Leadership

Looking Over Your Team’s Shoulders

There is nothing so demoralizing as reporting to a boss who makes every single discussion feel like a performance review, wants every trivial decision green-lighted and signed off on, and makes every comment a nitpick.

Often, these types of managers are not intrinsically hostile or malicious. Their obsessive modus operandi is more likely rooted in insecurity and inexperience. In some cases, a micromanager may be suffering from their own isolation. Suppose they have been promoted from a hands-on, operational position to a more senior and strategic level. Uneasy in the transition, they may still cling to their former, accustomed role. They feel more comfortable supervising their teams in familiar territory.

Too much on your plate

If you have ever suspected you may be overly demanding, especially regarding minor matters, ask yourself these questions: Do you sense discomfort from your team? Is your mentorship unhealthy?

The symptoms of a micromanager are all too evident to subordinates:

• Avoids delegating.
• Edits and fixes mistakes themselves.
• Demands frequent updates, status and progress reports, and revisions.
• Obsesses over every detail and ignores the big picture.
• Sets unrealistic deadlines.
• Must be cc’d on everything.
• Fixates on minor errors.
• Rarely offers praise or recognition.
• Likes to know employees’ whereabouts at all times.
• Watches every move and keeps tabs.
• Monitors constantly.

Teams cringe when their manager brings ego into meetings or makes every decision personal. Their distress can increase if their boss wants all tasks executed their (boss’s) own way yet fails to provide enough support or advice to direct them. It becomes a guessing game to perform when context is withheld.

While no one likes to be hounded, there are, nevertheless, times when a high-touch approach can be productive. Attention and expert guidance may be appropriate for situations like training or onboarding. Micromanagement may even be the optimal style for directing crunch projects where a steep learning curve comes into play.

When the perfect becomes the enemy of the good

Micromanagement takes a destructive toll on both managers and team members. It damages workflow, suppresses initiative, stifles motivation and impedes productivity. The constant check-ins lead to bottlenecks and the pace of the entire department slows down. Managers find themselves working longer hours and accomplishing less in the time frame — a recipe for burnout. Trust is compromised and employees’ turnover rates are likely to increase.

Overinvolvement with the minutiae of teams’ tasks is rarely scalable in the long run. Consider what happens as teams scale up and take on new and more complicated duties. As activities become more complex, they require a whole new level of information or even skill sets. As the business and team functions grow, at a tipping point the manager’s techniques will not be able to keep pace with the pressure of the new dynamic. Trouble adapting is often palpable in startup companies that begin to expand. The founders, who might be typical micromanagers, find the developing scale overwhelming.

Micromanagement also undermines morale when every job requires specific approval. If employees have no autonomy or participation in decision making, personal development and creativity are stymied. They may resent restrictions, especially if they believe an assignment is well within their capabilities. Team members become reluctant to share opinions for fear of being shot down. Why should they risk originality?

Letting go

If you suspect you might be micromanaging, you can still take steps to rebuild trust and communication. And you’ll probably need to relinquish some control, allowing your team more space to work independently.

The first move is to ask them for honest feedback. Listen carefully and be willing to implement suggestions they may offer.

Restoring trust is a long process, but it can be based on good communication. In fact, overcommunicate. Make it clear you are willing to learn alongside them, even if that means making some mistakes. Be more open to letting them explore alternatives. Tell them your expectations, give them room to work it out and only check in when they are ready to unveil the result.

©2023

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Blowing the Whistle

Ralph Nader coined the term “whistleblower” in the 1970s when he hosted a conference on professional responsibility. His linguistic hack was designed to counter negative connotations of labels like “rat” and “snitch.”

As opposed to a grievance, which likely describes a personal complaint against a fellow employee, a whistleblower generally airs an accusation against the company. Whether the charge results from a long-simmering vendetta or a well-intentioned heads-up does not matter; the underlying motives are irrelevant. All that counts is that the whistleblower sincerely believes the complaint to be true.

Businesses create whistleblower policies and procedures to reinforce a transparent and supportive office culture. Ideally, the objective is to identify, investigate and address misconduct before events reach the level of a criminal charge or public relations debacle.

More recently, the focus of what constitutes wrongdoing has widened. Years ago, the violation tended to be illegal financial misbehavior, such as fraud, embezzlement or theft. Today, in keeping with current social trends, it is likely to be harassment, discrimination or bullying.  Firms take especially seriously any reported risks to worker safety with potential moral and legal implications. Companies recognize that all these offenses can damage their hard-earned brands, incur legal costs and destroy valuable business relationships.

Protected by law

Rules and regulations surrounding whistleblowing and reporting have also evolved and been codified into federal and state statutes. The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 was enacted to shield federal workers from reprisals when reporting mismanagement, abuse, and public health and safety violations. In 2002, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed to guard investors from fraudulent corporate practices. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, lawmakers followed suit with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which also prohibits employers from retaliating against workers.

Corporate retaliation can take many forms, both overt and subtle:

• Firing.
• Demotion.
• Reduction of benefits.
• Garnishment of wages.
• Reduction or increase in work hours.
• Blacklisting.
• Sidelining.
• Reassignment.
• Bad references.

In addition, a variety of other laws pertain to specific industries, such as automotive, nuclear, trucking, chemical, and gas and oil.

Taking steps

Before trouble arises, a business should have ready its own book of policy rules. Historically, whistleblower issues were typically handled by legal, compliance or risk departments, but nowadays, HR is likely to be first on the scene.

Your policy document may begin by defining what whistleblowing actually is: bringing wrongdoing, committed by the employer or co-workers, to the attention of management. It will go on to lay out in more detail how to raise the concerns and to whom. It should highlight the intention to treat the entire issue fairly and confidentially, and possibly provide some time frame and a method for resolution.

With its policy statements prepared, the company should advertise the system across the workforce and thank employees for coming forward. A haphazard approach will not work well. Every complaint needs to be investigated. It will be necessary to train managers in the reporting process and prepare them for the types of alleged behavior they are likely to confront. They should be alert to false allegations and reprisals, too.

Some companies may add an anonymous hotline to encourage a safe speak-up culture.  Employees doubtless know that they are risking ridicule or ostracism if their complaints backfire or their anonymity is breached. It is up to the employer to instill confidence that they will be secure, despite potentially exposing colleagues. Employees must believe in the reporting system and that management will take seriously the issues raised. They must also have confidence that they are empowered to help create positive change.

©2023

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4 Common Types of Employee Complaints

Whenever employee complaints are filed with the HR department, the issues at hand should be taken seriously. Failure to properly address the matter, whether intentional or not, can result in the employee feeling demoralized. Employees who do not feel heard may turn to the internet or media outlets and air their grievances publicly.

You may run the risk of losing the employee to your competitors or being the receiving party of a lawsuit. None of these possible outcomes is favorable, and all of them stand the chance to damage your company’s reputation and cost you expensive monetary consequences in the form of penalties or fines while decreasing overall employee morale.

For these reasons and more, it is imperative that you make an effort to reduce the likelihood of employee complaints about the workplace. This all starts with understanding the types of complaints that employees often make. Below are four of the most common.

1. A lack of clarity regarding job responsibilities

According to a recent Gallup report, “only 60% of workers can strongly agree that they know what is expected of them at work. When accountability and expectations are moving targets, employees can become exhausted just trying to figure out what people want from them.”

In other words, employees need to have a clear and defined understanding of what their job duties entail so that they know what they must do on the job.

2. Problems pertaining to payment

While certain federal and state requirements speak to how payroll must be handled via wage and hour labor laws, employee complaints about pay remain rampant. In fact, in 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor distributed more than $9.1 million to over 1,600 workers who were owed wages. In that situation, 1,600 employees received $1,393 in back wages.

Common issues with employee pay often manifest in the following ways:

• Violations in terms of minimum wage or overtime pay.
• Employers pay employees less than the market rate for the position.
• Lower pay based on gender, race or ethnicity.
• Mistakes resulting from payroll errors during data entry.

To the best of their abilities, employers should prioritize the adoption of equitable and compliant pay practices while doing all that they can to reduce the likelihood of payroll mistakes.

3. Work environments that feel hostile

By definition, a hostile work environment is a workplace that is disruptive to the point where it impacts the ability of employees to properly perform their work duties. Hostile behavior is typically illegal when it is discriminatory in nature, intense, pervasive, frequent and unwelcomed.

To give you an idea of what a hostile work environment may look like, here are several signs to watch out for:

• Discrimination.
• Harassment.
• Bullying.
• Toxic relationships.
• Threats.
• Violence.
• Employees who do not feel psychologically safe at work.

A hostile work environment is one of the main reasons employees pay HR a visit. HR should resolve the complaints in an objective and fair manner and take steps to prevent the problem from reoccurring.

4. Performance reviews that seem unfair

In a 2019 study, a shocking 85% of employees stated that they would consider quitting their jobs if they were to receive a performance review that they perceived as unfair. Now, in many cases, employees have the wherewithal to challenge an unfair review and request that HR revise the review they were given rather than resorting to quitting right away, but not all employees understand that they can do this.

Regardless, the best way to mitigate the chances of employees receiving unfair reviews is for managers to provide their employees with accurate, fact-based and unbiased feedback on a reasonable and regular basis. Doing so can help employers justify their formal performance reviews, and employees will be more likely to accept the feedback they receive as well.

©2023

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Before we begin, it’s important to define unconscious biases. According to the University of California San Francisco’s website, “unconscious biases are social stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals form outside their own conscious awareness.”

Just as important is the fact that “everyone holds unconscious beliefs about various social and identity groups, and these biases stem from one’s tendency to organize social worlds by categorizing.” Now, the main problem with unconscious biases is that they have the potential to cloud people’s judgment-making abilities and result in poor decision-making outcomes.

How unconscious bias impacts the workplace

One study in particular found that employees may respond in the following ways if they perceive themselves as being the victim of negative unconscious biases at work:

• Withhold new ideas and solutions from their employer.
• Refrain from referring others to available positions with the company.
• Look for another job and quit as soon as possible.

For many reasons, these are not preferrable outcomes for many reasons, namely because they can result in numerous retention issues, which are not only time-consuming but also expensive on part of employers. Therefore, it is imperative that employers understand the concept of unconscious biases and the disadvantageous side effects that stem from them.

To help you better understand unconscious biases, we have included eight different types of bias down below. Keep in mind that these biases are categorized as unconscious but that doesn’t mean they cannot occur consciously as well, so awareness and responsibility of your own biases is key.

1. Gender bias

When people are treated differently based on a certain detail that sets them apart, bias is at play. In the case of gender bias, treating men and women differently in the ways that they are recruited, compensated, promoted and disciplined at work is indicative of gender bias. 

2. Racial bias

According to Healthline, “racial bias happens when attitudes and judgments toward people because of their race affect personal thoughts, decisions, and behaviors.” In other words, racial bias results in discriminatory behaviors towards people based on their skin color and background in ways that are beyond unfair and inappropriate. 

3. Age bias

This is a form of bias that refers to the act of making assumptions about someone solely based on their age. As an example, the internal belief that younger employees cannot be entrusted with the responsibility of leadership roles, or that older employees do not have the capacity to understand or value technology in the workplace, are two forms of age bias.

4. Confirmation bias

Per an SHRM article, confirmation bias is when “our views are influenced by people around us and usually occurs when we are seeking acceptance from others.” For instance, if an employee agrees with a fellow coworker about their coworker’s opinion on a work-related project because the employee wants to be friendly despite secretly disagreeing with the other person, the confirmation bias stems from agreement for the sake of friendship, not authentic agreeance.  

5. Affinity bias

When an employee favors a fellow employee simply due to the fact that they share similarities with one another, affinity bias is at play. For instance, if a hiring manager selects a certain job applicant over another because they have similar hobbies and interests, then the hiring manager is operating from a place of affinity bias.

6. Appearance bias

When someone judges another person and then acts on those judgements based on physical traits, such as weight, height, skin color, hairstyle or subjective level of attractiveness, the person forming the judgments is engaging in appearance bias. A work-related example of appearance bias would be hiring someone strictly because they are deemed to be physically beautiful or attractive, meaning they are offered a position based on how they look rather than their job competencies.

7. Horns effect bias

When someone perceives a negative trait in another person and then uses that one trait to form other negative assumptions about that individual, horns effect bias is at play. For instance, say an employee calls in to let their employer know that they are running late one morning. From there, if their boss then goes on to view them as being an unreliable employee, even though they have a reasonable excuse.

8. Halo effect bias

The halo effect bias is the polar opposite of the horns effect bias, meaning the halo effect causes people to let one good detail about a person cause them to assume multiple other positive things about that person regardless of whether those assumptions are accurate or not. The problem with this type of bias is that those other “good” assumptions may be wrong, leading people to think more highly of individuals than they otherwise would.

Keep in mind that there are many other forms of biases that can arise in the workplace, both consciously and unconsciously. These eight examples are just a handful of the many possibilities, and it’s important to be mindful of how bias may arise in the workplace to avoid treating people unfairly at work.

©2023

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