20 Reasons HR is Ineffective in Resolving Bullying in the Workplace

Question: My Human Resources department refuse to take me seriously. Instead, it seems like they are doing everything they can to support the bully, and trying to get rid of me, instead. Why is this?

Answer: From dealing with thousands of cases in which this happens - albeit a self-selecting audience which may not scale up nationally - I've identified the following 20 reasons:

1. Human Resources (HR) people are not trained to deal with bullies - it's not in their textbooks, nor in their training.

2. The HR profession seems to attract a number of people who are not people-focused and thus not good at dealing with people problems.

3. HR is not there for employees. The role of HR is to keep the employer out of court.

4. Since HR personnel are human and are just as susceptible to charm, which happens to be one of the bully's main weapons of deception.

5. By the time HR get to hear of the bullying they are faced with an articulate, plausible, convincing, charming "bully" and a gibbering wreck of a "target" who is traumatized and thus unconvincing, inarticulate, incoherent, obsessed, apparently paranoid, tearful, distressed and highly emotional. By this time the bully has already convinced HR that the target has a "mental health problem", is a liability to the organization, and needs to be got rid of.

6. When it's one word against another with no witnesses, HR take the word of the senior employee (almost always the bully).

7. Most employers don't have an anti-bullying policy so it's not a disciplinary issue. 

9.

If an employer does have an anti-bullying policy, it's just words on paper.

10. The bully is a tough dynamic manager who gets the job done and the high turnover of staff in the bully's department is because they're all wimps who can't meet the demanding standards of performance demanded by this exemplary manager. Yawn.

11. If HR recognizes it has a bully, they're not going to admit it because to do so is tantamount to admitting liability for this - and previous - cases.

12. HR is not going to admit that they've made a mistake recruiting an incompetent individual who bullies to hide his or her inadequacies.

13. When push comes to shove, HR does what they are told to do by management, regardless of the rights and wrongs.

14. HR is often outsourced, thus has little influence to effect change.

15. The constant change, reorganization, restructuring, downsizing, outsourcing, etc means that there is no continuity in treatment of staff and thus the bully is able to hide the fact that he or she has a history of conflict with employees.

16. Bullying cases are so long and complex (a situation the bully fosters) that most HR Managers (and most people) don't have the time, energy or resources to unpick the case.

18. Owners and upper management don't provide resources and training even when HR sees the need. 

19. When HR wants to investigate or hire an outside investigator, more often than not, they are overruled.

20. HR (and management) is probably just as frightened of the serial bully - and sometimes more frightened than the employees.

10 Easy Tips for Improving Employee Productivity

How productive are your employees? Having employees usually means a business owner is focused on increasing sales and profitability. But having employees means you have to focus on something else, too: managing employees and getting them to be productive.

Working with people is an art—not a science, and getting the most out of your employees probably won’t happen without the skill of a superior manager—one that knows the balance between managing and trust.

1. What’s Your Pay Scale?

If you pay low wages, expect lower quality employees, in general. The better employees will go where they can make more money and you’ll be left with the people who couldn’t land the higher paying jobs. Want great employees? Pay great wages and expect more.

2. How Does Your Office Look?

People don’t want to work in a dungeon or some office that looks like it hasn’t been cleaned or decorated since the early 80s. How about your office furniture? Do they have a comfortable chair, a computer that works well, and a desk that’s in good shape? All of this contributes to morale. You want them to be excited about coming to work.

3. Is There Reason To Work Hard?

It’s your business and you want to see it grow. Your employees should have some buy-in to that vision but they have families to feed and the costs of things like food keep rising. They want to work for somebody that offers advancement opportunities and they’ll work hard to get there.

4. Do You Have a Culture?

Great companies have a culture or DNA. Only certain people will fit in to the culture regardless of their skill level. They use certain words and phrases, and they love the culture so much that it becomes just as important as their work. Your employees will work to protect the culture. Successful companies always have a culture.

5. Don’t Play Favorites

There will always be employees that resonate with you better than others but keep your treatment of all employees consistent. Morale will plummet if your employees see you developing a stronger relationship with one over another.

6.  Be Direct

If you care about your employees, you won’t want to hurt their feelings but when it’s time to have difficult conversations, be direct and clear. Don’t try to come up with the flowery language that will lessen the sting. They might not like it at first, but they’ll grow more if you’re direct while still being respectful.

7. Minimize Meetings

Sometimes meetings are important but when your employees are sitting at a conference table talking, they’re probably not doing what you hired them to do. Let your workers work and only hold meetings when it’s absolutely necessary.

8. Time Management is Key

Just like at home, there’s plenty of stimuli for employees at the office. Side conversations with other employees, social media, and phone calls are the more common ones. Encourage your employees to manage their time well and set deadlines and benchmarks that keep them busy throughout the day.

9. Hold Annual Reviews

Each year you should have a one-on-one employee review where they’re eligible for a raise. Spend a lot of time focusing on the positives while intermixing the negatives.

10. Know When to Say Goodbye

If you’ve given warnings, worked with them to improve, and tried everything else you could, say goodbye. This not only gives you the opportunity to hire a better performer, it sends the message to your employees that you care enough about them to protect the company and their work environment. It also shows them that underperformers won’t have a job for very long.

Ho, Ho, Holidays Are Here - Let's Party!

As I often heard growing up, “Laissez les bons temps rouler”. Thanksgiving is right around the corner and, before you know it, you’re in December with holiday festivities right up to ringing in the New Year.

Employer-sponsored holiday parties have been around since the first employee was hired, I imagine. They are a good way to boost morale, lighten the corporate mood, and to demonstrate to employees how much you and the business values each one of them. But there are several legal pitfalls HR needs to watch for. For example, your choice of venue and theme is important for avoiding religious discrimination lawsuits. And the venue should be ADA compliant. If you’re planning on having it outside of normal work hours, Fair Labor Standards Act issues come into play.

Then there are those risks that come from the drinking and merriment that often is part and parcel of the workplace holiday party. If you don’t serve alcohol, will anyone come? And, if you do, could you wind up with a sexual harassment, wrongful death, or other lawsuit if things go terribly wrong?

In today’s litigious society, a business owner and/or manager should be mindful of all the potential issues that surround an after-hours party, especially if alcohol will be served.

If you choose an outdoor venue or a venue where alcohol is not regularly served, yet you want to allow your employees to have a drink, then I would suggest a BYOB policy. I would post an office memo to all employees of this policy, as well as, strict guidelines for those wishing to drink. If a designated driver is not available, then it would behoove you to provide one. If you allow an employee to drive away under the influence, you and your business will likely be responsible in the event of an accident.

If you choose an indoor venue at a local establishment where alcohol is regularly served, then your liability risk is lower, but it is still a good policy to have designated drivers available.

Your party policy should also address other issues that may arise, such as a sexual harassment claim. Remind your employees that the EEO guidelines that govern day-to-day operations are still in full force during after-hours get-togethers, and that alcohol will not be accepted as an excuse for unlawful behavior.

This article only covered a few contingencies you need to plan for ahead of time. Be wise, and seek legal counsel if you feel it’s necessary. The last thing you want at the end of the season of celebration is to be slapped with a harassment or discrimination complaint.

5 Hidden Costs Business Organizations Incur When A Discrimination or Harassment Claim Is Filed By An Employee

Aside from a jury’s award to a charge of discrimination or harassment, what are the other costs to an employer when a lawsuit is filed?

1.  Re-directing employee resources and hiring additional employees to gather, review and prepare documents. Depending on the size of an organization, this process can last anywhere from 6 months to two years;

2.  The loss in employee morale negatively impacts the productivity;

3.  The loss to a business’ reputation regardless of the outcome of an investigation;

4.  The loss of competent employees who move on for fear the instability could result in job loss;

5.  The high cost of legal fees associated with defending a claim of harassment or discrimination;

From an employer’s perspective, settlement costs to resolve an EEOC claim fade in the face of these additional, often unrecorded, costs to the employer’s organization.

In addition to these hard-to-quantify costs, the average single claimant lawsuit results in average defense costs of $250,000 and average jury verdicts of $350,000.

Class action lawsuits, which are also increasing, generally result in lower per claimant awards but can cost an employer millions of dollars in cash and untold millions in the above employee costs listed.

On the plus side, if an employer has properly trained its management and employees, has a defined system set up to address complaints of discrimination and/or harassment filed by an employee, and clearly provides positive recourse for individuals who utilize the system, then it can resolve most complaints in-house, and greatly mitigate any potential loss for those complaints taken to the EEOC or similar state agency.

Does It Really Matter If Your Employees Identify With Corporate Principles?

Todays' employees want to be heard on how they feel about the moral and ethical issues in business today. They care about such things as employee privacy and employee rights. When you, as the business owner, have an identifiable set of guiding principles that you yourself adhere to, then you are creating a framework for developing principle-centered policies and practices, and this leads to principle-centered employee relations decisions.  

Employees want to know their employer cares about their opinions and concerns. If you're going to create a good employee relations program, you need to have a mechanism for finding out what your employees care about, what they are concerned about, what they think of you as an employer. One way to do this is with employee surveys.

Building An Employee Relations Policy Starts With A Sound Mission Statement

Psychology research indicates the chances of success are much greater for small business owners if you develop and maintain a clearly defined vision for your employees to follow. This is also your mission statement. If you don’t have one yet, I suggest you develop one and use it as part of your employee relations strategy.  

It's not unusual for a business owner to scratch his or her head these days and ask: "How do I get my people to understand what we're trying to accomplish here?"  The mission statement will answer this question for everyone.

As a small business owner, developing a good sound mission statement is the basic building block you need to establish your employee relations policy. Employees today want to feel good about where they work and want to know that they are contributing to a business that actually stands for something other than the almighty dollar. As Simon Sinek said, “Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.” 

Building a good mission statement is not that difficult. You can make it as long or as short as you want it to be. Here are a few examples:

American Express: “At American Express, we have a mission to be the world’s most respected service brand. To do this, we have established a culture that supports our team members, so they can provide exceptional service to our customers.”

Honest Tea: “Honest Tea seeks to create and promote great-tasting, healthier, organic beverages. We strive to grow our business with the same honesty and integrity we use to craft our products, with sustainability and great taste for all.”

IKEA: “At IKEA our vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people. Our business idea supports this vision by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products a prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.”

There are many websites around to help you fine-tune your mission statement. Two websites that I’ve used to help me develop mission statements are bplans.com and missionstatements.com. 

Psychology of The Lunch Thief

Opening the fridge at work only to find that your spicy crunchy tuna roll or lovingly crafted sandwich has mysteriously disappeared is a surefire way to ruin the rest of your day at the office. The first time this happens, you might write it off as a simple mistake; perhaps someone thought your food was expired and tossed it out. But if the problem continues—as it so often does—there is usually a simple but disturbing explanation: an office lunch thief.

While teenagers often commit petty thefts as means of testing boundaries, it's difficult to imagine what would compel a grown adult to repeatedly engage in such antisocial and potentially damaging behavior. If caught, that individual risks the wrath of coworkers and could even lose his or her job.

Indeed, for many who chronically commit thefts at work, money has nothing to do with it. Nor, contrary to popular belief, does thrill. "A lot of these people can go on holidays where they can have all the thrills in the world—helicopter rides, bungee jumping, downhill skiing," said Will Cupchik, a psychologist based in Toronto, and author of Why Usually Honest People Steal. "Why they take the risk of losing their job for peanuts—either literally or figuratively—is a very worthwhile question."