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Chapter 15: Addressing
Problems before Taking
Critical Action
Prevention When Possible
• The best time to address a problem is before it
becomes a problem
• Prevention should be practiced whenever
possible
• It reduces stress and improves morale
• Employee tardiness and absenteeism deserve a
department manager’s visible attention
• Conscientious and common-sense management
helps to minimize or avoid problems
Employee Privacy and
Confidentiality
• Issues of employee privacy and
confidentiality are pervasive
• The conflict usually amounts to individual
rights versus business needs
• The rights of individuals to privacy and
confidentiality have been a growing
concern in American society
Privacy and the Changing
Times
• The right of individuals to privacy has been
growing
• Since September 11, 2001, the government has
been responding to a perceived need to monitor
individuals and their movements
• Apprehension about how government might use
information is also growing
• Businesses are widely perceived as exercising
their legal right to review computers and
electronic documents and to monitor telephone
conversations as they attempt to know more
about the people they employ
Employee Views on Privacy
• Employees expect that their privacy will be
protected
• When individuals seek employment, work
organizations want information about past and
present employers and other references
• Employees continue to grow more sensitive to
the issue of privacy rights, but at the same time
they perceive that organizations are delving
continually deeper into their personal lives
Definition: Right to Privacy
• Many people believe that organizations ask for
more personal information than is legitimately
needed
• Petrocelli: “It is the right to be free from the
unwarranted appropriation of one’s personality,
the publicizing of one’s private affairs with which
the public has no legitimate concern, or the
wrongful intrusion into one’s private activities, in
such a manner as to outrage or cause suffering,
shame or humiliation to a person of ordinary
sensibilities.”
Individual vs. Societal Rights
• Individual rights are continually giving way to
perceived needs for drug testing, especially
concerning people in occupations having
responsibility for public health and safety
• AIDS and testing for the presence of HIV
represents a constant collision of individual
rights with the need to know information about
people seeking treatment and coworkers
• This controversy was largely responsible for
adopting universal precautions under which all
bodily fluids are regarded as potentially
hazardous
Example: Polygraph Testing
• Most controversies over employee
information and management involve
business needs compared to employee
expectations of privacy
• Adverse reactions to the routine use of
polygraph (lie detector) tests led to
passage of the Employee Polygraph
Protection Act of 1988
Legislation Affecting Privacy
• Since 1975, employees have developed
stronger voices in the workplace
• Government has responded to those
voices by enacting antidiscrimination laws
that restricted the information employers
can request on job applications and in
employment interviews
Specific Acts
• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was
the first major law to have a significant
bearing on individual privacy
• Next was the Privacy Act of 1974
• The law ensures record confidentiality,
guarantees employees the right to
examine their personnel files, and requires
that no information be disclosed without
the consent of affected employees
• The Privacy Act has served as a model for
privacy laws in many states
Polygraph and Fair Credit
Reporting Acts
• The Polygraph Protection Act allows
testing of selected employees
• The Fair Credit Reporting Act limited
organizational access to personal financial
data
• This legislation keeps employers from
receiving reports about employees with
the exception of specifically defined
purposes related to work
Legal Orders
• Agencies serve subpoenas, summonses,
and warrants to employees in the
workplace
• If they enter via administration, they will
probably be referred to HR
• Many organizations prefer to have HR
arrange for such an order to be served in
private and avoid unnecessary
embarrassment to an employee
Personal Rights at Work
• Managers should send serving officers to
HR
• Any external request for information about
an employee should be referred to HR
• With the exception of responding to legal
orders, HR should not release any
information to outside persons or parties
without first securing a signed release
from the affected employee
Employee Searches
• Searches of desks and lockers are sometimes
necessary
• Organizations should have a published policy
governing searches
• Any search policy must be applied evenly and
consistently to eliminate any perception of
discrimination
• No employees should be exempt from a search
• Employee consent should be requested before a
search
• Every search should be conducted with discretion and
respect for individuals and property
Access to Employee Information
• Employee confidentiality always involves
questions of access to information
• Legitimate needs can usually be determined by
answering the question: What will be the result
if this information is not made available?
• Employees have a legally protected right to
examine their personnel files and add
clarifications they believe are necessary
• Most organizational policies such policies
require that files must be reviewed in the
presence of an HR employee to ensure that no
material is removed
Files with Employee Information
• Employee personnel files may be made available to
managers who are considering particular persons for
transfers
• All organizations should have a written policy
governing the release of information concerning both
employees and others
• If department managers maintain files concerning their
own employees, this practice should be publicized
• Similar information should be kept for all employees
with no exceptions
• Supervisors are advised never to maintain secret files
on selected individuals
Employee Health Records
• Records related to workers’ compensation and
disability, are considered to be medical records
and are subject to strict rules of accessibility
• Employee health records are customarily filed
separately from personnel information, often in
a separate office
• They are commonly retained by the employee
health office and are subject to the same rules
of access that govern patient records in a
physician’s office
Personal Relationships
• Many organizations have rules governing personal
relationships among employees on the job
• Generally, employers can do nothing regarding the
conduct of employees off of the job
• Employers typically do nothing as long as there is no
adverse effect on job performance or on the
organization’s reputation
• Employees should be encouraged to disclose the
existence of romantic relationships involving coworkers voluntarily to their supervisors
• Some organizations require employees to disclose the
existence of personal or romantic relationships with
individuals employed by direct competitors
Favoritism
• Legitimate concerns exist about the appearance
of favoritism and an increased likelihood of
sexual harassment claims and employee unrest
when romantic relationships exist between
management and non-management employees
• Courts have held organizations liable for sexual
harassment by a manager even if senior
managers did not know about a relationship
• Many organizations have discovered that
consensual relationships can go sour and lead
to charges of sexual harassment
Nepotism
• Many organizations have nepotism policies that
prohibit having one spouse under the supervision of
the other, or even to place both spouses in the same
department or group
• Little or no inappropriate behavior may occur but
perceptions arise
• To observers, perception is reality
• Generally, nepotism rules prevail if it can be shown
that they are designed to avoid aggregation of family
members, are applied evenly and consistently, and
result in no adverse impact on either gender
• Inconsistent or uneven enforcement can result in
discrimination charges
Sexual Harassment
• Under the Civil Rights Act, sexual harassment
is a form of sex discrimination
• Sexual harassment has become one of the two
most frequently charged forms of discrimination
for employers in the United States (the other is
discrimination based on age)
• Without exception, all employees of any
organization must understand sexual
harassment and know about organizational
policies relative to it
Sexual Harassment Defined
• Sexual harassment consists of unwelcome sexual
advances, demands or requests for sexual favors, or
other conduct of a sexual nature
• It is harassment if acceptance of or submission to
such conduct is either explicitly or implicitly a term or
condition of employment, if acceptance or rejection of
such conduct is used as a basis for making
employment-related decisions, or if the conduct can
be viewed as unreasonably interfering with work
performance or creating an offensive or intimidating
work environment
• The latter condition is referred to as a hostile
environment
Behaviors
• Sexual harassment can be direct (offensive touching
or making direct sexual propositions) or indirect
(exhibiting sexually suggestive posters or calendars,
or allowing sexually related humor to be overheard)
• A particular behavior might constitute sexual
harassment at one time but not at another time
• Often, determining whether some mode of conduct is
or is not considered sexual harassment rests with how
the conduct is perceived
• Behavior that is judged to be sexual harassment is
generally unwelcome, unwanted, and repeated
Policies About Sexual
Harassment
• All organizations should have policies that
prohibit sexual harassment and retaliation
against anyone complaining of
harassment
• Managers must know the sexual
harassment and anti-retaliation policies
• They must be able to train employees
about the policy and the procedures for
reporting sexual harassment
Implementing Policies
• HR should include sexual harassment in
new-employee orientation
• Copies of sexual harassment policies
should be available to all
• All employees must know the process for
reporting sexual harassment and
understand how charges of such behavior
are investigated
Effects of Sexual Harassment
• Before the emergence of legal channels
through which to complain, sexual harassment
was entirely hidden, and for the most part,
shrugged off or deliberately ignored
• Sexual harassment is a major concern
throughout business and industry
• Sexual harassment cannot be condoned or
tolerated
• Managers must maintain a zero-tolerance
policy towards sexual harassment
Violence
• Violence in the workplace is often due to stress
• Violence is similar to other forms of human behavior in
that it is action in response to a condition, need, or
demand
• Chronic anger can lead to diminished productivity,
reduced quality, increased fatigue, burnout,
depression, and violence
• A department manager’s best approach to workplace
violence involves awareness and prevention
• There is no consistent profile to describe persons who
commit violent acts in the workplace
Precursors of Violence
• Violent employees may have:
– Experienced family problems
– A history of abuse
– Problems associated with alcohol or drug
usage
– History of violence
– An aggressive personality
– Mental conditions such as depression,
paranoia or schizophrenia
– Poor self-image or low self-esteem
Reasons for Violence
•
•
•
•
•
Reasons behind workplace violence include:
Inability to cope with stress
Drug reactions
Problems involving job, money, or family
Reaction to the loss of employment or a
relationship
• Frustration with waiting or with rude or indifferent
treatment
• Confusion or fear
• Perceived violations of privacy
Preventing Violence
• Treat everyone with respect and
consideration
• Keep all objects that could be used as
weapons stored away
• Supervisors should know security
procedures, alarms, and warning codes
Warning Signs
• A person that appears to be under the
influence of alcohol or drugs, appears to
have been in a fight, is escorted by police
or is being restrained
• Visible indicators of potential violence
include obvious possession of a weapon;
nervousness; abrupt movements; extreme
restlessness, pacing or obvious agitation;
hitting walls or objects; or breaking things
Reacting to the Threat of
Violence
• When observing any indicator of violence,
supervisors should notify other staff and call
security
• Supervisors should stay alert but remain calm
• All employees should maintain a safe distance
and give an agitated person plenty of space
• People nearby should not turn their backs
• Untrained employees must never touch an
agitated or upset person
• Employees should speak with voices that are
calm, slow, and quiet
Reacting to Actual Violence
• All employees should be orientated in how
to react to violent behavior
• Employees should protect themselves
• Sound an alarm or call security
• Employees without specific training should
not try to disarm or restrain an agitated the
person
Employee Participation and
Involvement
• Participative management requires organizational
commitment
• Managers and supervisors must be willing to allow
employees to participate in decisions
• Employees must know that supervisors and managers
genuinely want their input and that it is valued
• Managers should be visible and available
• The more employees feel that managers are
interested in what they do and in their thoughts, the
more they will feel respected, challenged, and
constructively utilized
Connecting with Employees
• The majority of employees prefer to be
challenged
• Effective managers remember that nobody
knows the inner detailed workings of a job
better than the person who does it every
day
• Managers should try to access this
knowledge through honest participation
Empowering Employees
• Managers must be able to empower their employees
• The more levels of supervision that separate a
decision maker and the person affected by it, the
worse will be the outcome
• Effective employee involvement requires mutual trust
between managers and employees
• An organization that can achieve effective employee
participation will usually experience significant
increases in productivity and noticeable decreases in
employee problems
• Interested, stimulated and challenged employees
constitute the best possible means of preventing
problems
Counseling
• Counseling is appropriate for addressing problems
and potential problems at their early stages to keep
them from becoming overwhelming
• It can be informal guidance and work-related advice
that is provided by a supervisor
• Counseling can be used to strengthen weaknesses in
employee performance and provide ongoing guidance
• Counseling may enable a manager to recommend
developmental activities for an employee or improve
communication between supervisor and employee
Indicators for Counseling
• Supervisors should try to counsel employees
when problems first appear
• Counseling may be needed with a noticeable
decline in an performance or failure to meet job
standards
• Such changes often indicate personal problems
• Complaints about an employee from other
people, especially those that reflect rude or
inappropriate behavior often reflect personal
problems
Managers Are Not Counselors
• Managers should remember that they are
conduits to trained professionals
• Supervisory counseling encompasses coaching
on job-related topics or on behavior relative to
policies or work rules
• Counseling must never become personal
• Supervisors must know their own limitations
• Fear of a lawsuit should reinforce the directive to
refer people with problems to qualified
professionals
Advice to Managers
• When providing advice in appropriate
settings, managers must be
knowledgeable and credible
• Managers should keep their advice
consistent from person to person and
avoid generalizations
• Timeliness is appreciated by all
• Delaying counseling dilutes the message
and diminishes its impact
Tips for Managers
• Effective managers are alert for employee
defensiveness and do not argue
• Successful counselors are as positive as
possible
• Effective counselors listen
• They provide their undivided attention
when employees speak and focus on what
is being said
Focus and Notes
• At all times, department managers must remember
that their primary goal should be focusing on the
results of behavior, not the causes
• Focusing on the results of behavior rather than the
causes and correcting inappropriate behavior helps
managers to avoid entering an employee’s personal
life
• Wise managers briefly document each counseling
session, recording employee name, date, and the
nature of the discussion
• These notes are not considered to be permanent
records but should be retained for one to two years
• Personal notes should be destroyed if a problem does
not recur in two years
Chapter Summary
• Many employee-related problems can be prevented by timely
and appropriate interventions
• Employee confidentiality and privacy must be respected and
protected
• Most organizations have established policies to address
personal relationships involving colleagues or supervisors
• Sexual harassment is a serious problem
• All employees must understand and follow organizational
policies and procedures related to sexual harassment
• Zero tolerance for sexual harassment is the only defensible
position that an organization can adopt
• All employees must be instructed about how to respond to
threats of violence
• Employee involvement can facilitate and improve operations
• Supervisors should be able to provide advice or limited
counseling to their employees