The Importance of Employee Morale to Profitability

This is not a recent article, but a good discussion on the importance of positive employee morale to the profitability of your business.  It only makes sense that happy employees are going to treat your customers better than those who are disgruntled.  It is important to take the time to measure employee satisfaction, and take action on the feedback that employees give you.  Employees who have some input into their jobs and the culture at their company will be much more engaged and make decisions that are in the best interests of customers and your business.

EmployeeMoraleArticleGolfBusiness

 

My boss is harassing me!

My boss is harassing me and trying to make my work life so miserable that I will quit.  I received a very bad review last week, and she told me that I’m not happy, and that if I wasn’t happy at work I was free to quit!  When I asked for an example, she said that I never say hello to her in the morning, and that is disrespectful.  She often disagrees with my answers and corrects me in front of other people.  What are my rights?  Can I sue for harassment?

It sure sounds like your relationship with your boss is broken, perhaps beyond repair.  However, what you are describing does not fall under the definition of illegal harassment.  It is an unfortunate fact that many bosses are bad bosses.  In fact, it is probably fair to say that MOST bosses are bad bosses.  Leadership is not a skill that comes naturally to many people, and all of the supervisory training in the world can’t fix that.  Based on your letter I would say two things:

1.  Your boss may be a jerk, but it is not illegal to be a jerk.  I often refer to this as the “equal opportunity jerk” defense.  As long as your boss is not harassing you on the basis of a protected factor such as your age, your gender, race, religion, etc, then he can be as much of a jerk as he wants.  It is not illegal to correct you in front of others, or to demand that you greet him in the morning.  It’s not illegal to take credit for your work, reprimand you for being a minute late or leaving five minutes early, or to address issues related to your attitude.  All of these fall under the description of being a bad boss, but it is not illegal to be a bad boss.  Imagine how many people would be in jail if that were the case!

2.  It does seem to me based on your letter that perhaps you are having an attitude problem at work because you don’t like your boss, and your attitude is showing through in passive-aggressive ways, like ignoring your boss when you get to work in the morning, or demonstrating non-verbal behaviors that show your unhappiness.  The unfortunate fact of work life is that as an employee, it is your job to make your boss happy and do what he asks of you.  If that’s saying hello in the morning, I would suggest that you do so.  Also, I’d suggest that you critically review the feedback in your review.  Regardless of whether or not you feel it’s true, it is your manager’s perception of you.  It is better to try to manage that perception by proactively behaving in different ways than to reject the feedback outright.  So, go hit the gym or a punching bag or shout your frustration to the mountains, then get back to work.

And, as your boss said, you always have the option to seek work elsewhere if you aren’t happy where you are.

Foiling the Office Prankster

For several years, our office has been held hostage by the periodic pranks of one man I’ll call Jester. Jester has preyed upon innocent employees with tactics ranging from stuffing drawers with shredded paper to the dreaded email hijacking – he once sent an email to our COO from a fellow employee’s blackberry that said simply, “Go f— yourself.” Said employee was a leader in finance, and had only been with the company for a few months. One can only imagine the color of his underwear when he saw the COO’s response to the profane email he wasn’t aware he’d sent.

Alas, the time had come to exact our revenge on this perpetual prankster. His antics had gone unchecked for too long. As it happened, he was due to be out of the office on an extended trip for two weeks, and the window of opportunity opened.

Phase One of Operation “Pity the Fool” involved the replacement of Jester’s office chair with a throne of a more domestic variety – a porcelain god, if you will. We took up a collection (there were many willing contributors given the path of destruction Smithers had left in his wake). As it turns out, a garden variety commode can be purchased at your local Home Depot for a mere $88, a small price to pay to have him sitting pretty! The throne was finished off in style, with a can of Mountain Dew poured into the bowl and garnished with snack-size Baby Ruths.

Phase 2 of the Revenge Rodeo involved covering every remaining surface of Jester’s office with tin foil. Now, this has been done before, but the devil is in the details with this task. We purchased an industrial size roll of aluminum foil from Costco, and got to work. It took six of us several hours to complete, but by the time we were done we had wrapped everything from the magazines and pictures on his shelf, to the individual leaves on his office plants, to the phone cord. In a stroke of comic genius, the project leader tore tiny holes in the foil covering family pictures so that Jester’s children’s faces could peek out.

As a final touch, the employee who to this day is still picking shredded paper out of his desk drawers had the opportunity to reciprocate the gift.

Porcelain Toilet = $88.00
Industrial Tin Foil = $14.99
Shredded Paper = free
Look on Jester’s face = priceless!

Upon his return to the office, Jester spent the better part of a day cleaning up tin foil, disrupted by frequent visits from well-wishers. The toilet disappeared from his office and remains at-large.

This post was published on Yahoo Voices  http://voices.yahoo.com/article/9442644/foiling-office-prankster-11130280.html?cat=43

I was recently laid off. Should I sign my severance agreement?

A friend recently asked me about severance agreements and how the amounts of severance are determined.  Her call center is closing, so everyone is being laid off.  She believes that there were different severance amounts offered to different people. 

Companies generally offer severance based on two factors – your level in the organization and your tenure.  So, for example, a company could have a policy that Directors and above get 2 weeks per year of service, and people below that level get 1 week per year of service up to a maximum.  If the company has a formal severance plan, which many large companies do, the levels of severance are clearly spelled out and must be adhered to, as these plans are government regulated.  You have the right to request a copy of your company’s severance plan if they have one. 

If a severance plan does not exist, then companies simply make decisions on severance pay based on past practice, but it really should never be the case that individuals with the same job and tenure are offered different amounts unless there are extenuating circumstances.  Ultimately though, if you sign your severance agreement, you are waiving all rights to sue the company for any form of discrimination.  You accept the severance payment in exchange for forgoing your right to sue the company. 

What happens if you aren’t comfortable waiving those rights?  This is where the company generally has you over a barrel.  If you don’t sign the severance agreement, you don’t get any severance pay.  So, you’d need to feel really strong in your conviction that there has been discrimination and that you’d get more money than what they offered if you were to pursue a lawsuit.  And, you need to be able to make that decision financially - can you afford to forgo the immediate severance payout in hopes of a bigger payout down the road?  Discrimination complaints and lawsuits are generally settled out of court, but the process can take months or even years.  If you file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC, it can take months or years for them to investigate and respond, and you run the risk that they will not find evidence of discrimination.  And all of that is time without pay until and if you are able to find another job.   If the EEOC finds no evidence of discrimination then you’ve lost your severance AND really lessened your chances of prevailing in a lawsuit. 

In my experience, if severance is offered, employees are better off trying to negotiate a higher severance amount than pursuing legal action against the company.  I’m happy to provide advice on any specific situations my readers may have.

LOA to care for elderly dog??

Here is an email I received: 

Please find attached my cover letter and resume for your review and consideration. After loosing my position due to the recession, I have been working part-time for the past 2 1/2 years while taking care of my elderly dog. Since his passing I have found that I am more than ready to go back to work full-time. If needed, I am willing to relocate. I hope that my background is more than sufficient for a position in your company. I look forward to hearing from you.

Where to begin?  I don’t mean to sound like a hater, but if you are a person who values your pet over full-time work, then I don’t want to hire you.  That simple.  This is not because you love your dog, but because of the list of other things that I imagine you value above full-time work based on your letter. 

In order to find employment, it is so important that applicants demonstrate that they are willing to do whatever and whenever they need to in order to meet the needs of a potential employer.  This is particularly true in today’s economy, when there are so many qualified people out of work and competing for the same jobs. 

The other gaping issues that I didn’t mention with the letter above are that a) she didn’t indicate which specific area in my company that she feels she’s qualified for, nor reference a specific position, thus putting the work on ME to identify which of our many openings she may be qualified for, and b) her misspelling of “losing” – if she can’t be bothered to spell check the letter she’s sending to a potential employer, do I really want her working for me?  No. 

 

If I’ve offended you . . .

How do I negotiate a higher salary?

I’ve been out of work for a while and have been searching desperately for the right opportunity.  I know how much money I need to live on, but how can I effectively negotiate the salary that I need?  When I last tried to negotiate salary they rescinded the offer. 

My philosophy on this subject has always been that you won’t get what you don’t ask for.  However, if you ask in the wrong way, not only will you not get what you want but you  may lose the opportunity all together!  There is definitely a way to go about negotiating salary that will not harm you in the long run. 

First and foremost, you must make it very clear that THIS is the job you want, that you’re excited about the opportunity and the company and you are anxious to accept the offer.  You can then add a small caveat, something to the effect of “however, I was hoping to start at $xx amount based on market research I did on this job.”  This way, you’ve left the door open for them to say no to your request, but still welcome you with open arms into the organization.  Notice that I based my request on market data – it is important that you go into a negotiation having some idea what the job is worth and not just what you need to pay your bills.  You can gather this information in online salary surveys (salary.com is a decent one) or based on your personal experiences.  If the company has listed a starting wage in their ad, you know that is their starting point and perhaps their ending point.  You can say something like “I know that the starting wage is $X, but based on my skills and experience I was hoping to start at $X.”  If they can’t meet your request, you can still make a decision not to accept the job, but you’ve done so in a respectful way that hopefully won’t burn bridges for you down the road. 

If, on the other hand, the offer is truly less than what you are willing to accept, you can take  a stronger approach.  I have to caution you on interviewing for jobs that pay less than what you are willing to accept though, as you are wasting your time and theirs (and remember, it’s a small world, you don’t want to get a bad reputation).  If the job posting mentions a starting wage and its well below what you are willing to accept, you may want to reconsider applying for that job, as it will only create frustration for the hiring manager if they decide they want to hire you and THEN you tell them you require a higher wage. 

If you truly need a higher salary than what has been offered, and you are willing to decline the offer if they can’t meet your requirements, then its fair to say so.  You can start with something along the lines of, “I’m very excited about the opportunity but unfortunately I was expecting a higher salary offer.  Based on my skills and experience, I really need a salary of X in order to accept your offer.”  They may then meet you halfway, or they may tell you the offer is not negotiable.  Or, in the best case, they may meet your request having gone into the offer assuming you will negotiate. 

Personally, I always offer what I feel is a fair wage given what I know about the candidate’s experience and salary history and my budget.  However, some managers will attempt to lowball candidates assuming they will negotiate or just trying to get them for a bargain.  This is a losing strategy long-term, as people know when they’re not being paid what they’re worth, and you risk losing their loyalty and engagement before they’ve even started. 

Good luck to you, and keep me posted!