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Archive for the ‘Policies’ Category
All the King’s Horses and All the King’s Men…
Aug 19…couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again. Same goes for the famous plastic surgeon who was texting as his Jeep veered off the Pacific Coast Highway. He died.
I’m not a big fan of HR policies. But here’s one I’d have: If I ever find out that you were in a company car (or on company time) and were texting and driving…you’re fired.
Texting and driving is more dangerous than drunk driving Three times worse. Twice as bad as being stoned and driving.
Company to employee: No texting and driving. None. Knock it off. We’re serious. I know you don’t want us to tell you that you’re too fat and you smoke too much. But dammit, we don’t want you to die or kill someone. What part of no-texting-and-driving don’t you understand?
A Weather-Based Dress Code
Jun 22
It’s going to be in the 90s all week here in Philadelphia. That’s a cooker in the city. Which made me wonder about a weather-based dress code. I’m thinking that just like companies have a snow day hotline, they should have a real hotline for smoldering hot days. Imagine that: “Due to the extreme weather today, you can now loosen your ties — based on your own discretion.”
Ya think some policy maker in HR is already on that one? (The dress policy at our shop is “Wear clothes.”) What’s your dress code for when it’s boiling hot outside?
HR Slim-Down: Your Communication Diet
Apr 15It’s time to cut the fat out of your diet. You know what we’re talking about—the fast foods of HR, the “oh, so convenient” communication candies, those outdated recipes of policies you’ve been using far too long.
Take a look at your company in your office mirror today. Is there anything you’d like to change? We’ll show you how to slim down your at-work communications by eliminating these things from your HR diet.
Dress codes (and other outdated rules)
We’re not advocating a complete disregard for common social courtesy, but we’d also like to point out that we’re not living in the Mad Men era anymore. We’re all professionals, which means we have a pretty good idea what we’re supposed to be doing. Leave the choice of what to wear up to us.
Time clocks
Measuring your employees’ workday down to the minute is just as bad as assigning them a dress code. Not only is it a waste of time for them having to constantly worry about the exact second of arrival or departure, but it wastes your time when you focus on these menial details, rather than the bigger picture.
Employee of the month
Okay, so you get a special parking spot and your photo on the wall. When’s the last time you’ve looked at another coworker enviously for getting that coveted spot? (Exactly.) Rather than create a contrived contest on a fixed schedule, give your employees continuous feedback and reward them where it actually counts. Do things that matter.
PowerPoint
Showing off a flashy PowerPoint presentation in a corporate meeting is about the same as showing off a Tamagotchi in elementary school show and tell—it’s just not impressive, anymore. Just because there’s a cookie-cutter presentation program out there doesn’t mean you should cancel out all other possibilities of good communication pieces. Take the time to figure out the best way to show off your information.
Peanut butter pay-for-performance
If you say you pay your employees for performance, don’t just spread your budgeted amount evenly across all of your employees like peanut butter. Paying for performance means your employees won’t all receive the same straight percentage of a raise. It also means you reward your top performers, not all of your performers. Show your true rockstars they’re worth more than a one percent pay increase.
When Is a Policy a Policy?
Feb 22The best thing that SEPTA ever did was create a quiet car on the suburban Philadelphia rail lines. During rush hour, the first car of a 3+ car train is designated as a quiet car. No talking. No cell phone conversations. Peace and quiet.
I’m a quiet car enforcer. I don’t hesitate to remind people that there’s a reason everyone is quiet except them.
Last Friday, a woman behind me answered her phone on the morning ride in. She started talking at full volume. I turned to look at her once, which meant “quit it.” She kept going. Louder. I turned around and looked at her square in the face.
“MY SON IS SICK!” she shouted at me.
I suggested that if he was sick and she needed to talk to him, perhaps she shouldn’t have gotten on the quiet car. She hissed at me. I’m not kidding. Hissed.
I laughed. Shook my head.
“Asshole,” she said as she got up in a huff and stomped off to a different car.
(I could go into another whole rant about people not taking responsibility and never being wrong, but I digress.)
*********************
Here’s the deal about policies: They’re not effective policies if there are exceptions. One exception — a sick kid — leads to another — a big business deal. And pretty soon, no more quiet car.
Here’s your HR lesson: Have policies that you really, really need. Then, really, really enforce them. Or get rid of them.
Myself, I vote for no insipid cell phone conversations on my commute.
A Master's Class in Hiring a Person With Credit Wrecked By Bad Health and Being Laid Off
Jan 31I saw this question/plea on Ask Reddit this morning. For those of you in HR making hiring decisions, here’s your master’s class in the impact that credit check policies have on hiring decisions. Read the article and the comments. Here’s the setup.
I was out of work to fight an illness and can’t get a job now because my credit is bad. I have 13 years of IT experience -will work my a** off for you.
Since early 2008 I have been out of work. I had to bow out and go full time to Rochester, MN for medical care. I stayed current with my skills and I am better than ever before. My last two job offers have been rescinded due to bad credit. I’ve had hiring managers desperately want me on their team and go to bat for me but with no luck. I didn’t run up credit cards on a shopping spree, I fell ill and was financially destroyed. I lost my cars, home -the works in order to get the care I needed in order to stay alive. I have designed data centers, managed global IT teams, designed, implemented and managed Global WANS, network security, route\switch, worked for dot coms that you’ve heard of and Fortune 50 Companies. Are there any hiring managers that want a top-flight employee with a proven track record that can deliver you and your team results? I am open to constructive ideas. Thank you Reddit!
Edit: I had ‘good corporate’ Health Insurance. The Insurance was a paperwork trap and they basically said everything was ‘experimental’ or ‘not covered’ as my condition was extremely rare so basically Insurance was like a 10% off coupon and my ticket to get let in. I was wiped out financially in 6 weeks.
What would you do? WWYD?
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