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Winter, 2007
Maybe...
….it’s the time of year or maybe it’s the
time of man (with apologies to Joni Mitchell
-Woodstock). In the last while I have heard an
amazing number of complaints from friends,
family and colleagues about their bosses. Along
with a few that were unprintable the following
are some of the things I’ve been told.
“My boss blamed me for not doing
something I had never been told was my job
to do. He didn’t provide me with a job
description and didn’t train me. I just got
thrown into the job and have been figuring
it out as I go along and now he says that I
am not doing a good job. Whenever I’ve asked
about job tasks and performance expectations
he said I don’t need that just get to work.
I’ve never had a bad performance review
before this.”
“My boss is super moody. On her good days
she is great. On her bad days – look out! If
you get on her bad side you get fired. I
just keep my head down, and never talk to
anyone here because you don’t know what mood
she’ll be in, what causes her moods or what
gets you on her bad side.”
“My boss takes credit for my ideas and my
work. She never acknowledges my
contributions and she takes the credit from
her boss for my work. If something she does
do goes wrong she blames me or one of the
other people in our department.”
“My boss is rude and disrespectful to me. He
talks to me like I am an idiot. He is
impatient. He never has time to answer
questions or explain what is needed in an
assignment. He doesn’t let me explain my
work or my reasons for doing things. He
walks right past me in the hall and doesn’t
even acknowledge me.”
“My boss is a micro manager. She tells me
what to do and how to do it. She isn’t
interested in any ideas or suggestions on
how to improve. She doesn’t let me express
my opinion. She gets mad if I try to offer
ideas or suggestions on how to improve. The
only ideas she likes are her own.”
“My boss asks me questions about personal
things that are none of her business.”
“My boss has his favorites. They are all
sports fans. If you’re not a fan you don’t
get the good assignments and aren’t on the
inside at work.”
Among the top reasons people leave their jobs
is having a bad boss/supervisor. In a world
where there are more workers than jobs, bosses
can get away with bad behavior. In this world of
talent shortages and more jobs than people, a
boss who behaves badly is a liability a company
cannot afford.
The characteristics of good bosses include
- Good interpersonal and communication
skills
- Good personal qualities (such as
honesty, integrity, responsibility,
accountability, reliability, emotional
maturity,)
- Good fit with the company culture
- Ability to get results
- Have the supervisory and managerial
skills to do the job (such as delegation,
fairness, consistency, organization & time
management, ability to set expectations and
provide feedback)
- Good strategic skills
- Being in the right job
- Having enough experience to have
developed the skills noted above as needed
for the job.
The practice of promoting workers because
they are good technical or professional
employees and assuming they will become good
supervisors or managers has always been a poor
practice. When coupled with an absence of
supervisory and managerial skills training (as
is frequently the case) it becomes a recipe for
high turnover, poor morale, unmotivated workers
and productivity that is less than it should be.
Looking for more information or need some help
with these or other HR issues? Please
get in touch.
News
Legislation
Work/Life Balance:
“France; Workers soon may be able to alleviate
their fatigue with 15-minute naps. The French
government is spending the equivalent of about
$9.2 million to encourage workers to get more
sleep. The initiative, reported in The Times of
London, will use “volunteer companies” to see
whether a workday snooze makes employees more
efficient.”
www.workforce.com (Feb. 13/07)
To read the whole article “French
Health Minister Seeks Nap Study” Associated
Press., Jan 31, 2007.
For more on sleeping at work:
- The Art of Napping At Work.
Camille Anthony & William A. Anthony.
- “A Little Shut Eye, A Lot of
Efficiency.” Harvey Meyer. Workforce, Aug.
2001
- State Laws Address Sleeping at Work.
The Register-Guard. Eugene, Or. March
23/03
- Study: “On
the job naps might help heart." By
Lindsey Tanner, AP Medical Writer
Workforce
Unemployment Rate is the percentage of the
workforce actively seeking work and unable to
find it at a point in time.
Job Vacancy Rate is the stock of unfilled jobs
for which companies are actively trying to
recruit workers at a point in time.
January 2007 - Unemployment Rate for Canada is
6.2%; in Alberta it is 3.3%. A balanced labor
market (supply = demand) is considered to be a
5% unemployment rate. At 4% the labor market is
tight (demand exceeds supply) and at 3% it is
considered to be in a shortage situation (demand
significantly exceeds supply).
Job Vacancy rates differ by occupation. The most
recent Alberta Statistics, which refer to jobs
that have been vacant for 4 months or longer,
indicate that Professionals in Physical Sciences
(NOC code 2215) lead the Job vacancy rate (Job
Vacancy Rate of nearly 18%). There are 36
occupations with job vacancy rates ranging from
5% to 18% and another 14 that have vacancy rates
between 5 and 3.75%. Included are a wide range
of jobs: Firefighters, a significant variety of
skilled trades, economic analysts, accountants,
retail and service industry workers,
farm-workers, chemical technicians to mention
just a few.
Detailed information on job vacancy rates in
Alberta, and employment, job growth,
unemployment rates can be found at:
Compensation
It is reasonable to expect continued
pressure on all forms of compensation given the
labor market generally. 2007 will likely see
more focus on recognition; new and creative ways
to provide employees with benefits without
increasing costs; retention bonuses; incentive
pay plans that reward outstanding performers
along with the pressure to increases to base
pay.
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