He would get in people’s faces. He took credit for other people’s work. He would over promise to customers, and when he couldn’t deliver, he would blame others for it. The company owner was reluctant to speak with him or to take action. He didn’t want to admit he’d made a bad hire. I encouraged the owner to explore what was happening internally, and to consider that it might be impacting the company’s image externally. Following an investigation, the Sales Manager was fired. Not long after that, two customers called the owner to say that they had been on the verge of moving their business because of the way this individual had treated them. Bad behavior is bad for business!

If there’s a difficult conversation you’ve been avoiding, stop! Sit down right now and give yourself a deadline to get it done. Here are some tips to guide you through it.

Prepare for the conversation by asking yourself these questions:

What is the issue? What is its impact?
Do I have all the facts? Remember it’s important to focus on facts rather than conclusions, which may be wrong. Don’t assume that because someone is late two times a week that they’re lazy or don’t care. Give them a chance to explain.
What do I want to accomplish in the conversation?
How will I follow up after the conversation?

It’s also important to prepare for the emotional energy that may arise in the conversation – either yours or that of the other person. You may want to practice the conversation with a colleague.

Have the conversation.

Schedule a face-to-face meeting, in private, at a time that will be free of distractions (e.g., not when there’s a crucial deadline pending).
Enter the meeting with an open mind – remember, they may be totally unaware there’s an issue until you share it with them. Be prepared to hear their point of view/perception of the situation.
Start by stating your intent. “I’ve noticed that_______. I’d like to hear your feelings about this and share mine.”
Listen, acknowledge their input, and paraphrase it back to them to demonstrate understanding.
Share your concerns/point of view and give them the opportunity to respond.
Avoid the blame game.
Work together to come up with a solution.

Follow up. One of the benefits of getting through these conversations is that often they result in a closer and more trusting relationship. Granted, there are times when a mutual solution cannot be reached, and that may be the solution in and of itself (as in the case of the Sales Manager). But when the conversation helps to clarify perceptions and initiate more open dialogues, it leads to better working relationships, happier employees, and an overall improved working environment.

Identifying and Preventing Workplace Bullying

In a survey conducted by Dr. Judy Blando of the University of Phoenix, nearly 75% of respondents said they had been affected by workplace bullying, either as a target or a witness. That’s shocking. What’s even more shocking is that so often bullying goes unreported, and when it is reported the targets are often the ones that bear the consequences. According to a recent article in business.com, targets lose their jobs at a significantly higher rate than perpetrators (82% vs. 18 %).

This is short-sighted on the part of employers, because bullying impacts not only the targets, but other employees who witness it, as well as customers. Chances are if someone is a bully to those inside your organization, they will be a bully to those outside the organization.

I’ve seen this first-hand. A company I was working with hired a new sales manager. Over time, the sales manager’s team began to complain about a number of things. He wasn’t cooperating with the rest of the team. He would get in people’s faces. He took credit for other people’s work. He would over promise to customers, and when he couldn’t deliver, he would blame others for it. All of these are signs of a bully. The company owner was reluctant to take action. It was hard for him to admit he’d made a bad hire. This is pretty typical. In fact, according to the Workplace Bullying Institute, 72% of employers deny, discount, encourage, rationalize or defend bullying.

I encouraged the owner to explore what was happening internally, and to consider that it might be impacting the company’s image externally. Following an investigation, the sales manager was fired. Not long after that, two customers called the owner to say that they had been on the verge of moving their business because of the way this individual had treated them. Bad behavior is bad for business!

Often bullying can be subtle. And often bullies pick on targets whom others describe as amiable, easy-going, kind. Bullying is abuse, plain and simple. Here are some things to watch for. A bully may:

Consistently ignore the target, or exclude them from team meetings, conversations, or outings
Be overly critical of the target’s work, with the goal of making them feel inadequate or unworthy
Create a hostile work environment by igniting conflict or competition among team members
Yell or use abusive language to others
Physically block the target from entering or exiting, or invade the target’s personal space
Take credit for work that is not their own
Blame others for their mistakes
Give false information or withhold information to discredit the target
Purposely prevent the target’s progress on a work project

Preventing bullying in the workplace starts by making good hires. Craft your behavioral interview questions to draw out any red flags from the candidate’s previous experience. Communicate to employees that abusive behavior/bullying will not be tolerated. Create an environment where all employees feel comfortable sharing concerns with their leader or HR. Be observant. Notice and take action when you see bad behavior. Develop and communicate a process for reporting and response. Keep accurate records.

If you have concerns about bullying in your organization, please feel free to contact me.

Bad Behavior is Bad for Business

You only have to glance at the news to get the feeling that workplace bullying and harassment are on the rise. Bill O’Reilly was called out recently for his behavior toward women at Fox News, as Roger Ailes had been accused before him. As of a few days ago, more than 50 companies had pulled their advertising dollars from The O’Reilly Factor.

Clearly, bad behavior is bad for business.

Most of us are familiar with what constitutes harassment. However, I think a reminder is useful.

California law prohibits workplace discrimination and harassment in employment based on:

Ancestry
Age (40 and above)
Color
Disability (physical and mental, including HIV and AIDS)
Genetic information
Gender, gender identity or gender expression
Marital status
Medical condition (genetic characteristics, cancer or a record or history of cancer)
Military or veteran status
National origin
Race
Religion (includes religious dress and grooming practices)
Sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and/or related medical conditions)
Sexual orientation

Harassment may refer to derogatory comments, slurs or propositions; epithets; assault; blocking movement; offensive touching; physical interference with normal work or movement; and visual insults, such as derogatory posters or cartoons.

California law also requires that employers with 50 or more employees provide sexual harassment and abusive conduct prevention training for all supervisors. This training should be given when someone is first promoted to a supervisor position, and then every two years thereafter.

Workplace bullying, as defined by the Workplace Bullying Institute, is repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators. It is abusive conduct that is:

Threatening, humiliating or intimidating, or
Work interference that prevents work from getting done, or
Verbal abuse

Workplace situations of harassment or bullying impact not only the victims, but also other employees and, potentially, customers who either witness or experience the abusive behavior. Bullies tend to be equal opportunity perpetrators.

In my next blog, I’ll share a specific example of how bullying nearly lost a company several key clients, and I’ll give you some tips for recognizing and preventing bad behavior in your organization.

6 Tips for Developing a Performance Improvement Plan

As I’ve often said, performance management is an ongoing process not just an annual event. As such, when there’s a performance issue it’s important to deal with it in a timely manner. The goal should be – if possible – to turn the situation around and get the employee back on track versus terminating them. This requires a plan. Here are some tips for developing an effective Performance Improvement Plan (PIP).

Keep detailed documentation. When it’s clear that there’s an issue – the employee is regularly late, absent without an excuse, or submitting sloppy/incomplete work, for example – note the dates and description of the incidents. This will document a pattern of poor behavior and will serve as a backup in the event of a legal dispute down the road.
Have an informal performance discussion. Hopefully you are having regular one-on-ones with your employees. If so, that is the perfect time to clarify expectations and alert the employee that there’s an issue. Give the employee the opportunity to explain and to offer ideas for a solution. It may be that the issue could be resolved by a change in work schedule or additional training. Be sure to share the impact of the employee’s under-performance and that without improvement, the next step will be a formal PIP.
Create the plan. If the performance doesn’t improve after the initial performance discussion, it’s time to create a formal PIP. The plan should clearly describe the expected behaviors and specific goals – with deadlines – for achieving those behaviors. Goals should be SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely. Establish a reasonable timeline for the behavior change – long enough to determine whether the behavior change can be sustained, but short enough to take the next step (possible termination) before other people/processes are impacted by the poor performance.
Obtain employee’s agreement and signature. It’s essential that the employee commit to the goals on the plan. If possible, co-create the goals. If the employee feels they’ve had the opportunity to provide input to the plan they are more likely to follow it. As part of your documentation process, and to reinforce the formality of the PIP, get the employee’s signature.
Monitor performance. As part of the plan, schedule regular check-ins to discuss progress. Acknowledge any progress, and also remind the employee that you are looking for sustained improvement.
Formally close out the plan. If the employee fails to meet the expectations defined in the plan, the next step is determining whether termination is appropriate. If the employee follows the plan and shows the expected improvement, acknowledge that improvement and close out the plan. If the employee makes a good effort but doesn’t complete all the goals or you are unsure whether the performance will be sustained, you may want to extend or create a new PIP.

When it comes to Performance Improvement Plans, prevention is the best medicine. You will have fewer PIPs to write if you deal with performance issues in a timely manner, keep lines of communication open with your employees through regular one-on-ones, and are consistently clear about performance expectations.