Delaware Employment Law Blog

Ah, the poetic insolence of the bitter employee.  We all know the song by heart.  Sarcastic and   , they lie in wait for their next prey.  All employees are potential targets.  No one is immune from being swallowed whole, the sole of a well-polished Johnston & Murphy shoe the last image of what was once a pleasant co-worker.  Gulp.  

It could be the always-chipper Janet from Food Service--what's she got to be so happy about, anyway?  Or maybe Chad the Summer Intern, in his daily uniform of light-colored khaki pants, light blue, long-sleeved shirt, cuffs rolled, of course, and one of the four ties he's currently got in rotation.  Chad is powerless, really, and too concerned with making a stellar impression to sound like a whiner if he were to complain about the snide, jabbing comments of the bitter employee.  You know who they are. 

And so do they.  Just ask The Angry Receptionist.  She's working very hard--though not at her job duties.  Instead, she has blogged her way to the top of the disengaged-employee list by branding herself as the champion of bitter employees everywhere.  In her words:

I'm a receptionist at a mid-sized corporate office. When I first started here, I was very nice. It took about a week for everyone to try to take advantage of my good will in every awful way possible.
I'm not nice anymore.

And she's good at what she does.  Her blog has attracted lots of attention in the blogosphere. She is fully committed to her efforts, too.  In fact, she has all of the qualities of a potentially outstanding employee.  Except that she holds her cards too long.  If the workplace is as dreadful as she describes, why is she there?  You've gotta' know when to fold 'em, you know? 

For more on the impact of employees blogging at work or about work, see Blogs In the Workplace

Work-life balance, toxic bosses, and generation gaps.  Three of our favorite topics at the Delaware Employment Law Blog.  They're also the focus of a Special Edition of Businessweek.  The magazine, on stands Monday, has a feature called Business@Work.  The workplace special report was created, really, by readers.  In surveys, blogs, and polls, readers talked about their top concerns at work and their strategies and practical tips for how they deal with it all.  The topics covered include, in addition to the ones above, how to stay creative and entrepreneurial in uncertain economic times, time management, and managing the bureaucracy of Corporate America.

There were lots of fascinating tidbits among the nine pages of text.  One of the main articles deals with the initiatives being taken by employers that focus on their employees' "happiness."   Go figure.  A "happiness initiative" is not necessarily a new idea.  After all, that's what employee benefits are, for the most part.  But some of the efforts being made by companies like Safeco, IBM, and BMW N. America, are new to me. 

How would your employees like the idea of being flown to Disneyland for the day--families included.  (If you like it enough to transfer, you'd want to apply at the L.A. office of law firm DLA Piper).  Or maybe you'd be interested in hiring a Chief Happiness Officer, who, if he's like the CHO at London ad agency, iris Worldwide, is in charge of managing regular pub crawls.  And for the academics in the group, there is happiness learning just around the corner.  Companies including Qantas and Sanofi-Aventis have called in experts to assess the emotional health of their employees. 

So are these "perks" really seen as perks by the employees who receive them?  Or does the fact that they occur during working time with coworkers and monitored by management make them any less enticing?

Employers are always looking for new ways to offer their employees perks and benefits.  Perks can be a double-edged sword.  On one hand, many think that employee retention can be directly correlated to the perks offered.  On the other hand, in difficult economic times, employers worry that they'll have to chose between keeping costly perks or keeping employees.  And to take away perks is an absolute morale killer.  (See The Real Price of Pulling Perks and 5 Free Ways to Reward Employees).

So what's an employer to do? We've talked before about some of the free perks that employers can use to keep employees.  Here's another type of perk that isn't free but that will give you a real return on your investment.  Training.

Yes, that's what I said, training.  Employees, especially Gen Y employees) want to know that they are making a contribution to their workforce.  Employees who are able to participate in meaningful work, as opposed to mind-numbing "busy" or "filler" work are far more likely to get engaged and have the sense of ownership that employers value so highly. 

Without continued development, employees are destined to get bored and lose their enthusiasm.  Unless employees are given continuous opportunities to develop new skills or to deepen their understanding of skills they already have.

This is a win-win for employers, too.  What more could you want?  Engaged and highly skilled employees?  Maybe it's more of an employer perk.

Want to know what it takes to be voted best place to work?  Ask the healthy employees of Wilmington, Delaware-based internet bank, ING Direct.  The healthy-factor is no coincidence.  ING takes its employees' wellness very seriously.

The bank has a full-time doctor and nurse in the building for employees' immediate access.  And employees can use the company's full-scale gym.  Known as The Energy Zone, the gym offers a variety of group fitness classes such as yoga and spinning, and even organizes a running club.  For $10 per month, employees can use the gym before, during, and after work--including weekends.  The Wellness Center offers weight-loss programs, access to personal trainers and cholesterol monitoring. 

According to the respondents, the good stuff doesn't stop at the doors of the Wellness Center, though.  81% think they have a great physical work environment.  And 85% feel their benefits package is good compared to others in their industry.  92% said they are proud to work for ING and 81% said they are motivated to give their best.  86% believe in the mission and the strategy--reporting that they feel that the company is moving in the right direction.

The bank is known for doing things its own way, which has turned out to be a very effective way for ING.  Since it opened in 2000, the bank has grown to more than 6.8 million account holders.  All without a single branch.  ING also prides itself in treating all of its 1,108 employees equally.  Instead of formal titles, employees work in a certain department--where managers sit in cubicles next to their direct reports.

Innovation is working for ING--and for its healthy employees.

Good employees are hard to find.  And employers know it.  So, to attract and retain the best talent, employers have implemented benefits and perks in every shape and size.  Wellness Programs

have been lauded as a way to offer employees additional perks at work while, at the same time, producing a healthier, happier, and less expensive workforce.

But wellness programs aren't the only type of benefit offered in addition to the standard health-care plan. A company car, employer-subsidized day care, and the like are all pitched as benefits that employers hope will attract the best of the best.  But what happens when times are tough and employers need to make cut-backs?  These benefits are often the first in line at the chopping block.  As it turns out, though, this may not be the best plan of attack.

Reneging on an offered benefit is the equivalent of a breach of the employee-loyalty contract; and it can have serious consequences on employee morale.  When an employer eliminates an employee-perk, employees often feel as if they've been "tricked."  Unfairness is another common product of the decision to remove perks that the workforce has come to associate as an integral part of the compensation package. 

But, at the same time, employers know that the modern employee expects these kind of benefits.  They are what has landed Google on Fortune 500's "Best Places to Work" list for the last two years. Competition for top producing employees requires employers to offer something.  So what to do?  There is a middle ground.  Especially in periods of economic hardship, employers must be creative to ensure that they remain competitive while avoiding the counterproductive effect sure to occur when perks are pulled.

Here are a few examples of benefits that, because of their low-cost, carry a similarly low risk of being cut at the first sign of hard times. 

1. Peer recognition.  Think of this as an Employee-of-the-Month program with a twist.  Instead of having management nominate an employee for exceptional work, which often results in little more than embarrassment and ostracism for the recipient, have employees do the nominating.  Non-winners take pride in their nominee and the nominee is more likely to value the award when it comes from his peers.
2. Casual or Dress-down Fridays.  These don't have to happen every week.  Instead, try once a quarter.  If it is something different, employees are more likely to be excited about it.
3. Professional Speakers.  Professionals will often come to your organization and present to your employees at little or no cost.  The benefit to the speaker is the potential business and networking opportunities.  Financial advisors, for example, can offer your employees valuable and practical information. 
4. Placement Incentives.  Offer employees a reward, whether cash or time off, if they refer a job candidate who is hired and stays at the organization for six months.
5. Teach the Teacher.  When an employee has a particularly notable success, have him share the key processes with others in the group.  He'll be pleased with the recognition and his peers will appreciate the insight.

The best way to reward employees is one you already know--saying "thank you."  Showing gratitude regularly is the single best way to develop a positive relationship with your workforce and to build employee engagement.  And that is always free.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Employee retention has garnered a great deal of attention as a result of the notoriously short stints of Generation Y employees.  The battle for talent requires more strategic tactics than ever.  But, as many employers have learned, getting them to stick around after they arrive is just as difficult.  As a result, more and more employers are spending more and more resources on employee perks of every variety.  But are some jobs just so unbearable that no perk can entice employees to stay?

BNet has a recent article explaining the "five telltale signs that recession is putting your organization in a chokehold, and possibly making your job unbearable."

Four of the five signs that your organization is in trouble and that your job is about to get "crummy:"

1.  Loyalty goes out the window. Employees, who normally work to please others, with whom they've developed an emotional relationship, instead become transaction-oriented.  Instead of wanting to satisfy those people in the workplace who are important to them, employees turn inward and do the minimum required to satisfy their obligations.

2.  Bad news comes from the top.  Middle managers get stuck with giving bad news that they didn't create or relaying tough decisions that they did not make.  This makes them an undeserving target.

3.  Office politics get as heated as any campaign season.  When employees smell the fear of layoffs, they switch from the defensive to an offensive approach.  To avoid the chopping block, they start pointing fingers as others, hoping to divert attention away from themselves.

4.  Innovations come to a stop.  There is no room for change, so goes the line of thinking during tough financial times.  Inhibiting creative thinking is stifling to many of the best employees.  And those who aren't stifled stand to suffer even more because the ideas they do offer are shot down, leading to hurt feelings. 

There's no prediction of a sudden economic upswing.  Until there is, employers should be on the lookout for signs that employees are becoming dissatisfied.  As much effort should be made to prevent layoffs as goes towards preventing employee disengagement.

100 great blogs all in one place!!  Is it possible? Well, of course.  Right here at Delaware Employment Law Blog! Under the "Resources" tab at the top right of our home page, the "Blog List" gives you access to more than 160 blogs, all in one place.

HR World has done the same thing, so double your blog intake. 

Here are some of my own favorites from each of the categories:

Leadership:  Wally Block's 3-Star Leadership Blog has always regularly updated and sophisticated content on a broad range of topics relating to leadership and business management. 

Creativity & Inspiration:  I've mentioned before my admiration for David Zinger, who's responsible for the Slacker Manager blog.

Self-Awareness:  Be sure to check out the blog of Marshall Goldsmith, executive consultant and author of What Got You Here Won't Get You There.  But don't forget Seth Godin's Blog, which is wildly popular and only getting hotter,  or David Maister's Passion, People, and Principles.

Development, Marketing and Finance:  Managing Leadership, The Strategic Role of the Senior Executive, is a recent addition to my blogroll with insightful and intelligent commentary. 

Using Technology:  The Web Worker Daily is always content-rich--in quantity and in quality.

Getting Results:  Smart Talk on Conversation by Susan Bird focuses on employee and customer engagement with word-of-mouth marketing, interactive dialogue, and social networks.

Branding:  The Engaging Brand Blog: Employee-management tips permeate this blog by Anna Farmery, speaker and social-media coach.

Women:  The Power of the Purse: Fara Warner finesses on how companies can cater to “the world’s most important consumers”— women.

Employee satisfaction is a complex science. What it takes to retain top talent has been the subject of countless studies, focus groups, and informal discussions.  Julia Kirby, at the Harvard Business Review posted about the importance of Making Sure You're Engaging Your Top Talent.  She writes about two recent studies that show that new employees become jaded after just six months on the job, followed by a decline in morale for the next four years of employment.

These statistics beg the questions, why does this happen and how can it be prevented?

Of course, I wouldn't pretend to offer answers to either question--both surely will be the topic of countless case studies and research projects for years to come.  But here's what I will offer--what I believe to be the most fundamental necessity that any organization must provide in order to retain great employees and to make good employees become great ones--honesty.

You don't hire employees because you think they're particularly dopey.  You hire employees who you believe are the best and brightest, the smartest, and most innovative candidates out there.

Just don't forget it once they start working for you.

Employees are not fooled by empty promises.  So don't pretend that you are going to fix X, Y, or Z problem if you know you'll never take any tangible steps in keeping that promise.  It's very easy to become jaded when you feel that you've been duped by your employer.  Think of the parent who answers every request with "maybe," or "We'll see." 

Everyone knows that what the parent really is saying is "N-O."  So be a straight shooter.  Give employees a valuable answer to their questions and, whenever possible, explain why.  Employees in the know are more likely to be sympathetic to the choices of the organization even if it doesn't give them the result they prefer.

In these difficult economic times, it is not uncommon for an employer to have serious concerns about the financial health of the organization.  So, if the company's annual summer picnic is cut to save money, don't feed employees a bogus story about the reasons for the decision.  It won't be good enough.  They'll resent you for canceling the party and they'll interpret the decision as a negative reflection of management's lack of understanding or appreciation of employees.  They'll secretly suspect that management is trying to give them a not-so-subtle hint that they are not doing a good job.

Instead, be honest.  Explain that the party has been canceled because it is a costly event and, in difficult times, the company has the duty to protect the overall fiscal health of the company and can't risk long-term security in the name of the summer picnic.  Offer specific examples of the cost-benefit analysis you used to reach the decision.  If you spent some time and energy to reach the decision, then you'll be able to articulate that to others. 

And sometimes, that's all it takes.  A little honesty.

Employment litigation involves high-state emotions and personal investment.  Delaware employers who find themselves in employment litigation can utilize the highly successful and very accessible mediation services of our two federal court magistrate judges. 

The success rate of mediation can, in large part, be attributed to the value of a face-to-face meeting of the parties.  Facilitated by two highly regarded judges who have the ability to coax the parties into reasonable positions, it is it not uncommon to reach settlement in a case once the emotions have subsided.  But what if there was a way to cool emotions before litigation ever ensued? 

The Workplace Fairness Blog picked up an article from the N.Y. Times, Doctors Say "I'm Sorry" Before "See You in Court."  According to the article, there is a trend in the medical profession to disclose medical errors more promptly, followed by a sincere apology and fair compensation.  The article indicates positive results with one hospital reporting a decline in existing claims and lawsuits from 262 in 2001 to 83 in 2007.

The post wonders whether this "full disclosure and apology" policy could or should be transferred to the employment context.  In other words, would a heartfelt "I'm sorry" prevent litigation brought by employees?  The concludes that it likely would. 

How to Cut Off Liability With a Face-to-Face Meeting

I concur.  Often, I will get a call from a client worried about an employee who, it is suspected, may be considering a lawsuit.  When I inquire what happened or is happening that would cause the employee to consider suing, there usually is a clear and definable answer.  Maybe the employee was passed over for a promotion that she feels she deserved, for example.

As we flesh it out, there are often good reasons, from the employee's perspective, to feel slighted.  Employees don't get all of the information that go into any given decision.  So, based on the information that they have available to them, the situation very well might seem unfair or biased. 

If that is the case but the employer has legitimate, articulable, and, preferably documented reasons for the decision, then we're off to a good start.  But we're not at the finish line because those legitimate reasons are unknown to the employee.  So what's an employer to do?

The answer is not necessarily to disclose every justification to the employee.  There are plenty of reasons that you may not want to share your decision-making process.  For one, it might lead to a sense of entitlement among direct reports.  And you don't need a line of employees demanding to know "why?" every time a decision is made that they don't like. 

Provide a Meaningful Opportunity to Be Heard

But there are middle grounds.  I counsel employers to, at the least, bring the employee in and ask them what's going on--and then listen to the answer.  Sometimes, just feeling that you are being heard is enough to put the employee back on your team. 

Once they've had an opportunity to say their piece, the manager should acknowledge that the employee's position is a sincere one (though not necessarily correct or justified, but at least sincere).  Then reinforce the employer's commitment to the employee and his or her continued satisfaction.  You hired him because you believed in the valuable contribution he makes to the team and this has not changed. 

I don't know that I'd call this an "apology."  But I would call it confirmation of commitment.  And I think that goes a long way.  Just a confirmation that you are still on the same side. 

Human Resource specialist, management professionals, and leadership consultants and coaches make up the nearly 300 members of the Employee Engagement Network. The network was started in January 2008 by David Zinger, the author of the popular leadership blog, Slacker Manager. 

If you are interested in management and leadership topics, the art of employee retention, or general principles of productivity, there is a good chance that you’ll find something worth a read at the EEN website. And now, thanks to Zinger and 11 co-authors, there is another reason to visit.  Zinger et al. have published an e-book containing 300 ideas for employee engagement. It’s been so popular that it was featured on the front pages of the New York Times and BNet's web-based newsletter. It’s a rare treat to find a learning tool with such practical, real-world advice.  But it gets even better--the book is free! Oh, the wondrous world wide web.

Visit the Slacker Manager blog to download the Employee Engagement in pdf and, while you're there, thank David for yet another great contribution.

Engaged employee. Engaged workforce. Management and leadership gurus love these words. Employers don't care what you call it--they just want to achieve it. If you're discouraged about your attempts to motivate employees, here's a story to lift your spirits. Hopefully, you have had more success than this young woman's managers.

Employers at the top of the game know the value of a workforce full of engaged employees.--employees who take ownership of their work. Well, if there ever was a story to demonstrate what an engaged employee is not, this is it.

An Iowa Administrative Judge denied unemployment benefits to Emmalee Bauer, 25. Bauer was formerly employed by Sheraton as a sales coordinator. Apparently, she did not do much coordinating, though. Instead, she spent her time at work scribing heart-felt journal entries she hopes may someday be published. But this is not the journal you might picture.

Her journal was devoted entirely to her work-avoidance strategies.

That's right. Every day, throughout her shift, she journaled away. And, by the time the Sheraton gig was over, she'd created a 300-page, single-spaced Manifesto of a Slacker.

I'm only here for the money, and, lately, for the printer access. I haven't really accomplished anything in a long while . . . and I am still getting paid more than at any job I ever had before.

I am going to sit right here and play Elf Bowling or some other nonsense. Once lunch is over, I will come right back to writing to piddle away the rest of the afternoon.

The judge who denied Bauer's unemployment appeal, said that the journal demonstrated Bauer's refusal to work as well as her "amusement of getting away with it."

If there was ever a case where an employer should be able to sue an employee to recoup the money it lost by employing her, this sure seems to be the one. Can you say "refund"?

[Hat tip to the Manpower Employment Blawg]