Old Yeller

I recently met a leader in the manufacturing industry that apparently likes to yell at his employees.  I witnessed it during my visit and chat with him. The funniest part of that exchange was the question he had for me.  He asked, "Is there something wrong with my work culture if the leaders of my organization yell at their direct reports on a regular basis?"  That was an incredible question.  Is there something wrong with that culture?

At first I chuckled, and then I gave it some thought.  Can yelling be part of a "good" culture? Could the culture be sound in the right setting?  I immediately thought of that popular Donald Trump show, the reviews of former employees from Apple and Facebook, as well as the Iron Chef/Cooking Network shows I enjoy watching.  No matter how I rationalized the scenarios I just couldn't embrace this "yelling leadership" style.  In general people do not enjoy being yelled at and are usually not motivated or inspired by yelling.  Putting military boot camps aside, the average employee will not respond positively to yelling.

In a yelling exchange there is the risk/reality that the communication will come to a halt or it will not be effective in any way.  Yelling creates emotional reactions from the recepients as well as the person yelling. Fight or flight actions are readily demonstrated, so the yelling really doesn't pay off.  With that aside there is also an increased litigation risk due to commonly known harassment issues that can arise from such a working environment.  The yelling could be associated to a hostile work environment which is unacceptable and also illegal.

Then of course there are the tongue in cheek solutions to embracing a work culture that condones yelling.  If yelling were the norm your recruiting would have to be strategic to find the best fit for your culture.  Behavioral interview questions would be a must in addition to your other interview qualifying questions...."Please share what you did the last time you were yelled at due to an error or a misunderstanding."  You wouldn't want to hire someone that didn't thrive in a yelling environment.

Long story short, I would have to disclose that if there is yelling -the culture of the company must need a tune-up or its leaders must need communication training.  Yelling can become a habitual form of communication, which we should not embrace.   He didn't agree with me, but that's okay...as long as he didn't feel the need to yell at me.

Thank you for reading my blog.


 

10 Miles and the Incredible ALT

Please forgive me, but I'm going to use my blog to brag about my recent run.  I'm training for the San Diego Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon.  I have to share that I have been very pleased that I chose to run the 1/2 and even though I will be admiring the full marathoners to my left on race day-I will be very grateful that 13.1 is my magic number for 5/31/2015.

There are moments in my training that make the upcoming 1/2 marathon a reality rather than just a whimsical daydream.  Those moments are basically benchmarks in the training program.  I started officially training on 3/31/2015 which means an 8 week program or better yet stated...a couch to 1/2 marathon program.  When I started out a mile seemed like such a stretch and honestly even the distance between home plate and first base was sort of unattainable when I first started out.  I knew this to be true due to my short lived softball career last fall.

Let's get back to those benchmarks.  My first 5 mile run made me feel like a super hero.  The timing wasn't anything to brag about, so you will notice that I won't be sharing that detail!  The accomplishment of those first 5 miles made the training so real.  I became an official runner that day. 

Today's run was 10 miles, and when I finished that run-that sense of accomplishment almost made me teary eyed.  It was on treadmill-but we'll put that detail aside, because what happened next was so incredible.  I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I was exiting the workout area.  My hair  slightly damp, my skin glowing, and the person in that reflection looking the part of a 1/2 marathon runner. 

The day just got better when I realized how starved I was after that run, and discovering how many calories I had burned during this running sessions (1300+ calories).  My go-to after running meal is my beloved ALT.  No guilt, since it's a perfect balance of carbs, protein, fat, and actually tastes so good.

Recipe:
Toasted Multi-Grain Bread
Avocado (Sliced)
Tomato
Butter Lettuce
Generous slather of "Just Mayo" (Hampton Creek product-they call it JOY on your sandwich)
This mayo is soy free, dairy free, lactose free, gluten free, and egg free. It's a non-GMO product and the taste is incredible-makes any sandwich an ultimate sandwich.  I don't work for Hampton Creek, but I LOVE the joy they give my sandwiches!

I usually toast the bread as I'm slicing my ingredients, and wash this down with a nice glassful of coconut water.

Thank you for letting me brag.  Thank you for reading my blog.

Understand Your Salaried Exempt Status

 
Early in my career I worked for an employer that converted the majority of their salaried employees in their accounting department into non-exempt salaried employees.  I remember the mixed emotions of my team.  At the time I was working for a corporate office of a restaurant concept as a benefits/payroll accountant.  Some of my co-workers were very upset that they had lost their exempt status.

Looking back I can now see that the company realized the liability of not classifying its workers correctly.  Its exempt workers did not meet the criteria to be classified as exempt staff.  When we looked at our paychecks there was no change except- that now we were being paid for overtime.  The company meticulously measured their productivity cycles and while we remained fairly busy no worker was over-stressed with their work load.  The experience was great, and the morale was high.

It's important to understand the difference between salary exempt and non-salary exempt. Are you classified correctly?  Be your own advocate and learn how your role qualifies for the exempt status classification.  At the very least be aware of the minimum salary that should be paid for your exempt role for your organization to be in compliance with its federal and state laws. For the guidelines to determine if your role is correctly classified as exempt please use this link:

 http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/fairpay/

With making the assumptions that your company has classified your role correctly as an exempt worker you should be aware that the Fair Labor Standards Act does not place a limit on the number of hours or days that an employee (age 16 or older) may be required to work. 
 
The norm in most private-employer environments is for an exempt employee to be expected to work a minimum of 40 hours per week and to work as many hours as necessary to complete all their job duties. It's also the norm in some environments such as retail, restaurants, and hospitality to have extended hours of operation and to have the expectations that its exempt team players will work at least 45-50 hours per week if not more.

While there aren't restrictions on the number of hours an exempt employee may be required to work there are some states that have "day of rest" regulations that require employees to have 24 hour consecutive hours of time off during a workweek-or an average over a month's period.  New York and California have these rest regulations.  Given only limited state limitations on hours and days worked this should not be a green light for employers to lengthen their workweek requirements for their exempt employees.

Numerous studies have proven a connection between an employee's fatigue levels and the bottom line for organizations. It has been shown that employees reporting fatigue have also reported a loss of productivity while at work.  Additionally, fatigued employees were more likely to injure themselves when their hours of worked increased.  Having fatigued employees can actually cause injury events to peak.

Another important consideration for an organization is to understand the correlations of requiring longer workweeks and the effect is has to employee morale.  Employers need to fully consider how increasing work loads and increasing work weeks impact their productivity, safety, employee wellness, and its ability to attract and retain quality employees.

Thank you for reading my blog.

A Wink

I would like to start this blog by sharing with you how grateful I am to have health coverage.  I realize that not everyone has it, and that even in the wake of Obama's health coverage initiatives and laws in the US there are still a lot of folks lacking the access to basic health care.  Today I had the pleasure of going to the local women's center for my annual mammogram.

I arrived early and checked-in.  I thought I was in for a wait, but I was pleasantly surprised that they decided to move up my appointment and take care of me immediately.  I was walked into a very pleasant private room, given instructions on where to place my clothing, how to wear the cute gown they placed in the room for me, and they even offered me tea while I waited.

I looked around and there were beautiful floral prints on the wall and just a very calming feel of the room.  The furniture pieces in the room were something you would find in someone's living room.I could feel my heart racing in spite of the calmness of my setting, so I took my heart rate using my handy dandy iPhone (look away Android lovers), and found that it was elevated.  Within a few minutes I was walked over to the diagnostic center a few doors down, and the sight of the mammogram machine sort of intimidated me....but then I saw it. 

 The cute little ladybug to reassure that all was going to be okay.

A little background on the ladybug....approximately 3 years ago I drove my best friend to the airport.  He was on his way to Japan.  This trip was like no other trip he had taken-he was on his way home to say goodbye.  We were all at peace with it, because of how my friend, Dan had handled his pancreatic cancer diagnosis and his 3-6 months to live.  He was an incredible person and his spirit and heart were so inspiring and calming.  He was my best friend of 20+ years and it was the norm to have very mind provoking and philosophical conversations with him.  On that particular drive I asked him to send me a sign if he could as he walked into heaven.  He called me Ladybug due to my wearing red and black during our SDSU college years, and so he said, "I'll send you a sign Ladybug, so that you know I am safe, happy, and in heaven."  I was certain I would see him again, but that conversation would be our last.

Two weeks after that conversation I was back at home cat-sitting for a girlfriend. Her two cats were silly playful characters and loved to play with ice cubes in their water dish.  One morning I went to their dish to drop in a few ice cubes and I saw a ladybug swimming into their dish.  What a funny sight-the cats were total indoor cats, and the windows had not been opened.  I scooped the ladybug out of the dish and carefully walked it out to the balcony.  There I let it go and as I watched it fly into the sky on it's way for an adventure the phone rang.  It was Dan's sister, and she shared the news that Dan had just passed.  I asked when---and she replied, "Just a few minutes ago", and I knew that it had happened just as I had released that ladybug off the balcony.

Getting back to that ladybug in the doctor's office-it was a a decorative item on the technician's desk area.  A coincidence....possibly, but I know it was a wink from God or the Universe telling me I'm not alone and that everything is okay.  From time to time I will see a ladybug when I'm stressing over something I shouldn't be stressing over and it just gives me a chuckle.  Thank you, Dan for your clever winks in life.

Has the Universe/God winked at you lately?  Sometimes we don't see it, but if we slow down for just a bit I'm sure you will see your "wink".

By the way-the mammogram was 100% normal, and my resting heart rate is back to normal.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Motivating Your Contingent Workforce

As with most organizations the need for contingent workers is usually created when there is a special project at hand, or when high peaks of business are expected.  I commend the organizations that take time to build a relationship with an agency to supply their temporary helpers (really helps when you need 20 bodies in a single bound), but how do you build a relationship with your contingent staff that promotes loyalty and engagement?

What do you do to motivate them?  I recently met someone that posed these questions, and after some thought I realized that it really comes down to basics.  Anyone that's taken a psychology 101 class surely can recall Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.  I've included a nice illustration below that summarizes our needs~in order (according to Maslow) of what we need toward our path of self-actualization.

The theory has it that once our psychological and safety needs are met the next need in line is love or belonging.   How are helping with this need when it comes to your temporary workers?  Helping to satisfy this need will definitely tie in to that higher level of engagement that you are seeking.  Here are some suggestions that will help you in establishing a level of belonging for your contingent worker:


Performance Reviews
These are a great tool for your regular employees, and they don't need to be tied to any wage increase.
They present an excellent opportunity to connect with your temp workers. Reviews promote goodwill and most importantly gives you the opportunity to praise and also to coach.  On the flip side it also helps the temp worker if there are challenges, and provides you an opportunity to get them back on track as needed.  

Employee Satisfaction Surveys
If you have a survey do not exclude them.  That's a powerful statement when you exclude them, and one that should be avoided.  Their feedback is important, and them knowing that it's important to your organization makes them feel part of the team.

Employee Recognition
There should be a recognition program for your temporary workers.  It's no fun being excluded, and what if that stellar temp can become a stellar regular employee.  This is your time to shine, and this in fact may get you those extra votes for the workplace of the year nominations.  Temp workers have a fresh vantage point and can have great ideas that can make awesome contributions to the team.  Recognize their successes along with the successes of your permanent employees. 

Showcase Your Temp to Hire Stories
Nothing is more encouraging and motivating than to hear of someone who was a temp just like you, and now they are a full-time permanent employee.  "Woo-Hoo" moments like that should be showcased and shared. 

Training
Savvy employees thrive on receiving training that makes them more marketable and valuable.  Share the wealth with your temp employees.  Share with them the training you will be providing, so even if there is not an opportunity for placement within the organization-they still come on top with additional skills once their assignment is over.  Also include them in your culture training and new hire orientations.  This in fact will make you stand out in the crowd of employers.  This is a classy way of letting temps know that are valued and belong to your organization.

~Treat your customers exceptionally well, and treat your employees (regular or temp) better than your customers!

Thank you for reading my blog.

Emails Deliver More Than You Think...

How do you react when you receive a work email after 9pm and before the new work day begins?  Is it a warm fuzzy feeling or does it cause you stress?  If you answered the latter, you are not alone.  Studies have shown that late night or super early morning e-mails can actually hurt your team's morale and cause stress.

Years ago when companies began their recessionary journey into cutting the fat off their organizations an interesting dynamic also came with it.  Many managers found themselves wearing many hats, and achieving results with a lesser level of resources.  The dynamic that arose from this experience was a yearning for more balance -a true balance between work and play.

Fast forward to current time, and that late e-mail takes on a tone and even a culture for its organization.  An employee can develop stress from the communication if the company has not shared their e-mail communication rules and expectations.  Knowing this information will help to manage stress and also keep everyone on the same page as far as expectations for e-mail attentiveness.

Important highlights in this communication could include acceptable response times to emails given the time of day the message is sent, and also the priority an e-mail communication should take.  If a manager e-mails after 9pm there should be a clear expectation that the sender just wants it to be an e-mail that gets a response in the early morning.  If it's an emergency the communication should really be a phone call or a face to face meeting.

E-mails can deliver many messages, and you want them to be productive messages that help and nurture the team.

Thank you for reading my blog.

More Reasons to Find the Silver Linings

Being positive and accepting yourself in the NOW really just comes down to your vantage point.  If you knew there was a reward in changing your vanatage point I truly believe that you would attempt to see things a little differently.  Don't you agree?  I'm not posting this today to convince if you don't, but to enlighten your senses to perhaps give it a second thought.

One vantage shift is to learn that focusing on the good in your life actually has been proven to keep your heart strong.  It's no secret that optimists are twice as likely to have a better cardiovascular system in comparsion to their pessimist counterparts. If being upbeat is your thing~studies are now showing that along with that happiness is healthier BMIs, healthier blood sugar levels, and better cholesterol readings than the Eeyoreish people. Are you getting the jist on all these benefits from just turning that frown upside down? Corny? Yes, but think of all the ailments you could be avoiding by just shifting your disposition.

Another way to shift your vantage point is to learn that a little mental trick can turn anything you feel is a negative attribute about yourself into a strength.  I know-it seems far fetched, but the sooner you do it, the sooner you will be into fully embracing and accepting yourself-which is the ultimate vantage pivotal moment you can take for yourself.  Imagine being asked, "What is your weakness?"  What would your response be? What if I told you that your weakness is really a strength?

The secret is to link your weakness to a positive quality.  It's a habit changer, but once you do this you really begin to appreciate yourself.  Short attention span?  This has been linked to multitasking capabilities.  Inpatient? This has been linked to streamlining processes and creating shortcuts.  Shy?  That is linked to being very observant. Impulsive? This has been linked to a higher level of creativity.  Basically by finding a plus side to that weakness- you really begin to understand your personal strengths.  

I hope this posting makes a difference for you today.  Thank you for stopping by and reading my blog.