Astron’s Summertime Schedule
This summer, the
Astron team is taking some time to refresh ourselves
and renew our attention to our personal professional
development. Several members of the Astron team
will be attending the WorldatWork conference, May 6
– 9. During this time,
Eric Katz will be supervising our office to meet
your pressing needs. Our entire team will also be
attending the SHRM conference, June 20 – 27. If you
have urgent questions,
John Sazaklis will be supervising our office on
June 20 and 21.
Last but not least, Astron Solutions
will follow a Summer Friday schedule starting May 25th.
When Employees Ask for the
Impossible, What Should You Do?
Many of us are familiar with the stories of
entertainment professionals requesting special
water, candy, or other items in their dressing
rooms. Specific working hours that allow enough
time for partying later in the evening. And an
entourage of assistants to answer the celebrity’s
every beck and call. Such behavior happens only in
Hollywood, right?
Not necessarily.
For the past ten years, human resource professionals
have focused their organizational efforts on
becoming “employers of choice,” with the hope of
attracting “employees of choice,” committed,
consistent high performers and contributors.
According to
Dr. Kenneth Christian, Ph.D., the primary
characteristics of such organizations include the
following:
-
A company that consistently invests in
education, training, and ongoing mentoring far
more easily aligns a multifaceted workforce with
its goals.
-
Employees in such a workforce develop loyalty to
the fundamental cultural values of the
organization and in turn actively support
adherence to those values.
-
This resulting standard of devotion and
engagement creates in employees a willingness to
tap into discretionary effort and go the extra
mile for the employer that goes the extra mile
for them.
-
The result is happy, productive workers who work
harder and smarter, and when necessary, longer.
They do so because they feel included, feel a
sense of belonging, and are aligned with the
goals of the organization. They know that their
personal development is a fundamental
organizational goal.
However, an unexpected outcome from these efforts
has been the creation of a workforce that has
started to challenge management in both process and
decisions. Along with this come situations where
the employee makes demands on management that border
on the impossible. For instance, as the efforts to
become an employer of choice results in more
financial success, expect increased demands for
raises and benefits.
MoreBusiness.com succinctly summed up the issues
surrounding questions of raises:
o
How much of your resources you wish to give up is
your decision, but it is near impossible to grant
every employee demand and have a successful
business. You will discover that there are few
secrets in a business. If you are generous to a
particular worker, others will expect the same
treatment. If employees think you are making money,
expect them to knock on your door. As an employer,
you will conclude you need to say no. Saying no to a
valuable worker is difficult, but there are times
you must, even when the person threatens to quit.
o
Never allow yourself to be hostage to threats of
quitting. If you get a reputation as an "easy mark,"
it is going to be difficult to reverse it. Most
employees expect reasonable and just treatment.
Their loyalty develops from consistent and fair
employee policies. You will find that discrimination
will lead to hostility and problems. Be fair and
honest with your employees and you will find it easy
to say no to any unreasonable demand.
Another area of concern is the swelling ranks of
mobile workers, fueled by the wireless Internet,
powerful handheld devices, VPNs (virtual private
networks), and WLANs (wireless local area networks).
As many as nine out of every 10 employees now work
from locations other than company headquarters,
according to Nemertes Research, a New York market
researcher that specializes in emerging
technologies. The new “employees of choice” are
very much aware of this demographic. According to
Microsoft Small Business Resources, an
organization should respond as follows:
o
Update your management style.
Supervisors often distrust or resent mobile workers,
who are then overlooked or uninformed. The
command-and-control style of bygone days doesn't
work with self-motivated offsite workers. One remedy
is to require everyone on staff to work remotely for
a while. You'd be surprised how quickly that changes
attitudes.
o
Put everyone on the same page.
Without consistent guidance, each remote worker will
set an individual list of priorities. In that case,
if you're lucky, all you'll lose is efficiency.
Instead, make sure mobile workers have the same
business goals as you do. Tech tools are making that
easier.
o
Limit access to need-to-know.
There's no good reason why every staffer should be
able to access all company bytes and archives. You
can also limit data on a remote basis but allow more
access in the office.
o
Work on the glue but stay vigilant.
Communications and follow-up with isolated
employees’ demands special effort. After all, on
site, every staffer takes one look at the boss' face
and gets an instant company weather report. For
remote workers, relying on Instant Messaging,
e-mail, or texting will not cut it. Have real-time
phone conversations, often. Bring in mobile workers
for periodic updates to maintain ties with the rest
of the staff.
o
Bridge HR and IT.
What happens when a mobile worker calls in sick? Do
you even believe it? And how can mobile workers take
advantage of company benefits or training programs?
One way to resolve such issues is to put your human
resources manager and your technology guru in a room
and walk away for several hours. Ask them for policy
suggestions.
o
Keep tools up-to-speed.
A serious challenge of the untethered workforce is
keeping tabs on all the wandering devices and
technology. How often do you update which workers?
How do you integrate personal mobile tech, such as
cell phones and home WLANs, with company firewalls?
What about internal communications? Will your PDA
talk to mine?
o
Measure productivity not activity.
"If you lay out clear expectations and performance
goals, and the employee doesn't need to be in the
office or verbally interact with other people, then
it shouldn't matter if the eight-hour workday is
from midnight to 8:00 a.m.," says Roberta Matuson, a
human resources consultant based in Northampton,
Mass.
Management needs to take steps to learn how to
control impossible employees rather than have these
employees control their manager and their
environment. Lack of control will only lead to
increased workplace stress for all involved.
Always keep in mind that in any group, there will
be someone who keeps pushing, asking for the
difficult or impossible with each question. You and
your organization must decide if the employee’s
contribution to the greater good is worth addressing
such requests and demands. In some cases,
addressing unreasonable demands tears away at the
fabric of the group. In others, a little give makes
all the difference.