Human Resources 101

In Wally, Scott Adams has given us the classic workplace slacker. Wally not only excels at dodging work, he flaunts it. Of course, we laugh at Wally’s “skill-set” because we all know and have worked with a slacker.

There are two types of slackers in most organisations, those who are in over their heads when it comes to getting the job done and those who are just plain lazy. Both types are difficult to deal with and both create morale problems in the workplace.

Regardless of type, slackers have common behaviours:

• They consistently fail to do what they’re expected to do.
• They excel at “busy work”.
• They’re the last to arrive, but the first to leave.
• They try to pass off tasks to other staff members.
• They often claim to be “too busy” to help out.
• They spend lots of time visiting around the office; often interfering with the work of others.
• They lots of time surfing the web, on personal phone calls or personal e-mail/messaging.

Here are some techniques for dealing with slackers:

• Talk with them in private about their behaviour, not in the middle of a team meeting.
• Don’t get angry. Remain calm and objective.
• Focus on measurable productivity. Don’t blame or accuse. Focus on the behaviour not the personality.
• Describe the behaviour’s negative impact on the team.
• Set clear expectations and set up an accountability system to track the expectations. Document the expectations in writing.
• Get a commitment to changing.

Some questions for consideration. Post your answers in the comments below.

1. Have dealt with slackers? How?
2. Have you been a slacker? What were the consequences? What made you change your behaviour?
3. Why is it important to avoid being confrontational?
4. What kinds of skills do slackers need to work on? (E.g.: time management.)

The workplace comprises of all sorts of people. Anyone of them can display troublesome behaviour that affects productivity, attitude and moral. If these behaviours are not curbed, they may even reflect on the manager’s image within the organization.

The average manager has to cope with many problem behaviours on the job. If you find yourself in a position where you have to deal with problem co-workers, you must:

• Try to understand their motivations.
• Learn to control your own emotions.
• Make your position clear without displaying disrespect.
• React to the behaviour, not the person.

This is a brief introduction to a series of posts on dealing with problem employees on the job. I’ll look at 8 common types of problem behaviours in the workplace and give some simple ideas for addressing and eliminating these problems. I’ll look at:

1. The Slacker
2. The Talker
3. The Betrayer
4. The Intimidator
5. The Power-Monger
6. The Clown
7. The Know-It-All
8. The Whiner

Two in five working Canadians have experienced vacation envy; nearly 1 million Canadians booked a vacation as a result

TORONTO, ON – May 14, 2008 – The sixth annual Expedia.ca™ Vacation Deprivation™ survey by Ipsos-Reid reveals that more than one quarter (29 per cent) of Canadians are not taking all of their vacation time (up from 21 per cent last year) and 33 per cent of Canadians identify themselves as being vacation deprived (up from 31 per cent last year). Canadians give back an average of 2.43 days (up from 2.06 last year) of unused vacation time to their employers. This translates into nearly 41 million untaken days in Canada overall and a staggering $6.3 billion (CDN) in wages handed back to employers.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult for Canadians to break away and enjoy a real vacation, given the popularity of electronic devices like Blackberries and feelings of vacation guilt brought on by some employers or colleagues,” says Beverly Beuermann-King, a stress and wellness expert. “As the Vacation DeprivationTM condition creeps up, it’s not surprising to see vacation envy emerging as an issue in the workplace.”

Vacation envy on the rise
Vacation Deprivation™ symptoms can lead to vacation envy – feelings of jealousy when a co-worker or friend returns from vacation. This year’s survey revealed that 42 per cent of Canadians admit they have felt vacation envy at some point in their life. Some Canadians are more susceptible to envy – women (48 per cent) are more likely than men (35 per cent) to have felt vacation envy and younger Canadians aged 18 to 34 (59 per cent) are twice as likely to have suffered from vacation envy, compared to those over the age of 54 (26 per cent).

Are electronic devices helping or hindering vacation planning?
When asked if technological advances such as Blackberries, PDAs, Pocket PCs, webmail or cell phones make it easier to take vacations, 48 per cent of Canadian workers feel that technological advances have made it more difficult to get away from work, up from 41 per cent last year. Only 19 per cent of Canadian workers feel that technological devices make it easier for them to get away from the office. Men (22 per cent) are also more likely than women (15 per cent) to feel that it is easier to get away from the office with electronic devices.

What prompts Canadians to take time off?
The survey found that a majority (51 per cent) of Canadians indicate that a family event, such as a wedding or family reunion, would prompt them to use their allotted vacation time. “Finding a great deal” on a vacation would prompt 43 per cent of Canadians to book a trip and 33 per cent say that their interest in an amazing vacation destination inspires them to book time off work. Travel options such as convenient flight times or direct flights also encourage 31 per cent of Canadians to use their vacation days.

Increasing vacation stimulation at work
Two in 10 Canadians (18 per cent) believe that their employer does not offer a fair vacation policy. What can employers do to help decrease Vacation DeprivationTM symptoms among their staff? The survey found that 21 per cent of employees feel that a mandatory policy to take a minimum number of vacation days per year would do the trick. Canadians believe that employers can motivate them to take vacation time by lightening their work load (17 per cent), encouraging them to take time off (17 per cent) and offering a fair vacation policy (14 per cent).

VD from sea to shining sea
The survey revealed that British Columbians (42 per cent) are the most likely to identify themselves as vacation deprived, followed by those living in Alberta (41 per cent), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (37 per cent), Ontario (36 per cent), Atlantic Canada (30 per cent) and Quebec (19 per cent). Residents of Saskatchewan and Manitoba (42 per cent) are most likely to have not taken all of their vacation days, followed by those living in Alberta (36 per cent), Atlantic Canada (36 per cent), British Columbia (32 per cent), Ontario (29 per cent) and Quebec (18 per cent).

Why aren’t we taking time off?
One in five (20 per cent) Canadians revealed they have cancelled or postponed their vacation plans in the past because of work. According to the survey, some reasons for not taking all vacation days are:

• “not scheduling far enough in advance” (12 per cent)
• “too busy with work to get away” (8 per cent)
• “having kids in school” (5 per cent)
• “fear of being perceived negatively by colleagues” (3 per cent)
• “fear of missing an important meeting or decision” (2 per cent)

Additionally, Canadian workers may also find it stressful to take vacations – 31 per cent feel guilty about taking time off and 25 per cent say that their employer does not encourage them to take all of their vacation time.

Does your organization struggle with the problem of fitting people to the best job? Here is a screening test for ensuring success in job placement:

Take employment candidates to a room with only a table and two chairs. Leave them alone for two hours, without any instruction. At the end of that time, go back and see what they are doing.

If they have taken the table apart, put them in Engineering.

If they are counting the butts in the ashtray, assign them to Finance.

If they are screaming and waving their arms, send them to Manufacturing.

If they are talking to the chairs, they are ideal for Human Resources.

If they are sleeping, they are Management material.

If they are writing up the experience, send them to Technical Publications.

If they don’t even look up when you enter the room, assign them to Security.

If they try to tell you it’s not as bad as it looks, send them to Marketing.

And if they’ve left early, put them in Sales.

The simple act of paying positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity. —Tom Peters

Press Release:

HAMILTON, ON – April 22, 2008 – The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) has developed a web-based Occupational Health and Safety Management Service called “OSH Works”, designed to help organizations in establishing, maintaining and/or improving health and safety programs that can help them meet their legislative responsibilities.

The vast majority of companies in Canada are not in compliance with occupational health and safety legislation. OSH Works can help them achieve compliance by providing a framework that promotes a systematic approach to meeting defined objectives and integrating the health and safety of workers into the everyday management of the business. It provides guidance information and is enriched with audits, tools, checklists, training and expertise from the comprehensive CCOHS knowledge base. A fully customizable service, OSH Works assists organizations of every size, in establishing a health and safety program and then adopting a continuous improvement process to meet their health and safety responsibilities and regulatory requirements.

OSH Works follows the methodology known as “Plan, Do, Check, and Act” (PDCA cycle) used in national and international Occupational Health and Safety Management System standards, such as CSA Z1000-06 or OHSAS 18001-2007. The service can enable organizations to achieve certification by the occupational health and safety management system standard of their choice.

“With OSH Works we set out to provide a powerful tool that would make it easy and affordable for companies to first establish programs that could help them succeed in a compliance audit – and then go beyond to help them improve their health and safety performance to gain numerous benefits,” commented Dr. P.K. Abeytunga, CCOHS Vice President and Director General. “We want to equip people with the tools and resources they need to reduce and, ultimately, eliminate workplace illness and injury – so that all may be healthy and safe.”

More information about the OSH Works service, and a guided tour is available on the CCOHS Web site at www.ccohs.ca/products/oshworks/.

There are a variety of ways to encourage employee participation. To promote strong employee involvement, follow these steps:

1. Find out what parts of their jobs people find the most rewarding. Provide them with opportunities to perform these tasks.
2. Acknowledge work that is done well. We all want to be recognized. Employees—and supervisors—need to know what they are doing is important and appreciated.
3. Be enthusiastic. Demonstrate purpose, commitment and inspiration to your employees.
4. Create an upbeat work environment. Use patience and understanding when working with members of your group.
5. Create an environment of growth. Encourage employees to take on new responsibilities within their capabilities. Give employees opportunity to expand their capabilities through education and training.
6. Lead by example. It’s not what you say or believe. It is about what you do.
7. Be available. Encourage your employees to approach you with their work-related concerns and suggestions.
8. Share your authority. Give employees latitude in solving problems and in performing their tasks.
9. Share the planning. Include the those responsible for meeting objectives and goals in the process of developing them.

With more and more globalization, outsourcing and freelance workers, coordinating meeting times can be a huge challenge. If your organization uses groupware, such as Lotus Notes or Exchange, the internal process is easy to manage. What happens when you start including people on different scheduling systems, outside of your organization?

Here’s where on-line services become beneficial. Here are two such services:

ScheduleOnce is a simple web service that helps you find a time for your meeting with absolute accuracy across all time zones and daylight saving changes. The service is specifically designed for those hard-to-schedule meetings with multiple time zones, many invitees and different calendar systems.

Jiffle is a handy online service that handles the process of scheduling meetings. Jiffle’s technology allows you to selectively share your calendar and availability with contacts and eliminate the time-consuming back-and-forth process often required to set up meetings with colleagues and clients. Jiffle integrates with Outlook, Google Calendar and the WebEx web meeting service.

Commemorating workers whose lives have been lost or injured in the workplace.

The numbers are staggering. In Canada, some 786 employees die from work-related incidents each year, averaging more than 2 deaths every day. From 1993 to 2006, 11,002 people lost their lives due to workplace incidents. Another 900,000 per year are injured or become ill.

Making workplaces safer is, or should be, a daily effort. But April 28 has been singled out to offer employees and employers the opportunity to remember the dead, injured and ill as well as publicly renew their commitment to improve health and safety in the workplace.

The National Day of Mourning, held annually on April 28, was officially recognized by the federal government in 1991, eight years after the day of remembrance was launched by the Canadian Labour Congress. The Day of Mourning has since spread to about 80 countries around the world and has been adopted by the AFL-CIO and the International Confederation of Free Trade.

The Canadian flag on Parliament Hill will fly at half-mast. Workers will light candles, don ribbons and black arm bands and observe moments of silence. Businesses are asked to participate by declaring April 28 a Day of Mourning and to strive to prevent workplace deaths, illnesses and injuries.

CCOHS hopes that the annual observance of this day will strengthen the resolve to establish safe conditions in the workplace for all. It is as much a day to remember the dead as it is a call to protect the living.