Hey, What's Your Cause?

Our workday seems like it never ends, then we go home, tend to the house, spend a few minutes with the family, answer some emails, and if we’re lucky, get some much-needed sleep. Then we do it all over again the next day. Does this sound like your normal day? Unfortunately, it’s an all too familiar scenario we all seem to face. In the middle of this “down time”, the phone rings, or there’s a knock on the door, or something in the mail asking us to donate to some worthy cause. There are so many people who are in need, so many causes to support, so many organizations trying to do good. How do you decide who will get your attention?

Many of us already have a few pet causes, be it church, animal welfare, or at-risk children. But writing a check may not be enough…not for the organization and not for you. Getting actively involved in a cause can be highly rewarding, and yes, time-consuming too. But there are lots of reasons to volunteer your time. Some are altruistic; some more self-serving. Giving back to the community, trying to make a difference in the world, leveraging your skills in other ways, or trying to add new skills for yourself are all good reasons. There’s no guilt in deriving personal satisfaction from doing volunteer work or contributing to worthy causes. After all, they get something and you get something in return.

We just said you’re already tired from work and other responsibilities, how can anyone expect to add to that by volunteering? Believe it or not, volunteering can add mental and physical value to your life. It is proven to reduce stress and can help you maintain a healthier lifestyle. You’ll be in a better mood, be happier, be more optimistic, as well as have an all-around better attitude about life. You will meet and socialize with people in different circles, gain valuable experience to be used in your professional life, and ultimately make a difference. Seems like a lot of upside for you, in exchange for giving back to the community.

No matter what your passion is or where you feel like you can make the biggest impact by volunteering your time, pick a cause, get involved, and know that serving others is one of life’s highest callings. If you need help finding the right place for you, there are lots of sites that help match volunteers to opportunities. Try VolunteerMatch.org, Idealist.org, or HandsOn Network, to name a few.

By John P. Savas

Photo credit: Viktor Hanacek

Fixing a Broken Employee

Maintaining order and maximizing performance are critical elements in the management of an employee population. Just as a parent disciplines a child, a supervisor must call into question unacceptable behavior demonstrated by his or her direct reports. Parents attempt to curb the bad behavior of their child before it becomes ingrained. They use several techniques from talking to the child, scolding them, sending them to their room, or even grounding them when the behavior is bad enough. It’s not likely that your employees have a room at the office to send them to when they are misbehaving, but you will notice that the parent in the example above is using something called progressive discipline. Progressive discipline is one part of an overall corrective action program, whereby each subsequent infraction is dealt with a little more severely. It may begin with a verbal warning, lead to a suspension, and end with termination.

How many people think the goal of corrective action is to create a paper trail to follow so that when an employee is ultimately fired, you can defend your actions? If you answered “yes”, you couldn’t be more wrong. That may, at times, be the end result. But the reason we engage in corrective action is to bring about a change in behavior; to correct a deficiency; to improve performance. We must always focus our efforts on changing undesired behaviors. If we have any other ulterior motive, corrective action programs will not work. In fact, when employees realize that they only get disciplined as a first step to being terminated, there is no incentive to correct the behavior. 

The most important step in preventing unwanted behavior is communication. Communicating rules and policies is usually done during an employee’s first week on the job. An effective orientation program will dedicate a portion of the time to review the employee handbook and cover basic policies and expectations of behavior. Special training programs are also used to communicate expectations. For example, sexual harassment training clearly tells employees and supervisors what is acceptable behavior and what is not as it relates to dealing with others in the workplace.

Probably most important in communicating expectations of behavior and how inappropriate behavior will be dealt with is a written policy. Formalizing your policy by putting it in writing is an essential first step to communicating and developing a program that has teeth. The policy should become a part of the employee handbook that is distributed to all new employees upon hire, as well as reviewed with all employees from time to time. It should also allow flexibility in its application, as there are times that management needs to exercise discretion.

How you treat your employees when they make mistakes will define the company and its culture. A practice of helping employees overcome their problems by giving them every opportunity to improve will in most cases reward the company many times over.

By John P. Savas
Photo Credit: Bethany Legg | unsplash.com/@bkotynski

Seasonal Employees Count

During the busy shopping season that is now upon us, many retailers bring on lots of interim and seasonal staff. Some are college students who are on break, others are looking for a few extra bucks. Regardless of the reason people take these seasonal jobs, employers must remember they are still employees and they are afforded the same rights and protections under the law. Though they may be gone right after the new year begins, while they are employed, they fill a big gap for retailers and should be given the same consideration as other employees.

Interim employees are required to pay taxes, so they must fill out all of the required tax forms and payroll records, including an I-9 form. (Be sure to start using the new I-9 form that was recently released.) It is unlikely they will be eligible for other benefits, like paid vacation or dental plans, but they might be, depending on how they are classified and how they are defined by the specific plan documents.

In addition to completing payroll records, be sure to give your seasonal staff a copy of the employee handbook when they start. The handbook will outline expectations of behavior and performance, as well as provide them much needed information about important company policies that they are required to follow. Beyond that, the handbook will usually discuss procedures around filing complaints, reporting concerns in the workplace, and describing their rights as an employee. Regular full-time employees usually go through some type of orientation program where these things are covered. Often times, seasonal staff are just put to work their first day, foregoing an opportunity to learn more about the company and it's policies.

Just because they may only work a handful of weeks, they can still file EEOC complaints for sexual harassment, workers' compensation claims for getting injured, or even FLSA complaints for not being paid properly. An orientation program for interim and seasonal workers might help to develop an immediate rapport as well as direct them internally if they have questions or complaints before they run to an outside agency. Finally, it may be worthwhile to remind managers and coworkers that seasonal staff should be treated like everyone else at the company...as by all accounts, they are just like everyone else, except they won't be around as long.

By John P. Savas