Employee Relations

Does Minnesota require allowing time off for employees to attend school activities?

03/25/2014

Q. One of our employees came in two hours late today, without an advance call. When he got here, he told his supervisor that he needed “school leave” for the morning. Can we discipline him for being late?

No matter how complicated the firing, have a rational explanation for decision

03/25/2014

A messy termination doesn’t have to mean losing a subsequent lawsuit. Just be proactive, figure out what happened and document the underlying discharge reasons. They’re probably in plain sight, despite the drama.

When discipline is called for, keep personal hostility from tainting process

03/24/2014

Here’s a reminder for supervisors who participate in disciplinary decisions: Tell them to keep their personal feelings about the employee to themselves and resist the urge to bring in stereotypes. No one, for example, should comment on the employee’s nationality, national origin or other protected characteristics.

Teach bosses to support staff at crunch time

03/24/2014

Every organization runs into time crunches—sometimes predictable, sometimes sudden emergencies. Whenever your crazy time is, you could lose some of your best employees if they feel taken for granted. Encourage supervisors to follow these four steps to support employees during those times.

How to manage and grow your A+ employees

03/19/2014

“To get people to grow,” says Sander Flaum, CEO of global advertising firm Euro RSCG Becker, “you have to help them learn something new every day.” Here are more of his thoughts on what it takes to find and keep the best workers.

Never hesitate to make legit rule changes

03/17/2014

Have you found that some of your disciplinary rules are too lenient? Don’t hold back on stiffening your rules just because you fear the first employees subject to harsher penalties might sue you.

Turn slackers into stars! How to spark the turnaround

03/17/2014

Dealing with underachievers requires using judgment and some knowledge of human psychology. Here are some ways to get underachieving employees moving in the right direction.

North Carolina SBI plans probe of Scotland County Sheriff

03/13/2014

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) has announced plans to investigate the Scotland County Sheriff’s office, but it’s been mum about the investigation’s focus. At least one news report has linked the probe to the office’s practice of requiring deputies to moonlight for a local warfare training company.

Adapt ‘management by walking around’ for the HR world

03/10/2014

As Yogi Berra noted, “You can observe a lot by watching.” The time-honored management-by-walking-around concept is based on this theory. It’s an effective way to discover employment problems no one would normally tell you about.

Win by losing: 7 bad communication habits to shed

03/05/2014

The quickest way for managers to improve their professional image is to improve their communication skills. And the simplest way to improve those skills is to stop doing things that repeatedly get you in trouble.