HR News & Views Blog

HR Fact Friday: Telecommuting -- Hit or Miss?

2008-04-04T07:54:19.3527995-06:00

A recent CareerBuilder.com article by Kate Lorenz (http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobseeker/careerbytes/cbarticle.aspx?articleID=817) found the number of Americans whose employer allows them to work remotely at least one day per month increased 63 percent, from 7.6 million in 2004 to 12.4 million in 2006 (according to a 2007 report issued by WorldatWork). In total, the sum of teleworkers (both employed and self-employed) working remotely at least one day per month has risen 10 percent from 26.1 million in 2005 to 28.7 million in 2006.

I’ve worked with many home-based colleagues, coworkers, and vendors over my career. Being in marketing, I regularly associate with home-based writers, designers, event planners, photographers, developers, programmers, etc. to perform my job. I don’t even think twice if I’m having a conference call with an associate and I hear a dog bark in the background or a baby being fussy. I do think twice about working with a home-based colleague if after several attempts my calls are not returned or receipt of my email’s confirmed. It all comes down to performance and professionalism.

The bottom line for me, when working with anybody, regardless of location is:

Is the work getting done in a timely, satisfactory, and high quality manner?
Am I able to communicate effectively with the other party (i.e. are they responsive when I call or email) . . . especially when a problem arises?
Am I being kept adequately informed regarding project status?

A successful home based employee (not a free-lancer, or self-employed individual) will understand that they are under more scrutiny to complete assignments on time and be available and responsive when associates need to reach them to exchange information. The home-based employee needs to make sure they answer all calls, check and return emails promptly, and provide additional status updates to their associates and team members. This is because the risk a home-based employee runs if they are not responsive is that their office-based associates (which quite often includes their boss) will infer they are not working if they cannot be reached. Slowly but surely, and albeit begrudgingly, the data above suggests more employers are becoming comfortable allowing employees in certain job functions to work from home. Allowing this flexibility has become somewhat of a necessity to attract and retain skilled workers — especially employees who live more than 30 miles from the office and must endure long commutes and expensive automotive fuel costs or public transportation fares. Affordable and reliable portable computers, high speed Internet connectivity, cell phones, PDA’s, and the ability to quickly and securely log on to the company network have allowed the virtual workforce to flourish. The success of the employee as measured in their performance is up to them and how they are able to prioritize and manage their time at home. I’ve known workers who have been all set up and working from home, make the decision to come back to the office because they found it too difficult to separate home and work responsibilities. They ended up starting work earlier and working later to make up for all the interruptions and distractions they encountered during the 9 to 5 workday.

For the employer, the difficulty in allowing employees to work from home usually isn’t in the performance or management of the employee (although having clearly communicated expectations is important), it’s in being fair in equitable in determining who works from home, and when. A company, or manager that believes they are being progressive and doing a good thing for their employees, could quickly learn they have soured the corporate culture and caused rancor by not having consistent policies and guidelines in place that determine eligibility for who ‘gets to’ telecommute and work from home and on what days (Monday’s and Fridays seem to be particularly popular choices by employees even though these are statistically the two least productive days of the workweek).

Is Everybody Really Above Average?

2008-04-03T12:22:52.086-06:00

Appraisal inflation is common in many organizations. But lenient or overly generous appraisals can have unintended consequences and real costs. Some of those issues and what can be done about them are discussed below.

The Employee Is Hurt

Lack of accurate & meaningful feedback isn’t provided and the employee isn’t really made aware of his strengths or weaknesses.

There is no understanding that a gap may exist between how an employee views herself and how a manager views her.

Without true feedback the employee is unable to focus on what he needs to do to improve and to plan training or activities around that. An employee may have limited opportunity for advancement or development if she’s not aware of what she needs to work on.

An employee may be unaware that any problems exist.

There may be no motivation for an employee to change.

The Organization Suffers

The status quo will continue. Marginal employees will stay marginal. Good employees don’t become great and star performers don’t achieve their potential.

Company productivity will not be what it could be. Numerous studies have shown that there is a high correlation between organizations with effective performance appraisal systems and strong company valuation.

Poor communication is one of the most common workplace problems. Inadequate appraisal communication contributes to that.

Termination or corrective action decisions are difficult to justify if documentation, including appraisals, don’t support them.

Company credibility suffers.

The ability to groom employees for advancement, transfers, succession planning, and simply having a cross trained workforce is hindered.

Promotion and pay decisions become less objective and credible.

Other Employees Are Affected

If everybody is above average then some employees may wonder why they should work hard and try to distinguish themselves?

If you’re a mediocre performer there’s little incentive to improve.

Pay may be viewed more as an entitlement than as a reward to distinguish top performance. Some employees will be paid more than they deserve and truly outstanding employees will be paid less than they should.

Promotions may not be seen as objective or given to the most deserving staff members.

Most people compare themselves to what others do and receive. A less than meaningful appraisal system can leave people unmotivated and resentful.

What Can Be Done?

Most importantly, train your managers. Managers need to understand how to conduct effective, objective appraisals and why they’re so important.

Inform all employees regarding your performance standards, criteria and the appraisal process.

Use an appraisal system in which factors and goals are clearly defined and there are “bright lines” between performance levels which everyone understands.

HR or senior management can review appraisals to ensure they are properly completed, well documented to support ratings, and meet established guidelines.

Managers can be evaluated on how well they complete appraisals. Are they on time, meaningful, professional, and honest?

Some organizations use a “forced distribution” system in which only a designated percentage of employees could be given superior scores. While this certainly limits the number of employees who would be considered “above average” it can also cause organizational problems and should only be implemented with significant thought and planning.

Employers Cannot Bar Pay for Unapproved Overtime

2008-04-01T13:15:27.502375-06:00

A Federal appeals court in New York has ruled that employers must pay for overtime worked even if the employer did not approve it in advance. The case involved a nursing staffing agency’s policy refusing to pay for overtime not approved by a supervisor.

Although it must pay for the time worked, an employer remains free to have a policy requiring pre-approval of overtime and to discipline an employee for violating a rule that overtime must be approved in advance.

Note that such discipline must be imposed consistently and in proportion to how similar offenses are handled in order to minimize the risk of a retaliation claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

No April Fools - HRN Signs 600th Performance Pro Client

2008-04-01T13:07:39.518-06:00

HRN Management Group is pleased to announce the signing of our 600th active Performance Pro client. The distinction of being the 600th client belongs to Promedica Federal Credit Union located in Toledo, OH.

How Many Employees Should A Manager Supervise?

2008-03-26T15:15:18.99275-06:00

There’s certainly no right answer to the question. It definitely depends on the nature of an organization, types of positions involved, role of the manager, and a number of other things. But the subject comes up periodically in HR literature, often driven by consultants and professors who observe business trends but may never manage staff.

Managers, naturally, have their own ideas about the number of employees they can successfully oversee. A recent (3/24/08) Wall Street Journal article “Overseeing More Employees with Fewer Managers” revisits the issue. It notes that for some time the optimal number of people to manage was thought to be somewhere from 7-10.

But the advent of flatter organizations, electronic communication (e.g., email, voicemail) and increased use of technology may permit oversight of a much larger number. At least some people think so as they suggest that as many as 30 employees can be effectively managed. Those who advocate such an increase note that such a shift also requires a change in business practices and management style. It may require such things as greater use of pay for performance, training, cascading of corporate goals, team goals and accountabilities, and more communication. This issue can clearly be controversial and raises a number of significant questions and concerns.

HR Fact Friday: More Employees Borrowing Against 401(k) Plans

2008-03-21T10:11:53.24275-06:00

The percentage of participants in 401(k) programs who have taken a loan from their investments rose from 9 percent in 2005 to 18 percent in 2007. This trend of increased borrowing took place during relatively good economic times of high employment and low mortgage foreclosures. The outlook is for the borrowing rate to increase during tougher economic times.

The good news about borrowing from a 401(k) plan is that you are essentially borrowing and paying back yourself at an interest rate that is much less than a credit card cash advance. Repayment is made by automatic deductions from earnings. So what’s the problem? Simple, when you reduce the balance of a retirement account you reduce the earning power of these funds.

Employer-sponsored plans are able to encourage more people to save but less than 50 percent of the workforce, ages 25-64, has any kind of defined benefit or defined contribution plan.

Of those who are eligible to participate in a defined contribution plan, 89 percent do not contribute the maximum, 20 percent to 25 percent do not contribute at all and 45 percent do not roll the investment over when they change jobs.

Only 49 percent of employees participate in 401 (k) plans without automatic enrollment compared to 86 percent of those who are enrolled automatically.

Participants also tend not to increase the amount of their default contributions. A full 61 percent do not increase the amount over time.

Source: Workforce Management (www.workforce.com)

Extreme HR: Calling in Shot and Motivation by Waterboarding

2008-03-18T09:12:12.27-06:00

Apparently faking a cough over the phone wasn’t enough for an employee wanting to get out of work. No, a Washington man apparently wanted a little more time off and had a flair for the dramatic so he had a friend shoot him in the shoulder to avoid work and a looming drug test. He told his boss he was hit in a drive by shooting. No word on whether the time off has morphed into permanent time away from the job.

While there still seems to be some disagreement among those in the military over whether waterboarding is torture, it appears that at least one supervisor thought it could be a motivational tool. A Utah company and its supervisor are being accused of using this technique of making someone feel as though he is drowning, to motivate sales staff. It is alleged that a supervisor took his team outside, held an employee down, and poured water into his mouth and nose. The employee, who claims he didn’t know what type of motivational exercise he was volunteering for, has sued claiming he is now sick and depressed. The company president suspended the supervisor for 2 weeks, indicated that the actions were against company policy, and that the employee knew what he was getting into.

I couldn't make this stuff up. Reality is indeed stranger than fiction.

Employers Brace Themselves for March Madness

2008-03-13T15:27:42.4577115-06:00

In the “old days” when the snow began to melt, the birds reappeared, and many Americans became excited about the NCAA basketball tournament, employers might worry that employees would spend too much time discussing the games and the office pool. Well, those days are gone. This year, for the first time, all but one of the 63 games are available online. Many early games are played during business hours. You’re probably thinking… that will mean that a lot of employees will spend too much time watching games and checking score updates. You’d be right. But IT people see an even larger problem. All that watching and use of bandwidth can bring networks down. Many are fighting back and installing filters that block the online coverage. So much for the technology revolution and the added productivity that has come with it.

1 of Every 100 American Adults in Prison

2008-03-12T15:15:34.20075-06:00

A report from the Pew Center on the States has found that for the first time, one in every 100 American adults is behind bars. In the last 30 years the prison population has tripled, now standing at 1.6 million, with another 725,000 in municipal jails. One in 36 Hispanic men is incarcerated and one in fifteen black men (one in nine black men from 20-24). The U.S. keeps more people in prison than any other country, even China . As a percentage of population the numbers are particularly attention getting.

That’s tragic, shocking, or interesting you may say, but what does it have to do with HR? Well, most of those people eventually get out and apply for work. Issues surrounding criminal backgrounds checks, how to handle results from such checks, avoiding discrimination against people with criminal records, and negligent hiring have all become more common issues. If you haven’t had to face them yet, you most likely will. It may be time to review your policies and procedures.

HR Fact Friday: Job Bias Charges up 9% in 2007

2008-03-07T09:54:18.63825-07:00

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has just released its numbers involving private sector discrimination filings for 2007. They’re up by 9%, the highest increase since 1993, as the EEOC received 82,792 filings. Bias charges based on race continued to be the most frequent. Race has been the most common claim since the EEOC went into business in 1965. Interestingly, for the first time, retaliation was the second most common charge and was at record levels. Claims based on sex/gender moved to third. The next most common, in order, were filings based on age, disability, national origin, and religion.

2007 saw a record number of pregnancy cases. Sexual harassment cases increased for the first time since 2000 and a record 16% of sexual harassment cases were filed by men. Don’t forget that discrimination claims are also filed with state and local discrimination agencies as well.

Most likely we’ll see continued increases in cases in the future as our workforce continues to become more diverse, baby boomers want to work past typical retirement ages, the economy goes south and more workers are laid off, and plaintiffs lawyers become even more skilled at adding retaliation charges to discrimination claims. The best advice remains prevention by implementing sound HR practices and training. And, should you ever be faced with even a possible discrimination claim don’t do anything that presents even the remotest appearance of retaliation. Many companies win their discrimination cases only to lose retaliation charges.