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Etiquette. Isn’t that something our mothers taught us when we were young? And something we may now be trying to instill into our children. But etiquette goes far beyond the kitchen table. As adults it branches out to all areas of our lives from social etiquette to driving etiquette and even to work etiquette. Those that lack work etiquette in an extreme way are generally labeled as disrespectful employees, although lack of work etiquette may be mere minor infractions such as a cell phone ringing obnoxiously during a meeting or a distracted employee whose eyes are averting elsewhere when we’re sharing information. Many times etiquette starts with the boss, encouraging cohesiveness and a general respect among him/herself and the employees. The employees will then be more prone to treat others around them similarly. Our attitude can have a profound affect on those around us, whether for good or bad. I always like to go back to the driving example. When someone cuts us off, we’re angry, and sometimes we then cut someone else off to get back ahead. We may think it’s about pecking order, but that’s exactly the mindset we must escape to run a unified business with respectful employees. We can move up, but not in a pecking type way, and not by being oblivious to those around us and their needs.What can we do as employers to increase our odds of having a respectful work environment? We need to do our homework and it begins with the first step of employment screening. Interviews, background checks, behavioral assessments -- all part of the employment screening process -- can give us much information on how a potential candidate may view himself and others. His actions both during the interview process and in the past can show signs of etiquette and respect or disrespect to those around him. But then again, when potential workers are looking for a job, they tend to put their best foot forward. So it’s crucial even after we’ve supposedly hired the most polite people around to follow up with etiquette rules in our work environment. And it’s really not about a formal setting, serving tea and crumpets in the lunch room at exactly high noon, but rather having good manners. Good manners in the work environment -- and in fact anywhere in life -- is putting oneself in other people’s shoes, gaining insight on the other’s perspective. Here’s a list of some minor bad manner office traits.Hallway Meetings. Everyone is on a schedule so unless it’s a break or scheduled meeting, don’t chit-chat with co-workers for a prolonged period unless you know they have time to spare. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard friends complain of co-workers who’ve interrupted their train of thought countless times during the day.Pungent Smelling Food. There are some things that can be offensive to the nose. Take note when eating your tuna sandwich in an enclosed area.Gadgets and Texting. There’s nothing wrong with these things but it’s all in the context. Many people find texting and emailing rude when they’re conducting a meeting. And text talk is for friends off the job. Text-shorthand isn’t for the boss.Small infractions such as these can cause resentments among the employees that can linger and affect the bottom line: The Business. According to Christine Pearson, the coauthor of The Cost of Bad Behavior, 48% of badly treated employees have deliberately reduced their work productivity and 12% have quit due to ill-mannered behavior of those around them. These surveys conducted by Pearson and her colleagues also found that the bottom line cost to employers was around $50,000 per employee for offensiveness at work.Take a look at this youtube video demonstrating some bad behavior at work. It provides the motivation to teach some etiquette training at work (Watch the video now).
As a hiring manager, you have a two-fold purpose: Hire good employees and retain them. So the first step would be to hire correctly. How is this done and what are your goals as an employer? Employment screening is all part of the process. A work history on your candidates is not just a desire, but necessary. Is the candidate's work history stable? And have they retained a job for at least a year? If not, why? You want employees with integrity that measure up to your standards. References can be checked. Behavioral and Psychological assessments can be conducted at this point along with background checks. These are all essential elements in the hiring process.Once the hiring is complete, it's only just begun. We all want employees with motivation who are responsible for their actions -- a bit like parenting. And like a family, it's only as successful and happy as each member. It's a team effort. So what can we do as employers to have employees that are naturally motivated and responsible?Have a Respectful Environment. As children we learned that to be respected we must be respectful. So we must show integrity and set the example, treating all employees equally. What we don't respect will leave us -- whether it's a spouse, business partner or employee.Give Clear Instructions. Employees will then know exactly what's expected of them -- their responsibilities and the policies of the business.Performance Evaluations.This provides feedback to the employees so they can have clear goals of where they need to improve while also appreciating their skills that they've developed thus far. Even train and teach your employees so they are continually learning and growing. This can be done through classes, books, and training videos. Once again, employees will feel respected as resources are invested in them.Rewarding and Disciplining. It's critical that employees are rewarded with positive remarks, bonuses or raises or all of the above. Don’t delay. Recognition can be an integral part in fueling motivation. And of course, the other end is disciplining. Disciplining must be consistent with specific guidelines. This holds the employees accountable for their actions, both good and bad. Praise your employees for all eyes to see, but correct them behind closed doors. This goes back to point number one: Respect.All of these points demonstrate to the employees that they are important to the team and when we feel important, we're motivated which keeps us at our jobs.A nice example of this can be found when Charles W. Gehring joined LifeCare Alliance in 2001. He was in a tough spot, facing a company with financial deficit, a decrease in profits and an organization not too keen on change. Valuing employees and thus employee retention was one key thing he improved upon. Read the story, Making Changes, here.
Hiring begins well before we actually have an employee report to work: It starts in the pre-employment phase where we must take the opportunity to ask crucial questions to our potential candidates. This enables managers to determine whether the applicants have a good job-fit and are ethical and honest with their answers.These pre-employment screening questions can be separated into different categories: Previous employment history, drugs, mental health, alcohol and criminal background. What are examples of the types of questions to be asked?In all cases, regardless of which questions you ask, or how you phrase the questions; you will need to get independent source of information on these issues. It is unwise to accept the candidates' responses at face value as they may withhold, distort, or embellish their past.Previous Employment History -- Supplement with Employment VerificationWhat is your previous employer's name and address?What was your salary?What was your job title and what were your responsibilities?Why did you leave your previous job?Why is there a break in your employment history?Have you ever been fired or disciplined in previous jobs?Drugs -- Supplement with a Drug Test / Behavior SurveyIn this category, caution must be taken as to what questions you should and should not ask. For example, you wouldn't ask if the candidate is currently taking prescription drugs or if they've ever used illegal drugs beyond a relevant time period. Nor would you ask if the potential employee has ever been addicted or treated for drug abuse. But here are some examples of questions you can ask:If a drug test were positive: Are there any medications you're currently taking which would cause such a positive result.Are you currently using illegal drugs, or have you done so in the last two years?Have you ever been arrested or convicted for illegal drug abuse?Mental Health -- Supplement with Personality TestWith mental health, there are also certain questions you shouldn't ask such as, if they've ever been treated for mental health troubles or sought out treatment when overwhelmed with stress or even if they are currently looking for medical services. However here are examples of questions you can ask relating to stress:Has stress affected your efficiency at work?Has there ever been a time when you couldn't manage work-related stress?Alcohol -- Supplement with Drug Test / Behavior SurveyIf the job involves driving equipment or vehicles or operating machinery, you'll want to know about drunk driving convictions as it establishes a pattern of behavior. You should also ask about being at work while under the influence (drinking just before or during work hours) as this can have a significant impact on efficiency, productivity, judgement, reasoning, and safety.Criminal Background -- Supplement with Criminal History Report and Behavior SurveyThe main question here is whether they've ever been convicted of a crime which would be relevant or impactful to the position for which they are applying. For example, if hiring for a position where the candidate would be in contact with cash or physical goods (warehouse worker, delivery driver, stock clerk, retail clerk, etc.) knowing that they have a previous conviction for theft (particularly a recent conviction) would be highly relevant, but a citation for jaywalking would not. If the applicant had a history of sex crimes against children, that would be relevant for positions involving contact or association with children.All of these questions can provide insight as to what motivates the potential employee. Do they go beyond what's expected? Have they learned from past mistakes? These are crucial clues for an employer. Insights such as these can prevent many problems in the future for employers. Think through the questions you want to ask during the pre-screening phase. It takes a little more time initially but could pay off in time and money in the long run.
Embarassment is the word of the day for the US Citizenship and Immigration Service Division of the US Department of Homeland Security. According to news reports the USCIS has hired a known fraudster and fugitive from the law. The New Jersey Star-Ledger reports that Tahaya Buchanan, 39, formerly of Newark, NJ was arrested this past summer in July when a DeKalb county patrolman noticed an outstanding warrant for her arrest. Back in March 2005, Buchanan was the owner of a Range Rover vehicle. According to the report, Buchanan hid her vehicle in an Irvington, NJ (just west of Newark) garage owned by her Aunt. She then reported the vehicle as having been stolen and filed an insurance claim with her insuror. When her Aunt's garage caught fire the following month, the fire department came to put the fire out but the hidden Range Rover was discovered as a consequence of the blaze. Her insurance company launched a probe into her claim and eventually denied the claim and followed up with a criminal probe that resulted in a November 2007 indictment of second-degree insurance fraud. The following month a warrant for her arrest was issued when she failed to appear in court. On January 8, 2008 she was listed in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), a criminal infomation clearinghouse utilized by law enforcement agencies across the country.Buchanan, believed to be an USCIS employee while in Newark, put in for a transfer to Georgia and received the requested transfer. No details are available on what officials as USCIS knew at the time or steps and protocols are involved in evaluating a transfer request.After Buchanan arrived at the USCIS Atlanta, she presumably obtained housing and established herself in the Atlanta area making no attempt to conceal her identity as there is no report of the use of any alias.It was not until July 2009 that her outstanding arrest warrant came to light, and this from an alert patrolman rather than from her employer, the US Goverment. Subsequent to her arrest, she spent a week in jail before she was release and USCIS officials yesterday claimed no previous knowledge of her fugitive past.It seems strangely ironic that her employer, a branch of the US Goverment that is closely associated with law enforcement would be so completely unaware of one of their own being a fugitive from the law. It's clearly an embarassment. "It’s amazing they couldn’t find her. Good Lord," said Kevin Kerns, the office chief of staff at USCIS where Buchanan still works as an analyst.Ana Santiago, a spokeswoman for the USCIS, said, "The USCIS is looking into this matter. USCIS has zero tolerance for any type of employee misconduct or criminal activity." Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Michael Morris said, "We found it surprising, alarming that an employee of the Department of Homeland Security is a fraudster, and we do not understand how she could have remained employed there with an open criminal warrant for her arrest remaining on the interstate system without being discovered."
There was a recent article published by a reporter at San Antonio, TX station that identifies the current cost of employee theft at $52 Billion.The cost of these thefts are ultimately born by all of us in the form of higher prices for the goods and services that we buy. The retailers and service providers will increase their prices to us in order to offset the losses they suffer from disreputable employees. This has been, and continues to be, a significant problem. The current difficult economic times seem to bring out the worst in the folks who are already susceptible to ethical lapses.At a time when customers are unwilling to accept higher prices, retailers and service providers are having their profit margins squeezed. A better approach is to make sure that employees that would steal from their employers do not get hired. This is best accomplished through a combination of background screening (reports criminal convictions) and behavioral testing (disclosures of recent past and propensity for future theft).
In the past, hiring people into our businesses was not such a complicated prospect. We'd see a need for a new employee, advertise, and then receive the applications. So far it's still similar to today. The difference is in the second phase. Years ago, we'd mull over our list of potentials, interview a select few or more, perhaps call some references and then call them in to join our work family. Our world today is more complicated and unfortunately not as safe. An interview and calls to a few references doesn’t cut it anymore, but rather the whole hiring process entails something more complex to match our increasingly multifaceted world. Pre-employment screening is crucial in the hiring process in today's world. At a minimum, we can screen out the criminals. So in corporate America, pre-employment screening has become a standard risk-management tool. As an employer, there are choices to be made. Do we want to do the screening ourselves or do we use third-party companies? For many companies, pre-employment screening seems like too much work and because of this, there's been a rising movement towards efficient third-party businesses whose main function is employee screening. With a fee, these third-party companies will screen our potential candidates for us, enabling us to have more information during the hiring process. The main benefit of a third-party specialist is efficiency. Many specialized companies can provide these services much more cost-effectively than the businesses hiring. Why? The employer wouldn't need to use staffer's time and resources for the screening, including software programs and training. Training which would also mean understanding state and federal laws when acquiring information and background records. And when considering the ramifications of hiring a bad employee, a screening firm's cost is minimal. So how do we go about finding the best screening specialist for our company? Choose a professional partner, not just the cheapest vendor although price is important. As when choosing any professional partner, use the same criteria. Are they reputable, reasonably priced, competent and ethical? Or any other criteria that is important to our company. View their website and contact references for further verification. Does the screening specialist have a full understanding of hiring and screening laws? Are they committed to only sharing the legal information? Are they compliant to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). So are they a consumer reporting agency (CRA)? Or in other words, do they understand the FCRA with its appropriate state laws, including what's legal to report and how to respond to complaints. Are they members of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS)? If so, it's a demonstration of commitment to this industry's code of conduct -- a professional stamp of approval and a must if seeking a reputable company. What's the customer service like? Do you have someone specific working with your company or is it more generalized? Take into consideration your specific needs. Cost. Are you they putting their money where their mouth is? Do they have the knowledge and expertise that match the pricing. How are the staff trained? Is it clear how data is collected? Are there policies in place that protect confidentiality of background reports? When running a business, hiring is an obvious important component. If hiring competent employees is important to us, it should be equally essential to us to work with competent employee screeners.
Workplace deviance can be defined as voluntary behaviors by employees that defy the company's policies or rules. When we think of deviants, we may picture a peeping Tom -- such as a case that occurred in Nashville, Tennessee when an employee at the Abercrombie & Fitch store filmed a woman in the dressing room. Now the woman in the dressing room sues the company for negligence and for allowing employee, Kenneth Applegate ll, to have a camera at work. These are the obvious deviant behaviors which could cost our company a lot of money -- not to mention grief for clients or coworkers. But in the workplace, deviant behaviors encompass so much more, including deviance directed at the organization or other individuals whether they may be co-workers, managers and even clients. Workplace deviances directed at the organization Stealing. Employee theft and the financial costs are ever-increasing. No effort at work. Lying about work hours. Sabotage. Workplace deviances directed at individuals Rude behavior. Hostile behavior. Belittling others. The employees that are the victims may quit or stay and have increased stress. This stress could in turn cause less productivity and lost work time due to psychological or physical torment. So how are we to protect ourselves or even predict such deviance within our employees? We'd need to look at personalities, including impulsive behaviors and ethical integrity, and examine particular destructive situations. What does our employment screening process entail? Many companies use behavioral assessments and psychological integrity testing as part of their pre-employment screening. This may help predict those who are prone to abuse standards of suitable behavior. Ethical behavior -- whatever the personality -- is what makes the smartest sense when running a business. Lack of ethics can cause a lot of damage from the manager down. When employers hire negligently -- they lack an employment screening process -- or are discriminatory in their practices or even produce products that are sub-standard, these can all equal big legal judgments. If we expect ethical and non-deviant employees, then our organization has to set the tone -- at a minimum.
A 21st annual theft survey conducted by Jack L. Hayes International reported that shoplifters and dishonest employees were apprehended in record numbers by US retailers. In this survey, 22 large retail companies participated with over $570 billion in retail sales in 2008. Of these 22 retailers, shoplifters and deceitful employees stole over $6 billion and of that $6 billion; more than $182 million was recovered. 72,120 stealing employees were apprehended in 2008, recovering more than $69.8 million. Employee apprehension was up 3% and recovery up 9.9 % from 2007. One final interesting statistic: for every 30 employees, one was apprehended by their employer for theft (Read all the results here). The story of two brothers from Crookston, Minnesota who worked at the Wal-Mart Supercenter is a perfect example. Trent James Olslund, 39, and his brother, Todd Scott Olslund, 40 were both charged with felony theft. Between the two of them, they admitted to stealing about $3500 in merchandise (Read the full story here). So apprehending the thieving employees was up, but maybe a better statistic would be that employee theft was decreasing. According to the the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, they've estimated that American businesses may pay as much as $50 billion annually due to employee theft. And this isn't just due to shoplifting. Small businesses can fail, but 30% are a direct result of employee theft. What about repeat offenders? Apparently 75% of all employees steal once -- a staggering statistic I think -- but 50% of those do it a second time. Who knows about the third, fourth or hundredth time? So we may wonder, what do employees steal and how do they do it? Shoplifters, it's pretty obvious, depending on the merchandise and whatever they can get their hands on and sneak away with. In a business, perhaps that's a different story. There are resources and supplies of a business -- from pencils to gas, and copper pipes to furniture. And then there is electronic theft: embezzling money, information of company data, and even time. What's the solution? It seems employers definitely need to be more proactive -- prevention rather than mopping up the mess. The key here is to hire employees with integrity, but it's not quite that simple. People are complex; dynamics and situations change, but we do have tools that can help increase the odds in our favor. Employment screening. This can help predict the potential of a greedy hand, incorporating drug screening, behavioral assessments and criminal background checks. Employee education. Audits. Job rotations. Procedures of anti-theft policies which can include rewards for reporting theft. Surveillance cameras and even just the perception of detection. If someone thinks they're being watched, the chances are they won't steal. No employer can protect himself completely from employee theft, but he can do his best to prepare and prevent which may, in some cases, save his business.
Pre-employment drug screening is one of the important aspects of employment screening. There are numerous reasons to implement this type of screening when seeking out new candidates. Safety. Employees need to be alert and focused -- not under any drug influence -- especially if part of their job requirement is to operate hazardous equipment or drive commercial vehicles. Absenteeism. Health problems have been correlated to drug abuse which can result in sick leave and thus less work gets done -- a burning hole in the pocket for the employer. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), several studies link workers' marijuana smoking with absenteeism, tardiness, job turnover, accidents and workers' compensation claims. This type of abuse can affect the brain, heart, lungs and basic mental functioning in daily life. In 2007, 14.4 million Americans used marijuana at least once in the month before they were surveyed. You can get all the statistics for marijuana abuse at the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Studies of marijuana abuse offer one such example of the hazards of drug abuse in the workplace. Insurance Premiums. Health insurance premiums are on the rise and as noted above, health problems have been correlated to drug abuse. Cohesiveness within the Company. Drug abuse can cause mood swings, violence and low productivity. These aren't character traits anyone would desire in a coworker whether they're a drug addict or not. Criminal Activity. Drug abuse can encourage stealing and abusers may also be more prone to commit sexually-related crimes when under the influence. In 2006, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health, released a report showing how effective treatment of drug abuse can save communities money and reduce crime. A successful business is one where we make a profit reasonable to the efforts put forth. And according to the Small Business Administration as cited by the National Drug-Free Work Alliance (NDWA), companies lose about $7000 per drug-using employee per year. Is that worth it? If not, then a pre-employment drug screening test is a necessary step when considering potential candidates.
Imagine having a loved one going into the hospital for a medical procedure, but never leaving or even surviving. The odds are stacked against the patient perhaps, but you have trust that the qualified doctors and nurses are doing all that they can. They have the education required, but yet still your loved one dies. Of course it's devastating. But imagine if that qualified medical professional was in fact not qualifed at all. What if they were merely masquarading as a doctor or nurse? If someone died under their supposed care, the effect would be far more than grieving for the loved one. I think it would be closer to an irate sense of betrayal, questioning how this could have happened even if the puppeting medical professional gave his layman's best effort. Sometimes the fault may lay in our own laps. We've all heard the stories of people going to foreign countries for cheaper medical procedures, usually to do with weight-loss or plastic surgery. It's such an incredible deal that the client doesn't dare question the credentials because it does indeed seem too good to be true. And then, several months later, they are the next subject of a primetime news show -- woman goes to foreign country to beautify and ends up scarred for life. What if, though, we stay in our own country, go see a registered nurse at our local doctor's office, and then find out she's a complete fraud. Just recently, on August 6th, 2009, a Connecticut woman was charged with reckless endangerment and criminal impersonation charges. Betty Lichtenstein, a 56 year old woman from Norwalk, staged a dinner by the fictitious Connecticut Nursing Association where she was supposedly honored as the Nurse of the Year in 2008. She may have gone undetected if a patient hadn't complained which is when the Medicaid Fraud Control unit began its investigation. Betty Lichtenstein was indeed not a nurse, in fact she'd spent $2000 of her own money when she'd staged the whole dinner. Read the full story here: 'Nurse of the Year' charged with not being a nurse. Perhaps if a more judicious pre-employment screening process had taken place, Betty Lichtenstein wouldn't be playing Nurse of the Year. Fortunately there were no deaths under here care -- as far as I know -- and fortunately she was caught before her layman's best care caused even more damage.
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