Part 1 of this series of 5 addressed “The Bad Fit”, this blog will address the #2 type of problem employee – “The Vanishing Act”, or as I like to call them “Houdini’s”.
Houdini’s are employees that have a tendency to “disappear”. First, they are often absent physically from their post and second, sometimes they are there in body, but not in mind. Here are some common types of disappearing acts that you may encounter and how to combat them:
Late Arrivals and Early Departures
No, we are not talking about airline flights! Many good employees can have a problem making it to work on time, but you first have to think if that is crucial to their position. Sure, if you are in retail or customer service and your facility opens for customer business at a certain time, it is imperative that employees arrive in a timely fashion. But, if the employee’s position is more task oriented and they do get all their duties done in their work week, it may not be a point of when they arrive each day. On the other hand, an employee who is habitually late can have a negative effect on other employees who arrive for work on time. Habitual lateness is like a disease, soon many employees may exhibit tardy behavior. The same issues occur if you have an employee who leaves early whenever they please.
So, how do you combat this issue. Well, the first line of defense is a written attendance policy that outlines your expectations and the consequences of violations; from verbal warnings, written warnings, suspensions and possible termination are your reactions to attendance issues. But, having it in writing is meaningless if you never act on the problems when the arise.
The Frequent Pee-er
It is hard to believe at times we are not dealing with 2nd graders in the workplace, but there are actually adults to “hide out” in the bathroom to avoid their work – or at least that is what we think. Standards say: “The ability to take bathroom breaks should not be considered a privilege. Denying workers their rights to use the bathroom facilities as needed could be to the detriment of a worker’s health. Denying workers the ability to use the restroom when they need to, or with unfair delays or obstacles, is a violation of workers’ rights and an affront to dignity”. There is not a federal law that specifically applies to the number and duration of bathroom breaks. However, there are Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations which require employers to provide adequate bathroom facilities, and prevent employers from imposing “unreasonable restrictions” on bathroom use. The intent of these regulations is that employees are able to use bathroom facilities promptly, recognizing that the frequency of bathroom visits necessary may vary among employees, depending on factors such as the temperature, medical conditions and the effects of medication, and fluid intake.
Always, your first defense from abuse is to have a policy, even if it is just a “check-in, check-out” system where an employee has to notify their supervisor when they leave their post or indicate their absence on a department board. When it comes to addressing the issue of excessive bathroom breaks, don’t address the frequency or length of time issue, but address the performance issues created from frequent absences from their post. If necessary, go through the progressive discipline procedures purely based on performance.
Internet Pirate and Social Butterfly
With so many businesses relying on internet access to conduct their day-to-day business, the rise of computer abuse is being felt more and more by employers. You walk past a department and everyone is at their desk, appearing to work. But, when you look closer, employees are shopping on the internet, IMing, sending personal e-mails, tweeting or updating their status. It is hard to believe that the employees don’t understand that what they are really doing is stealing from you – I know that sounds harsh, but in essence, it is what it is.
A way to combat this issue is, yeah, you guessed it – a policy! It is very important that if your business is computer based you have a “Computer, IT and Internet Usage Policy” that outlines what is and is not allowed when it comes to the use of your systems and equipment. If you notice that certain sites are being abused (YouTube, Facebook, etc.), you can actually install a program that will block the use of those sites from your system. For anywhere from $400 to $1000, you may gain that money back in increased productivity if Sally can no longer upload her puppy pictures on her MySpace page. But, as mentioned previously, it is important to address policy violations and performance issues with your employees and follow the path of progressive discipline of handling violators. Also doesn’t hurt to have a phone usage policy if you should notice abuse of taking or making personal phone calls at work.
So, if you should have a couple of Houdini’s in your midst, it isn’t too late to correct the issues at hand. It may be time to revise and update your employee guidebooks with necessary policies to curb and stop abuse. Have a meeting to go over important points of your policies and then start practicing progressive discipline when it comes to addressing the performance issues that occur from “vanishing acts”.
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Author: Charmaine Hollaway, Director of Operations for PANTHEOS
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