EMPLOYEE ORIENTATION: DO'S AND DON'TS:

WHERE'S YOUR BUSINESS CARD?

Imagine that you're leaving a restaurant at lunchtime with a group of your friends and all of them put their business cards in the fish bowl for the free contest. Unfortunately, your company doesn't give you a business card. Makes you feel rather unimportant, doesn't it?

The fact is that every one of your employees should have a business card that states your company's vision, mission, or values on the back side. This will have a reinforcing effect on the employee, and will help acknowledge and reinforce their loyalty — not to mention providing a great "plug" for the organization. Best of all, you can get 500 cards printed for less than $25 at many online vendors.

You can train your employees and sales representatives on how to use business cards by distributing the inexpensive "How to Get More Business from Your Business Cards" brochure available at http://www.bizbooklets.com.

DELEGATION THAT WORKS

Last month, HR That Works users enjoyed a great teleclass on effective delegation by Paul Lemberg (www.paullemberg.com). Paul had these points to make, and more:

1. Give the job to somebody who can get it done! They have to have the skills, ability, and hopefully some experience.
2. Communicate exactly what you want: Other people don't necessarily think in the way that you do.
3. Work out a written plan that includes methods, timeline, and results.
4. Create structures for accountability. What stay-in-touch intervals do you need or want? How are others to report to you?
5. Get buy-in. What's the "why"? Are there incentives? Will delegation help employees get a raise? Is it something they want to do? Do you have to help them delegate first?
6. Debrief workers. Ask them: What went right? What went wrong? What's missing? What's next?

We encourage HR That Works! users to log into the teleclass page and listen to the class so that they, too, can effectively delegate and enhance their life and career in the process!

IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE!

One of our favorite jokes goes like this:

Q. How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?
A. Only one, but the bulb really has to want to change!"

After helping dozens of companies nationwide implement the change process, here are our recommendations:

1. Hire people who are comfortable with change.
2. Don't let folks get too comfortable. Move them around. Challenge them. Require them to give suggestions and let them make mistakes.
3. Minimize using the word "change." Most people don't like it because it sounds like parenting. Instead, focus on "getting better," "improving," "becoming great," etc.
4. Bury the past. In a previous teleclass, we spoke with Kenny Moore, a former monk and HR exec in NYC who recently held a corporate funeral. Symbolism is important.
5. Be the change! How are you changing? If you look, act, talk, and walk the same, what has really changed?
6. Tell stories about changes in the past and their good and bad effects. Acknowledge fears, so that you can get past them.
7. Celebrate the changes you and your employees make. Otherwise, what's the point!?

RECYCLING IGNORANCE

Prominent motivational speaker Zig Ziglar tells this story:

A farmer was asked to bring home a ham to cook for dinner. When he got home, his wife berated him for not buying the ham with the end cut off. When asked why this was a problem, she replied, "Because we always do it that way." When the farmer then asked why that was the case, she answered, "because Mama always did it that way."

Determined to get to the bottom of this family practice, the farmer finally discovered that the true reason lay with his wife's great-grandmother, who said that she did it that way "because my oven was too small to fit the entire ham!"

According to Dr. Edwards Deming (father of Total Quality Management), like the farmer's wife, "management tends to recycle ignorance." This raises the question: What practices is your company recycling? Is there a sound basis for these practices, or are they a "legacy" from years ago that operate in a silent vacuum of awareness? To find out, ask these questions:

• Do you even know what your company practices are? If so, are they in writing? Is there a practices manual that all employees can access?
• If one of your key employees quit, or otherwise left, would your practices walk right out the door with them because they weren't reduced to writing?
• When's the last time that you examined these practices to determine if they make common sense? Is there a different way that can help you do things faster, better, or less expensively? With more joy and more profit?
• How are these practices communicated? Do you assume that employees know and share them uniformly, or do you have formal communication channels?
• Do you consult on a regular basis with the people directly affected by these practices, including front line employees and customers? Do you require employees to provide suggestions to enhance company practices? Make sure they know that the only bad idea is one that's implemented without consideration. If they're afraid to suggest improvements, your business will continue to stagnate in a "Culture of Silence."
• Finally, do you regularly survey the best practices of other companies, both inside and outside your industry? Industry associations often provide an excellent source of this information.

“The only job security today is one's contribution to a positive cash flow.”

Don Phin ,
Author and Professional Speaker

This issue discusses:

We’ve also provided hyperlinks to the Form of the Month.

RELIGION IN THE WORKPLACE: THOU SHALT NOT DISCRIMINATE

The holiday season makes an ideal time to focus on the law regarding religion in the workplace. As a starting point, Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on religion. In 2003, the EEOC reported more than 2,500 religious discrimination claims (http://www.eeoc.gov/stats/religion.html). Not surprisingly, many of these claims are combined with national origin discrimination allegations (i.e. someone claims discrimination because they are from an Arab country, as well as Muslim).

The EEOC makes these points on its Web site:

"If your company's dress code conflicts with religious practices, the employer must modify the dress code unless doing so would result in undue hardship. The EEOC's guidelines on religious discrimination can be found by going to www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-relig_ethnic.html.

"In most cases, whether or not a practice or a belief is religious is not an issue. However, the EEOC defines religious practices to include moral or ethical beliefs as to what is right and wrong, which are sincerely held with the strength of traditional, religious views. The fact that no religious group espouses such beliefs, or that the religious group to which the individual professes to belong might not accept such belief, will not determine whether the belief is a religious belief of the employee or prospective employee. The phrase ‘religious practices' includes both religious observances and practices."

Here are more guidelines to consider:

• It's an unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail to reasonably accommodate the religious practices of an employee or prospective employee, unless the employer demonstrates that accommodation will mean undue hardship in conducting its business.
• If a test or selection procedure is scheduled at a time when an employee or prospective employee can't attend because of religious practices, the employer must accommodate the person unless undue hardship would result.
• An employer may not ask about an employee's religious background unless justified by business necessity.
• An employer may state the normal work hours for a job and ask if the employee is able to work those hours. Then after a position is offered, but before the applicant is hired, the employer can inquire into the need for religious accommodation and determine whether this is possible.

THE LATEST IN DISCRIMINATION LAW: READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Stay up to date on EEOC legal decisions by going to http://www.eeoc.gov/
federal/digest.html. The Digest of Equal Employment Opportunity Law summarizes a wide range of decisions, including those related to the ADEA, compliance with EEOC orders, constructive discharge cases, disability law definitions, "reasonable accommodation" under the ADA, harassment, hostile work environment, retaliation, and more.

Although many of these decisions involve Federal employees, the information offers value to any company. The Digest provides an excellent source of examples for training and for the development of internal policies and guidelines. For example, a recent issue gives an overview of the latest decisions on EEOC settlement agreements.

CASES OF THE MONTH

Our legal staff offers this review of top cases that might affect your business.

(PDF) (WORD)

FORM OF THE MONTH:

HR That Works! Cost Calculator

(PDF) (WORD)

This month's form was designed to show you the bottom-line benefit of sound HR practices. Show how you can help drive tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars to the bottom line, year after year."

The information presented here is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice. Due to local and state laws and ordinances, an individual article might not apply in every jurisdiction.