March 20 Tip of the Week

“Building the Employee Relationship”

In today’s workforce, building relationships is key to developing effective and productive employees.  Most people come to work intending to do a good job and want to be viewed as a good employee.  Unfortunately, some employees are unable to fully understand their responsibilities and can’t quite grasp that the employer controls the relationship, sets the terms and conditions of employment, and has to hold people accountable for the good of the organization. 

The best way to ensure that employees are fully cognizant of their responsibilities and accept the oversight of supervisors and managers, is to build the employee relationship.  There are several ways that this can be done.  It starts with the application process and ends with the disciplinary process, with several steps along the way. 

When posting jobs and screening prospective employees, it is important for employers to have fully developed and accurate job descriptions that include a detailed accounting of the job responsibilities as well as the skills, knowledge, and experience necessary to do the job.  When screening applicants, employers should be using structured interview questions that are designed to obtain a full understanding of the candidate – not only their education and work history, but the intangible qualities that they bring to a position, such as their work ethic and their ability to receive constructive feedback and to be self-reflective. 

Once an employee is hired, employers must provide a blueprint of the employment relationship – what the employer expects from the employee and what the employee can expect from the employer.  This is where the employee handbook is key.  A well written, comprehensive employee handbook will provide new employees with a complete understanding of the rules of employment.  These rules include performance expectations for employees, as well as the pay and benefits that the employer will provide in return.  The employee handbook should provide a road map for both employees and managers as to how performance will be evaluated, how discipline will be meted out, and an assurance that employees will be treated consistently and fairly in accordance with the standards contained in the handbook. 

Finally, during the course of the employee’s tenure with the employer, it is imperative that employees are treated respectfully and in accordance with the rules of engagement.  Performance appraisals should be conducted on time using the templates that have been developed and shared with employees.  Employee conduct and, more importantly, misconduct should be addressed in a fair and consistent fashion, with employees receiving positive feedback for their good job performance and disciplinary actions for their misdeeds, poor performance, or inappropriate conduct.  To ensure that the rules of the relationship remain in place and cannot be questioned, feedback needs to be timely and consistent – a failure to address poor performance or misconduct has an impact beyond the employee who fails to meet the expectations of the employer – it erodes those expectations and causes even good employees to question whether those rules of the relationship even exist. 

myHRcounsel can assist you in creating the documents and practices that build relationships with your employees and help to ensure that your employees are fully engaged and productive in the workplace.  From assisting in the drafting of job descriptions to developing legally compliance and comprehensive employee handbooks to navigating difficult employee discipline situations, we are here to help!