Good Management is Legal Discrimination
By: Carol Wood, HR Director
April 28, 2011
This is more of a Jerry Maguire Mission Statement than a blog post. The mission is to improve employee performance, increase profitability and (this is the Jerry Maguire part) reduce poverty.
A few years ago, I assisted a manager in a challenging situation in which nobody wanted to participate. A high performing employee, who was the sole bread-winner for her family, had accumulated tardies in excess of the company's attendance policy because the bus that took her disabled child to school was frequently late. Unfortunately, this company had only two options, both of which were bad: (i) follow the policy and fire the employee or (ii) bend the rules and risk getting sued for discrimination in the future. The sad news is the employee was terminated, but it didn't have to turn out this way. If the company had done the proper work up-front, there would have been a third option: offer a high performing employee a break and not increase the company's exposure to future litigation.
At Achilles Group, we work hard with companies to ensure they have this third option when challenging situations of this nature inevitably arise. We structure documented review processes that tie employment decisions, such as granting an exception to the tardiness policy, to performance instead of blindly following a set of procedures. When a company invests a small amount of time with us developing and adhering to clear performance standards, the company now has the option to make an exception to a policy a reward available to all high performing employees rather than a risk that engenders jealousy within the organization and exposes the company to a potential lawsuit.
Recently, I read an even more compelling reason for companies to develop a documented review process that allows employment decisions to be based upon performance as opposed to strict rules or procedures. In a New York Times article by David Leonhardt, "A Fresh Look at Fighting Global Poverty", the Yale economist Dean Karlan concludes micro loans that help a person keep a job they already have is more beneficial to society that micro loans to start new ventures "It worked by helping borrowers weather bad times, for example by fixing a broken vehicle needed for work, or by sending money to a sick relative in a rural area instead of leaving work to tend to the relative." (Read more of the New York Times article.)
This concept relates well to employment decision. I recently, worked with a client company to allow a top performing employee to work from home while the employee recovered from surgery. This employee faced significant pain by delaying a surgery that she had been in need of for over a year. She had put the procedure off because she was the only income earner and caretaker for her elderly mother and son and could not afford to take an unpaid six weeks off from work to recover from the procedure.
We instituted a work from home policy awarded to employees who developed work from home plans that met defined guidelines and to employees with a demonstrated record of success. The company was able to provide payment for job duties performed from home without opening the flood gates for all employees or risking a lawsuit by denying future work from home requests. The company uses this policy to motivate and reward top performers allowing the company to broadcast the rewards of working hard for their company.
Earning this third option is not easy. It requires time to construct and maintain a regular company wide performance review program, clearly defining expectations for employees, and sacrifices on behalf of both the company and the affected employee. Although the investment of time can be significant, the reward in reducing lawsuits, providing motivation for employees, and perhaps even improving the nation's economy makes the time invested and for that matter my job, worthwhile.
Now, who's coming with me?
Contact Achilles Group for more information on our HR Solutions.