My Essential OSHA “Enforcement” Posts This Year.

Posted on December 23, 2013 by mavity2012

These are the links I sent to F & P attorneys after recently conducting an in-house session on our workplace safety practice.  The focus of the links was not on building a safety culture, which is my favorite topic, or on the various labor and employment topics I regularly write upon.

These posts only deal with 2013 OSHA enforcement issues and also do not include posts from other great sites, such as TLNT, EHS, BLR, etc..

OSHA Inspections

The current Administration is more focused on penalties than on cooperative efforts with employers.  The biggest change has been the increase in big penalty cases and the Department of Labor’s aggressive effort to “regulate employers by shame.”  Many employers with multiple locations do not realize that they are at risk of “repeat” citations with six figure OSHA penalties for routine items that reoccur over a five (5) year period at any of their numerous locations.  A missing ground plug or one employee who didn’t receive Hazard Communication training might cost an employer $70,000.  For this reason, I have written a great deal this year about managing OSHA inspections and challenging citations.  My primary focus is always to guarantee employee safety, so even if you contest OSHA citations, make sure that you have abated any hazards and instituted best practices.

 Whistleblowers

OSHA deserves a larger budget and more personnel.  The Agency simply does not have adequate resources to satisfy its core safety obligations.  Nevertheless, OSHA continues to shift money and resources to encourage whistleblower claims and to the investigation and enforcement of the 20+ whistleblower laws which the agency investigates.  OSHA whistleblower complaints are much more involved then the typical EEOC charge and generally involve on site investigations.  Moreover, even as employers improve supervisor training to avoid discrimination and harassment complaints, they may be adequately educating supervisors on how to avoid retaliation claims or the appearance of such claims.

Interestingly, more people have read my post about “Cussing out your employee may get you sued by OSHA” then any other post.

Documentation

Lawyers are fond of saying that “if it isn’t in writing, it didn’t occur.”  This year I emphasized to employers that they must better document safety-related discipline and the crucial on-the-job training which follows new employee orientation.  However, another area where a lack of documentation hurts the employer involves abating OSHA citations.  We often discover that employers did not document the changes or actions taken in response to OSHA citations.  Even more commonly, employers who purchase facilities or merge locations may lose documentation and institutional knowledge of changes made.  An employer does not want to appear to have ignored their obligation to correct cited hazards.

Remote Employees

The current economy has resulted in a vast increase in the number of employees who work away from the employer’s business site, often by themselves on customer property.  Consider the number of technicians and specialist traveling by themselves to work at a variety of employer sites.  Food distribution drivers may use pass-keyes to unload product in the wee hours of the moment when no one is present at the restaurant.  Workplace violence statistics show that you are far more likely to be assaulted as an emergency room nurse, home health worker, or third shift worker at an isolated facility, than you are to be a victim of a shooting by an enraged former employee.

Civil and Other Claims Related To OSHA Events

I am fond of reminding employers that the OSHA inspection and citations may only be the “appetizer” to later more expensive civil, regulatory, and even criminal actions.  Therefore, employers should not focus only on OSHA or MSHA when employees are killed or high risk legal exposure is presented, such as on  a multi-employer site.

The above post also discusses how third parties can use employer safety information to attack an employer.  Employers should be especially sensitive to this issue because of OSHA’s quiet interpretation last Spring stating that community organizers and other parties might legitimately have a right to accompany OSHA on site inspections.  Combine this announcement with OSHA’s efforts to create new recordkeeping obligations requiring employers to electronically submit injury data, and you have many more opportunities for a company to be harassed or embarrassed.

Combustible Dust

Since spending 7 days straight at the Imperial Sugar Explosion site, I have worked with an ever-increasing number of employers to improve combustible dust compliance or to defend them in OSHA inspections and related actions.  Many employer still do not realize that their production processes may present an explosion hazard or require expensive modifications pursuant to National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) and other consensus standards.  One report estimated that employers spent an average of $1 million per facility in complying with combustible dust requirements after an OSHA inspection.

We hope that you find these posts helpful, and I encourage you to read our other F & P Workplace safety posts which focus more on establishing the type of safety culture which prevents workplace injuries and illnesses, OSHA citations, and related legal issues.

Have a wonderful end of the year and a prosperous and safe New Year.

Howard

Posted in civil and criminal exposure, combustible dust, discipline and discharge, discrimination, emergency response, food processing, harassment, OSHA, public attacks, recordkeeping, repeat items, Washington | Tagged | Leave a comment

You Learn a Lot When You’re the Sober One.

Posted on December 18, 2013 by mavity2012

Tim Sackett always writes practical and entertaining posts,  Today’s post, “The Number One Reason You Should Never Drink at an Office Function” is no exception.  Tim goes beyond cautioning us to not make a fool of ourselves with a tongue loosened by alcohol.  He points out that bonds can be created and information exchanged by being the sober one among drinkers.  Tim then articulates a secret I discovered long ago . . . you learn more from employees, supervisors, and witnesses at their smoke breaks than you do in any interview or formal setting.  Whether it be a labor relations matter or an OSHA case where I need to earn credibility and put witnesses at ease, even though I do not smoke, I will regularly keep the smokers company during their break.  I usually take a cup of coffee (my addiction)  and it does not seem awkward.  Many times a solid employee relaxes and proves to be enormously helpful when he realizes that the lawyer puts on pants one leg at a time, just as does he, except lawyers are more clumsy.  Tim sums it up even better:

The only thing better than employees with too much alcohol in them are the employees that smoke with too much alcohol in them!

These are a unique group of people who tend to talk too much anyway.  I mean they are already going outside for 5-10 times per day for 5-10 minute little breaks to get their smoke on, so they’re use to coming up with conversation to pass the time away with their smoker friends.

The smoker network gets even better with drinks!  People ask me if I smoke because I go outside with the smokers, and I don’t, but they have the best conversations.  Plus, the smokers are the only “group” in the organization that is truly diverse – you get all shapes and sizes, males and females, Black, White, Blue, Secretaries and Vice Presidents – You’ll hear it all!

(Tim’s Newbie HR Pro Tip No. 23 – hang with the smokers in your organization; you will find out everything before it happens!)TLNT.

Don’t view Tim’s recommendations as some Machiavellian strategy to take advantage of employees.  Rather, use your interaction with coworkers at parties and with smokers to build better relationships and to obtain and communicate information in a more civilized fashion.  I’ve won many a case because I treated employees and investigators as normal people and did not put on “my full lawyer.”

 

 

Howard

Posted in cultural changes, employee engagement, government inspections, harassment, management and leadership, union organizing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

More Heat On Federal Contractors With OSHA and Wage-Hour Violations.

Posted on December 16, 2013 by mavity2012

senatelabor Hopefully you do not need further motivation to maintain an effective workplace safety culture; however, Senator Labor Chair Tom Harkins’ December 11, 2013 Report may serve as additional motivation.  In the 4” thick Report, “Acting Responsibly? Federal Contractors Frequently Put Workers’ Lives And Livelihoods At Risk,” the writers provide detailed information of citations and wage claims against numerous Federal contractors (by name).  The appendices to the Report contain detailed analysis of the Top 100 OSHA Violations and Penalties and the Top 100 Wage Hour Division Back Wage Payments for 2007 through 2012.

  • The Report concludes that 18 Federal Contractors were recipients of one of the largest 100 penalties issued by OSHA, and that almost one-half of the total initially assessed for OSHA violations were against companies holding Federal contracts in 2012.
  • The Report also claims that 42 American Workers died during this period “as a result of OSHA violations by companies holding Federal contracts in 2012.”  This conclusion is a bit of a jump because citations issued by OSHA after a fatality investigation are often unrelated to the fatality itself.
  • Thirty-two Federal contractors received back wage assessments among the largest 100 issued by the Wage and Hour Division between 2007 and 2012.
  • Thirty-five of these companies allegedly violated both wage and safety laws.
  • The 49 Federal contractors responsible for large violations of Federal Labor Laws were cited for 1,776 separate violations and paid $196 million n penalties and assessments.

The Report angrily complains that in fiscal year 2012 “these same companies were awarded $81 billion in taxpayer dollars.”

The Report makes a number of recommendations which can be summed up as putting in procedures to better share and publicize information about Federal contractors and to take action against contractors violating safety and wage laws.

While some of the cited violations may well represent egregious behavior or a determination to cut corners on safety, one wonders if some of these violations simply resulted from large companies who experienced difficulty in maintaining an effective safety culture at numerous locations and job sites.  Regardless of the reasons, all employers would do well to recognize this Administration’s desire to bring together and publicize more information about employer alleged misconduct.  One paragraph suggests a certain amount of bias against the private sector:

The Federal government is not required to contract with the private sector.  Indeed, many of the functions that private contractors carry out for the government could be done equally well or better by government employees.  But when the government does solicit work from the private sector, it should use taxpayer dollars in a way that promotes compliance with Federal law and improves the quality of life for working Americans.

One sort of gets the sense that the sponsors are looking for an excuse to de-privatize some of this work.  So check the list for your name and take steps to get off of it or to stay off it.  I’d take this naughty or nice list seriously this Christmas.

Howard

Posted in construction, government contracting, OSHA, Washington | Tagged , | Leave a comment

When It Comes To End of the Year Bonuses, A Little Goes a Long Way!

Posted on December 16, 2013 by mavity2012

The linked article on TLNT provides an Excellent discussion of employees diminished expectations for end-of-the-year bonuses and references that all time Christmas Classic, “National Lampoon Christmas Vacation!”  To quote the author:

four in five employees think a holiday bonus is nice but not expected, and almost the same amount say that even a token gift of $100 or less would meet their expectations.”

Holiday Bonuses: Great If You Get One, But Don’t Get Your Hopes Up

national-lampoons-christmas-vacation

In the movie National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Chevy Chase’s character Clark Griswold puts a down payment on a swimming pool for his family based on an expected holiday bonus from his company. Instead of getting a bonus though, Griswold is enrolled in a “Jelly of the Month” club.

These days, getting enrolled in a “Jelly of the Month” club might be the best one can expect during the holiday season (a note: I’m a fan of boysenberry and strawberry myself). And certainly no one outside of a few industries and positions are putting a down payment on any major purchase based on an expected end-of-the-year bonus.

CONTINUE READING AT TLNT.

Posted in attitude/culture, cultural changes, employee engagement | Tagged | Leave a comment

Huh? What’s A Worker Center Got To Do With Me?

Posted on December 10, 2013 by mavity2012

When Is A Union Not A Union? When It’s A “Worker Center.”

By Steven Bernstein

(Hospitality Update, No. 4, December 2013)

In recent weeks, the fast-food industry has fallen prey to coordinated demonstrations by a number of loosely affiliated groups, rallying around wages, benefits and other conditions.  The strategy invoked by these so-called “worker centers” (or “alt-unions”) is not altogether new, and was actually contemplated by unions like the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) years ago.  At that time, an internal strategy memo was leaked, at which point the union’s intent to organize fast food restaurants was made public.  While these reports were met with alarm on behalf of food establishments and other service-sector employers, little came of the effort, which fizzled out as quickly as it started.

Since then, however, we have seen a rise of the “worker center” concept, which is a grassroots effort designed to conceal the ultimate motives of the organization (i.e., to funnel potential members to its constituent labor unions) by masquerading as a social-rights group.  Because these groups do not consider themselves to be “labor organizations,” they have managed to operate in a shroud of secrecy by avoiding the duty to report their annual finances, while skirting other laws regulating picketing, boycotts, and secondary activity.

The most recent tactics revolve around coordinated one-day walk-outs that have the effect of cloaking participants in limited protection as “strikers,” despite the fact that no labor union is directly involved.  These tactics are often accompanied by demands for $15 hourly wage rates (representing more than twice the current minimum), combining the overt efforts of local worker centers with behind-the-scenes support from unions, and other non-profit institutions.  The SEIU has been bankrolling many of these efforts, which should come as no surprise given their end objectives.

While it is difficult to ascertain the origins of this concept, it seems to have risen from the ashes of the “occupy” movement, with which Big Labor flirted for a time before ultimately casting it aside.  It also combines elements of the grassroots “working wage” efforts that fueled the early stages of the labor movement, along with more recent drives by migrant worker organizations.

Fueled by the advent of social media, the past few years have seen a proliferation of these groups, which now number over 200 and growing.  Given the media attention garnered by their demonstrations, it’s fair to assume that they will continue for the foreseeable future.  With union membership figures hovering at their lowest rates since first measured, these tactics may ultimately be seen as a way out of the quagmire.  It’s too early to determine their ultimate objective, but it stands to reason that they hope to accomplish a number of things related to their primary goal of replenishing the historical losses of organized labor.

Ostensibly, the movement (at least as it pertains to fast-food workers) revolves around a desire to drive up hourly wage rates, using economic and media forces as the primary means by which to exert pressure.  At present, high turnover rates in the fast-food industry operate as a substantial obstacle to organizing activity, which is typically confined to one establishment at a time for representation purposes.  Higher wages presumably mean lower turnover, which in turn facilitates organizing activity while driving up potential dues revenue.

While it may seem unrealistic, it is fair to assume that the movement has “as a secondary objective” the intent to force vulnerable targets to capitulate by agreeing to neutrality agreements in an effort to avoid further economic pressure.  Thus far, name-brand franchisees have been the primary target, but such activities could ultimately extend to smaller independent operations in the fast-food industry, and by extension, to other service sectors as well.

By couching the movement in social terms such as “fairness” and “equality,” the demonstrators are focusing on broad socioeconomic themes.  But at the end of the day, the activity is being directed at the employers themselves, and could be utilized to “test the waters” of union sympathy, and ultimately to secure signatures on authorization cards that would be referred to an actual labor organization.  In the meantime, unwary managers could be provoked into singling out those who break rank to join the demonstrators, thereby paving the way for unfair labor practice charges that fuel the underlying organizing effort.

While these tactics remain in their formative stages, they could set the stage for a new grassroots organizing model that extends to other businesses, large and small.  Although larger service franchisees would appear to be more vulnerable in the short term, no business is entirely immune.  Consequently, this is an appropriate time to consider strategies designed to equip your  managers with proactive tools to reduce exposure to such tactics, along with the resources they need to react effectively if and when such tactics show up at their workplace.

These resources should include step-by-step guidelines for spotting the early warnings signs of organizing activity, and for lawfully but effectively responding to the onset of picketing or other demonstrations.  In the meantime, all developments in this area should be closely monitored for potential encroachment on your business. Some are already in the crosshairs.

Your Fisher & Phillips attorneys stand ready to assist with these and other resources designed to protect your business interests.

Posted in auto industry, boycotts, manufacturing, union organizing, unions, whistleblower/retaliation | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

MSHA’S POV Rule Still Alive and Kicking

Posted on December 8, 2013 by mavity2012

by Matthew Korn

Yesterday, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denied the mining industry’s request to stay implementation of MSHA’s new POV final rule, pending its review of the rule.  Essentially, the Court of Appeals found that enforcement of the rule would not cause irreparable harm to the mining industry during the pendency of the appeal.  This does not necessarily affect the outcome of the appeal, as the Sixth Circuit has not yet decided whether MSHA exceeded its authority in promulgating the rule.  The Sixth Circuit held only that the mining industry groups challenging the rule failed to provide sufficient information demonstrating that the rule would impose substantial additional costs to the mining industry, above the costs already associated with MSHA enforcement action.

If you’re interested in reading the decision (which is relatively short), you can find a copy HERE.  To learn more about the POV rule, check out my post – Staying Off MSHA’s “Naughty List”.

Stay tuned for more developments in this important case.  Oral arguments are currently scheduled for January 29, 2014.

Posted in MSHA, Washington | Tagged | Leave a comment

Lessons From Nelson Mandela

Posted on December 8, 2013 by mavity2012

Remembering Mandela: His Three Timeless Workplace Lessons

by on Dec 6, 2013, 12:05 PM  |  4 Comments
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Nelson Mandela

Editor’s note: Weekly Wrap is stepping back and celebrating the life of Nelson Mandela today. We’ll be back with our regular format next Friday.

By Howard Mavity

After 30 years of seeing the worst of the workplace, I have few heroes left. This week, I lost my JFK or MLK.

I’ll remember where I was sitting when I learned that the lion who was Nelson Mandela, had roared his last. I choose to believe that’s how he went out. –as a lion of a man.

PLEASE CONTINUE READING AT TLNT.

Posted in cultural changes, employee engagement, generational differences, management and leadership, supervisor development | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Thanksgiving At Work

Posted on November 26, 2013 by mavity2012

Although Americans have celebrated some sort of Thanksgiving since 1661, Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday by proclamation on November 28, 1861.  The Thanksgiving holiday takes on more meaning when one considers that an American people so exhausted by war, nonetheless gathered together to offer thanks.

We seldom consider the concepts of “gratitude” and “Thanksgiving” as part of our management strategy.  I wrote earlier this week about reframing corporate goals so that employees can have a decent shot of being “happy at work.”  So let’s talk a bit about cultivating “gratitude.”

I found a UC Berkeley article, “Five Ways To Cultivate Gratitude At Work.”  The author sums up our possible reasons for not displaying  gratitude at work:

Why should anyone thank you for just doing your job?  And why should you ever thank your coworkers for doing what they’re paid to do?

These are common questions in American workplaces, often posed rhetorically – and sometimes with hostility.

Elsewhere in American life, we say “thank you” to acknowledge the good things we get from other people, especially when they give out of the goodness of their hearts.  We say “thanks” at home and in school, in stores and at church.

But not at work.  According to a survey of 2000 Americans released earlier this year by the John Templeton Foundation, people are less likely to feel or express gratitude at work than any place else.  And they are not thankful for their current jobs, ranking them dead last in a list of things that they’re grateful for.

The article posed several surprising conclusions.  First, although most employees said that they crave gratitude at work and that grateful bosses are more likely to succeed, few thanked people at work.  Even more interesting, the Templeton survey reported that saying “thank you” to colleagues “makes me feel happier and more fulfilled,” but on a given day, only 10% acted on that impulse.  The article reports that 60% of respondents said that they “either never expressed gratitude at work or do so perhaps once a year.”  These comments explain many of the grievances, discrimination and other workplace claims hitting my desk.

I commend this article and the Templeton survey to you for more detailed mining.  The article closes with five simple suggestions to build a culture of gratitude at work:

1.         Start at the top;

2.         Thank the people who never get thanked;

3.         Aim for quality, not quantity;

4.         Provide many opportunities for gratitude; and

5.         In the wake of crisis, take time for      Thanksgiving.

With suggestion No. 5 in mind, and in light of the challenges our nation has faced in recent years, I will conclude with the text of Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People.

I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

 

Posted in attitude/culture, cultural changes, employee engagement, generational differences, management and leadership, supervisor development | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“Best HR, Legal, Safety & Leadership Stuff I Read Last Week”

Posted on November 25, 2013 by mavity2012

I’m still working on how to summarize my large volume of Tweets of great material from  EHS, TLNT, HBR and others.  Until I come up with a better method, I’ll periodically prepare this sort of digest.  I hope that my efforts to cull useful “stuff” from the hundreds of thought leaders and sites will appeal to you.  Go to the sites.  Enjoy the content.

1.         Management and Leadership Development

Harvard Business Review on “Emotion Agility” on the role (and taming?) of emotions at work.

HBR’s Executive Summary:

The prevailing wisdom says that negative thoughts and feelings have no place at the office. But that goes against basic biology. All healthy human beings have an inner stream of thoughts and feelings that include criticism, doubt, and fear. David and Congleton have worked with leaders in various industries to build a critical skill they call emotional agility, which enables people to approach their inner experiences in a mindful, values-driven, and productive way rather than buying into or trying to suppress them. The authors offer four practices (adapted from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT) designed to help readers do the same:

Recognize your patterns. You have to realize that you’re stuck before you can initiate change.

Label your thoughts and emotions. Labeling allows you to see them as transient sources of data that may or may not prove helpful.

Accept them. Respond to your ideas and emotions with an open attitude, paying attention and letting yourself experience them. They may be signaling that something important is at stake.

Act on your values. Is your response going to serve your organization in the long term and take you toward being the leader you most want to be?

From the post:

Sixteen thousand—that’s how many words we speak, on average, each day. So imagine how many unspoken ones course through our minds. Most of them are not facts but evaluations and judgments entwined with emotions—some positive and helpful (I’ve worked hard and I can ace this presentation; This issue is worth speaking up about; The new VP seems approachable), others negative and less so (He’s purposely ignoring me; I’m going to make a fool of myself; I’m a fake).

The prevailing wisdom says that difficult thoughts and feelings have no place at the office: Executives, and particularly leaders, should be either stoic or cheerful; they must project confidence and damp down any negativity bubbling up inside them. But that goes against basic biology. All healthy human beings have an inner stream of thoughts and feelings that include criticism, doubt, and fear. That’s just our minds doing the job they were designed to do: trying to anticipate and solve problems and avoid potential pitfalls.

In our people-strategy consulting practice advising companies around the world, we see leaders stumble not because they have undesirable thoughts and feelings—that’s inevitable—but because they get hooked by them, like fish caught on a line. . . .

Continue Reading at HBR

 

2.         Changes In Our Work World

I found this post fascinating, “When Marketing Is Strategy.”  The author’s premise is that we are still living in the mindset  of the “Industrial Revolution.”  We focus on “production” and not on our customers.

It’s no secret that in many industries today, upstream activities—such as sourcing, production, and logistics—are being commoditized or outsourced, while downstream activities aimed at reducing customers’ costs and risks are emerging as the drivers of value creation and sources of competitive advantage. Consider a consumer’s purchase of a can of Coca-Cola. In a supermarket or warehouse club the consumer buys the drink as part of a 24-pack. The price is about 25 cents a can. The same consumer, finding herself in a park on a hot summer day, gladly pays two dollars for a chilled can of Coke sold at the point-of-thirst through a vending machine. That 700% price premium is attributable not to a better or different product but to a more convenient means of obtaining it. What the customer values is this: not having to remember to buy the 24-pack in advance, break out one can and find a place to store the rest, lug the can around all day, and figure out how to keep it chilled until she’s thirsty.

Downstream activities—such as delivering a product for specific consumption circumstances—are increasingly the reason customers choose one brand over another and provide the basis for customer loyalty. They also now account for a large share of companies’ costs. To put it simply, the center of gravity for most companies has tilted downstream.

Yet business strategy continues to be driven by the ghost of the Industrial Revolution, long after the factories that used to be the primary sources of competitive advantage have been shuttered and off-shored. Companies are still organized around their production and their products, success is measured in terms of units moved, and organizational hopes are pinned on product pipelines. Production-related activities are honed to maximize throughput, and managers who worship efficiency are promoted. Businesses know what it takes to make and move stuff. The problem is, so does everybody else.

The strategic question that drives business today is not “What else can we make?” but “What else can we do for our customers?” Customers and the market—not the factory or the product—now stand at the core of the business. . . .Continue Reading at HBR

 

3.         The Role of the Meyers Briggs in Our Lives.

 

Businesses, schools, and not for profits all use variations of the Meyers Briggs analysis in an effort to best match people with their work and mission.  However, the “twenty somethings” have grown up with the Meyers Briggs framework and casually talk about their MB profile in the same way that unsuccessful 70’s lounge lizards talked about their horoscopes.  Enjoy these too fun takes on the MB, first applying it to your book choices, and then to the wine that suits you. Huffington Post on Myers – Briggs applied to your choice in books.  HP introduction:

Recommending books is a tricky business. One person’s trashy romance novel is another person’s treasure. Of course, a little background on a person’s reading preferences can come in handy, but sometimes deciphering tastes can seem like an arbitrary and headache-inducing task. Still, we’re willing to bet that like-minded people enjoy similar stories — That’s where Myers-Briggs comes in.

In case you don’t spend a slightly embarrassing amount of time analyzing your own (or your crush’s) personality traits, here’s the rundown on the classification system: It’s a personality quiz based on Carl Jung’s typological theories that divides people into 16 types based on these four variables, which we’ve outlined thusly:

Introvert (I) versus Extravert (E)

Are you invigorated by office gossip or do you hide out in the nap room?

Intuitive (N) versus Sensing (S)

If someone asks you what time it is, are you likely to say “3ish” or “3:04”? In other words, are you a big picture thinker, or detail-oriented?

Thinking (T) versus Feeling (F)

Are you a people person, or a “How It’s Made” person?

Judging (J) versus Perceiving (P)

Is your desk covered it receipts, Starbucks cups, silly putty (?), and half-finished knitting projects, or a simple to-do list with every item checked off?

To learn more about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, visit their website. Once you’ve figured out your type, check out the book we’d recommend to you:

Continue Reading at Huffington Post

 

Now, go to Glossi.com and let’s use the Myers – Briggs to analyze ourselves, our employees and our clients by choice in wine ….

 

4.         Work Life – Balance?

Is there any subject that we discuss and fret about more than  “work life – balance?”  Here is a simple post  – Give Yourself a Gift This Season : Set Boundaries:

At this hectic time of year—when the focus is on giving to others—it might be even more important to give yourself a gift to keep stress at bay.  One of the best ways to do this is to set boundaries that allow you to refresh and recharge so you can better engage with others.  The latest research into optimal brain functioning has found several ways you can take care of yourself and, in doing so, take better care of others.

Let’s focus on five key areas where you can set clear boundaries.

1. Time.  Are you one of those people who works 24/7? What if you set a boundary that you would stop working at 7:00 p.m. every night, or stop doing work on Sundays? Set aside some time for yourself—you may find it liberating. It’s very important to block out this time on your calendar. After all, taking care of yourself is as essential as any other calendar entry—and the less stress you feel, the better you will be able to accomplish all of those other things on your calendar!

2. Sleep. Are you getting enough sleep? Can you think of a boundary you could add to your life that would help you get more sleep? I recently read about something many of us are guilty of doing: having a death grip on our phone or tablet until we go to bed. Studies have shown that light from an electronic screen stimulates our brain into thinking it’s daytime, not time for rest. This can interfere with both our sleep pattern and our quality of sleep. So set a boundary for electronic “lights out” time. What could you do for the last hour before you go to bed that doesn’t involve an electronic screen?

 

5.         Trends At Work

I have selected several posts, starting with Vivek Wadhawa’s thoughtful post, “The Scary and Amazing Future of Work.”

Cubicles with low walls, open collaboration areas, desks and computers assigned as you show up for work. If you need to hold a private meeting or make a personal phone call, you reserve a conference room in advance. This is what the offices of some companies are like today—and what most companies will be like in the future. But that’s nothing. There is much more change to come.

The nature of work itself is changing for knowledge workers. During this decade, location will cease to be a barrier; many types of work will done as micro-tasks; and we will be collaborating in new ways. Not only will our employers take our offices away, but they will also expect us to be at their beck and call—and live balanced and healthy lives according to corporate standards.

I know this isn’t all great, but that is the future we are headed into—whether we like it or not.

Note how much has already changed. We check email as soon as we reach home, and sneak a peek at our inboxes along the way. We respond to calls, texts, and messages even while on vacation. At work, we use Cisco Telepresence or Skype to confer with colleagues all over the world. Some companies let employees work from home for one or two days a week; some let them live in remote locations.

A decade ago, we could not have imagined being always on, always connected, with work following us wherever we go.  Continue Reading.

Consider also TLNT’s “7-Trends That Are Transforming Today’s HR”

I get asked a lot about the future of HR and I always say  – if I’m not talking to someone totally uptight  – that in about 10 years most of us will be replaced by artificially intelligent machines who don’t whine about money or appreciation.

That’s why I tend to limit my crystal ball gazing to about five years.

(For you doubters, I just watched a science show in which I learned that the biggest obstacle to robots replacing humans isn’t the ability to think or learn, it’s the ability to climb stairs! And between you and me, I think they’re gonna solve that one sometime over the next 10 years.)

So let’s look at the next five years and leave everything beyond that to the clever folks over at MIT. Here are seven (7) trends that are transforming HR as we speak, and by extension, how work is compensated.

1. On Demand Workforce

By 2019 nearly half of the workforce will “rent” their skills to one or more organizations.

Do you know who these people are, what they do for your company and how much they cost?

If not, it’s time to think about visibility into the contingent workforce, how you pay these people, and which roles absolutely need to be in-house because they are core to your business.

For some lighthearted reading that nonetheless educates us about the “newer” generation, read: “Dear World – Catering To Hipsters Will Not Help Your App.”  I am just beginning to sort  out generations X, Y, Millennials, Boomers  and the Great Generation, and now it appears that we have to learn subsets!

6.         Safety And Management.

Now we’re up to one of my core beliefs . . . that one cannot separate poor safety culture from poor overall business management.  Likewise, poor managers will maintain a poor safety culture.  Read EHS Today’s Does Poor Safety Equal Poor Management?

Many high-ranking leaders in various organizations have been quoted as saying that poor safety results are an indicator of other poor management practices. In interviews with top officials, the majority indicated that they demand excellence in safety from contractors and suppliers for the very reason that they view poor safety results as a warning sign of other management or performance weaknesses. Following this lead, many contractor management firms have vaunted safety as a primary condition of being included in the list of approved providers. But is safety necessarily linked to other performance areas, and if so, which ones? And what is the link?

To better answer this question, consider the potential causes for poor safety performance: 

• Leaders of some organizations simply view safety as a low priority. This view can originate from other, more-valued priorities or from a philosophy that accidents are inevitable and unavoidable. Sadly, some organizations value the management of capital or technology more than the management of people and don’t appreciate the importance of human capital.

• Some organizations think safety cannot be managed the same way as other priorities and delegate safety management to specialists. This separation of safety from other business priorities almost always results in workers giving safety less effort than the priorities managed by true organizational leaders.

• Other organizations try to manage safety but fail. The failures can come from a number of management flaws, a lack of meaningful metrics or simply the lack of an overarching strategy for safety. 

• Many organizations that addressed safety compliance are realizing that their failings are now cultural and that culture can be a powerful influence on safety performance. Failing to deliberately improve safety culture can lead to poor performance in spite of management control efforts.

• Still other organizations fail to adequately address safety in their selection and onboarding of new employees and actually hire and train their future problems. They have been legally limited from traditional and common-sense ways to screen risk-taking employees and have not developed alternative methods to do so.

Regardless of which specific reason or reasons caused poor safety performance, it is inevitable that this reason or these reasons also will affect quality. Business processes are designed to produce products or services. When these processes produce accidental injuries, they have failed. 

 

Continue Reading at EHS Today.

I’ll post some new “stuff” in a few days.  Please let me know if this effort was of value to you.

Howard

Posted in attitude/culture, cultural changes, employee engagement, employer policies, generational differences, management and leadership, safety programs, supervisor development | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Should We Expect Happy Employees?

Posted on November 24, 2013 by mavity2012

I do not often think in terms of looking for “happiness” at work.  My self-made World War II Vet dad raised me to focus on responsibility and to not expect easy roads.  Nevertheless, is it unrealistic to talk about “happiness” at work.  We probably define our goals by different terms, but at the end of the day, are we not all searching for happiness?  Last spring I attended a series on “The Philosophy of Happiness” taught by Marist High School teacher and future Ph.D, Eric Heintz.  Eric applied rigorous analysis to an otherwise “touchy feely” concept.  He explored philosophical, physiological, and religious factors influencing happiness, and the methods by which we have sought this elusive state for thousands of years.  It turns out that developing “a philosophy of happiness” may be a more orderly and rigorous pursuit than often portrayed.  I came away from the lectures believing that we have a responsibility to seek to be happy; in large part because of the benefits to society.

This week I read a white paper, “The Science of Happiness: “How to Build a Killer Culture in your Company” By Globoforce (good stuff on their site).  The paper opens with the acknowledgement that “the culture we have isn’t always the culture we want.”  The paper challenges one to consider  factors which contribute to the type of workplace culture we want, and argues that employee “happiness” is essential.  Many employers would love to have Intel’s 2% turnover rate or to have to deal with Google’s 7,000 unsolicited applications received every day.  The paper discourages us from thinking about culture simply as the sum of our perks and that culture is entirely dictated from the top …. “leaders tend to see culture in terms of things they can do, like setting goals and core values, but execs cannot dictate a great culture.  They can only lay the ground work for a great culture to take hold.”  Employees control your culture, and as the paper explains, when employees are happy, the culture thrives.  The paper quotes a Wall Street Journal’s survey that “happy employees”:

  •  Stay twice as long in their jobs as their least happy colleagues;
  • Believe they are achieving their potential twice as much;
  • Spends 65% more time feeling energized;
  • Are 58% more likely to go out of the way to help their colleagues;
  • Identify 98% more strongly with the values of their organization; and
  • Are 86% more likely to recommend their organization to a friend.

The paper’s conclusion is that the most direct and powerful way to impact organizational culture is to focus on making employees “happy.”

The paper does not analyze the meaning of “happiness.”  Here’s where Eric Heintz philosophy and philosophical analysis provides us with assistance.  We all know that a poor healthcare worker in Africa may be far happier than a wealthy rock star.  However, lets leave those more weighty questions to focus on some of Global Force’s sound suggestions.  Globoforce lists five ways to align employees’ vision, goals and values with that of the organization.  The first and most important point is to ensure that employees see how they “fit into the larger picture.”  The paper recounts a recent Stanford study for the self-evident truth that there is a strong correlation between happiness and a sense of meaning.  Jennifer Aaker from the Stanford Graduate School Study states:

“In fact, having a meaningful impact on the world around you is actually a better predictor of happiness than many other things you think will make you happy.”

The paper cites various studies emphasizing that once basic needs are met, employees crave a sense of direction, meaning and purpose.  Globoforce discusses five suggestions to build alignment:

1.   Pay closer attention to job-person fit;

2.   Fire people who don’t fit your culture;

3.   Help employees find greater meaning in your values;

4.   Show workers how your company fits into a bigger picture; and

5.   Cultivate more trust and flexibility into your policies.

The paper’s next point is to “accentuate the positive.”  It is a sad commentary on our workplace that New York Times best-selling author, Gretchen Rubin, author of “The Happiness Project,” has to remind us:

“workplaces are far likelier to be a happy place when policies are in place to ensure that people regularly get acknowledgment and praise for a job well done, and where people feel that their happiness at work matters to their employers.”

 I’ll leave the remainder of Globoforce paper for your reading.  I also recommend their related post on “The Power of Workplace Gratitude: A Brief Biography.”  I suppose that we all actually understand the importance of employees being happy.  We may even know how to facilitate this exulted state of work life nirvana.  However, I also suspect that we do not often prepare business plans and act on our common sense knowledge to achieve that goal.  After all, isn’t happiness too touchy feely a goal for business?

Posted in aging workforce, attitude/culture, books and articles, cultural changes, employee engagement, employer policies, management and leadership | Tagged | Leave a comment