With so many blogs floating around the blogosphere on the topics of talent management, leadership, and human resources it's hard to know what's worth reading. We thought we'd save you some time and point you to the best of the best from last week.
Without further ado here are our 'Fab-Five' blog posts for the week of March 24th through March 30th, 2008:
Slow Leadership, Peter G. Vajda, PhD - Have You Stopped Chiseling? - Dr. Vajda guest blogs at the Slow Leadership Blog with a great article about realizing our own self potential and asks what we are doing to continually improve and develop ourselves. This is a must read!
Workplace Excellence, Dan Bobinksi - Confrontation is Best Met with Assertiveness - Confrontation and disagreement is an unavoidable part of work. Knowing how to handle it tactfully and professionally is critical. Dan Bobinkski offers some tips for handling confrontation like a true professional.
Great Leadership, Dan McCarthy - Because That's the way We've Always Done it! - Dan McCarthy has a great story up on his blog that challenges us to question our conventional way of thinking. Hopefully this will shed a new light on the change killing expression "We've never done it that way before!"
Sanders Says, Tim Sanders - Never Underestimate the Power of People - One of our favorite bloggers, Tim Sanders, has a great post up about how a powerful attitude and spirit of service can make up for just about anything. This post drives home the importance of getting the right people with the right attitudes on the front lines of your organization.
HR Wench - 10 Signs... - The HR Wench posted a saucy reply to a recent forbes.com article on the topic of bullying. We chose this list because, on top of being funny, the HR Wench (with or without knowing it) really touches on the importance of personal accountability in the workplace.
Faithful readers of this blog are probably shocked that we would even ask a question to which the answer seems so apparently obvious. Our answer to this question may shock you even further…
Yes - employee turnover can be too low!
How can this be you ask?
Let me explain…
Most of us are all too familiar with the high cost of employee turnover. The Society for Human Resource (SHRM) estimates the average cost of turnover per employee to be a staggering 150% of an employee's salary and benefits.
However, we often fail to recognize the costs associated with employees who "stay and quit." These are individuals who show up to work each day, but never really get out of their vehicles when they pull into the parking lot. They are unengaged, have quit emotionally, and rob an organization of possibility by draining productivity, damaging customer good-will, and killing morale.
When considering the cost these individuals inflict upon an organization, turnover can certainly be too low. An example…
The Rainmaker Group is headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota. The population of Bismarck and the surrounding community is approximately 75,000 – the second largest in the state - though not huge by any standard.
Given the size of the community and its economic and geographic isolation, we have come to conclude that Bismarck is in a precarious employment situation: turnover is too low.
How did we come to this conclusion?
While unemployment is low – typically well below the national average, even during tough economic times –opportunities for gainful professional employment are limited. Given the limited opportunity to hop from job to job, we came to suspect that many individuals were staying with their employers because they have to, not because they want to. To test our hypothesis we conducted a survey at a local event with a high percentage of professional workers.
The results, while still preliminary, were very interesting. A considerable number of respondents indicated a low or very low level of engagement in their current positions and felt that their skills and abilities were not being used to their full potential. However, almost all had no intention of seeking employment elsewhere in the coming 12 months.
The kicker?
When asked, nearly every one of these individuals felt that there were not adequate opportunities locally for gainful employment for individuals with similar skills, experiences, and educational backgrounds.
The result?
These individuals stay in their position because they have to, not because they want to… They have quit, but forgot to tell anyone.
Nobody wants to work in a job they hate, just as no organization wants workers who hate their jobs. It's bad for both parties – both financially and emotionally. Invariably it is best for the organization and its workers that these individuals find more meaningful employment elsewhere
Consider this…
When you plant a garden, you must first remove the weeds. After the weeds are removed the right plants and herbs can be selected based on a number of factors such as sun exposure, type of soil, required growing time and space, climate, etc.
Much as a gardener must go through the hard and sometimes painful work of removing weeds to ensure a hearty harvest, so must an organization go through the difficult process of assisting unhappy, unengaged, and unfit employees in finding employment elsewhere. After this arduous task has been completed it can now focus on getting the right people in the right positions in the pursuit of organizational excellence.
Is turnover too low in your organization? A few things to consider…
- If your team members wanted to leave could they or do they stay because they have to?
- Are there adequate employment opportunities in your community?
- Are your team members fit for their roles in your organization?
- Does your organization rely on traditional hiring processes, or does it take an objective and systematic approach to finding the right employee for the job?
- Is productivity and morale as high as it could be?
While organizations with low turnover are often lauded, praised and glorified, there may be more to the story than meets the eye.
Take a moment in the coming weeks and seriously consider the issues above. Could low turnover really be keeping your organization from reaching its full potential???
Now go Maximize Possibility!
Other blog posts you may be interested in:
Chris Young helps organizations Maximize Possibility through talent management, cultural transformation, and strategic intervention. Bring Chris in today!
1-866-988-RAIN
Most organizations we encounter have a policy of hiring quickly and firing slowly.
Frequently we hear comments such as, "The position has been open for too long… We need to hire somebody… Anybody!" or "Maybe Fred will come around… Let's give him a couple more months."
Our philosophy has always been to hire slowly and fire quickly. While we stand by our philosophy we thought it prudent to pose a few questions and suggestions to consider before firing that problem employee.
- Is the problem employee fully aware of his or her performance expectations? Frequently poor performance can be chalked up to management failing to establish clear performance objectives and effectively communicating these objectives to the employee.
- Has the position been Benchmarked and the problem team member assessed for his or her fit in the position? If the needs of the position have not been properly identified and benchmarked for the behaviors, values, and attributes that are necessary for success and the team member has not been assessed to see how well he or she fits these needs it is inevitable that the employee will have problems. On occasion an organization will get lucky and serendipitously hire an employee who is a good fit for the job. However, many times they do not and performance is never as good as it could be. Often the employee either quits or is fired – a lose-lose situation for both parties.
- Would the employee be better off serving your organization in a different position or department? If it is determined that the problem employee is not fit for his or her position, would they be of value to the organization in some other capacity, position, or department? It is often cheaper to re-organize than to re-hire. Many organizations have the talent they need right under their nose and fail to recognize it.
- Is the desire for termination the result of conflict between the employee and his or her manager? Frequently conflict can arise between an employee and his or her manager. While the manager may attribute it to the team member being a "bad apple" and seek to remove them from the organization, often times the conflict arises between communication issues caused by differing behavioral styles. In many cases awareness of these differences can do wonders to reduce the conflict between an employee and their manager.
The key in any situation is to be proactive.
Hope is not a strategy.
If you have addressed the issues above and the team member is still posing problems, you know what you need to do… Help this individual find more meaningful employment elsewhere.
Now go Maximize Possibility!
Other blog posts you may be interested in:
Chris Young helps organizations Maximize Possibility through talent management, cultural transformation, and strategic intervention. Bring Chris in today!
1-866-988-RAIN
With so many blogs floating around the blogosphere on the topics of talent management, leadership, and human resources it's hard to know what's worth reading. We thought we'd save you some time and point you to the best of the best from last week.
Without further ado here are our 'Fab-Five' blog posts for the week of March 17th to March 23rd, 2008:
Three Star Leadership, Wally Bock: Being a Leader is Not For Everyone - As usual Wally is spot-on in his recent post about the effects of promoting an unfit team member into a leadership role. Luckily for the individual in this post and her employer things worked out for the best as "Susan" recognized the situation and "demoted" herself... Most organization's aren't so lucky.
Seth Godin's Blog - Why Bother Having a Resume??? - Seth is though provoking as usual in this post as he suggests that the world class workers - the ones organization's die for - have no need for a resume, but secure great jobs through less traditional means. Makes you wonder what your organization is doing to source top talent...
Workplace Excellence, Dan Bobinski - No One Is Too Small To Participate - Dan has got a great post on his blog about generating ideas for organizational improvement. Guess what... they don't need to come from an Ivory Tower to have value.
John Ingram's Strategic Capital Management Blog - ROI on Coaching - Our friend from across the pond John Ingram has a great post up on employee coaching and ever critical metric: ROI. Little to our surprise... The return typically outweighs the investment.
Know HR, Frank Roche - 10 Ways to Know it's Time to Get out of HR - Frank has got a comical look at the HR world and offers 10 signs that it is time for you to get out.
Please take a moment and share in an exercise in personal accountability with me. It's short and sweet I promise…
Take your right hand and point at something nearby that frustrates you, annoys you, or makes you angry. What was it? The telephone? The lengthy to-do list laying on your desk? Or perhaps it is your manager's office or a co-worker in a neighboring cubicle?
Now take a good look at the hand you are pointing with. Do you notice anything peculiar?
Every time you point your finger at someone or something else there are three fingers pointing right back at you. It is impossible to point the finger of blame at someone or something without simultaneously pointing a finger back at oneself.
You might be asking yourself what exactly this is supposed to mean. Let me explain…
So often we point the finger of blame at others and don't even consider that we ourselves may be partially (or even wholly) responsible for the situation or outcome we are upset with. This can be a bitter pill to swallow, but an overwhelming percentage of the time it is true - - we are all accountable in some form for the results we achieve (or fail to achieve) and our situation in live.
Take another look at this which you pointed at a few minutes ago. Instead of blaming this person or thing for your troubles, take a moment to think about how your actions (or lack thereof) have impacted your situation.
- Are you blaming the telephone for your high level of stress when you haven't done an adequate job of taking care of your customers' needs lately?
- Are you pointing a finger at your to-do list even though you habitually procrastinate tacking items you know are important?
- Do you blame your manager for not effectively communicating her performance expectations to you although you have never asked for clarification of what she is expecting from you?
My intent here is not to make you feel like a bad person, but rather to get you to realize that every time you blame someone or something else you are in some way responsible for your situation as well.
It all boils down to personal accountability. Personal accountability is all about taking responsibility for your actions and asking yourself what you can do to make things better. Examples…
- What can I do to better serve my customers and reduce the number of complaints I receive?
- What can I do to ensure that I am keeping up with my workload? How can I better prioritize my responsibilities and work more productively and effectively?
- How can I better communicate with my supervisor to ensure that I clearly understand what is expected of me?
When we ask better questions of ourselves, we get better results. Period.
The next time you consider pointing a finger in blame someone or something else, remember that you are pointing three fingers right back at yourself and ask yourself what you can do to improve your current situation.
Interested in Personal Accountability Training for your employee team members? Check out the website, Personal Accountability At Work, for information on how to bring Personal Accountability into your organization.
Now go Maximize Possibility!
Other blog posts you may be interested in:
With so many blogs floating around the blogosphere on the topics of talent management, leadership, and human resources it's hard to know what's worth reading. We thought we'd save you some time and point you to the best of the best from last week.
Without further ado here are our 'Fab-Five' blog posts for the week of March 10th to March 16th, 2008:
Mission Minded Management, Michelle Malay Carter: Operationalizing Engagement via Managerial Leadership - Michelle grapples with the ever popular topic of employee engagement. As an employee's relationship with their manager is reported to be the biggest driver of engagement, Michelle invites you to take a look at your organization's management system and determine if it reinforces your managers' ability to lead and create strong levels of employee engagement.
Three Star Leadership, Wally Bock: Can Anyone Learn to be a Great Leader? - In his post Wally asks this critical question. His answer... a resounding no. Wally goes on to identify two key traits one must possess to become a truly great leader.
Know HR, Frank Roche: What's Your GPA? - In his post Frank ponders the importance of GPA in predicting the success of a potential employee? What do you think - is one's GPA in college or even high school a valid predictor of job success? Be sure to check out the comments on Frank's blog to see how his readers feel.
Workforce Management, John Hollon: Paying Workers to Get Healthy - Workforce.com blogger John Hollon reports on an interesting trend among some companies who are actually paying its employees to lose weight and live healthier. How does $10 for every pound you lose sound???
Evil HR Lady: Paid Time Off: The Evil HR Lady voices her opinions on paid time off versus vacation time and sick days. What do you think? What is more effective at recruiting and retaining top talent? Does it really matter? Be sure to read the spirited debate in the comments section of her blog.
I had an interesting experience at a local convenience store the other morning that really got me thinking about the importance of properly orientating and onboarding new team members…
As I approached the cash register I happened upon a conversation taking place between the two employees manning the cash registers about the training of a new hire . The following is a condensed version of what I overheard:
Cashier 1: "I can't believe she (their manager) scheduled him (Tommy - the new hire) to work with Sue his first two weeks on the job."
Cashier 2: "I know… Sue is a complete slacker. She talks on her cell phone all the time and it seems like she takes a smoke break every twenty minutes. Now Tommy probably thinks that is how we do things around here and we'll have to retrain him to break all the bad habits he picked up from Sue."
From what I could surmise in the 30 seconds I caught of this conversation was that the organization's training and orientation was very informal, conducted primarily on the job, and that cultural norms are typically established during this time that the new hire works with a more experienced team member. Often times this is an effective means of orientating a new team member, but in this situation its effectiveness was clearly suspect.
So what went wrong?
- No established systems for training and orientation – While not every organization needs a voluminous training guide and employee handbook, it is helpful to have some established protocol for training new employees. This will ensure that each new hire is introduced to the organization in a similar fashion and is clear about what behaviors are acceptable.
- Poor choice of training facilitator – Clearly the individual in charge of training Tommy,the new hire, was the wrong person. To me it is obvious that the trainer – Sue – has little awareness of the impact her actions have on the behavior of new hires, or that she simply doesn't care. This makes me wonder why this individual was put in the position to train the new hire in the first place. Was it because she has been around the longest? Was it a matter of scheduling convenience? Whatever the reason might, be the two cashiers have serious concerns about the impact that Sue is likely to have on the new hire's behavior. I can't emphasize enough the importance of choosing the right people to conduct the orientation and training of new team members.
- Lack of management participation – I understand that a manager can't be expected to hold a new hire's hand during the entire orientation process. However, it is still important for a manager to be a part of the process. The leaders of an organization have a considerable impact on the culture within an organization and in particular the behavior of its employees. For this reason it is imperative that a team member's manager or supervisor be involved in the onboarding process and set a strong example as to the kind of behavior that is expected from the new hire.
- Failure to reprimand unacceptable behavior: -- to me it was pretty clear that Sue's work ethic and undesirable behaviors were well known among her co-workers. Why was this behavior allowed to persist? Was management unaware of Sue's actions? Were they aware of her behavior, yet unable to modify it? Whatever the case, it is important to establish acceptable behavioral norms and utilize the proper rewards and disciplinary actions needed to achieve to these desired norms.
No matter the size of your organization, employee orientation and training are a critical part of onboarding new hires and should be taken very seriously. It is during these first critical weeks on the job that a team member picks up on and emulates an organization's cultural norms and accepted behavior. Set a bad standard during this time frame and you can be stuck with a "problem" employee for years to come. Do it right and you'll have a properly trained team member that exemplifies the image of excellence that your organization prides itself on.
Big questions… Who's onboarding your new hires? What kind of example are they setting? Could you have a "Sue" training your new hires and not even know it?
Now go Maximize Possibility!
Other blog posts you may be interested in:
Chris Young helps organizations Maximize Possibility through talent management, cultural transformation, and strategic intervention. Bring Chris in today!
1-866-988-RAIN
Kris Dunn, a very engaging HR guru and blogger at HR Capitalist and at Workforce.com, recently had a thought-provoking blog on Telecommuting and the benefits to the environment. Kris makes a powerful statement...
"If you buy into the fact that the US needs to become more independent and self-sufficient from an energy standpoint, then telecommuting is one of the silver bullets."
Kris' blog is causing me to ponder... I have not seen any studies pointing out the cost/benefits of Telecommuting and have to believe that a deeper look into Telecommuting should be pursued. I believe the benefits of Telecommuting may be a lot higher than traditionally thought. Clearly the environmental benefit is a huge plus - yet there are other big benefits as well...
It's easy to look at Telecommuting from the one-sided perspective of people kinda working from home. When I say "kinda" - you know what I mean. Of course that is not a fair assessment of all telecommuters and I have shared my concerns about what it takes to Telecommute in a previous blog.
There are some jobs that should not be a Telecommute option. There are some home "work" environments that are not suitable for Telecommuting (screaming children in the background / poor ergonomics). There are some people who need direct supervision all the time. And there are some people who must have more social engagement than a Telecommute will provide. Lastly... There are some people who are Behaviorally incapable of managing their own time effectively. Check out my blog called "Hiring the Right Employee - Not Everyone Can Telecommute".
Yet there are real benefits to Telecommuting that should not be ignored.
There are many benefits of Telecommuting for the employer, employee, society, and environment.
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Better impact on the environment (
Kris Dunn's point). After all... Telecommuters are not driving as much.
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Reduced traffic, wear and tear on roads, and improved public safety. The fewer cars on the road the better...
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Improved economic situation of rural America. Living in North Dakota... We are rural! We are actually seeing many cases of inmigration as people choose to live where they want to (less congested or rural locations) instead of where they have to (large metro areas.)
Employer Telecommuting Benefits
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Productivity enhancement. Happier people are more productive.
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Better access to global talent. Instead of focusing locally - a global focus enables organizations to find the best talent available, regardless of their local talent pools.
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Reduced employee turnover - enhanced employee retention. By virtue of giving the employee the opportunity to Telecommute, the employee may have increased loyalty to the employer
Employee Telecommuting Benefits
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Enhanced Work-Life Balance
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Improved work opportunities. When the "world is your oyster" - you are not constrained to the local job market.
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Better employee engagement - Telecommuters are often energized by the fact that their employers have shown faith in them to accomplish their goals and objectives without the need of close supervision.
Now go Maximize Possibility!
Other blog posts you may be interested in:
Chris Young helps organizations Maximize Possibility through talent management, cultural transformation, and strategic intervention. Bring Chris in today!
1-866-988-RAIN
With so many blogs floating around the blogosphere on the topics of talent management, leadership, and human resources it's hard to know what's worth reading. We thought we'd save you some time and point you to the best of the best from last week.
Without further ado here are our 'Fab-Five' blog posts for the week of March 3rd to March 9th, 2008:
Chief Happiness Officer, Alex Kjerulf: More Death to Job Titles - Ever wish you could throw out that dusty old job title of yours and exchange it for something that describes what you really do for your oganization? I think we all have! The Chief Happiness Officer shares a story from a reader with Quicken Loans who did away with pointless job titles in lieu of something more personal and reflective of his team members' contributions to Quicken Loans.
Evil HR Lady: Slow Hiring - In her usual Q & A format the Evil HR Lady offers a somewhat cynical explanation to a job applicant frustrated by the slow and unresponsive hiring process of an organization. Take a look at Evil HR Lady's take on the typical hiring process...Is your organization missing out on talented applicants because of a slow and unprofessional selection process?
Three Star Leadership by Wally Bock: Leadership: Every Day in Every Way - The ever insightful Wally Bock strips away the romantic view of leadeship espoused in best-selling business books shares what it really means to be a leader... Hint it's the little things that you do every day that define you as a leader.
HR Tests: Hiring a President - Bryan with HR tests has in intersting article on how we as a people might go about testing our presidential candidates to determine who is really the best fit to lead our country.
Tim Sanders: Find Your Hidden Costs - Tim Sanders challenges you to find and assess the hidden people costs in your organization.
It may surprise you, but an employee's performance may have as much to do with the expectations you set of them as it does with the knowledge, skills, and abilities they bring to the job. If you have a background in education, you have likely heard of the Pygmalion Effect – also known as the Rosenthal Effect or the Teacher Expectancy Effect.
The Pygmalion effect essentially asserts that individuals perform up to the level that they are expected to perform. What Robert Rosenthal found was that if teachers were led to believe that a student would be a superior learner or performer, he or she would hold higher expectations of this student and as such the student would perform up to these heightened expectations. It was shown that the heightened expectations of an average or below average student would frequently result in performance levels much higher than was previously thought possible – i.e. a "C" student that was believed and expected to be an "A" student by his or her instructor would perform up to the level of an "A" student.
So what does this have to do with talent management or employee performance?
Clearly there is a connection between the expectations we set of an individual and their performance and contribution to their organization. The way one treats a new-hire can have a considerable impact on that individual's performance in their position.
If a new-hire is treated like a superstar and great things are expected of them a couple of things happen... First the new hire feeds off the confidence his new co-workers and supervisors have in him and as such are encouraged to believe in themselves and quickly remove doubts and fears they may have about their new position that may impede their performance. Secondly the new-hire realizes that great things are expected of them, understands that mediocrity is not accepted in their new role or within the organization, and as such feels little choice but to live up to the expectations that have been set of them and subsequently performs at a superstar level.
So what happens when not much is expected of an employee when he or she is hired or introduced to a new role? You guessed it – their performance reflects what was expected of them.
Perhaps this individual didn't have the requisite number of years of experience the manager wanted for the position and HR hired them anyway, has a degree from a state school instead of an Ivy League establishment, or was transferred to a new functional department they had no experience with. Whatever the cause of the lowered expectations might be, chances are this individual's performance will emulate the expectations their supervisors have of them.
For the employee it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy… one which the employee's supervisor or organizational culture decides.
Ever wonder why good sales managers always seem to set sales quotas just higher than their salespeople are comfortable with? Subconsciously a skilled sales manager realizes the impact that their expectations have on the performance of their sales team. Lower quotas typically result in lower sales, while increased quotas frequently result in higher sales. Expectations must be realistic and achievable or they can become demoralizing, but generally speaking higher expectations lead to higher levels of performance.
The importance of employee performance expectations should be clear… They matter – BIG TIME.
What kind of expectations are you setting for your team members? If you expect them to be stars and perform at a high level, chances are they will. If you don't think they are capable of greatness your expectations become reality and turn into your performance management headaches.
Now go Maximize Possibility!
Other blog posts you may be interested in:
Unless you've been in a Rip-Van-Winkle-like slumber for the last 20 years, you are likely well aware of the pending exodus of Baby Boomers from the workforce. In fact the first official member of the Baby Boomer generation – Kathleen Casey-Kirchling – recently filed for social security benefits. The Social Security Administration reports that Baby Boomers are expected to become eligible for government retirement benefits at a rate of 10,000 Boomers per day for the next 20 years.
Will every Boomer retire the moment they become eligible? Of course not, but eventually these seasoned, highly skilled, and incredibly knowledgeable workers will retire and leave a gaping chasm of lost organizational knowledge and expertise in their wake. As a leader in your organization it is essential that you prepare for the inevitable and put into place systems that will retain the knowledge your most experienced workers have gained from their years of service with your organization.
Allow me to offer a few suggestions to help you keep this valuable knowledge in your organization…
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Design and implement a mentoring program – Mentoring is a great way to pass knowledge from one generation to the next. While not every Boomer will jump at the opportunity to mentor a young worker, many will relish the opportunity to share their knowledge and experience with an up and coming co-worker. Much is learned from one's time in the company trenches and many Boomers would love the opportunity to share their "war stories" with younger workers and offer guidance and suggestions on how to handle similar situations.
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Offer part time work – Many who retire find the transition to retirement difficult and don't know what to do with the sudden abundance of time on their hands. After a couple months many retirees become bored with retirement and long for the excitement and social interaction that work provides.
As retirees frequently take on part time jobs after retirement consider offering a semi-retirement package to workers approaching the age of retirement. Working half days or shortened workweeks is a great way to strike a work-retirement balance that will allow your most experienced workers the opportunity to continue contributing to your organization and share their knowledge with others before they retire for good. This is a great win-win situation for both your organization and the retiree.
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Invite retirees to facilitate training – With the exception of a planned reduction in force through natural attrition, a retiree's position will need to be filled with a new team member. In lieu of sending an individual to their new office, slapping them on the back, and wishing them good luck in their new position, invite the recent retiree to meet with his or her replacement once or twice a week to share their knowledge of and insights on the position to help the replacement transition into their new role. If your organization conducts formalized training events, retirees or those soon to retire are a great choice to facilitate training on topics they are experts on.
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Offer temporary project assignments – Giving Boomers the option to stay involved with your organization on a temporary, project by project basis is a great way to keep and pass down organizational knowledge. Many boomers would find great pleasure in working two or three months out of the year on projects they are particularly passionate about. A seasoned veteran can be invaluable to the success of a project and this approach is a great way to ensure that your organization isn't suddenly left searching for leaders of key projects as Baby Boomers retire.
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Succession planning – What at all this boils down to is one of the most neglected elements of organizational planning and development –
succession planning. Succession planning is the process of identifying, training, and preparing the future leaders of your organization. Identifying the future leaders of your organization and pairing them up with your most skilled and knowledgeable older workers is a great way to prepare these individuals for their new role and minimize the amount of organizational knowledge that is lost when Boomers retire.
Within your organization there is a goldmine of knowledge and expertise that your older workers have acquired over their years of loyal service to your organization. It would be a shame to let all this valuable knowledge go up in smoke the moment these individuals blow out the candles on their retirement cakes. Putting these suggestions into place will go a long way in helping your organization retain this valued knowledge and is a critical element in ensuring your organization's success well into the future.
Now go Maximize Possibility!
Other blog posts you may be interested in:
Another interesting survey was recently published by the AMA and The e Policy Institute that sheds light on Employee Internet Abuse and what employers are doing about it.
What they found about Employee Internet Abuse may enlighten you...
"...more than one fourth of employers have fired workers for misusing e-mail and nearly one third have fired employees for misusing the Internet."
BIG Talent Management Questions!
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Are your employees misusing the Internet on your dime?
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Is your organization exposed to needless risk because an employee is generating/forwarding inappropriate email that has your company url on it?
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Do you have an Internet Use Policy?
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Do your employees know what is expected of them to perform their job well?
Wait a minute!
Isn't using the Internet a right?
As an employee, do I not have the right to cruise the Internet without judgement from my employer?
No and no!
We find that many believe the use of the Internet is a right - not a privilege in the work place. While we certainly do not advocate the wholesale blocking of internet content to create a police state or at the very least a "big brother" work environment, we do advocate the use of common sense.
Unfortunately common sense cannot be forced on people. More survey results follow...
"The 28% of employers who have fired workers for e-mail misuse did so for the following reasons: violation of any company policy (64%); inappropriate or offensive language (62%); excessive personal use (26%); breach of confidentiality rules (22%); other (12%).
The 30% of bosses who have fired workers for Internet misuse cite the following reasons: viewing, downloading, or uploading inappropriate/offensive content (84%); violation of any company policy (48%); excessive personal use (34%); other (9%)."
In dealing with Internet abuse we find the problem may typically be found in one of three "buckets".
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The employee didn't know the Internet Use Policy nor were they aware of what would be considered inappropriate Internet Behavior.
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The employee was not aware of key job performance criteria.
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The employee was not the right fit for the job.
Key Advice...
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If you do not have an employee Internet Use Policy, put one in place immediately.
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If your employees do not know what they need to do to do their job well, inform them.
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If you have the wrong people on your "bus", get an effective Talent Management Strategy in place asap.
Now go Maximize Possibility!
Other blog posts you may be interested in:
Chris Young helps organizations Maximize Possibility through talent management, cultural transformation, and strategic intervention. Bring Chris in today!
1-866-988-RAIN
