Having Fun��in a Serious Way - company management advice column - Letter to the Editor

Dear WORKFORCE:

I'm interested in learning about communications strategies for situations where the owner of a business is relatively the same age as his staff (and trying to promote a "fun" workplace), and he is having trouble letting staff know when he is serious about decisions/deadlines/performance factors. Often, staff members do not perceive the seriousness of an issue in the midst of the fun environment.

Peter Moritz, HR Consultant,

Shalom Business Development Centre,

Brisbane, Australia

Dear Peter:

This answer comes from Bruce Tulgan, adviser, Rainmaker Thinking Inc., New Haven, Connecticut:

Never forget: You are running a business, not a club. You hire people not to have fun, but because there is a bunch of work to be done. No matter how much you treat your employees as friends--and no matter how much they may in fact be your friends--they are working for you because you are paying them. If you stop paying them, they will stop coming to work. Count on it.

Yes, it is very important to create a work environment in which every person feels comfortable, respected, and valued. It's important because it is the right thing to do, it is personally gratifying from the standpoint of the boss, and it makes employees feel glad to work hard and contribute. But a healthy, enjoyable work environment is perfectly consistent with a clear and unyielding focus on the mission of the organization and all the work that has to be done every day to pursue that mission.

As for fun, per se, that means different things to different people. To one person, fun could mean playing a game, watching a movie, or going to the mall; to another, fun might mean going for a long walk or having a meaningful talk. But if "work" is to be fun and still be "work," it should mean some or all of the following: Working with people whom one likes and enjoys. Learning new and interesting things, while working. Feeling a sense of excitement about work. Tackling new challenges and taking pleasure in the fruits of one's work. And so on. Note that the common theme here is "work."

Sometimes when people say they want their workplace to be fun, what they really mean is they want to create an atmosphere in which most people maintain a sense of humor and don't take themselves too seriously. This makes for a pleasant workplace, and once again, such a workplace is perfectly consistent with a clear focus on results.

The problem is that most business leaders, like most people, want to be liked by others, including their employees. As a result, sometimes a boss goes too far and errs on the side of easygoing, soft-pedaling his or her authority to the point that the employees--and thus the business--lose focus. Once that happens, it can be hard to get people back on track without seeming angry and punitive.

If that's the situation, here's what I would do: get each person or each team focused on an important project. If the project is the regular work of the day, give it an urgent deadline, even if you have to manufacture the urgency. Once you have everybody's attention, clarify goals and deadlines for each individual. Be prepared to coach each person to success, and then hold people accountable. Reward the high performers and let people who don't deliver know that their performance is unacceptable.

Giving people feedback on their performance--before, during, and after--is the key to coaching. But feedback is not aimless banter. It is the banter of acute focus, ongoing improvement, and constant accountability. The only thing that matters is what we are doing here today. So that's what we talk about. And we talk about it all the time. Nobody gets chewed out, but nobody can hide. Everybody gets reminded all the time, so everybody is always on notice. Standards are high. There are no excuses, only performance. If somebody is failing to perform, his or her only choice is to improve or else leave the team: "Good riddance."

By the way, what do you do, once that special project is done? Do it again. And then do it again. And again. Every project is a special project in a high-performance organization. By the way, keep your sense of humor, don't take yourself too seriously, and make sure everybody is having "fun" while they are working very well, very hard, and very fast.

Severance Standards

Dear WORKFORCE:

On average, how many weeks do companies give in severance packages?

Kathy Read, San Francisco

Dear Kathy:

For your answer, we went to Bill Hollett, vice president of organizational consulting at Boston-based Drake Beam Morin:

Severance varies greatly on the basis of type and company, as well as the type of employee. The average severance when all levels are combined--hourly to executive--is 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 weeks' pay per year of service. Certainly, that changes a lot when you get into golden parachutes and all that. But for employees earning less than $150,000, those averages are probably pretty accurate.

Hollett uses mainly age and level as factors when determining how much severance a company should give. Those factors affect how much time it takes to go into a new job. He also recommends that non-exempt employees be given a minimum of one week of pay for each year of service, even if they've been there a short amount of time, and that they be given a minimum of about six weeks' severance.

He recommends that exempt employees receive at least two weeks' pay per year of service, with a minimum of three months' severance and a maximum of one year's severance. Severance, of course, also varies by country; European countries sometimes have more requirements than the United States, where there are none.

Multiple Non-Competes

Dear WORKFORCE:

Can you do two kinds of non-competes in one company? Management is requesting one type for the support people and another for the sales reps. (The support people have a stricter policy ... fancy that!)

Denise

Dear Denise:

We went to Benchmark HR, in Salem, New Hampshire, for the answer:

In today's highly competitive, job-hopping market, forging non-compete, non-disclosure, and non-solicitation agreements between employer and employee is certainly common practice. The purpose of such agreements is to bolster an employee's "duty of loyalty" to an employer. In general terms, these agreements are an attempt to discourage employees from becoming unrestricted "job-hopping" free agents armed with proprietary and/or protected information.

With that said, you may wish to consider agreements tailored to an employee's job function. As employees have varying degrees of access to company information and exposure to clients, your company may find it necessary to use two, three, or even more types of non-compete agreements.

Case in point: an employee in an engineering management position may have greater exposure to proprietary company information than a sales representative, and conversely, the sales representative will have greater exposure to clients and the protocols and intellectual property associated with the company's client-relations programs.

Therefore, in this example, having a different agreement with each employee would best protect the company's assets. What's more, as a person changes positions, you should consider whether new responsibilities require a change in the non-compete.

As you draft a non-compete agreement, ensure that it is obvious which interests your company is trying to protect and why. The agreement must give the employee clear and unequivocal notice of what post-employment activities are restricted. To find out if the non-compete clause that you signed is enforceable, consult with an attorney who has experience with employment or business law.

Payroll Pecking Order

Dear WORKFORCE:

We recently had an employee who earned a small paycheck but did not have all her benefit deductions taken. Our payroll vendor automatically deducts benefits in alphabetical order of their code. I was somewhat surprised by this, as I had presumed that certain deductions came first.

But I have been unable to find any information that details whether deductions are required to be taken in a certain order. In other words, is there something that guides the order in which deductions are made: i.e., 401(k) first, then health insurance premiums, then flex, then parking, etc?

Kim, HR Manager, Bank, Fargo, North Dakota

Dear Kim:

Here's the inside story from Mike Parker of Benchmark FIR, Salem, New Hampshire:

As curious as they may seem, there are standardized federal guidelines, stipulated by the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Labor, which payroll entities must follow. In your case, however, the deduction of "benefits in alphabetical order" is a protocol set by an individual payroll entity.

It should be noted that the federal guidelines were developed with the objective of serving the employee's best interest. In basic terms, the deductions must be taken in the following order.

1. FICA. The FICA deduction of 7.65 percent is subtracted from the gross salary to ensure that the largest possible contribution is made toward the Social Security and Medicare Benefit, to best prepare the employee for retirement.

2.401(k). Deducting the 401(k) contribution pre-tax gives the employee more incentive to participate. And like the FICA deduction, 401(k) is a percentage of the (remaining) gross-minus only the FICA deduction.

3. Section 125 Benefits. These are the last of the benefits deducted pre-tax, again as an incentive to boost participation. Premiums for these programs take priority over contributions to Flexible Spending Accounts.

4. Federal Taxes. The IRS requires that federal tax deductions precede state tax deductions.

5. State Taxes. These apply only to those states that have an income tax mandate.

6. Garnishments. Should there be a garnishment of wages on a federal or state level, it will be taken after taxes and before any other benefit contributions.

7. Miscellaneous benefits. If applicable, this is where the alphabetical system may apply. Again, although there is no formal protocol, many payroll companies choose to alphabetize the remaining deductions for organization purposes. Another option may be to sort the deductions from highest to lowest. Some typical deductions in this group are 401(k) loans, life insurance premiums, STD/LTD, and parking.

Visa Payments

Dear WORKFORCE:

How are other companies in the hightech field and beyond handling the payment of immigration filing fees for current employees with expired H-1Bs or those interested in obtaining a green card?

Allison K.

Dear Allison:

We went to Mike Sweeny, T. Williams Consulting, Collegville, Pennsylvania, for the answer:

Many companies are paying for most if not all of the fees associated with their employees' green card filings. This is a good-faith effort to show the company's commitment to the employee. In return, the company will get the employee to sign a document stating that the employee will be responsible to pay back the costs if he or she terminates employment within (generally) two years of the receipt of the green card.

COPYRIGHT 2001 ACC Communications Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group