STRESS MANAGEMENT (for managers)

A frequent question I hear in my Stress Management seminars is: how can management help employees to deal with their stress better? Some of you have sent e-mails asking about this. Here are ten ways owners and managers can help people to de-stress.

1. Create and administer a stress survey of your people to determine their key stressors and their root causes. Then make changes to reduce the level of stress at your organization.
2. Help people to cope with the levels of stress. Have your training department present stress management seminars or bring in an outside consultant.
3. Bring in people from the community to teach meditation, yoga, and Eastern practices such as Tai Chi or ChiGong. Bring in a fitness instructor to teach some basic classes. These are cost effective.
4. Encourage people to take a few minutes to get rid of the stress, or use their breaks or lunchtime to stretch, walk, exercise, or meditate. If possible, create a fitness room (size and equipment depends on budget) that people can use to de-stress. The benefits outweigh the costs.
5. Look for free resources that can help your people achieve wellness. Contact groups such as the American Red Cross, American Heart Association, National Wellness Council, National Fitness Council to obtain free information and services.
6. Contact a dietician or groups such as Weight Watchers to come in and discuss diet, nutrition, and weight loss. This is usually free.
7. Contact the American Massage Therapy Association (www.amtamassage.org) for information about the benefits of massage. Look into information on acupuncture and acupressure to help your people.
8. Help your people get better organized at home and work through time management training. The more organized they are, the less stressed they will be.
9. Help your people deal with personal issues such as financial planning. You can often get free seminars from financial professionals who hope to obtain new clients.
10. Be as family supportive as you can. Anytime you can help people meet their family obligations through flexible scheduling and working from home, you are lessening stress and building company loyalty.

PETS IN THE WORKPLACE

In one of my recent seminars on “Turning Around Turnover” I was asked about the pros and cons of pets in the workplace. This topic comes up more and more. Here are some things to consider.

According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, pets increase productivity and decrease absenteeism. They also enhance relaxation and relieve stress. Another benefit is that more people are willing to work overtime if their pet is there.

Yes, they are a point of conversation and they increase communication, morale, and camaraderie. But, there is a down side to our furry and feathered friends. Many people complain about allergies to pets, especially cats. There are health issues and smells associated with animals. Some animals can’t be kept quiet. I have had managers suggest that some people are not as productive, as they spend time caring for or playing with the pets.

If you create a pet policy, be sure all animals are vaccinated, and get a statement in writing that they are housebroken. Be sure they are caged or on a leash when needed. Put up signs warning co-workers, vendors, and visitors. Set strict rules and standards on keeping the workplace clean and healthy for everyone. Check to see if your insurance covers the company for dog bites, etc. before bringing any pets in.

HIRING AND TURNOVER

Development Dimensions International (DDI), a big HR consulting firm just recently released their 2004 Selection Forecast, which surveys over 1500 hiring managers at 350 organizations in order to examine their current hiring trends. The study shows that employees are demanding more personal fulfillment from their jobs, and work-life balance was critical for over half when it comes to deciding on accepting a job (you hear this from me almost every month). Savvy companies are enticing talent by offering flexibility of scheduling, telecommuting, comp time rewards for long hours, and concierge services and/or time off to take care of personal issues during the work day.

The study found that one of the main causes of a bad hiring decision is pressure from within the company to fill the position. Hiring out of desperation or from pressure is almost always a bad decision. You don’t take the time to do your homework, check references and background, and you rarely hire the best person for the job. Remember: take longer to hire and shorter to fire.

D.D.I. also found that over half (54%) of the companies are filling management positions from within, which is a 10% increase from five years ago. This in itself is a retention strategy, preventing turnover in those looking for advancement. It makes good sense, as these people already know the company, its culture, and their learning curve is much shorter.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

There were about 5000 sexual harassment lawsuits last year filed with the EEOC. The number one reason for filing: the supervisor or manager did not respond to the initial complaint. Let the lesson be clear: not only must you train your front line and managers that harassment will not be tolerated, but you must train all level of managers on how to immediately react, and take action as soon as the complaint is made to them. Delaying it only angers those offended, and causes them to seek help from the outside.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT TRAINING

To prevent sexual harassment lawsuits, training is critical. You are LEGALLY required to not only train, but also keep records of who has been trained. You are also required to have refresher courses for everyone twice a year, and for managers once a year. You must train all new employees during orientation about your policy , and then have them pass a test. If you are not doing this, and are not sure how to proceed, consult legal counsel.

THE COST OF LAWSUITS

The Dept. of Justice has researched the cost of discrimination lawsuits. Juries award one million dollars or more 14% of the time. The average award is about one quarter of a million dollars, not including legal costs. Most cases go on for a half year or more. Think about the lost time, productivity, etc. that goes with it. It pays to do the right thing., document and leave paper trails, and follow a progressive firing procedure (oral warning, written warning, probation, suspension, termination), except when you must fire outright.

MANAGING PEOPLE’S PERFORMANCE

Constant feedback is critical to having people achieve results. Remember that people do things because of consequences and results that follow their behavior.

To manage people’s performance, focus on behaviors, not attitudes. We get paid to manage and change people’s behaviors. We are not shrinks, and cannot understand people’s attitudes and what is behind them.

Any behavior followed by a positive consequence will increase the frequency of the behavior. Give positive rewards for positive behaviors, and you will see more of the behavior.

Any behavior followed by no consequences or negative consequences will decrease the behavior. If an employee exhibits positive behaviors and you never give them positive feedback, the behavior will decrease. If they do something positive, with a negative consequence, they will stop doing it. For example, a person who is a sales leader in a specific territory may be given another territory that someone else can’t handle. This is a negative reward for his or her achievements.

If an employee exhibits negative behavior, and you immediately give them corrective feedback, it should stop the behavior (most of the time). If it does not, then you need to sit down with them and have an involved coaching session. Always follow-up after the coaching session to see if people are doing the right thing or doing things right. If three coaching sessions don’t change the behavior, then the employee has decided they are not going to change. You must seriously consider suspension and termination. If you don’t, then they know they can keep exhibiting their old behavior and get away with it. Why keep people who refuse to change?

Always give the feedback or create the consequence as soon after the behavior as possible to have an impact on correcting the behavior. Waiting hours or days is ineffective.

PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS

Most managers and owners I speak to hate the performance reviews they use, and dread that time of year when they must do them. One of the main reasons they hate them is because there are too many categories to rate someone on or the categories are vague. For example, a typical rating scale is unsatisfactory, meets minimum requirements, acceptable levels of performance, exceeds acceptable levels of performance, and exceptional performance. This is too confusing. I saw one recently that was laughable. The categories went something like this: unsatisfactory, marginal, below average, effective, very fine, exceptionally fine, outstanding, and excellent. You can see that it is difficult to tell the difference between some of these categories.

You only need three categories of performance, and you can use different words for them. The unacceptable category can use the terms unacceptable, unsatisfactory, or below standard. The acceptable category can use the terms acceptable, satisfactory, or meets standards. The third category is for those who are excellent or exceptional. Look at your performance review form and see if you can’t get rid of all the categories other than the three I have just mentioned. Make it easier and managers and employees won’t dread their reviews. (Many of you use my quick and easy performance review. Go to www.boblosyk.com and purchase it for unlimited use with the copyright. Merge it into your review or use it alone. You will never fear review time again!)

Get Serious With Your Online Recruiting

Many of you have small businesses or small departments. I am shocked at how many people in my audiences don’t have a page on their web site posting job openings. Leverage your website as a recruiting and hiring tool. When advertising your job positions, I believe it is best to list a salary range to discourage people who are seeking more money from applying and wasting your time (I know some disagree). You may want to consider putting a short IQ test or organizational skills test online before people apply. That way you can screen out those that are unqualified. Have an application on your website that they can email in, and monitor these constantly so you can give a timely response. Keep in mind that you always want to encourage qualified people and discourage the unqualified.

JOB SHADOWING

More and more organizations are using job shadowing after an interview and before hiring. Very simply, this is where a candidate follows an employee who is in the same position around all day to see exactly what they do. This really weeds out people who may decide after a few months that they don’t fit the job or company culture. You would be surprised how many people decide they don’t want to do what they have just observed being done. Give them a slice of reality early on and prevent turnover later.

OLDER WORKERS ON THE RISE

Ten years ago there were almost 700,000 people over 75 in the workplace. That figure has now become 1 million. As boomers reach retirement age, they still want to work part time, and many cannot afford to retire. Look for that number to grow, and realize they are a pool of dedicated, loyal, hard working people with great experience for you to hire.

IDEA FROM MY SEMINAR

At my recent seminars to a large association on “Turning Around Turnover,” we were discussing best practices in keeping good people. One of the attendees stated they gave their people three extra days off in addition to the usual sick days. They can use these “flex days” for personal needs, doctors, travel, or whatever they like. However, they must check their e-mails and voice mails twice each day in the a.m. and p.m., as well as check in at the end of the day to talk to their manager. They can take the days in a row or separately. He stated it has been a good morale booster.

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL BIAS

Some of you already know how I feel about comparing and ranking people to each other with performance appraisals. I have said it is a double edged sword. On the one hand, you get people at the bottom to either improve or quit. On the other hand, you have very subjective ratings that leave you open to lawsuits.

A recent lawsuit against the University of California backs me up on this. The school had to pay all 3,000 of its female employees a 1% raise because the performance appraisals compared employees to their peers. The female employees said the appraisals were way too subjective, and the men wound up with consistently higher rankings. The court said they were right, and ordered the school to clearly define each area they were being measured in, and compare them against a standard, not each other. The 1% raise cost big bucks. The lesson is simple: follow the courts (and my) advice.

WARNING: BOGUS HEALTHCARE COMPANIES

Many healthcare scammers are going after small businesses. They are phony companies that look real and are offering insurance at terrific discounts. The Dept. of Labor states they have scammed over 15,000 companies to the tune of over a quarter of a billion dollars in unpaid claims! These companies often use a name that sounds just like the big legit companies. Employers get so excited to save money, they don’t realize who they are dealing with. Ask for a copy of their license to sell in your state and check with state and local agencies and better business bureaus to find out if they are for real.

USING TEMPS

Here’s some advice from my own personal experience on using temps. Find a company that you really like, that gives you the best quality temps and stick with them. Attempt to use the same temps again and again, as they begin to learn about your company and fit better. Be sure you are clear on the arrangement or any legal issues if you decide to hire them full time.

FAKE DEGREES ON RESUMES

More and more HR Directors are finding fake degrees listed on resumes from mail order schools none of us ever heard of, except in advertisements. These mills are a cottage industry, doing very well. This is so easy to check out, that if they put this one over on you, you almost deserve it. Do a background check on the person and find out what they really did during the time they said they were attending college. You can also get a list of accredited schools through the accrediting agencies. Please realize that there are colleges where students don’t attend, and do everything by computer and mail, that are legitimate and accredited.

WATCH OVERTIME FOR YOUNG WORKERS

Many of you hire 16 year old students during the summer months. A question came up recently in a seminar about the amount of hours they can work. In most states, you can’t have them work more than an eight hour day or you break a child labor law. There are some exceptions in some industries, with an okay from that state’s Dept. of Labor. Check out the Dept. of Labor’s web site at

http://youthrules.dol.gov/states.htm. You will not only get the federal laws, but also the laws of your own state.

DELEGATION TIPS

When I ask my audiences how many people are control freaks, many hands are raised, albeit sheepishly. So many people are afraid to let go. If you hired the right people, trained them, and set standards and goals, then you need to back off. Remember, delegation is synonymous with good leadership. Delegation skills are a prerequisite of being a good leader. A manager or owner who does not delegate is not managing and not leading. Plus, they are on their way to stress, exhaustion, and possible burnout.

There are very few good reasons to not justify delegating most tasks and responsibilities. Most excuses include: they might goof it up, it takes too much time to train them, only I could do it the right way, I enjoy doing this task, I fear the person may do it better than me, and of course, being a control freak, and not being able to let go.

There are eight key elements of delegating. The following list describes each:

• Directions—Laying out a complete, clear explanation of the job, task, assignment, or project.
• Rationale—Letting people know why the job is important, and how it will help them and their careers.
• Outcomes—Describing the exact outcomes or deliverables expected when the assignment is complete.
• Authority—Letting people know how much responsibility they have, and when they must come back to you for further approval.
• Deadline—The deadline must be specific and mutually agreed upon.
• Feedback—Get them to explain the task back to you to be sure they understand.
• Follow-up—Decide upon a schedule for further meeting to review progress and get new feedback and or coaching.
• Support—Let them know you are there to help when they need it, and eliminate any fears of asking for help.

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

Peter Drucker

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and then help them to become what they are capable of being.”

Goethe, German author

Bob Losyk, MEd., M.B.A., C.S.P. is a Certified Speaking Professional, master trainer, author, and President & CEO of Innovative Training Solutions, a Greensboro, NC consulting firm. For more information on Bob=s keynotes, seminars, best practices facilitation, panel discussion leader, and products, please visit his websites at www.boblosyk.com and www.getagriponstress.com or call 1-800-995-0344