Article Review

www.theHRSpecialist.com December 8, 2014 • The HR Weekly 3

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Vol. 2, No. 49 Printed in the United States.

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HR pros often have to help man-agers build effective project teams. It’s usually obvious who should be on a team; less clear is who makes a lousy team member. Here are five problem personality types that can turn a harmonious, winning team into a dysfunctional cage fight of clashing egos and insecurities.

The good news: There are strategies to turn team chaos into collegiality.

The independents They like to work alone and receive credit for their individual efforts. If they work hard, it is for the rewards they value.

Strategy: Flattery often works. Show them that the concept of team- work actually increases their influ- ence—their expertise will be essential for meeting team goals.

The unmotivated In a team environment, unmotivated workers can hide in plain sight, qui- etly lowering group performance and generating conflict and resentment among others who must pick up the slack.

Strategy: Peer pressure can be extremely effective in encouraging an employee to start pulling his or her weight on the team.

Poor communicators They don’t listen, never make sug- gestions and react defensively to constructive criticism. They refuse to ask questions when they don’t under- stand something.

Strategy: A dose of self-confidence helps. Many poor communicators are simply insecure, afraid to say some- thing that may make them look fool- ish. Let them know mistakes are OK.

Anti-socials The most effective teamwork takes place when team members feel posi- tively toward one another and value the contributions of other players. Of course, not every team member will automatically like, trust and respect other teammates.

Strategy: Understand that some employees will never be able to fit into a team framework. If you can’t turn around these employees with training, they may have to go.

Prima donnas In sports, these are the hot dogs, more interested in their own statistics than in team achievements. Their counterparts in the workplace have all the skills necessary to make big con- tributions to the team. They believe there is an “i” in “team.” Unchecked,

they will poison the best of teams. Strategy: Make it clear to prima

donnas that they will not be allowed to work on their own.

They are members of a team and their performance will be measured on how much they contribute to team goals.

3 teamwork myths The truth about good teams Myth 1: If employees get along well, they are practicing good teamwork. Reality: Congeniality should never be confused with productive collaboration. team members should be able to dis- agree without embarrassment. Myth 2: Outstanding employees always make exceptional team members. Reality: they often don’t. their expertise can wind up undermining team suc- cess if they approach the work selfishly. Coaches of successful sports teams understand that some people who are great players are terrible team members. Myth 3: Good employees will eventually become good team members. Reality: hardened attitudes and long experience of doing things their way will not prepare veteran employees for a successful team experience. however, with patience and understanding, they can become valuable contributors.

H R E s s e n t i a l s 5 personality types that sabotage teams—and what to do about them

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www.t heHRSp

ecialis t.com

April 15 , 2013

• The HR Weekl

y 1

In the p

ast few years,

recess ion-

weary emplo

yers ha ve bee

n askin g

emplo yees to

take o n mor

e work , and

to com plete i

t in les s time

.

But is there

a lega l tippi

ng po int

to the amou

nt of w ork th

at can be

assign ed to

an em ployee

?

As rec ent co

urt ca ses ha

ve sho wn,

you m ay be

tempt ing fat

e—and a

Fair L abor S

tandar ds Act

(FLSA )

class-a ction

lawsui t—if y

our m anag-

ers are dema

nding so mu

ch pro duc-

tivity f rom h

ourly emplo

yees th at

they c an’t re

asonab ly get

everyt hing

done i n the

time y ou allo

w.

In the se case

s, non exemp

t

emplo yees sa

y they felt co

mpelle d by

their b osses (

and th e work

load) to

come in earl

y or st ay late

to me et the

“unre asonab

le” wo rk req

uirem ents.

Such off-the

-clock work

has be en

the sp ark tha

t has l it thou

sands of

costly lawsui

t for u npaid

overtim e.

Examp le: Sev

eral em ployee

s at a

Verizo n Wire

less ca ll cent

er sued ,

claimin g they

weren ’t paid

for w ork

they p erform

ed bef ore an

d after their

shifts. They c

laimed that,

before log-

ging in to the

call ce nter sy

stem e ach

morni ng, th

ey spe nt tim

e chec king

email and pr

eparin g for t

he call s that

would soon

begin. Then

they r everse

d

the pr ocess a

t the e nd of

each s hift.

Is it illega l to assig

n ‘too mu ch’ work?

SNAPSHO T

www.t heHRSp

ecialis t.com

(800) 54 3-2055

Take you r employe

e handbo ok online

: 8 tips

Is your e

mploy ee han

dbook still a

n

actual book?

Turni ng you

r hand -

book i nto an

electr onic d

ocume nt can

cut co sts, ma

ke upd ating e

asier a nd

give em ployee

s a con venien

t place to

access policie

s.

Going electr

onic is n’t tec

hnical ly

difficu lt. But

the p rocess

involv es

more than s

imply transfe

rring w ritten

docum ents to

a data base o

r inter nal

websit e.

Use th e follo

wing g uidelin

es to

help p rotect

your o rganiz

ation a gainst

legal t rouble

when transi

tionin g your

handb ook fr

om tra dition

al pap er to

an elec tronic

versio n:

1. Put ackno

wledg ment

upfron t.

Forma t your

electr onic h

andbo ok so

that em ployee

s can’t avoid

access ing

the dis claime

r and acknow

ledgm ent

forms before

readin g the

web ve rsion

of the docum

ent.

2. Req uire em

ployee s to lo

g in

using their p

asswor ds to a

ccess i t. You

don’t want o

utside rs to a

ccess c om-

pany p olicies

.

3. Inc lude li

nks in the h

andbo ok

that co nnect

the po licies a

nd inf or-

mation to co

mmon ly used

forms or

docum ents, s

uch as benef

its, he alth

plan su mmari

es and IRS f

orms.

4. Inc lude H

R ema il and

tele-

phone conta

cts. U pdate

as nee ded.

Continu ed on p

age 2

Continu ed on p

age 2

Interne

t-use d isorder

: An

ADA-p rotecte

d disab ility?

This sp ring’s e

dition o f the DS

M-5, th e

official psychia

trist’s d iagnost

ic manu al,

include s “Inter

net Use Disord

er” for the

first tim e. It’s n

ot listed as a cl

inical d is-

order y et, but

one tha t will re

quire m ore

researc h to see

if it rise s to tha

t level.

If Intern et addic

tion is d eclared

a psy-

chiatric disorde

r, emplo yees w

ho suffe r

from it may be

protec ted by t

he

ADA, re quiring

you to accomm

odate

their co nditions

. Read more a

t www .

theHRS peciali

st.com/ Interne

tADA.

Know y our sta

te’s law on

require d empl

oyee br eaks

The fed

eral Fai r Labor

Standa rds

Act doe sn’t req

uire you to prov

ide

employ ees wit

h lunch or coff

ee brea ks.

Howev er, 40 s

tates do have la

ws cov er-

ing mea l and re

st brea ks. Find

a com-

plete lis t of sta

te brea k laws

at www .

theHRS peciali

st.com/ breakla

ws.

Your H R caree

r:

It pays to spec

ialize

Compe nsation

for em ployees

in HR

special ties (be

nefits, t raining

, etc.) r uns

about 2 0% high

er than pay for

HR gen -

eralist p ositions

, says a recent

nationa l

report. Compe

nsation also ris

es for H R

jobs in larger o

rganiza tions an

d in lar ger

cities. P lus, mo

re HR p rofessio

nals are

earning incenti

ves as their jo

bs beco me

more s trategic

. Read the full

report a t

www.t heHRS

peciali st.com/

HRsala ries.

What’s N ews ...

Inside

Dateline D.C.: Hea

lth care, Facebook

, benefits ....... 2

Monthly Mentor s

upplemen t ..............

................ .....3-6

HR ‘How To’: Certi

fying inte rmittent F

MLA leav e .... 7

Ask the A ttorney: F

MLA, tim e sheets .

................ ....... 8

Your Care er: Draft

a ‘career annual r

eport’ ..... ....... .8

April 15 , 2013

• Vol. 1, No.

1

Trusted insight

s and a dvice f

rom Th e HR Sp

ecialist

Accord ing to U

.S. emp loyers,

in whic h quart

er do e mploye

es

most fr equent

ly call in sick

?

Source : Caree

rBuilde r surve

y

Handbo ok chec

kup: Re sources

7 most comm

on han dbook

errors,

www.th eHRSp

ecialist .com/h

andboo k-

errors

• Self -audit

for han dbooks

, www.

theHRS pecialis

t.com/h andboo

kaudit

Checkl ist: Wh

at to in clude i

n hand -

books, www.t

heHRS pecialis

t.com/

handbo okchec

klist

Januar

y – Ma rch

Octob er – De

cembe r

July – Septem

ber April –

June

23% 34%

13%3 0%

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