Let the controversy begin. Medical marijuana is a hot button in California. Prop 19 didn’t pass, but there are still are facilities that are allowed to grow and sell marijuana legally. Alternative medicine retail shops are popping up all over and one could move in next door to your business. I saw an advertisement in the newspaper showing a marijuana leaf and pharmacy symbol that stated “1/8th for $50.” How do you share a building with this type of business? If you have a professional office, it’s very hard to do anything about it. The clientele could be all walks of life, but people come in car loads and only one person goes in for the product. If you share the same building, the odor from the plants can come through air ducts and walls into the office. It may be legal, but at what point does it infringe on the rights of others? Are employees entitled to enjoying a workplace free of odor and an environment that is free of people loitering outside our office? We must provide a safe and healthy work environment for our employees. How can we do this when we are forced to smell the marijuana plants and endure the loitering? Plus, is this a professional business environment for our clients? We really don’t want our clients to be forced to endure also, because they won’t. It’s just easier to do business somewhere else. Also, the violence that comes with this type of business is imminent. Recently, someone was killed trying to get the growing marijuana from a grower. I have dealt with this situation for the past few months right next door to one of our branches. The smell is pretty bad, and there has been a burglary attempt. I observed a car load of people pull into the parking lot, one person got out and went into the “store” and the others waited in the parking lot. One guy took off his shirt and paced back and forth on the sidewalk. I’m sure my customers won’t want to walk by that to visit our office. What to do? We worked with the landlord to rectify the situation. Air conditioning ducts were changed, common walls and doors were sealed, and customers were told to wait in their cars. It was a good attempt by the landlord, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, we are moving. The odor is still prevalent and it’s no longer a professional environment. In fact, during one visit recently, I thought the odor was really bad, and my employees said it wasn’t that bad. Ut oh, I think they are used it! I told my HR department they are exempt from any random drug tests!

I Need a Vacation!

I need a vacation, but how can I take one when we are so short handed? The effects of the recession have left us short-handed with just as much work, or more. Employees are working fast and furious to keep up with the work load which burns them out faster. Taking vacation is essential for employees to stay fresh, renewed, and relieve stress. We don’t want employees burning out and unhappy which causes mistakes and low morale.

Some employees do not want to take vacation. With no raises and no bonuses, employees are taking fewer trips away from home. A vacation at home just doesn’t appeal to them, so they just keep working. I have heard “I have nowhere to go, I’d just stay home anyway.” Employees need to take a break from work, even if they take a staycation, a stay at home vacation. There are several inexpensive things to do right in our own town.
-Take a walk or ride the bike path
-Go to the museum. We have several:
Buena Vista Museum
Bakersfield Art Museum
Kern County Museum
Lori Brock Museum
California Living Museum
-Visit Fort Tejon. On Sunday’s, they have Civil War reenactments.
-Visit the spa
-Read a book
-Throw a party

Employees also fear they will lose their job if they take a vacation. Being short-handed will leave the work for someone else. That guilt of pawning the work onto a co-worker keeps employees from taking a vacation. Also, some employees believe if they are absent, the company may figure out they can do without them. Employees stick around to protect their job. Usually this doesn’t happen, we are very happy to see them come back and hopefully the employee is refreshed and ready to perform at maximum potential.

In California, non-exempt employees’ vacation or PTO is essentially considered money in the bank and cannot be taken away. However, the organization can put a maximum cap on the amount of carryover vacation time that is carried to the next year. Employees end up with many hours of vacation time banked, and the organization frowns on this, not only because employees are not taking advantage of time off, but also, if the employee is terminated voluntarily or involuntarily, that vacation time must be paid to the employee. This can be costly. Organizations want employees to use their vacation time.

Lastly, don’t work while on vacation. Don’t check email, phone calls, etc. Okay, I am so guilty of this. So, if you must, look at email at the beginning and end of the day. Don’t check email all day, and don’t carry on conversations all day.

Organizations need to allow employees to take their vacation time for the rest and rejuvenation it provides the employee. The employee will come back ready to work and usually thankful for the job they have, and the vacation time they earn. Employees need to be willing to take the vacation they deserve and enjoy their time off free of work interference.

Working through it

How often do employees come to work and perform well, while going through personal trials? Everyday. Recently, I know several people with personal challenges in their life and they have trudged to work regardless of what’s happening at home. The need to keep their job might be a motivator, but how do they stay focused enough to do their jobs well? Do they have such exemplary concentration and focus that makes them so excellence driven, that no matter what, they will come to work and do a good job? I have a friend who is going through a painful divorce, and I see his example every day where he produces excellent work, while I know the struggles of his divorce are taking a toll. He is happy on the outside, while I know he is suffering on the inside. I often wonder how he does it. I have deep respect for those that can push through the personal pain and heartbreak and continue with their careers and not let their jobs suffer. So, how do they do it? Do they check their emotions and problems at the door? There might be a need to focus on other things for awhile, so they throw themselves into their work, as a release. This helps them deal with the problems before and after work. This is very hard to do, but could provide some relief to concentrate on something else for a time. I have used this technique myself a few times.

We all have problems to deal with. Learning how to handle them, hold down a job, and do the job well, is a constant battle. HR professionals need to be mindful and sympathetic toward those who have serious troubles, while at the same time, making sure the job is done well, and co-workers are not affected.

Memorial Day

If you haven’t read my May 2009 blog, please do so now, scroll to the bottom.
It reminded me that Freedom is not Free. We have servicemen and women that have given their lives for our Freedom, and they should be remembered this Memorial Day. Living in the United States of America is not perfect, but I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Those that are willing to give their lives for our country, have a deep sense of commitment to bettering this country. I can hardly comprehend it. If you know anyone that has served in the military, please tell them thank you. If you see someone in a restaurant that that is in uniform, is wearing a veteran hat, or you just know they are a veteran, I challenge you to buy their meal. It’s an amazing feeling to thank those that are responsible for our Freedom.

I love insurance!

Every year, I am reminded why I am in the insurance industry. Our company does a BBQ for the insurance carriers we represent. We have about 200 attendees who enjoy an evening of cocktails, appetizers, dinner, and dancing. As I looked across the event, I realized that I love being in insurance and love the people I deal with. They are genuine people. Sometimes the work is not easy, but when we get together it is fun, relaxing, and we realize we are all in this together. I always try to get to know someone better that I work with. Once I have a more personal relationship with our carriers, it makes the hard work a little easier to deal with.

Last year, I decided to learn to golf, so I could golf for work. There are several opportunities to golf with insurance carriers and vendors. I would much rather have a golf meeting rather than an office meeting. Those business opportunities presented on the golf course are usually better and stronger than just a meeting in the office. Golf provides several hours of discussions, sometimes about golf, sometimes about business. I hope to do more business meeting golf. Did I tell you, I love my job?

Why Can't We Be Friends?

In one of my college classes, my professor asked, “Can you be best friends with your boss?” The generation X, Y, and Millennium students responded with Yes. These younger students believed if they were best friends with the boss, they would not be fired, get preferential treatment, and have good working conditions. This may be true, if they have a boss that is unprofessional, discriminatory, and allows favoritism. Since I was the older student in the class, with many years of work experience, I was the only student who responded with an answer of “no.” Of course, the professor asked, “why not?” I responded that a boss needs to keep a professional distance. I have personally seen a boss that was required to terminate their best friend’s employment. That was the end of a close friendship of many years. Watching that happen was gut-wrenching for me and the parties involved. This is a hard concept because we spend more time with colleagues than we do with our own families, and friendships will naturally form. However, being friendly is different from being best friends. Managers can be friendly and have casual conversations, but keeping a professional distance from employees is essential and must be present for several reasons. The supervisor must be able to discipline and/or terminate employees. In order to be taken seriously and gain respect of all employees, the professional distance must be present. Being a good leader requires the manager to not give preferential treatment to any one person. When a manager is best friends with an employee, preferential treatment could be perceived by others, whether real or not. This causes discontent in an organization. A good boss and leader knows how to be a great boss and lead staff by giving them respect, being understanding, and treating employees equally. Supervisors can be friendly; however, bff between supervisors and staff is not appropriate in the workplace.

Hiring and the bogus resume

Recently, I have had the joy of interviewing several candidates for job openings at my organization. I have seen some really great resumes, some that are just too good to be true. I usually scan their education and experience, looking for key words and phrases that let me know they are qualified. I usually skip over the coined phrases such as hard-working, strong management skills, leadership ability, competent, and fast learner. Everyone knows you always put those on a resume, I have used them myself. There are now internet sites that can create a great resume, and you can even pay to give fake references. It’s my job to sift through all the fluff and find candidates that are really qualified. I have made hiring mistakes, so I am very careful to review and re-review candidates. I ask hard questions that make the candidate think on their feet. One time another manager sat in on one of my grueling interviews, and she said, “geez, those are hard questions; I don’t think I could answer them.” On some questions, I’m not really looking for content, but rather watching their body language and observing how they react in a high pressure environment. Other questions do revolve around the actual job duties. I make sure they know the functions of the position, and they need to give me specifics about how they would do the job. With all the resources available through the internet, it’s easy to have a really great resume or even compile a bogus one. It’s not so easy passing my interview process. I do make mistakes. I once I hired someone that could not type. Ut oh, I forgot to ask if they can type! I had assumed since this was a data entry job, they could type and with past data entry experience, I just assumed. I never assume anymore. Since we don’t give typing tests, I now always ask if they can type, how fast, do they use all fingers, and do they look at their fingers. If they stumble at all, that usually means they can’t type.
My interviews last about thirty minutes, unless I quickly find they are unqualified, then fifteen minutes just so they don’t think they wasted their time.

Here are some questions I like to ask that are specific to the job. I am looking for content on these:

*Tell me why you think you are qualified for this job?
*What are the essential functions of customer service?
*How do you handle an upset customer?
*In what time frame do you (name an essential job duty)?
*Explain… (name a key term or phase in the industry that only someone with experience would know. I’m in insurance, so I usually ask them to explain coinsurance).

I always expand on their answer and ask more questions based on how they answered the question. I always have a conversation about the job functions in order to make sure they know what they are talking about.

Next, these questions are my think on your feet questions that I’m not necessarily looking for content, but how they react and how well they can come up with an answer:

*Tell me your strengths (This is not too hard, just reiterate what’s on the resume, however some stumble anyway).
*Tell me your weaknesses and how do you overcome them. Most interviewees stumble on this one. If they say, I have no weaknesses….next candidate. The good answers revolve around being too detail oriented or trying to take on too much work...which actually can be a strength.
*What is your most creative achievement at work? I’m looking for anything positive they achieved or did to make the work or environment better. Most candidates really struggle with this question; however, the good candidates will come up with something they did at work that was beneficial to their employer.

Having face time with a candidate can be invaluable in weeding out those resumes that are just too good to be true. The interview process is essential in finding a good candidate, do not skip this step. A fabulous resume can get them in the door, but the interview is how to make sure, they are, who they say they are. I have been duped before, it’s not fail proof, but it can help weed out the unqualified. And, if the unqualified is still hired, cut your losses quick ! My non-typer was provided an opportunity to find employment elsewhere on the third day.

Resolutions

Here we are again, another year gone by, and we are feeling bad we did not achieve what we wanted to in 2009. And now we resolve to do new things in 2010. One of my employee's resolution is:

Mine is not to be judgmental or talk negatively about people.....be more accepting of people and who they are, not who I think they should be. And......no more soda!

I’d like to take the credit for hiring such a wonderful staff that would have resolutions like this. What a great resolution for all staff. The working environment would be so much better if we all practiced these qualities. As managers, executives, and staff, we can resolve to create a better work environment. Here are a few more resolutions for the workplace:

-Compliment staff often on a job well done. They don’t hear it enough.
-Talk to staff individually; find out what is going on
-Clean up speech, no more redneck talk, learn new adjectives.
-For Execs and Management--Take management classes, you’d be surprised, you don’t know everything.
-Learn to deal with difficult people with tack and respect.
-Keep abreast of new HR laws and regulations… and there are some for 2010.

With the economy still in a fragile state, most of us are glad we have jobs in 2010. Making the workplace a better environment for all can only help us be more productive and successful for 2010.

Now, about the no more soda resolution….that is just a little too hard! Let’s be reasonable!