HR to Go

January 2007

When Does "Good-Bye" Really Mean "Good-Bye"?
When an employee shouts, "I quit!" and stomps out of your office only to call the next day asking to return to work, what are your options? Here are some ways to approach the situation without burning any bridges behind you:

Allow a cooling-off period. Give a day of grace to let everybody calm down and rethink their positions. Don't take any irreversible action, such as removing a time card or issuing a final paycheck, until at least 24 hours have passed.

Ask a neutral third party to call the employee at home and confirm the resignation, or find out what happened. A manager from another department, or someone from Human Resources, may be a good person to do this.

Be open for requests to return. People sometimes say or do things they don't really mean. Don't let your ego get in the way of a sincere "I'm sorry" and a genuine desire to return to work.

Find the facts. Was the employee having a bad day? Are there other factors that might have caused an overly emotional reaction to a specific situation? Ask the employee for his or her side of the story.

Maintain discipline. If you do let the employee come back to work, be sure to state firmly that walking out is not an acceptable way to solve problems.

Six Simple Ways to Achieve Accountability for Safety There are many ways to create accountability systems for safety. Here are a few suggestions: 1. Use an existing work order system to ensure hazards are corrected in a timely manner. 2. Hold managers and supervisors accountable for being visibly involved, setting the proper example and leading a positive change for safety and health. 3. Develop upstream measures for safety, such as hazard/suggestion communication systems. 4. Ensure that employees receive no repercussions for bringing safety suggestions, concerns or problems to light. 5. Create a formal process for employees to report injuries, first aid administration and even near misses. 6. Develop a process for investigating accidents and near misses that is timely, complete and effective.

The U.S. pays employees $759 billion a year to play solitare.
Though human resources managers assume employees will waste nearly an hour each day running errunds, making phone calls and shopping online, employees actually waste much more.

2.09 hours- time the average employee wastes during an 8-hour workday.

$5,720- average amount employers pay employees annually for work not performed.

44.7%- proportion of employees who cite surfing the internet as their top time-wasting activity.

1930-1949- the years in which those employees who wasted the least time per day - 0.5 hours - were born.

No. 1- the position held by the insurance industry in ranking of top time-wasting industries.

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