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AI, Social Media, Employee Issues - Oh My

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 17:44:33 GMT

Respond. Don't React.

I just came across an excellent article from Husch Blackwell that is a must-read for employers. In an age where feelings of offense can arise quickly, artificial intelligence poses risks, and social media platforms can re-frame events, it's crucial to understand that the internet is not HR and social media is not a defense. When an event has happened in the workplace with emotions running high, employers may feel the need to react quickly. Making quick decisions based on the immediate in-your-face information can lead to poor decisions. If those poor decisions trigger an angry social media post, EEOC charge, or a lawsuit, it can impossible to undo the impact. Your company's brand and reputation are paramount and must be protected above all. But a quick, short-sighted response to an employee issue can land you in dangerous territory.

In many instances, the first story you hear about an employee situation is only half the story or a warped version of the story. It takes a careful, step-by-step investigation to get the full picture. Only when you have the full picture can you respond (rather than react) with a thoughtful, business appropriate plan.

The value of HR can be difficult to quantify because its greatest value can be providing proactive solutions to avoid unwanted costs. The above article is a great example of that. HR situations, especially ones that result in discipline or terminations, can be a mine field. Be sure you have trained, experienced HR leadership. The best HR decision is legally compliant, consistent with company policies, a solid business decision, and fair to the employee. It takes time and a thoughtful approach to check all the boxes.

Here are some recommended take-aways when an employee issue boils over:

Don't react. Separate employees if needed. Insert yourself to stop the chaos. If employees are upset, send them home to cool off. Once things are under control take a breath.
Begin an investigation ideally with a neutral person. This is where HR comes in.
Listen to the perspective from each side. Note the differences and similarities. Understand that the truth is usually somewhere in the middle.
Talk to witnesses to gain further understanding.
With all information gathered, consider the spectrum of options for next steps. Maybe there is more investigating to do. Maybe people need to be transferred to a different location, moved to a new position, written up, or even terminated. Chose the next steps carefully and ensure that what you do has merit.
Document it all. Clean up your notes and save emails or other evidence.
Follow up. After some time has gone by, check in with impacted employees to make sure the issue is resolved. If it is not, start the process over and continue until you find a solid resolution.

Need help managing sticky employee issues? Contact us for a conversation.

Missouri Paid Sick Time

hperryman@hrmanaged.com (Holly Perryman) — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 20:59:44 GMT

What You Need to Know for Compliance

Missouri is set to implement a new statewide paid sick leave law, following the approval of Proposition A by voters. This legislation imposes new obligations on employers. As an employer, it's crucial to understand the nuances of this law to ensure compliance and effectively manage workforce policies.

The law is scheduled to take effect on May 1, 2025. It applies to all private employers in Missouri with a few noted exemptions such as the federal and state government, political subdivisions, including agencies, boards, commissions, or instrumentalities of the state, counties, municipalities, school districts, and public higher education institutions. Private retail and service businesses whose annual gross volume sales made or business done is less than five hundred thousand dollars are also exempt.

Beginning May 1, 2025, eligible employees will accrue a minimum of one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Employers have the option to provide this leave as it is accrued or to front-load the entire annual allotment at the beginning of the year.

Employers with 15 or more employees may limit employees to using 56 hours of paid sick time each year. Employers with fewer than 15 employees can limit usage to 40 hours annually. Unused paid sick time carries over into the following year, with a maximum of 80 hours allowed to roll over. Alternatively, employers may choose to pay employees for unused leave at year-end, if they have frontloaded the time.

Employees can utilize their earned paid sick time as soon as it is earned for various purposes, including:

They or a family member have a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition.
They or a family member require medical care, a medical diagnosis, or treatment, as well as receiving preventative medical care services.
Their place of employment has been ordered closed by a public official due to a public health emergency.
They need to care for a child whose school district has been ordered closed by a public official due to a public health emergency.
They need to be absent to attend to matters relating to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

For absences of three or more consecutive workdays, employers may request reasonable documentation to substantiate the need for leave. However, employers cannot require detailed information regarding the nature of illnesses or personal circumstances related to domestic violence, unless otherwise mandated by law.

Here is a check list of items employers need to consider for compliance:

Notify Employees: Provide written notice about the paid sick leave law by April 15, 2025 and within 14 days of employment thereafter. The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations have issued a model notice and poster for this purpose. The poster can be displayed with your state and federal employment posters. Notices are to be printed and handed directly to employees.

Make Decisions: Are you going to let balances accrue or front load the time? Do you want to allow for carry over at year end or pay out the balance of time? Will you manage paid sick time as part of your current PTO balance or as a separate bank of time? Do you want to implement an annual use cap? Please note, some of these decisions are dependent on one another so make sure you fully understand the requirements for each decision.

Review Record Keeping Systems: You must keep records of hours worked and paid sick time taken for at least three years. These records must be accessible for inspection by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to ensure compliance.

Consider Current Policies: You need to make sure your actions and policies are compliant with the new law. Begin considering adjustments you need to make to the way you document absences, handle discipline, and request documentation. A few examples for consideration:

Employees must begin earning paid sick time from their date of hire. Time earned is available for use starting at hire.
No discipline can be brought for use of Paid Sick Time.
Paid Sick Time cannot be denied even if it causes a scheduling issue within the business.
This new law applies to full-time, part-time, and temporary employees.

By proactively addressing these areas, employers can foster a supportive work environment that complies with Missouri's new paid sick leave law, thereby enhancing employee satisfaction and mitigating legal risks.

Need help ensuring you are in compliance? HR Managed can assist. We strongly recommend that you consult legal counsel or an HR professional to ensure you are fully in compliance.

Background Checks: A Cautionary Tale

hperryman@hrmanaged.com (Holly Perryman) — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 22:33:36 GMT

Why you should always run a background check...

When I work with a great company who makes a great hire whom everyone loves and is excited about, true confession, running a background check can feel like a waste of time. This person is so great! Everyone likes them! They are kind, friendly, personable. They have all the experience. Background checks come back clear one candidate after another…until it doesn't. So this is a cautionary tale about why we run background checks.

I recently helped a client hire a part-time bookkeeper. We found someone with exactly the profile we were looking for. She had a 12+ year career in accounting and was working successfully for a large company. Point in her favor. She wanted to lessen her work hours to be more available for her family and be there for her kids. Noble approach. Point in her favor. She was quick to respond and professional in all communication. Another point. She was meek, a bit shy, mild mannered and hit every response we were looking for in the interview. She nailed it. We made the offer. Now we needed to run background checks.

I sent her the link to fill out her information on line with the service I use for all background checks, drug tests, etc. She was quick to sign the FCRA authorization and fill out the info. I did a quick check to see that her background checks were running and the drug test was in process. Everything was on track. And then I scrolled down to see that she had left the employment verification section blank. That was weird because she had been in her last job for 7 years, good performer, liked the company, and had just left there voluntarily a week ago…or so I thought.

I called her. I told her I needed a name and phone number to verify her past employment. She kindly responded that, of course, she would get that right over to me. I did not hear back. I asked again the next day. She told me she needed to get the information. While on the phone with her, I looked up her past employer and there was a number on their website. I told her, never mind, here is the number… I will just give them a call. I said "Who should I ask for?" She said she was not sure. Weird. I quickly got in touch with the Payroll Coordinator who verified that this person's employment ended in 2021. 2021??? I told that can't be right. She just left there last week. Nope, 2021 they said again.

I went back to the applicant. She was shocked. There were tears. She insisted that was not correct (and yet she made no suggestion of taking steps to fix a mix-up). She said she would give me an email of someone she worked with who could confirm she worked there. She send me the email but I noticed it was slightly different from the company's website and published 'contact us' email.

I kept talking to the applicant giving her every opportunity to remedy the situation…clear up the confusion…tell me what I'm not understanding. Long story short, it just kept getting more weird. Her cagey behavior, delays in providing information, and unwillingness to help fix what she said was 'wrong' information from the employer, led to a conclusion that she was being dishonest, reasons unknown. We retracted the offer and avoided putting a company at risk. (Remember, we hired her to be a bookkeeper with access to bank accounts, credit cards, and highly sensitive information.)

And that is why we do background checks. 95% of the time they can feel like a formality, confirming the greatness you already know about the hire you just made. And then, 5% of the time, they provide the protection your business needs to continue thriving!

Need help with offers, onboarding, and making great hires? Let HR Managed help.

Workplace Wellbeing

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 15:00:27 GMT

This year has certainly taken a toll on people, the impact of which does not end when people come to work. The overall well-being of an employee has a direct impact to the quality of their work and their engagement, performance and productivity. And that has a direct impact to the success of an organization. According to a Gallup poll, organizations with highly engaged employees outperform their competition in earnings per share by 147%. So how can you support employee well-being?

Promote physical well-being through prevention . Employees with chronic conditions significantly increase health care expenses and absenteeism, not to mention the distractions created when employees do not feel well. Encourage wellness visits, smoking cessation programs, provide educational resources on nutrition and disease prevention, provide resources for ergonomic work stations, and send regular reminders on staying physically active.

Promote social well-being through interaction . The impact to mental health over the past year has been significant. Not only are people concerned about their health and facing financial challenges, they are also more isolated due to working from home and cancelled social events. Rather than sending an email consider picking up the phone to talk directly to an employee and add a social element to your call. Or, better yet, use video conferencing so your team can see each other and have a sense of connection. Hosting a virtual happy hour is another way to keep everyone safely distanced while bringing a sense of community.

Promote mental well-being through regular check-ins . It is easy to get busy with work and before you know it the week is gone with little to no contact with team members working from home. Business leaders need to be thoughtful about their role in mental health both from a community perspective and from a business perspective. A stressed employee is distracted and not performing well. And a person struggling with mental health can have significant impact on people throughout the community. Employers see and interact with people on a regular basis and are often aware of resources in the community or can provide benefits that can assist.

Therefore, employers play a key role in ensuring that people can access care. Check out workplacementalhealth.org for resources.

Want to learn more about how you can foster well-being in your workforce? Click here and let’s start a conversation.

Where Did The Workforce Go?

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:58:42 GMT

What is the cause of the current labor shortage and how do we fix it? That is the question I am repeatedly being asked these days. Most employers seem to think the issue is pay. I disagree.

I have been in HR for 23 years, which means I have completed 23 years of exit interviews, have seen 23 years of turnover statistics, and reviewed hundreds of comments on employee engagement surveys. While compensation is always on the list of reasons people leave a job, pay is rarely the primary reason. So, why does an employee leave a job? The reasons that top the list include dissatisfaction with a manager, lack of work/life balance, lack of opportunity, personal/family challenges, or a negative workplace environment. In short, people consistently leave a job when it does not support their home life, happiness, and well-being. It boils down to quality of life.

Now, factor in the mental health challenges that are occurring in our society. According to the CDC, in June 2020 40% of U.S. adults reported struggling with mental health or substance abuse. The National Institute for Mental Health reports that 1 in 5 U.S. adults live with a mental illness. The CDC reported in 2019 that suicide was the tenth leading cause of death in the United States across all age groups. It is the second leading cause of death for ages 10 to 34. Incidents of stress, depression, and anxiety are on the rise.

And then Covid came along. The resulting shut-down allowed us the time to focus on our families and to reevaluate our priorities. This great awakening is leading people to seek better work/life balance, more time at home, more emphasis on family, and enjoyment in their daily lives post-covid.

I recently filled a manager level position for a client. In the phone interview I asked each candidate why they were looking to leave their current position. Out of 10 candidates, only 1 said he was leaving to make more money. Here are the reasons cited by the other 9 candidates:

Poor work culture and lack of good leadership
Not having a properly staffed team to get the work done
Poor company culture and decisions made by corporate office to reduce benefits
Desire for a better work schedule & the chance to work with a smaller, tight-knit team
More opportunities for growth and sharing knowledge with a team
Opportunity for growth and better company leadership
Improved work/life balance; tired of working overtime and missing out on time with family
To work for a company that is about more than making money, wants a job that has a purpose and helps people
Works by himself and wants to be a part of a team

There is a theme in those responses: leadership, teamwork, and healthy, supportive work environments. Yes, this is a small sample size, but it is consistent with responses I have heard repeatedly from employees over my 23 years in HR.

Compensation is certainly a factor in jobs. It should go without saying that employers need to pay appropriately for the work performed. Nobody, regardless of the title or duties, should be expected to show up every day, work hard, and be underpaid. Every employer should know the market value for the work being performed. Employers need to have a clearly defined compensation program that intentionally pays employees according to work performance and time in the role.

We are seeing employers randomly throwing money at the labor shortage and judging by all the Now Hiring signs along the roadways, it is not working. Overpaying for labor skews the entire compensation system and drives up the cost of goods and services. That is not helping anyone. My ask to employers is to stop throwing money at the problem. Human beings require more than thoughtless bonuses and impersonal paychecks. They want coworkers who turn into friends. They want a boss who cares as much about their home life as their work life. They want to learn something new then apply that knowledge to better themselves and others. They want to leave work each day feeling like they did something worthy of their time. And they want to have a reason to go back and do it again tomorrow. As the song says…can’t buy me love. Employers cannot just throw money at people expecting them to be happy, devoted employees.

Employers need to provide great leadership that inspires great work. Supervisors should take the time to help each person see how they impacted the company with their efforts. Policies that restrict flexibility should be reviewed to see where a softer approach can support the whole employee and still get the job done. Before asking for the end of the month numbers, ask the person how they are doing…and be genuinely interested in their answer. We need to create workplaces that build relationships rather than profits with the understanding that healthy employees create healthy companies. And healthy companies succeed.

Stay Interviews – the Superpower You May Not Be Using

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:56:40 GMT

Wouldn’t it be amazing if you had the superpower of knowing what employees were thinking and then be able to act on that knowledge before it caused an issue? You could address small concerns rather than major blow-ups. Mole hills would be smoothed over before turning into mountains. Employee retention could increase, and employees would feel great about where they work. In the age of the turnover tsunami such a superpower could make all the difference.

The great news is that you have that superpower in the form of stay interviews. What is a stay interview? Stay interviews are the key to keeping your finger on the pulse of your organization. They are open, honest conversations with individual employees to hear their insights, explore concerns, and gather constructive suggestions for the workplace. Stay interviews can happen in several different ways.

Across the board . One individual, usually HR, meets with each employee to identify trending themes across the office. These open forum conversations may cover anything from the physical workspace to benefits to work duties. Chances are, if something is bugging one person it is an area of concern for many people. Rather than letting such issues fester in break room gripe sessions, business leaders can identify and address these issues before they negatively impact the entire office.
Start, stop, continue . Start, stop, continue interviews are a great way for top leadership to gain feedback from their direct reports. HR meets with each person to ask what they think the manager needs to start doing, stop doing, and continue doing. Feedback can be compiled in a report providing the business leader with the tools to make necessary adjustments.
Level-up . These are stay interviews conducted by management, not HR. Each employee meets with the next level up, their manager’s manager. This type of stay interview is great for building relationships between employees and management while allowing the manager to gain insights for developing their direct reports.

Stay interviews need to be done well to be effective . Here are some ground rules for getting the most out of the process:

Feedback must be constructive . Stay interviews are not complaint sessions. Employees are not allowed to just lob bombs of criticism; they must also be encouraged to provide suggestions for change. The greatest value in stay interview is not hearing what people don’t like, but rather, hearing what they would like to see instead.
There must be open, honest conversation . Stay interviews are not a check-the-box process. That is not a good use of anyone’s time. The person conducting the stay interview should be a neutral person who encourages transparent, constructive dialog.
The feedback is provided to management without names attached . People are more inclined to be honest if there is some level of confidentiality. The point of the stay interviews is to learn about themes or improve management, not to point out who said what.
Be upfront about information that cannot be kept confidential . If you uncover an issue of harassment or unethical conduct, that information must be shared with the right individuals for an investigation. Let the person who has shared the information know up front of your obligations to act, with full assurances that their identity will only be shared with people who need to know.
Management must be prepared to act . The one thing worse than being oblivious to issues is being made aware of the issues and then failing to act. If you are going to ask for the information you have to be prepared to handle the results. Then, follow up a few months later to make sure the action taken has resolved the issue.

Keeping a finger on the pulse of your employees is critical in maintaining a healthy, productive workforce. Stay interviews will provide a great return on the time invested. Need assistance with stay interviews? We are here for you, to manage HR while you manage your business.

The Performance Vaccine

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:53:41 GMT

Last week I wrote about performance management for an underperforming employee. While that is certainly something HR should be involved with, there is a positive side to that coin as well. Goal setting, clearly communicated expectations, and balanced feedback are the vaccine to poor performance. And we all know that setting goals that push employees to new development while praising their achievements is a whole lot more fun than addressing slipping performance.

Before your mind starts wandering down the path of the dreaded annual performance review, let me say that goal setting and discussing performance no longer need to be that formal. Many companies are moving to a more organic, real-time process that may achieve even better results…provided you still document it properly to ensure clear communication and record keeping.

The old process of performance reviews was checking the box on a fixed list of performance standards that looked back in time. And then maybe you threw in added goals to the end that would not be talked about again until the following year’s review. Flipping that approach around allows for a more engaging and forward-looking conversation. Research has shown that forward looking performance conversations can improve employee performance by 13%. While the past year’s events do need to be acknowledged and recognized, you may want to reduce the time spent on that topic.

The modern approach to employee reviews puts the focus on living goals that are discussed and updated throughout the year. For that approach to yield results there are some things to keep in mind. First, it should be a collaborative effort between employee and manager. The employee needs to be bought in and excited about new opportunities for growth. Second, it must be clearly documented and consistently updated. A goal focused performance management approach should be an on-going conversation that happens every month or two. Check in on progress. Does a goal need to be adjusted because it has been too simple or not realistic? Once the goal is achieved, what will replace it to keep the momentum going? And, finally, use the SMART goal approach. Statements like “keep doing what you are doing” or “improve your metrics” are not goals. They are vague commands with no direction. The elements of a well written SMART goal are these:

S – Specific: The purpose, desired action, and outcome should be clearly stated. It should spell out the who, what, where, when, and why.

M – Measurable: There must be a definitive way to determine completion. This could be metrics or defined deliverables. Keep it objective!

A – Attainable: The goals should be a challenge to the employee (Otherwise, what is the point?) and it should be an area in which the employee has the skills and resources for achievement and the ability to influence the outcome.

R – Relevant: As Simon Sinek says, start with why. The goal should have a purpose that links back to your organization’s mission and vision. It should be related to big picture objectives. Finally, it should be connected to the employee’s interests or responsibilities.

T – Time-based: Unless the employee is Buzz Lightyear, the goal should not be to infinity. Set a deadline to keep progress on track. Updates can be made with adjusted dates but there should always be a date.

People are the most valuable asset of any organization. Take the time to develop each member of the team and you are sure to see a return on the investment.

Need assistance developing your team into performance powerhouses? HR Managed, LLC is a human resources consulting firm helping top decision makers attract and retain top talent and build powerful teams to achieve business goals. Let’s talk about how we help manage HR so you can manage your business.

Silver Linings and Cautionary Tales

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:52:16 GMT

The saying that every cloud has a silver lining has certainly proved true over the past year. While the losses of the pandemic are many, I have had several conversations pointing out the positives. For many people the ability to work from home has been one of those. And now with Covid numbers dropping and vaccines available, the conversation is shifting to if or when businesses should go back to an everyone-in-the-building model.

In a recent survey by Boston Consulting Group it was found that companies expect approximately 40% of employees to utilize a remote-work model in the future. That survey also revealed that 37% of companies expect that more than one-fourth of their employees will work in hybrid models that combine remote and onsite work. In a recent PWC survey, 83% of employers said the shift to remote work has been successful for their company. That number is up from 73% in June.

The benefits of remote work are many but it is important to balance that with the costs. There is no substitute for workplace camaraderie and impromptu networking conversations in the office breakroom. When adding someone new to my team, I encouraged them to listen in to a workmate’s conversation in the next cube to further their development. Someone brand new to HR would overhear an experienced HR Generalist talking through an employee concern and pick up little tidbits of information that did not come up in formal training. Those impromptu, micro-training moments are critical for ongoing development. The survey by PWC confirms that with 87% of employees saying that the office is important for collaborating with team members and building relationships.

Another cost of remote work could be to inclusion and diversity efforts. An article by Johnny C Taylor, CEO of SHRM, is a great reminder of the value of office workplaces. Taylor stated “I see a real danger of two separate—and likely unequal—cultures developing in the hybrid model. Historically, one of the biggest challenges to workplace equity and inclusion is when some groups enjoy more exposure and relationship-building time than others. Employees who choose to or must work at home risk losing important professional connections. Think about it: Who gets mentored and who gets promoted when some are in front of the boss and others are in front of a screen?”

Remote work does have great benefits and it does work well in many situations. But it is not as simple as handing out laptops and setting up Zoom accounts. A company must consider what will be negatively impacted in a remote work setting and then mitigate those losses.

Need assistance figuring out your remote work approach? HR Managed, LLC is a human resources consulting firm helping top decision makers attract and retain top talent and build powerful teams to achieve business goals. Let’s talk about how we help manage HR so you can manage your business.

Hiring Returning Citizens: Are We Sending the Right Message?

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:50:43 GMT

I will never forget her name or the day I sat across the table from her in a meeting to terminate her employment. She was a great employee, one we wanted to keep. She was such a strong performer that we had decided to promote her. With that promotion she would need to obtain an industry license. All she needed was a background check with no felony convictions.

Most employees were chomping at the bit for this promotion but not this employee. Each time the subject came up she dismissed the promotion and said she was fine where she was. However, we had invested in this employee and we needed her to move to the next step so her strong performance could be better utilized in the organization. Her odd responses about a potential background check were not leaving anyone with a good feeling. And that started to raise questions that required answers.

After some probing questions and deeper investigating, we got our answer. She had lied on her application. Company policy was clear that falsifying an application was grounds for immediate termination. No exceptions. She was a single mom with a two year daughter. While I could not save her employment, I at least wanted to hear her story.

She sat across the table from me crying over the loss of her job as she explained. Years ago she had fallen in with the wrong crowd. Her boyfriend was bringing in drugs from Mexico and he convinced her to drive down to Texas to pick them up and bring them back to Missouri. On her way home she was pulled over and arrested. She then spent three years in prison out of state. That was the wake up call she needed. When she was released, she cut all ties with her old crowd and set out for a fresh start in life. She got a job and performed well demonstrating that she had rehabilitated. When our job opportunity came along it provided the perfect next step for her new life. Convinced that our company would not hire someone with a criminal record she altered the facts on her application to cover her time in prison. The real heartbreak of that situation was that our company was working hard to follow fair chance hiring processes. Had she been honest with us from that start, there was a good chance she still would have been hired.

I learned two things that day. First, people with a felony record can rehabilitate and deserve second chances. Proof of that sat across the table from me. She was a top performer and valued member of our team. Second, as employers we need to make sure we have created a space for open and honest conversations for returning citizens. The processes in place for HR are only as good as the message being communicated to potential applicants. Fair chance hiring must be a public message not just an HR procedure.

Nearly a third of working adults have a criminal record that can create barriers to employment. When recruiters create a space for honest conversations and applicants receive the message of fair chance hiring, we all reap the benefits in the workplace and in our communities.

Re-Recruiting

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:43:26 GMT

Who doesn’t love the beginning of a new year?! We can take a moment to reflect on what went well (and what could have gone better), and we experience the excitement of a fresh start. This is the ideal time to remind ourselves of what really matters. And it is a great time to remind employees why they love to work for you!

There was point when each of your current employees looked at your posting, went through your interview process, and thought to himself/herself “I want that job! I want to work there!” But, as with so many things in life, the new shine fades, the initial excitement slides into the mundane, and employees forget why they chose to work for you in the first place. The new year provides a great opportunity for you to bring the shine back by restoring a sense of newness and excitement to the job.

If you are not familiar with it, this process is called re-recruiting. When you need to make a hire, you recruit. You tell people all the great things about your company. You envision them with OJT, growth opportunities, team spirit, and send them home with some company schwag. That process should not stop when the new hire fills out their I-9. At the start of each year, schedule time with each team member and ‘recruit’ them afresh for the new year. Remind them why they wanted this job, have fun reminiscing over the highpoints of the past year (yes, even in 2020), and envision them with a just-got-a-new-job feeling for the coming year by sharing your plans and listening to their ideas.

These conversations don’t have to be formal or complicated. People like real conversations and they love it when you show interest in them. Here are a few questions you can ask:

I was reviewing your resume from when you applied and was reminded of the experience you brought to us. Are we keeping you challenged? How can we better utilize your experience?
Remind me of why you came to work here.
What is your favorite thing about your job? What ideas do you have in that area?
If you were recruiting someone to work here, what would you tell them about our workplace?
How can I best support you going forward?
What would you like to accomplish this year?

We all need occasional pep-talks and reminders to fuel our success. Investing your time in building relationships with employees will pay dividends throughout the year.

What are you doing to get 2021 off to a great start in your organization? Share your ideas with us!

Need assistance making your workplace a great place to work? HR Managed, LLC is a human resources consulting firm helping top decision makers attract and retain top talent and build powerful teams to achieve business goals. Let’s talk about how we help manage HR so you can manage your business.

Remote Worker Management

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:41:43 GMT

World At Work recently released a survey that said 42% of employees would take a pay cut and a lower title to work from home and have more work/life balance. And, based on various surveys I have read, 50% to 60% of employers are saying they will continue with some type of work-from-home option even after Covid-19 concerns have ended. So, it is safe to say that remote work arrangements are something we all need to get used to and learn how to manage well…emphasis on the word ‘well’.

Years ago I had a manager who liked to say he used the “management by walking around” approach. Without putting much effort into it, he could simply walk through the office to make himself available for questions, peak into a cube, wave at someone on the phone, or buy someone a soda while chatting in the break room. I have lost touch with that manager, but I bet he is having to rethink his management approach in this brave new world of remote work.

Managing remote workers requires more planning, being more intentional, and showing a deeper interest in what (and how) employees are doing. If you have not yet made that shift, here are some ideas to get you started.

Reach out to each employee (individually, no cheating with mass messages) daily with a simple “hi…how are you…have a great day…thanks for that thing you did” kind of message. Short and simple, just enough to let them know you know they are there. It can be via email, text, or instant message; just make sure it is delivered on a platform they see daily.
Establish a standing one-on-one with each team member, perhaps every two weeks or, at a minimum, once a month. Never be late and don’t cancel or reschedule. Turn off your phone to avoid any distractions. Let that person know that he or she is important enough to command your undivided attention on a regular basis. Focus on the quality of time, not the quantity.
Schedule speed networking events via video conference. I have hosted these in my years as an HR manager and people loved them. Invite the entire team, then send groups of 4 to 5 people into breakout rooms for 10 minutes or less. Every few minutes shoot out a fun discussion question to keep the conversation going. When time is up, bring everyone back, reshuffle the groups, and send everyone off into new breakout groups to do it again with new questions.
Send a hand-written note to the employee’s home address. You know that great feeling when you go to the mailbox expecting bills and junk mail and instead there is a bright pink envelope containing a personal note that makes you smile. Yeah, that.

How are you keeping the camaraderie and engagement in your remote workplace? What approach has had the biggest impact? Share your ideas with us!

Pay Transparency

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:39:55 GMT

Someone recently asked me “Why is there still a gender pay gap if there are laws in place like the Equal Pay Act?” Great question! The answer lies in two current movements: pay transparency and pay history bans. There are two reasons to get on board with this current movement. One is because you have to and the other is because you want to. Both reasons are the right reason, but one will reap greater reward.

As I always say…let’s start with compliance. Pay transparency laws, which require that compensation be included in job postings, are a key measure designed to close the gender pay gap. Pay transparency laws are in place in 8 states (and a number of cities and other local areas) with at least 15 additional states considering salary range transparency laws. When compensation is not stated in a job posting, the hiring company is not committed to the compensation that will be given. Companies may want to leave their options open “depending on the experience of the candidate”. While I understand the reasons behind this approach, it flies in the face of equal pay for equal work. A job should have core responsibilities and expectations. Whether someone has 3 years of experience or 10 years of experience, they will be doing that same job with those same responsibilities and be held to the same expectations. Therefore, they should be given the same compensation. Pay transparency laws ensure this is the case.

Before we talk more about pay transparency, let’s take a quick look at another movement happening around the job posting process: Pay history bans. For years, it has been standard practice to ask applicants to state their compensation for past positions when completing an application. Twenty-one states have passed laws which prohibit obtaining salary history to determine compensation during the hiring process. If one person made $50,000 a year in their previous position and another person made $65,000 a year in their previous position, should they now be paid differently for doing the exact same job? When hiring managers think the answer to that question is yes, the gender pay gap continues. Pay should be based on the job the person is currently doing.

Laws aside, why would a company want to adopt these approaches sooner rather than later? It has been shown that stating compensation on a job posting results in higher applicant volume and a higher quality candidate. Think about it…Do you want a candidate who will apply to any job (without really knowing important details) or the candidate who wants your job because it provides exactly what they are looking for? We all work to get paid so compensation consideration is key. Once in the position, seeing the potential for increased pay can be a great motivator for both retention and increased performance. Nobody likes looking out the back window when riding in a car. We prefer to see the road ahead and have some idea where we are going. Such is the case with compensation. Finally, a company that is willing to be transparent about compensation sends a positive message about an open, honest culture. That level of transparency is one of the things the newest generation entering the workforce is looking for.

To put all of this into practice does take some work. But once it is built, so many challenges are able to be resolved. So what are some steps to get started?

Establish a compensation philosophy that guides your thinking. A client recently told me that there are many factors to employment he can’t control so he wants to control what he can. He does that by paying well. His philosophy is to lead the market and pay well for high performance.
Have a compensation policy or guidelines that clearly explain how wages are determined. This is a written document that includes things like how starting pay is determined, percentage of increases for promotions, percentages of merit increases, timing of increases, and other factors for consistency.
Maintain compensation ranges or hourly rates based on market data. When done well, this will create both internal and external equity in compensation. Compensation is tiered from position to position and based on external data.

Payroll is often the biggest expense for any company. Yet, I’m amazed at how many companies don’t have a structure in place to manage it. Compensation management has endless benefits from ending pay discrimination to higher retention to simplified processes. Need some help getting started? Contact us and let's talk about a customized compensation approach that works for your business.

Musical Chairs: It’s Not Just For Birthday Parties Anymore

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:37:44 GMT

In the past year you have likely experienced various shifts in job duties across your team. Some of these shifts (and many of the changes of the past 12 months) may morph from temporary to permanent. When changes in job duties are made to cover new or evolving responsibilities, other areas of responsibility may end up falling through the cracks. If this is striking a chord for your organization, it is time for a job analysis and job description update.

I know what you are thinking. You would rather have a root canal than update job descriptions. But the time spent on this task will bring about efficiencies for your company, improved employee performance, and a better customer experience. Now that should be music to your ears!

So how do you get started? First, know that a job analysis is a team sport. Areas of responsibility should be reviewed from the vantage point of the person performing the role, the person managing the role, and the people impacted by the role.

For two weeks have each person spend 10 minutes a day writing down what they did and how long it took. While that is happening meet with department heads to identify what skills and abilities are critical to your organization for the coming year. How much time is needed to accomplish organization or department objectives and who will complete those tasks? Then you can compare what people are actually doing with what you need them doing. Once you have identified the gaps, you can see where time can be reallocated for greater productivity. This is also a good time to consider where automation through software or outsourcing could be valuable.

Consider 360 feedback. Whether through one-on-one conversations or a written survey, ask everyone on the team to share insights. What works well? What are the roadblocks to getting work done? How would they change work flows or SOPs? Front line employees bring a valuable perspective of what works. They can often offer quick, simple solutions with big impact.

In addition to connecting people to objectives, consider the key functions of your organization and how they connect. When multiple people are involved, the process should have clearly identified handoffs like the passing of a baton. Does each person know who they hand off to and is the other person ready to receive it? Look for break downs and note where the clarification is needed. Every function performed impacts a person, process, or purpose in your organization. Connect those dots. If a task does not connect to something of value, perhaps it should be eliminated. If the connection wires are crossed, you may need to retrain or redirect employees to ensure that their work brings value.

A game of musical chairs should not be played out every day. Eventually the music has to stop and everyone needs to know the expectations of the chair they sit in. When they do you get to enjoy the beautiful harmony of a healthy, strong team

Motivational Based Interviewing

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:36:17 GMT

For years the gold standard in interviewing has been the behavioral interview. Rather than allowing people to make up answers with what they would, could, or should do, behavioral interviewing allows us to find out what they have actually done. We listen for details and think about how the action they took translates into the role for which they are interviewing. Often times that works, yielding a great hire, and sometimes a bad hire still gets through. It is a good interviewing process but there is a problem with behavioral interviewing. Behaviors can be influenced based on the environment or situation.

I recently interviewed an applicant who was telling me a great story of responding to a difficult situation while still delivering great customer service. The power had gone out in his office in the heat of summer. The office was miserably hot, and computers and printers were all down with a line of customers waiting on the other side of the counter. He told me of heroic feats of bringing in fans and serving ice cold lemonade to make the experience more pleasant for customers. He talked about rising to the challenge of handwriting customer documents to help get people on their way. It all sounded great until I started to ask a few more questions around motivational based interviewing. It turned out that many elements of his example were the work of other people and he was only acting on their direction or assisting them with their ideas. His behavior was unique to that situation and team. If placed in an office with lesser leadership or fewer resources, would his future performance be the same? I ventured to think it would not. And I avoided making a bad hire thanks to motivational based interviewing.

Behavioral based interviewing looks at what people do. Motivational based interviewing looks at why they do it which has led me to rewrite many of my interview questions. Why someone does what they do is much more ingrained to how they think and less likely to be influenced by a particular setting. Some people look at a challenge with an understanding that they can engage in problem solving actions to influence the outcome. These people find success, or at least a learning moment, regardless of the obstacles. Other people see challenges as something that happens to them, believing they have no control over the outcome. They have a victim mentality. Of those two people, which one would an employer want working for them? Motivational interviewing allows me to identify those who are internally motivated toward finding success from those who are merely recipients of bad luck. Rather than getting caught up in a nice sounding story with lots of details (behavioral interviewing), I now find myself digging deeper into why they did what they did. I now apply the approach of understanding the motivation, not just the actions.

Taking that one step further, motivational based interviewing will identify what makes people tick, their passion. The simple addition of two questions to my interview process can yield great insights. Question 1: Of all the jobs you have done, which has been your favorite? Question 2: Of all the jobs you have done, which have you enjoyed the least? I have found that most people do not need to think long to answer these questions. There is one job that they have loved and they can tell you why. And everyone has that one job they absolutely did not like. I have interviewed candidates who told me they were all about the key aspects of the job for which they were interviewing. But when I asked for their favorite job, it was apparent their heart was in a different place.

When hiring a person whose passion aligns with the business and combine that with the desire to overcome challenges, employers end up with a rockstar employee. They will have the passion that fuels success and the skills to perform with excellence.

Managing Difficult Conversations

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:34:13 GMT

I love a difficult conversation, said nobody ever. While we would all prefer to stay anchored in the sunny harbor of banter and kudos, the reality is that we will inevitably drift into the choppy, uncharted waters of sensitive topics and difficult conversations. Leaving employees clinging to the flotsam of unanswered questions or lack of direction will only make the situation worse. The best course forward is to initiate a well-planned, direct conversation that addresses the concerns of all involved. Here are some tips to navigate to calmer waters.

Be forward focused . Don’t dwell on the mistakes, miscommunications and misunderstandings that landed you in perilous waters. Fixing blame and dwelling on details usually devolves into arguments based on the unique perspective of each person involved. The object of the conversation is not to point fingers but rather to find the best way forward. Ask the other person what they would like to see happen to address their concerns. Then, work together to make that happen if possible. This often requires compromise, but it ensures that all parties feel heard. If the situation gets tense, try inviting input from a neutral party. Or better yet, assume a neutral perspective by taking a step back and challenging your own point of view. Two opposing perspectives rarely move a conversation forward. Act as your own mediator to talk through points from both sides to find common ground.

Start with why . There is a reason that you arrived at a difficult decision point. That reason could be financial challenges, changes to the market in which you operate, or an approach that no longer makes sense given where your business is today. All of those are valid reasons to make difficult business decisions. Despite that, unwelcome news can feel very personal to the one on the receiving end. You can temper those emotions by laying a foundation that explains how and why you arrived at this decision. People appreciate transparency and can process information more effectively when they understand why something is happening. Avoid aloof statements like “it’s just a business decision” or “it’s not personal”. You have (hopefully) given a great deal of thought to your decision. Make sure your care and thoughtfulness come through in your explanation. When you invest the time and effort to deliver a difficult message well, people will often respond with understanding and support.

What does this mean for me? Upon delivery of unwanted news, employees will immediately shift to how that decision will impact them. At this point, “options” becomes a powerful word. A difficult conversation can elicit a fight or flight response when employees feel something is happening to them. Temper that with this simple statement; “you have some options”. Presenting the person with options gives back some sense of control. Listening skills tend to decline during a difficult conversation and the impacted individual likely needs some time to reflect. Because of that, I like to go old-school and present the options in a hard copy document that I can hand to the employee. A minimum of three options is ideal so it does not come across as an either/or situation. For example, in a position elimination, options could be to consider other positions in the company, look for a new position outside the company, or schedule a second conversation with you to help make some networking connections. While those options may seem obvious, they do help guide the employee in a constructive direction. A wise man once told me that while I can not control how people will feel about a situation, I can provide some direction to manage their response.

Albert Schweitzer said “Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.” While the message may still be difficult, a successful outcome is all about the delivery.

Need help with communication and managing difficult conversations? Give us a call and let’s talk.

Legal Compliance

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:32:50 GMT

Legal Compliance is music to the ears of Human Resources and, at the same time, can make an employer break into a cold sweat. I like to think of compliance in two broad categories: 1) Pro-active and affordable or 2) Reactive and expensive. I think you can guess which I would recommend.

Compliance is one of the simplest steps you can take toward building a great place to work. The right compliance plan starts with communication and training. Hanging employment law posters, conducting annual trainings with both managers and employees, and maintaining a well-written employee policy handbook build a solid foundation of pro-active compliance. Not only do those three steps send a clear message on where you stand, they also lay a foundation for managers when navigating employee issues. But you cannot stop there. It is important to remember that employment laws are always evolving so your approach to compliance must keep pace on both the federal and state level. Additional steps like annual audits, weekly updates from a trusted legal source, and keeping HR involved in your day-to-day decisions must be part of your pro-active plan.

With a pro-active plan, an employer has time to make well thought-out decisions that both align with legal requirements and make sense with their business model. Employment laws are in place to provide protection to employees and set clear expectations for employers. You need the right HR team to bring all of that together and maintain it.

Not taking compliance with employment laws seriously can result in several issues. On the monetary side, an employer may face fines by state or federal agencies, attorney’s fees, backpay, and lawsuit settlements. Those numbers can quickly reach into six figures. Governing agencies may also require regular audits, forced compliance, and mandated reporting. And then there is the potential damage to your personal brand and your company’s reputation. The fallout from non-compliance can have deep and painful consequences.

It takes everyone on the team working together to establish a successfully compliant organization. Managers must be trained and equipped to respond. Employees need to know what is expected and how to bring concerns forward. HR should be leading the effort through expertise. HR Managed can help. Let’s talk about how we can manage pro-active legal compliance in your workplace so you can manage your business.

HR Self-Audit

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:26:41 GMT

When I start working with new clients, their biggest fear is that they have run afoul of the law and don’t even know it. So, we often start with an HR audit which digs down into all the nitty-gritty of their practices, policies, and procedures. That takes time and knowledge and is well worth the effort. I would rather help a client find those issues and fix them. The potential alternative is someone else (like a plaintiff attorney) finds those issues and resolution is not so simple.

If you are not ready for a deep dive HR audit, I recommend that you conduct a basic self-audit. These are items that I refer to as easy compliance. This not only ensures some basic compliance, but it can also save time when you move into a larger audit.

Here are some simple things employers can do to self-audit:

Get new employment posters. Make it a habit to update employment posters every January 1. Something has usually changed and this shows a good faith effort to stay compliant. If you are in a brick and mortar building, the standard posters in the breakroom is the way to go. If you have remote employees who are in your building less than 3 to 4 times a month, you will need to add electronic posters to an internal website or shared drive. If you have employees in various states, you will need a poster for each state. And don’t forget the federal all-in-one poster as well.
Check out those employee files. I always ask clients if they have an updated file for each employee. Their answers vary widely but are usually some version of “maybe”, “we think so”, or “not sure”. Get a list of active employees from payroll and check to see if you have an employee file for each person. Then see what is inside. You should have a standard list of documents that make up every file (original application, offer letter, I9, W4, etc.) If you are missing a file, then you have some work to do to figure out where it went (employee files should never leave HR!) or assemble (and potentially recreate or resign some documents) a new file. Create a memo to the file to explain that you have done a file audit, what you found in that audit, and how you have remedied missing documents. If you find that you are missing an I-9 or other required documents with a missed deadline, consult an HR professional or attorney for next steps.
Clean up and purge the employee files. Medical and personal documents should be kept separate from the main personnel file. The medical and personal file contains documents that are not job related. This could be a doctor’s note, beneficiary forms, or a child support withholding order. Pull those documents out of the main personnel folder and place them in a separate folder, one for each employee. Then on to your terminated employee files. A best practice is to keep term files for 7 full years from the date of termination so all statutes of limitations have passed. Files that are at 8+ years old need to be purged.
Read the handbook. When is the last time you read your entire employee handbook with pen in hand to check for needed updates? If it has been more than 2 years, settle in with a cup of coffee and start reading. Your business changes and the employee handbook has to keep up. Considering all the changes of the past 3 years, you are guaranteed to have some updates. You may need to create new work-from-home or hybrid policies, remove social distancing language, and check for new state and federal employment laws. Also, consider issues that have come up in the past few years that were a challenge to manage. Do you need to add a policy or clarifying language to ensure a smoother road in the future?
Look for Trends. Go back over conversations with employees, disciplinary records, and exit interviews (You ARE doing exit interviews, right?) from the past year. What trends do you see? If you have not addressed those trends this would be a good time to close the gap. That could mean training with employees, working with supervisors on communication skills, or preparing regular email reminders, or a combination of various approaches. Trends are telling you something important so don’t miss the message!

Feel like you need a bit more than the steps above? Contact us and let's talk about an HR audit that will ensure compliance, assist with best practices, and have your business happily humming along.

Employee Engagement

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:22:22 GMT

So much has changed in the past year, including how our workplaces function and how employees do their job. Changes in the workplace are not just about training but also about engaging. Retention is often viewed as a measure of success with employees. The issue with focusing on retention is that you may be retaining unhappy or unskilled people. The better measurement is engagement. Engagement measures connection with the organization, employee motivation, job satisfaction, and commitment. Engagement ensures that you are not only retaining people but that you are retaining the right people.

The scale for measuring engagement ranges from actively disengaged to over engaged.

Actively Disengaged – I call these people “active quits”. They have mentally quit their job but are still active employees in your workplace. They bring a toxic attitude into the office environment, working against the company in their unhappiness.
Engaged – The engaged employee loves your business as much as you do, wanting to see the business thrive and actively working for the success of the team. These people champion your business, support your decisions, and act as a team leader.
Over Engaged – These are the workplace workaholics, and they are on a fast track to burnout. These people have a hard time walking away from work to come back fresh and ready. Instead, they feel chained to their job with resentment building up until they walk away. They are likely amazing contributors to your business…until they are not.

Studies show the impact of engagement to a business, specifically, showing that high work engagement is linked to higher productivity and greater profits. Highly engaged employees can result in a 20% increase in productivity. Disengaged employees cost your company money through absenteeism, underperformance, and damage to your brand.

The good news is that you can impact the level of engagement in your workplace. It takes time and a focused effort, but the impact will far outweigh the investment. Engagement is managed through surveys, feedback sessions, and manager training. HR Managed can help. Let’s talk about how we can manage engagement in your workplace so you can manage your business.

Employee Engagement is a 2 way street

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:19:49 GMT

We hear a lot about employee engagement and many of us could probably agree on what it is. But have you considered how it works and who is involved? Some employee engagement discussions can conjure up images of a manager performing circus acts to keep people interested, throwing various treats and prizes at employees. Not only does such an approach wear out the manager, it does not yield the fruit of true employee engagement.

Engagement is built around a relationship with a back-and-forth exchange between manager and employee. It goes without saying that the manager has a responsibility to drive engagement; it must start there. We then need to balance that by holding employees accountable to perform satisfactorily, take responsibility for their actions, and communicate back to the manager what they need. When the manager responds with feedback, recognizes responsibility, and provides the tools or challenges requested the upward spiral of employee engagement takes off.

If your view of employee engagement is a one-way street littered with company branded tchotchkes and breakroom snacks, let me introduce you to a better approach. True engagement does take work; It requires a daily commitment by the management team and clearly communicated expectations of employees. The good news is that you will reap a much greater return in the form of employees who love your business, believe in what they do, and work to see your business thrive.

Want to learn more? Contact me and let’s talk about bringing true engagement to your business.

HR Managed. We manage HR so you can manage your business.

Benefits with a Can Do Attitude

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:12:27 GMT

Smaller companies bring great value to the workforce by fostering close-knit relationships with more individual approaches. But it can be hard for smaller employers to provide the fancy benefits offered by larger corporations. In a recent conversation with a small employer, they were lamenting not being able to provide a highly valued benefit offered by their larger competitors. So, I posed the question “what CAN you offer?” They were so focused on not being able to offer one thing that they missed the option of offering something.

If you are a very small company unable to offer medical benefits, what CAN you offer? You can offer an introduction to a benefit broker even if you are not paying into the premium. You can offer a worktime presentation for said broker to present some options to employees. If you find a broker that pools together multiple clients for group rates, this can be more affordable than you think. That may not sound like much but, when employees do not know how else to get benefits, it can be a goldmine of information.

If you are not able to offer a 401k match, what CAN you offer? You can invite a financial advisor to set up an informational table in the breakroom or assemble some packets to hand out to employees. My friend, Jesse Arcobasso with Edward Jones, focuses on bringing options to small and mid-size employers. A phone call to a subject matter expert, like Jesse, can open up a number of ideas you may not have thought of on your own.

If you are not able to offer 5 weeks of paid vacation, what CAN you offer? Consider flexible start times, compressed work weeks, remote work, or letting an employee’s child hang out in the breakroom after school while they finish up their last hour at work. Schedule flexibility can reduce the need for time off.

Tell employees about the great things you CAN do. A response of “no, we don’t have that” makes employee satisfaction fall flat on its face. Make a point to leave employees with options. Providing a point of contact or sharing helpful resources will help employees to know how to take action to move forward. And you still get all the credit as a supportive employer!

As a small employer, one of your greatest superpowers is flexibility and knowing your employees well. Use that to your advantage. Employees have needs, so offering something can send a great message that you understand those needs and are doing all you can to help.

What creative benefits have you offered to add value while keeping costs low? Share your ideas!

“A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.” – Samuel Goldwyn.

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:07:53 GMT

Samuel Goldwyn was clearly a guy who knew how to get things done. And he understood the importance of writing it down so everyone understood what was being agreed on. A contract is not just about business deals; it also applies to employee performance. An employee wants something from you, the employer, and you want something from the employee. When those expectations and agreements start to get fuzzy, it is time to take Samuel’s advice.

I was recently reviewing an employee situation with a new client that was coming to a head. The employer was ready to take final action with a poorly performing employee. They asked me if they were ok to move ahead. They had been having performance conversations with this employee for a little over a year. They had set expectations and allowed for time to see improvement. They had issued warnings of potential termination. In my head I am thinking ‘check, check, check’. They had followed a textbook process. I asked the employer to send me the written documentation that the employee had signed to verify that the employee had received the messages and the employer had proof of all their good work. Their response, “what signed documents?” Insert record scratch sound effect here.

If five people are involved in a conversation, you will likely end up with five different versions of what was discussed and what was most important from that conversation. Different things matter to different people. When you sit down to have a difficult conversation with an employee, you are sending a message that is important to you. The employee, unhappy and uncomfortable, is likely only hearing about half of what you are saying. And you each walk away with a different remembrance of what was said. Throw in the passage of time that changes how we remember conversations and the effort you spent yields little result.

Enter the written memo. By summarizing that conversation in a written memo, you both understand what has been discussed. That simple added step can help the employee make the changes you are looking for and it provides you, the employer, important documentation that could be vital in a legal challenge. A well written performance memo should spell out the following:

The history – What has happened (or not happened) that led to the need for the memo? It may be a single, serious event or a pattern of poor performance. Provide specific examples.
The expectations – What do you want to see from the employee. Provide clear metrics, timing, processes, or behavior. Make it actionable and realistic.
The timing – Set a date of when you will review the employee’s performance for changes. Create a pop-up so you do not miss the date! And state what you will be reviewing and how improvement will be recognized.
The consequences – If improvement is not realized, state what the next steps could be. If termination is a possibility, let the employee know.
The signatures – Very important! Both you and the employee sign to show that the conversation took place and the expectations are understood by both parties.

This process will either provide clarification process for the employee, leading to the desired improvements, or it will support difficult decisions you need to make later. If you do the work of having these important conversations, make sure you get the credit in written, signed documentation.

How do you make sure employee’s understand your expectations?