Getting to know your Employees

Goal: Getting to Know Your Employees:

Getting to know employees on a personal level allows for a more relaxed work relationship between employee and supervisor. It lets your employees know that you are there for them to help them succeed in their daily work life, and it also grows trust levels within your work environment.

Exercise:

In this exercise, you will stop by the offices of two or three employees at least once a week in an effort to get to know each one a little better. On the day you have selected for this exercise, allow employees time to get to their office and settle in that morning. Approximately one hour after employees’ arrivals, leave your office and, while in-route to selected employees’ offices, greet each person you meet with a simple “good morning” and a smile. Once you have reached the selected office, knock on the employee’s door and ask this first question with a natural smile: "Am I interrupting anything right now? If I am, I can stop back by later." If the employee is in the middle of a task, simply state: "Oh, it’s nothing that can’t wait until later. I was just stopping by to check in to see how everything is going. Hope you have a great day, and I’ll see you later." Then, proceed to next office. If employee is free to speak for a few moments, step into the office making sure to leave the door open. Ask these three questions leaving time for employee’s answers to each question before proceeding. 1. How is your week going so far? 2. Do you have any concerns about your current project/assignment/etc? 3. Do you have any exciting plans for the weekend? OR, Did you have a nice weekend? Spend approximately ten minutes in each of the selected offices. On your way back to your own office, offer a friendly greeting to all you pass spreading and increasing office morale. Once back in your office, take approximately 5 minutes to answer the three evaluation questions associated with this exercise.

Evaluation:

What effect do you think this exercise had on your employees? What impact would the weekly repetition of this exercise have on employees as a whole? Do you think that this exercise was beneficial to you as a supervisor? Why or why not?

EZ-View of EAP Stuff

I decided to make the home page WorkExcel.net (Resources for Employee Assistance Programs WorkExcel.net) easier to navigate. I will keep adding what's new to the bottom as things go along. Current projects include DOT Regulations Training for Supervisors captured from the Federal Regulations..It's one hour in length and written at the 9th grade education level so any supervisory staff can instructed in the programs use. Go to http://workexcel.net

Can You Say to An Employee: Don't Worry Nothing About EAP Attendance Goes in a Personnel File?

As EAPs get more "morphed" into insurance programs, I am discovering that many EA professionals can't answer the question definitively about whether the host organization has a strict policy of not mentioning in any personnel record ever whether an employee participated in an EAP program. The most common reasons employees hesitate to visit an EAPs are fear of the unknown, being asked personal questions, and confidentiality concerns. Even an outstanding EAP with solid communication strategies and excellent internal relationships will from time to time need to surmount the fear employees have about confidentiality. It should be standard practice to have no personnel records reflect participation in the EAP and organizations should hold themselves accountable in this regard, if not legally liable to underscore the importance. No EAP is worth a hoot without being able to assure employees of this provision and point to it in a company EAP policy in the employee handbook. Can you do that with your organization or every organization you serve if you are an EAP provider? This would be an easy question to answer 30 years ago. Now, it appears many EA professional aren't too sure. Since many EAPs are external providers or far removed from policy development (unlike yesteryear) they may not have the slightest ability to intervene with this issue. If you want to have the most at-risk employees never come to the EAP, make sure everyone knows that personnel records may or may not, depending on circumstances, possibly contain a record that an employee participated in the EAP.