Employee Relations Part III

Read part I and part II. Make sure you read the comments. They are, as usual, brilliant.

So, who is the problem employee? Karen or the manager? Or is it a little bit of both. My gut is to take Karen's side, but that's probably because I'm the mother of a young child who occasionally gets ill. But, I also appreciate that business is about making money and the manager (who I should have named, but I didn't) is effective at that.

My point in all this? Employee relations is not easy. Let's look at all the things going this Employee Relations Manager has to deal with. (Many of which I have gleefully stolen from the comments.)

1. High performing manager who stinks at her employee communication skills. Ask a Manager says:

I'd ask the manager: "Have you talked to Karen about your expectations for things she needs to take care of during unexpected absences?" If the answer is no, well, that's the first step. Don't discipline someone for not meeting an expectation you never laid out.

So what about expectations? We all have them. Karen and her manager aren't aligned on those expectations. Wally says:

The point about clear expectations is dead on. Clear expectations are both stated and enforced. Merely having a policy does not constitute clear expectations.

2. A recruiting tool (we're family friendly!) that isn't enforced in all departments. It may be in some, but not in others. As EvilRJ said:

But if Marleycorp's policy is clear (and only your own death or illness is acceptable) then maybe a written warning is a good reminder to start planning the move to Scandinavia.

And Tim Lacy says:

The company policy is flawed. No parent should be restricted for taking a sick day for his/her kid. Nothing should be done to/with Karen.

But what if an employee has 6 children who are prone to strep throat, ear infections and mysterious middle of the night vomiting? Should the company allow that person 10x the number of days off they give to other people? How do you develop a policy that will truly balance business needs and employee needs? And how does the ER rep work within flawed policies? Because reality is, that's your job. Yes, we try to do what is "right" but we also have to do what is "within policy."

3. A high potential new employee who is upset and likely already looking for a new job.

4. ER person stuck in the middle of a political nightmare. If you do the "right" thing for Karen and her co-workers and try to get the manager some training to help her communicate with her employees; or to help her learn to monitor end results rather than face time; or to not require people to work and take vacation days at the same time; you may end up being on the receiving end of some discipline yourself. After all, this manager has won the praise of Sr. Management. She gets the job done.

5. Trying to explain how high productivity but low morale and high turnover is going to eventually lead to low productivity and high costs may fall on deaf ears.

6. Must sort out who is exaggerating more--Karen or her manager? In this sort of situation, I assume that both are either leaving out important details or embellishing others. As Lea said:

As I'd also ask the manager what she said when she talked to Karen on the day in question, because while Karen felt yelled at, there's no guarantee that that's what the manager did.

That's another problem--feelings. Karen felt yelled at. It's doubtful the manager felt she yelled. Which person is right? Both of them. Perception is the person's reality. Sometimes ER has to help people get their perceptions in line with reality.

I could write more, but I need to go to bed. Employee relations is complicated and not all about handing people tissues and firing bad employees. It's about blending of managers and employees and people and policies and striking that magical spot where what is good for the employee is good for the business.

Tough world.

I'll definitely put up some more scenarios in a week or so. I found everyone's comments so fascinating.

Employee Relations Part II

Scenario I, part II (read part I) and Part III)

As a skilled employee relations expert, you manage to convince the high performing manager to not proceed to a written warning stage at this time. You explain that you would like to speak with Karen and give her a formal "verbal" warning, which will be documented, but does not carry the weight of a "written" warning. You volunteer to explain to Karen the seriousness of the problem.

Your reason for this is because you want to know Karen's side of the story and your well honed ER sense is telling you that this award winning manager may be the cause for her department's high turnover--after all, managers are the number one reason why people quit their jobs.

Karen comes into your office and is visibly upset. "I don't know what to do!" she says, dropping into your office chair. "Two weeks ago my three year old had the stomach flu. I had to stay home. I sat next to my sick child with my lap top on my lap and running conference calls on my phone. I put in 10 hours of work on that day. Then I get called into my manager's office and informed that since I was out of the office, I have to use a vacation day. Vacation day! I worked my tail end off all day. I only get two weeks vacation as is, and to be forced to use up one when I've worked all day is ridiculous.

"One of the reasons I took this job was because of the family friendly policies you advertise. The recruiter assured me of flex time and telecommuting and all sorts of great things. None of them are true.

"So, yeah, I didn't work yesterday. I did put an out of office notice on my e-mail and my voicemail, but if I'm going to have to use a vacation day and get a lecture, then no way am I doing any work. I didn't answer the phone when my manager called because after she yelled at me the first time, I figured if she had anything important to say, she'd leave me a message."

So, now what do you say to Karen?

Employee Relations Part I

Scenario 1:

A high performing department manager walks into your office. She has been highly successful at turning a low performing group into a high performing group. In the past 3 years, she has won two awards for her work. Senior management is highly impressed with her and holds her up as an example to other managers on how to get results. Turnover has been high, but each of the employees told you they were leaving for better positions--obviously this manager had trained them well.

The manager says: "I want to put a formal warning in Karen's file. Two times in the past month she has called out with absolutely no notice. Yesterday was the last straw. She let clients hang, didn't check her voice mail or e-mail and didn't even answer her phone the second and third time I called her. She said her child was sick, but then why didn't she answer her phone? And she has a laptop and I checked her office and the laptop was gone, so she obviously had it at home. There was no reason she couldn't check her e-mail. I deducted both days from her vacation, but that doesn't make this behavior acceptable!"

Your company's official policy is that sick days are only to be used when the employee is ill, not for sick children.

Karen has been with the company 6 months. She came highly recommended and has performed well. She rapidly gained understanding of the company and her responsibilities. To the best of your knowledge, she was a good hire with potential.

How do you respond to the manager? Right now?

(read the comments and then read Part II and Part III.)