Why are First-Time Managers Unsuccessful in their Roles

First-time managers often have difficulty succeeding in their new roles. There are a number of reasons for this. First, they may not have the necessary experience to effectively manage a workplace. Second, they may be unfamiliar with the workplace culture and norms. Third, they may not have the necessary people skills to manage and motivate employees. Fourth, they may not have the needed organizational skills to keep track of tasks and deadlines. Finally, they may not have the required knowledge to make decisions that will improve workplace productivity. As a result, first-time managers often struggle in their new jobs and may eventually be replaced by more experienced managers.

It's a commonly held belief that people who have never managed before are bound to struggle in their new roles. After all, managing a team of employees requires a completely different skillset than being an individual contributor. First-time managers often find themselves struggling to adjust to the new demands of their jobs. They may be uncertain of how to delegate tasks, handle conflict, or give feedback. As a result, they may start to feel overwhelmed and bogged down by their new responsibilities. Additionally, first-time managers may also have difficulty establishing authority within their teams. Without the proper guidance, they may resort to micromanaging or using punitive measures in an attempt to assert their authority. However, these tactics usually backfire, leading to resentment and low morale among team members. Ultimately, first-time managers often do poorly in their jobs because they are unprepared for the challenges that come with the role.

Janice, a first-time manager at a technology company, lacked self-control, disorganized and unprofessional. She was frequently frustrated with the teams she managed especially when they had questions that she could not answer. She was not as skilled as she had claimed during the interview process. When there were tech challenges, she either feigned like she knew how to solve the issues, blamed others or ignored her team's concerns. She boasted about having leadership skills; however, she had led a student group back in high school. She was not a seasoned professional.  To stay in her role, she promised to improve and assured management that she would do better.  Challenges continue to occur between her and the team members. Unfortunately, many have left and more have been hired under her poor leadership.   

Bob, a seasoned employee in a performance-based team role, lacked professionalism. He was often impatient, insulted fellow workers, and participated in and encouraged unethical behaviors at work.  His actions led to the entire team being punished causing all to come in last in overall team sales. The ripple effect was that most either quit working for the company or were terminated. Bob made excuses for what had occurred with his prior and current teams and used great sales pitches to remain in his position.

Incompetent upper management who chooses to ignore or tolerate patterns of unprofessional behaviors cost companies much time and money. They also do not provide the necessary tools early on to new managers so that inexperienced managers are weeded out from the successful ones.  Leaving both the strong and weak team leaders to fin for themselves.

7 Signs a Manager Cannot Handle Conflict, Workplace Challenges

Workplace challenges can be very difficult to manage.  Headaches, stomach upset, and more can result, but these are no excuses to avoid workplace conflict altogether.  Eventually issues will need to be dealt with before there are staff walking out the door, profit losses, and other issues that might put a manager’s head on the chopping block.

Upper management is sometimes not aware or doesn’t care when middle managers are often delegating responsibilities to staff that they should be handling.  When this occurs, a team can start to feel like fearful and/or lazy managers are getting away with something.  Why should they have to do the managers’ job?  Not every employee is looking to take on a leadership role and they shouldn’t be expected to, the manager is getting paid to lead not hide!

1.  Makes excuses to get out of work.  The fearful or often worried manager will make up excuses as to why he or she can’t be in the office during a challenging time.  “I have to take care of my relative…I can’t be there because something has come up…I really wish I could help but I have to leave early.”  How true are these statements during a time when the manager’s presence is very much needed?
2. Fakes busyness. The leader may not come up with an excuse to leave the office, but he or she will lie about being “busy” while conflicts are ongoing.  The instructions are given to team members “not to disturb…or interrupt” when the office doors are closed.  However, the conflict that is ongoing out on the floor ought to be addressed by the manager and not a staff member.  Issues are priority not making busy work for one’s self to avoid handling problems.
3. Takes days off. The manager conveniently takes personal or vacation days to do things like:  avoid critical meetings, train new staff, reorganize the office, assist out-of-state visitors, etc.  When a date is pre-planned or fast approaching, managers who don’t want to get involved, make certain they will be unavailable on those days.  Upper management, who isn’t carefully watching the timing or looking for any patterns when days are being taken off, will inadvertently approve time that shouldn’t have been approved in the first place making it quite inconvenient for the rest of the team.
4. Talks negatively about having to work.  There is a tendency to frequently complain about workplace conflicts or challenges, but management doesn’t do anything about them.  Instead, the manager hopes the problems will work themselves out.  When they don’t and they grab the attention of upper management, now he or she wants to write people up or terminate them.  Unfortunately, the manager should have been proactive from the start.
5. Ignores responsibilities.  An important thing to remember is that not every manager who is hired by a company is there for the right reasons.  The position could simply be a temporary gig until a better position comes around.  With that said, the nonchalant manager, who isn’t fearful or worried about the office conflicts or challenges, simply doesn’t address them because his or her mind is somewhere else.  This manager expects the office to be run on autopilot whether or not he or she is present.
6. Delegates tasks to people who are ill-equipped to handle them.  Whether pre-planned or requested at the last minute, work is given to those who really have no clue what they are doing.  Very little training or none at all occurs and when things are done incorrectly, the irresponsible manager blames those who he or she assigned to complete the tasks rather than hold his or herself accountable.
7. Calls off due to a myriad of genuine or conceived health issues.  Real or imagined health problems, managers, who slack on their duties, will share either in advance or at the last minute with select team members. They will do this when they don’t want to or can’t handle tasks by deadline.  Sometimes health woes really do show up because the manager is sincerely stressed out because he or she is doing poorly at his or her job.

Employees who notice leadership is not working up to par need not suffer through the excuse-making and ploys to get out of work, notify Human Resources or upper management about your concerns.  State what you are noticing and how the manager’s lack of enthusiasm, poor work ethic, and nonchalant attitude is causing the team to miss important deadlines and other relevant information. Managers, who behave in this way, bring employee morale down and ultimately cost companies more to keep them around while losing revenue.

Nicholl McGuire is the owner and contributor to this blog.

What's Wrong with the Job? 12 Possible Reasons Why Employees Leave

There are those reasons employees don't mind sharing with others as to why they don't work for a certain company any longer, but then there are those work observations they would never discuss because they wouldn't want to burn any bridges.  Human Resources may know, but then again maybe not especially if some staff are too chummy with managers and supervisors or at fault.

So the following are some straightforward reasons why some workers leave that can be uncovered either before you take on a position, while you are working there or after you start a new job working elsewhere.  Notice the cost savings and the headaches you no longer will have if you suggest some practical workplace changes.

1)  It was boring working there.

What exactly are one's duties and when put into practice is there really enough work to hire someone for eight hours a day for five days a week?

2)  Managers, assistants and other workers were divisive.

Notice how frequent the staff fraternize.  Do they realize that their socializing is costing the company time, money and quality of work?  Further, this kind of atmosphere often causes tension.  Is it really necessary to visit a manager's office more times than one goes to the bathroom?  All the talk definitely isn't about work.

3)  People are lying to protect their jobs.

Some of the selfish, vindictive, veteran employees are also the most harmful!  They have protected their jobs for so long with their secrets, lies, denials, and cover-ups that no wonder why new employees never seem to stay.  Notice a pattern with a veteran employee who often points out the mistakes of others, doesn't bother to train effectively, and always has excuses as to why something wasn't done accurately.

4)  Management couldn't care less about the issues that were raised.

Time and time again employees point out challenges and provide solutions and nothing seems to get done.  No wonder why there is a high turn-over!

5)  Co-workers had unchecked personality disorders that impacted business.

"That's just how he/she is..." says the supervisor excusing yet another offensive comment by a trouble-making employee.  Not good enough!  Why aren't write-ups fully enforced?  When a disorder is increasingly causing problems in the workplace either an employee gets help or is terminated.

6)  Substance abuse ongoing with a staff member.

Often taking breaks, lying about one's whereabouts, the odd smell on clothing, glassy or blood-shot eyes, hmm, someone has a major problem.  When the addict makes repeated errors, nothing is done.  Say goodbye to another observant worker who has had enough of the excuses as to why work is incomplete or not done.

7)  Flirtatious managers and/or supervisors.

You would think with all the sexual harassment policies in place one wouldn't even attempt to cross the line, yet he or she does.  Rather than raise the matter up with upper management and possibly face backlash, one attractive employee after another leave.  Does anyone ever notice anything?

8)  People stole and then covered things up.

Before one is thrown under the bus, he or she is out of there!  No one wants to work among thieves and liars if they have good sense.  Employees like this are always saying, "I'm just borrowing it." Sure.  "You didn't see that...Those numbers are correct."  Yeah right!  

9)  Management and/or supervisors were unreachable at crucial times during business hours.

So grateful to have help, yet far too eager to put one's phone on vibrate or off.  Now what is the new employee supposed to do?  You guessed it, figure things out rather right or wrong.  That split decision-making gets old over time.  Employees surely burn out too!

10)  Owners didn't bother to spend money to fix recurring problems.

There are ways to get things done, but you won't like them.  The employee is going to take matters in his or her own hands especially when management is ignoring phone calls.  He or she is going to walk just when you need him or her the most.  Making excuses and telling lies to customers' gets old.  Fix the problem!

11)  Worked far too many hours while the company was slow to hire new employees.

So the company wants to see how much work can be done with as few hands as possible.  Great cost-savings move; however, sooner or later expect your best workers to start looking elsewhere for more pay with less responsibilities.

12)  When customers' issues arose, management often took their side even when they were in the wrong.

What happened to team work makes the dream work?  Not only are staff being cut, but now customers are always right too?  Don't be surprised to see an employee's resume saved on the desktop.  Some customers have their share of hidden agendas and they sure aren't in the best interest of the company.  Listen to your employees with an open mind; rather than a mind ready to go on attack!

Recognize any of these things occurring in your establishment, you know what to do, be proactive before your good workers walk!

Nicholl McGuire manages this blog and many others.  The wife and mother of four sons is an nonfiction author and inspirational speaker.  She also works offline providing administrative support.

Workplace Training Mistakes, How You Deal with Them Will Make or Break the Training Process

Managers, have you ever cautioned, warned, scolded, or had to re-train a new employee for the umpteenth time who developed a pattern of making workplace mistakes? 

Impatience, annoyance, frustration, regret, or anger may have been emotions that some of you in leadership roles may have felt.  However, if the employee finally caught on to the process, then you were most likely relieved, ecstatic, satisfied, or grateful especially if they positively impacted your job.  How did you deal with the employee making the mistakes from the start and did what you do or not have a lot to do with why they are a success now?  Most likely yes!

Every company has a routine or process that must be followed to get results.  When new employees are not trained effectively or are left to manage process on their own, they are set up to fail.  It isn't any wonder why some new hires will quit as soon as they start when they see there is no one or nothing that helps them perform their jobs successfully.  In addition, they may not have felt welcomed from day one and unfortunately discovered that there were no tools prepared to help them do their jobs.

Some poor managers have dealt with workplace mistakes by doing the following: being overly critical, ignoring them because they plan on leaving their jobs, respectfully addressing them, or posting mistakes up in view as a way of shaming an employee into performing better.  Depending on the personality of some workers, they will simply not catch on no matter what they are told or done to them. 

Managers who were simply too impatient, too quick with explanations, short-tempered, or over-the-top during the training process, most likely were unable to keep anyone around long term whether the new worker was quick to learn or not.  If you are looking to keep someone, you have got to be understanding about unintentional errors and willing to shell out some praise and appreciation when a new employee finally does things right.

People, who are already negative about their workplaces, should never be put in positions to train others, no matter how good they might be at their jobs.  When a leader makes the mistake of doing that, he or she will suffer the consequences left behind by the old employee/trainer.  The relationship with the new employee starts off being challenged, because he or she has been told much unflattering things about the leadership and coworkers.  The new employee may not trust the manager, supervisor or coworkers who were not liked by the old employee.  Sometimes if you want good training, you are going to have to do it yourself whether you would like to or not if there just so happens to be bad blood between you and others.

When it comes to a new employee making mistakes, a manager will need to remember the following:

1.  Be patient.  Remember someone had to be patient with you and fix your errors, so why not do the same?

2.  Avoid talking unnecessarily to fellow coworkers about the new employees' errors.  You may be creating division between workers from the start without even knowing it.

3.  Demonstrate self-control regarding the joking and name-calling concerning a new employees' errors.  You will come across as looking like a workplace bully even if you claim you meant nothing by your statements.  A complaint made to the human resources team will be dealt with and will most likely mean something.

4.  Never assume that a new employee knows everything about the job, the computer applications and more just because he or she has worked elsewhere using similar tools.  Oftentimes, companies will customize certain applications to fit their specific environment; therefore, one may not be able to jump in right away and start working.

5.  Make time to answer questions and avoid blowing an employee off during their time of need.  No matter how you might feel about the questions and interruptions, keep in mind you want this employee to do a good job.  Their work is not just a reflection of his or herself, but you as well as the team.

6.  Don't rage in view while a new employee is still learning.  You look mentally unstable and he or she will consider to leaving the job sooner rather than later.  Who wants to work with a ticking time bomb, someone who you have to walk around on eggshells for fear they might freak out?

7.  Keep personal conversation such as marriage, interests and hobbies to a minimum.  With new employees, a first impression is a lasting one and if you get too personal, he or she may form a judgment about you that will be hard to dispel later on.

If you noticed from the information provided in this article, that much of what makes or breaks the training process is not with the new employee, but with the trainer who trains the new employee.

When we think about those who were good trainers, who might come to mind?  What did they do that was quite helpful when they trained you?  You might want to utilize some of those tactics.  Training employees doesn't have to be a challenge, but it becomes one because some trainers simply don't want to follow wise counsel.  Trainers' mistakes are what ultimately costs the company much money every time a new employee quits or is fired and has to onboard yet a new employee.

Nicholl McGuire is the author of What Else Can I Do on the Internet? and other books 

How to Know You’re Being Watched at Work

We are in an economic crisis as we all know and companies are doing what they can to save money including eliminating employees. When there are many good and talented people working it can be difficult for a manager to choose which will stay and which will be let go regardless of tenure. So how do they conduct a process to eliminate employees while saving the company thousands, they become petty! In the past they may not have cared that you showed up for work a few minutes late, they may not have bothered to review your expense reports carefully for wasteful spending, and it may not have mattered too much that you showed up a half an hour late from having lunch. But nowadays, what use to be considered, “Don’t worry about it, its okay!” Now has become “Worry about it. We don’t really need you.”

So how do you know you are being watched at work? Here are enough tips to help you make the necessary adjustments and hopefully get you off the company radar.

Your immediate supervisors and co-workers are contacted about your performance behind your back.

Those people you love to have lunch with may also be responsible for putting you on the radar to get the managers off their back. Sometimes those we work around know more than what they are telling us, so when they feel like they are backed into a corner with nowhere to go, out comes your name. You may have forgot about something that needs to be done, was slow about turning a document into your boss, or did something else that hasn’t gone over too well. When your co-worker doesn’t want any blame to fall on him or her, they will bring up someone or something else to distract the boss.

Your co-workers or supervisors seem to come around your workspace more.

This is their way of checking in on you. Don’t take those “Good mornings” lightly. They are also watching the clock too. What time did you come in to work is all they really want to know and then they may record it somewhere in their files. Did you leave for lunch early and come back late? He or she didn’t have that last minute request for nothing. Once you turn your timesheet in, they will check it for accuracy. If they catch you in a lie or two or maybe you just have a slow clock and they have a fast one, you just may be reprimanded which will set the paperwork in motion to eventually dismiss you. You may also notice they are showing up at your workspace nearing time for you to go home too. For some managers, they do this to see if you are leaving the office earlier that you should.

Someone checks the websites you have visited when you aren’t around.

If you haven’t learned how to clear history by now you should, but some people are just savvy enough to find other ways to see what you have visited like installing spy software. It is best to visit those social networking, gaming, video, music and personal email accounts away from the office.

Tasks may be created to see if you would volunteer for them.

You may have been able to get away with only doing the things that fit into your job description for years, well at some point someone will challenge you to do more and if you decline too many times, your boss may look toward the young and ambitious that work alongside of you to do what he or she requests. Try to be more flexible and find that spark you love about your job again.

Email time stamps and confirmation receipts are checked.

Bosses who are extremely detail oriented are checking the time stamp on when you sent an email and when you opened it. Don’t feel tempted to lie when you know you should have opened his or her email a little sooner. He or she will know because they have the time at which you responded and the time when they sent it. Lying will also put you on the radar for a future dismissal.

Fake problems are created to see how you would resolve them.

There are real problems at a company, but then there are the phony ones that some managers will create to test you. How you resolve to handle the mystery shopper’s issue that comes through the door or calls you over the phone may also determine whether you or your bubbly co-worker is a keeper.

Your company joins a network for live chat, and requires that you sign in everyday, so that they can see when you are online.

When your boss is in another town, city or state, he or she is not always able to just pop in on you, so to be sure that you are at least in the office; there are those companies who register for these types of programs. This way they can see whether you are offline still sleeping in or online ready to get your day started.

Certain co-workers may appear very friendly and visible because they may be responsible for “keeping an eye on you.”

Be wary of those people who smile in your face as the old song goes. They have hidden agendas whether they are looking to take your position, obtain some knowledge from you to elevate their status, or hope to get rid of you. If you do everything you can to at least keep your job on your end, then at least when the time comes to lay people off, you will be missed.

Traps are set such as money being left out in the open or a cabinet, door or drawer that is typically locked is suddenly left unlocked.

Sometimes there are accidents and sometimes there are those things that people do on purpose. Too many accidents only mean one thing someone is trying to set you up to fail. Always double check everything you are responsible for locking up and if you can get someone to witness your actions by all means do it!

Certain office desk drawers are set with paper sticking out and other traps to see if you opened them.

You know that you have no business snooping through your manager’s files, but you want to know what he or she has written about you or you may want to know when the company plans to lay people off, if you want to go sooner open that drawer otherwise walk away from temptation. Most likely, he or she has set it so that they can see whether you are trustworthy or looking for an excuse to let you go when the time comes.

Expense reports and company credit card statements are checked for excess or frivolous spending.

You know that you shouldn’t have bought the most expensive pens in the catalog or bought an extra meal to take home, but you did. You may want to attempt to cover up your actions with an excuse. Thanks to President Barack Obama’s speech on accountability, more and more companies are finding ways to make their employees accountable for wasteful spending.

Mileage on the company vehicle is checked closely.

Maybe in the past you didn’t always write down the exact mileage you used when you went from point a to point b in the company vehicle, because you knew you also shopped for groceries and took them home, stopped by a friend’s house, and picked up your dry cleaning – whatever you did, at some point someone will be responsible for checking the records and if you haven’t been honest that will also put you on the company radar.

Someone is used to ask you how you feel about your job.

You thought maybe this person sincerely cares about your honest feelings about your job. They may care, but then again they may not. This “good friend” may really be a “mole” for the boss who is wondering how you really feel about the job, him or her, and operations say the wrong thing and you give them an excuse to put you on radar.

Venting about your job is taken seriously and viewed as you being a trouble maker.

So you converse with the “mole” and now he or she has went back and told your boss about what you said. Depending on what your comments were such as, “I think this company needs to pay its employees more. Management does a poor job about meeting our demands. I am thinking about looking for another job” will determine whether he or she keeps you. Most likely, they will view you as a threat with the potential of rallying up support for your cause and if that is the case they will let you go without notice or reason.

Completion of tasks are timed.

The manager knows approximately how long it takes you to complete each task, so when he or she notices that you are falling behind schedule, this person will start searching. What could be distracting you lately to keep you from performing your duties? Is it the Internet, the personal telephone calls, or your social personality? All of which have been the cause of many talented individuals being dismissed.

Phone records are checked for long distance calls and how long you spent on the phone during work hours.

You may not think it’s a big deal to converse with your mother who lives on the other side of the world for about 15 minutes, but a manager who is looking to get his or her bonus for saving money in the department does think it’s a big deal. Not only that, he or she may reason that you aren’t meeting deadlines because you are too busy taking up company time chatting.

Fraternizing with the staff, clients, contractors, and customers.

Everyone has been guilty of talking or listening to someone longer then they should when they are suppose to be working. The boss who walks by looking at you isn’t admiring your new shirt, he or she is timing when you will wrap up that conversation and get back to work. When he or she has warned you about this behavior and you still continue to do it, at some point it won’t be hard to make a decision whether to keep or dismiss you.

In conclusion, consider all of these points the next time you go back to work and make necessary changes. It is very difficult to find a job these days that will give you the benefits you most likely receive at your current one don’t let a dismissal for petty things upset your way of life. As mentioned before, many companies are looking for ways to save money and if it means that they can eliminate just one more position from their workflow chart they will.

Companies self-destruct when workplace bullies run amok!

I have vivid memories of being bullied when I was in the fourth grade. Darrell would line me and other classmates up each morning and extort our lunch money under threat of beating us to a pulp! Darrell had already missed about two grades and towered over everyone. We were thoroughly intimidated. Growing tired of watching other kids enjoying their lunches I came up with an idea. I'll tell my mom about it and she will get him off my back! I knew my dear mother would show me empathy.

Wrong! She gave me one of the worst thrashings of my life and said, "Don't you let that boy take your lunch money. I'm going to call your teacher tomorrow to make sure you eat lunch." Now I was really in a jam, I had to decide who I was more afraid of Mom or Darrell! I didn't get an inch of sleep that night and the next morning went off to school hoping to hide from Darrell. Unfortunately, he caught me before the homework bell and proceeded to pound me for refusing to cough up my lunch money.

During the course of the fight I remember being cheered on by other victims of Darrell's tyranny. Mercifully, the teachers arrived and saved me from further punishment. I looked at Darrell and to my amazement, I had actually bloodied his nose! As we were marched to the principal's office, I was cheered and patted on the back by my classmates. I also got a lot of attention from the girls in my class. I explained to the principal about Darrell's extortion racket and mom's response. He sent me back to class and Darrell was suspended for a week. After that, I never had any more problems with Darrell. We in fact became good friends.

Unfortunately there are "Darrells and Darrellettes" in the workplace who are just as intimidating to fellow employees. Standing up to workplace bullies can be just as frightening for the victims. Workplace bullying can take on different forms such as

psychological abuse
physical abuse
emotional abuse
verbal and non verbal abuse
sabotage of the victims work product

According to Wikipedia workplace bullying, "is the tendency of individuals or groups to use persistent aggressive or unreasonable behavior against a co-worker." From my workplace experience, I have witnessed bullying of customers, vendors, visitors and other interested parties! Bullies in the workplace often take advantage of their power by...

humiliating
insulting
affronting and confronting
intimidating

...the "target" of their abuse. Many times this behavior is played out in front of witnesses to destroy the victim's self esteem. When management allows bullying, trust in the workplace is nonexistent. Studies show that when there is an environment of distrust, employees tend to perform poorly. So bullying is bad for business. when employers are aware of bullying from employees and managers and do nothing to correct it, they share in the negative consequences. Workplace bullies come in all shapes, genders, races and sizes and have a great need for control. Here are the four basic types of workplace bullies.


Yellers

They always have to talk over the target(s).

Blockers

This type likes to undermine the reputation of the target and destroy work product.

Backstabbers

Self explanatory, they work in the shadows spreading ugly rumors and gossip aimed at the target.

Nitpickers

This bully lives to find fault with everything the victim does no matter how trivial. The bully will trash any suggestions by the target for improving workplace performance and efficiency as well.

A national poll conducted by the Workplace Bullying Institute says 37 percent or 54 million American employees have been or are bullied at work. Gary Namie, director of the Institute says, "It’s a silent epidemic". Workplace bullying is also called "mobbing" when two or more managers or employees gang up on a victim. Co-workers who witness bullying have increased levels of low morale and stress. Employees who are the targets exhibit...

insomnia
stroke
depression
migraine headaches
low self esteem
high levels of stress disorder
suicidal tendencies
greater risk of heart disease

Because there are no laws protecting employees from bullying there is no clear definition for it. That makes it hard to distinguish from other behaviors such as sexual and racial harassment. To this point, the federal government has no workplace bully laws. Businesses and organizations by and large don't have policies to prevent it. However, several states have proposed legislation to provide employees some protection. There are some things employees can do to protect themselves.

Learn more about it
Stay calm
Promote your good work
Inform management of the problem(if the bully is the manager go over his/her head)
Understand the bully is the problem not you
Keep good records detailing the bullies behavior over a period on time. This includes names, dates, times, places, witnesses, etc.

Try to get the bully to create a paper trail for you. You would be amazed at how easy it is to get people behaving badly in the workplace to email their negative intent toward you. I have successfully used email that required a response to accomplish this. Keep all the documentation you receive from the bully that helps you prove his/her accusations against you are false.

Finally, if possible always try to have one or more witnesses who aren't intimidated or a part of the bullies "mob" around as witnesses to what is said and done.

Raising awareness and making a stand like the one I did against Darrell are the most effective ways to discourage and prevent workplace bullying. Seeking legal guidance is always an option as well until specific laws are passed to protect employees.

Yancey Thomas Jr. has functioned as a certified and trained mediator in alternative dispute resolution of employment and general civil issues for over 10 years. He is a national panel mediator/neutral through the Cornell University Alliance for Dispute Resolution with emphasis on employment/workplace disputes. As an employee, he has a unique perspective on how to prepare for employment. Yancey's you can learn basic employee rights site offers the job seeker and employee more information on achieving workplace success! Follow this link for more relevant info on workplace bullying.

How Do You Know You Have Manipulative, Lazy Management and Workers?

Sometimes it is hard to tell when workers are slacking when middle managers and supervisors act as barriers to keep information away from you such as: crucial details about customer service, disciplinary practices, customer complaints, wasteful company spending, poor sales performance and more.    If you aren't tracking, rarely look at data, and ignore warning signs, it isn't any wonder that you will find yourself either on the hopping block or chopping someone else's block! 

When you are distracted by other less relevant meeting topics, slow in getting requested data, or blatantly denied access to front line workers, these are sure signs that there is something they don't want you to know!  The outspoken, disgruntled and top performing employees typically have experiences they would. love to share, but if there isn't anything put in place to encourage them to open up their mouths without gatekeepers blocking them, you might as well continue to be deceived and/or possibly ripped off.  

For those who are sincerely concerned about their businesses, keep reading, this blog entry will stimulate some thoughts on what you have been overlooking and what you as a manager, investor, and owner need to improve upon. Too many executives are either too busy or slacking themselves because of that, it is quite easy to shield them from business challenges that should have been long addressed years ago, but were swept under the rug!

1) How much money is truly being allocated to: pay employees, purchase company supplies, marketing, customer appreciation activities, etc. or NOT? Very easy to move money from one place to the next.

2) How much time is really being spent by managers to train, research, or improve on existing systems/operations?  Kind of hard to do that when they are either pulled in all sorts of directions or running from pertinent responsibilities.

3) Who is consistently opening early and closing late?  So what is happening during the day that the same people are being paid overtime or not?  Do you really have a staff working or just a couple of people?

4) Who is working more weekends than most? Is that really by choice? Maybe but then again maybe not.

5) Who is often taking breaks and who isn't? Burnout will surely make someone freak out!

6) Are deadlines often being missed? A little too much talking by the water cooler, personal tasks during company hours, or phone conferences with the favorites?

7) Who continues to come late to meetings or not show up at all? Why is this person in leadership again?

8) What does the data say about profits and where are you gaining or losing money?  Why such a significant difference in the numbers?  What or who is causing such a significant rise and fall?

9) Why is there a high turnover and are you speaking to those employees who are still left and checking in with Human Resources on reasons why employees recently left?  Maybe the job board review sites will help you with that.

10) What does the data reveal about those on leave and when exactly are they coming back?  Is someone not following up?  Lots of money going out for zero work.

When leadership doesn't closely look at the data while checking for patterns and inconsistencies, conduct one-on-one interviews, research, and hold workers accountable, you will surely have employee challenges that not only reveal laziness or incompetence, but also poor, excuse-making leaders with many secrets hired to supposedly navigate the team.  What is of bigger concern is how they use various manipulative strategies to protect their paychecks while robbing companies blind.

Nicholl McGuire is the blog owner, inspirational speaker and author.

Seven Lessons Learned From Bad Bosses

As a human resources professional, I've worked with all sorts of managers and have seen my fair share of bad bosses and tyrants. I have compiled a few of the lessons I've learned along the way on how not to manage employees and sincerely hope that these lessons will help you become the great leader that you know you can be:

Lesson 1: Don't Share Too Much Information (TMI) - Your direct report is an employee of the company and not your counselor, confidante or BFF (Best Friend Forever). Employees really don't want to or need to know the intimate details of your personal life, really. One manager actually told me during a one on one meeting with her that her mother never found out about all the black men she had slept with. Bonding session? I think not. You put your employees in an uncomfortable position when you divulge too much private information. Discussing what you did with the kids over the weekend is fine, discussing your love life, not so much.

Lesson 2: Give Constructive Instead of Crushing Criticism - Check out this scenario - An employee feels like he's doing a fantastic job, he constantly exceeds your expectations and you've given him good feedback on his performance during the year. It's the end of the year and time for the annual performance review; said employee is sitting across from your desk waiting eagerly for you to formalize in the review what you've been telling him throughout the review period. Suddenly, you inform him that although he's done great work, his humor is off-putting and he made a comment 6 months ago that you thought was kind of racist.

If you wanted to thank your employee for a job well done, correct any bad behavior and motivate him for another year, you have effectively done the opposite. As a manager, you're supposed to build relationships with your direct report. This includes giving immediate feedback and finding an effective and sensitive way to give constructive criticism. After his review, the employee had a long conversation with HR; he was clearly upset and disillusioned.

Lesson 3: Don't be Intimidated by Your Direct Reports' Intellect - As a manager, you're paid to ensure that you motivate and bring out the best in your employees. With companies reaching the productivity frontier and everyone scrambling for a competitive advantage, it's even more important to encourage employees to think creatively and to support innovation. As a leader, your employees want to impress you with their creativity and ideas. So don't follow the example of a Director at a large insurance company that would compete with her direct reports at meetings and say things such as, "I thought of that already" anytime one of her employees would make a suggestion. You're the manager and as such are expected to nurture and encourage employees, not get into a contest of how smart you are. We know you have to have some intellect otherwise you wouldn't be a manager. Making your employees look bad instead of making them shine in front of others just makes you look petty.

Lesson 4: Never Belittle Your Employees - One Vice President I knew seemed to derive pleasure from making her direct reports look and feel stupid and small. When she received a completed assignment from an employee she would hurriedly review it, looking for mistakes. If she found any, she would gleefully point it out to the employee; you could see her almost salivating with excitement. In addition, this manager would make belittling comments to her direct reports, such as "well now that you took the stairs, maybe you'll lose some weight". She couldn't help herself! Managers should be mindful of their employees' feelings (yes, employees do have feelings!). You don't have to make everyone else look bad or feel small in order to make yourself look good.

Lesson 5: Stay Objective - There was one manager I worked with that would either really like or really despise her direct reports. Once, she hired a new employee on her team who, it appeared could do no wrong. All the other team members called her the manager's pet. Until one day, the employee and manager disagreed on an issue. The manager took the disagreement as a personal affront, told the employee that she was very disappointed in her behavior (the employee hadn't wanted to attend a company holiday party) and began to overly criticize the employee's work from that day on.

As a manager, understand that your employees can have and express a different viewpoint from yours; in fact this should be encouraged. Don't take it personally when your employee doesn't always agree with you and more importantly don't punish the employee for it.

Lesson 6: Don't be a Wimp! - We understand that decision-making and authority is sometimes centralized in organizations, it becomes frustrating to employees however when their manager can't make a single decision without having to consult someone higher up. There was a Director that I worked with that couldn't make a decision without vetting it with the Vice President of the division. Her direct reports would wait endlessly for a response to a simple, routine question. To make matters worse, the Vice President would berate the Director at team meetings and the Director would take the abuse like a wounded dog. She never stood up for herself! The rest of the team would cringe at the sight of the Director being talked to like a naughty little girl and quickly lost respect for her. At the very least, the Director should have pulled the Vice President aside and informed her that she would appreciate it if the VP didn't tell her off in front of her staff.

Work out with your manager what types of decisions you can make autonomously so that you appear to have some authority and don't become a bottleneck. Also, it's never okay to take abuse from your superiors.

Lesson 7: Don't be Afraid to Admit You Made a Mistake. - Everyone makes mistakes, even you! The biggest mistake you can make as a manager is to never admit when you've made one.
There was a Vice President at an international Fortune 100 company that would do anything to cover up the fact that he had made a mistake, including blaming his team, pointing the finger at his peers and throwing temper tantrums. The funny thing was that his team soon caught on and he became a laughing stock. When you admit your gaffes, you're telling your team that you're human and that you are holding yourself to the same high standards that you hold them to. You're also telling them that it's okay to fail, sometimes. Some of the world's best innovations were created through trial and error. There's absolutely nothing wrong in apologizing and saying "my bad". Then you can go about the business of fixing the problem instead of trying to look good.

I hope you've picked up a lesson or two from the above. Remember, as a boss, it's your job to ensure that your employees are coming to work for more than just a pay check, that's when you cross the realm from boss to leader.

Busola Olatilu is a Human Resources and Management Consultant with over 10 years of experience in HR. She has a Master's Degree in HR Management and an MBA.

When a Loved One Doesn't Like to Work

Relatives close to the one who doesn't like his or her job or worse doesn't want to work five or six days a week, tend to be mistreated and disrespected.  These difficult men and women rarely smile, prefer to spend much time alone, easily irritated, most often miserable, and don't want to talk much or not at all on most days.  Children are encouraged to go to their rooms.  Wives are quickly shut down when they want to communicate.  Husbands are ignored.

No matter what you might ask the unhappy one, "I'm fine, everything is okay.  Why are you asking me that?  Nothing is wrong with me..."  Sure.  We must remember that many workers, who were once lazy children, didn't necessarily let go of their rebellion toward work especially if they grew up around strict parents.  As children, when they didn't step it up at home, they were called, "Lazy!  Good for nothing!  You better help or else!"  So it isn't any wonder why these workers have a negative attitude toward employment.

People who don't like their jobs or don't want to work at all can't stay in hiding for long!  Potential candidates will initially respond positively to being up for a "challenge" during an interview.  However, the truth comes out once they are hired.  We notice the following:  they are frequently late for work, delegate most or even all responsibilities to others, often request time off, avoid any customer service confrontations, and the list goes on!

Relatives catch hell when these poor performers are held accountable by their managers for their sub-par work ethic, lack of enthusiasm, and downright laziness.  On the way home, the tension of the day is building.  They will never tell the full story about what really happened at work.  Rather than be honest with themselves and others, they prefer to lash out on anyone who asks, "How was your day?"

Children are not parented effectively and nor are marriages nurtured by selfish, lazy people who not only don't like to work a job, but don't like to help build their households either.  Their lack of performance is not restricted to just a job.  They choose roles out of necessity.  They simply need money while they don't put too much thought in how their negative attitude about working might affect their loved ones, friends, coworkers, managers, and others in the short or long term.

Anyone who notices a relative or friend often acting mean-spirited without any explanation, but it seems that the mood is connected to work, you can attempt to get the individual to talk.  However, if they refuse to be open and rather ignore you, well then you have a right to distance yourself from the negative worker!

Don't be surprised if one day they lose their job or quit.  Save your money and pay off debt if you rely on this person, it's only a matter of time.

Nicholl McGuire

How To Quit A Job?

Leaving a job is often a difficult step. Sure, there is the exciting opportunity to do something different, but if have been with an employer for over a year this can become an emotional step. People leave jobs for various reasons. The old job might just plain and simple suck. The pay is lousy and the boss is behaving like a dictator of a 3rd world country. Or the job might be target of outsourcing and the employee is pro-active by looking for his/her own way out. Or the job is a dead end. No opportunity and the daily routine is boring. It could also be that the immediate co-workers and managers are just not as nice and that there is no great work relationship that makes the employee to love to go to work. A not so exciting job can still be a great place to work if you have great co-workers and managers around. Work is about money, but the socializing part is important, too.

We're not trying to get into the reasons for leaving a job here for the matter of this article. However - we want to concentrate on the actual part of resigning from a job. And again - there are several different ways of leaving a job. If you absolutely do not care about your old job you could just leave but this step can have severe impact on your career down the road. Keep in mind that employers like to check the places you worked at before they want to hire you. These sins of the past might come back and hurt your reputation. "Oh, he left that job without any notice. What if he does the same thing to me?" - This could be just one thought a new employer might have. Depending on the job a one week or two week notice should be given. In some cases 3-4 weeks can be appropriate. As higher you get up in the ranks this might be the way to go. An executive leaving a company without taking care of a proper transition might hurt himself if the company gets into problems afterwards and this becomes public knowledge. Treat the employer fair and do not burn any bridges. In the long run this will be the best decision an employee can make.

When resigning you should be prepared to avoid unnecessary stress. In most cases resigning is a stressful event. A well prepared employee can take some stress out of this big step with proper planning. Write a 2 or 3 line letter of resignation. Nothing fancy. Try not to explain why you leave. Just state that you are resigning from your position and let the company know what your last day at work will be. Sign the letter and hand it to the manager you are resigning to. Do not just turn over the letter and walk away. Say that you are resigning and then hand over the letter of resignation. Be prepared to answer questions why you are leaving. Do not make up things. Prepare a quick list of pain points if needed. You might even help your co-workers by giving constructive feedback about certain situations and problems. I personally recommend never to mention the word money as the main reason of leaving. If things come down to money if often gets dirty.

Eventually be prepared for an immediate counter-offer during your resignation. Some companies try to fix the problem of an employee leaving by throwing more money at him/her. Or they want to buy time and pretend giving you more money. They give you more money but work on your replacement at the same time. Things might also work out Ok for a while but when the going gets tough and it comes to layoffs the guy who took the counter-offer might be one of the first ones to be let go because of the cost factor. I see only one situation when it can be good or Ok to accept a counter-offer. Say you are leaving because of the work environment and you are able to point out problems and issues. Some employers are blind about these things and just don't realize how employees feel about certain things. Suddenly a good employees leaves and the issue comes to the surface. Some employers are willing to fix the issue and these are rare situations a counter-offer can be accepted. Still - the employee has to carefully evaluate the situation. It is important to know who you are dealing with from a personal side. Can you trust the employer?

Sometimes a counter-offer can come up during the last few days at a company or shortly after the last day. We have seen cases when counter-offers were made within 60-70 days after the employee left. These situations are not good. I highly recommend not to accept such a counter-offer no matter how tempting the offer is. The employee has to keep in mind that he/she already left. This mark will always stick. One day the employer might be in a different situation and has to decide who to let go first. Will it be the loyal employee who is with the company for 8 years or is it the "Gung-Ho" who left just to be lured back by money and who eventually leaves again if the next employer is willing to hand out even more cash? Make a bet ....

These are just a few things to keep in mind when thinking about resigning from a position. Be prepared. Be strong. Change can be very good for your career.

Christoph Puetz is a successful entrepreneur and international book author.

Workplace Conflict Resolution: What’s Creating Workplace Conflict And 9 Easy Ways To Resolve It

A radio interviewer recently asked me if I thought there was more conflict in the workplace today than in the past. After thinking about it, I replied, “Yes, I think there is more conflict today.”

Here Are 3 Main Reasons Why There Is More Conflict In The Workplace Today Than In The Past:

1. Today’s workplace is much more egalitarian. We have flatter chains of command, dotted line relationships, and primarily knowledge workers who are capable of making decisions themselves and have the freedom to move on to another job if they don’t like the way they are being treated.

In prior years, the workplace consisted of a clear authoritarian structure and chain of command. Workers obeyed orders, kept their gripes and personal issues to themselves, and did their work. If they failed to perform effectively, they were immediately fired and replaced.

2. Today, people of all ages from all over the world have come to work together. They have different values, goals, behavioral expectations and prior experiences. Yet they are expected to work together without really understanding why all the misunderstandings between them occur.

3. Women are now in the workplace in equal numbers to their male counterparts. Generally speaking, women are much less accustomed to following a chain of command than men. Most men grow up participating in organized sports where they are taught how to obey. Although some women are now active in sports, many more grow up playing creative games that didn’t have any particular organization or chain of command. In games like house, girls take turns in varying roles.

Although we’ve come a long way towards understanding each other and working harmoniously together in the workplace, there are still behavioral differences in teasing, flirting, confronting, aggression and simple communication styles.

Solutions To Conflicts In The Workplace

Clearly, these workplace issues are here to stay. How can we handle them? How can we change certain elements? Here are some of my ideas:

Dealing with Different People in the Workplace

Your organization is going to continue to have people of all genders, ages, cultures, styles and expectations working together. You need to provide them with:

• A common culture with clearly defined behavioral expectations. This includes policy, procedures, statements of corporate values and culture – and the follow through to hold people accountable.

• Diversity training that teaches how to manage different people as well as how to get them to cooperate at meetings and other group forums. Your organization needs to delve into training. Trainers need to understand cognitive and communication styles, values around politeness and dealing with superiors, as well as issues of pride, humility, conformity and all the other differences that cause conflicts in the workplace.

• Acceptance and recognition of the differences, so your organization doesn’t try to have a “one size fits all” method of managing.

• More attempts to help each other clear up disagreements and misunderstandings – rather than passing judgment and deciding who is right and who is wrong.

Management Style and Hours Worked

When management creates a clear set of guidelines as to work expectations and measures success rather than time spent, it will be easier for people to know what to do because the parameters are clear. Here’s what your organization can do to avoid conflicts in the workplace related to management styles:

• Publish policy, procedures, values, expectations, and guidelines. Since there no longer is a supervisor with a whip looking over each worker’s shoulder, it is these documents that guide your employees’ behaviors.

• Managers need to learn how to correctly manage different individuals to enable each person to be successful. Some people need more instruction and others need to be left alone to create. Some are more trustworthy than others and can be relied upon to know their own limits and decision-making authority. Others need to be managed more tightly.

• The quality and the quantity of the work should be rewarded, not time. Managers need to stop the subtle and not-so-subtle remarks about not seeing a worker on a Saturday or early in the morning.

• Employees need to have flexible time whenever possible. Some jobs require attendance at set hours. Most do not. People with young children at home might want to go home for a few hours in the late afternoon and return either to work, or to their home computer after their children have been put to bed.

• Recognize that less is often more. If people get to relax, have a family life, recreation, and pleasure, they are almost always more productive and creative during their working time.

Although conflict is here to stay, it certainly can be mitigated by taking the needs and differences of people seriously and by teaching them about each other and how to work together. Stop being afraid and start being kind.

About the Author
ArLyne Diamond, Ph.D can teach your management team how to manage your organization effectively and efficiently. For more free tips that will help your organization increase its productivity by cutting the number of conflicts in the workplace in half go to: http://www.diamondassociates.net/articles

Do You Have Management Issues?

I came across this interesting site just for managers, like you, who have real problems with your team and are seeking a bit of outside advice. Check out the following link: Site for managers

The Boss that Micromanages: A Former Employee Perspective

He checks over your work two and three times after you have told him, "It's done." He calls two or three times while you are out running an errand just to see that you are doing it. He enlists someone to check up on you when you are given a task. He doesn't want you submitting, uploading, downloading, deleting, or filing anything without him looking at it. You are beginning to hate him!

Bosses like this have a history of being burned by others. They may have trusted someone to get something done and it never was done; therefore, their job may have been in jeopardy because of it. They don't believe employees when they say, "I locked the door...I put that away...the fax was sent...I cc the supervisor...I mailed the package." They need proof, assurance, and most likely some medicine for frequent stomach or headaches from all their worries. However, remind yourself, "My bosses stresses will not affect my mood!" It may be easier said than done, but remember you have an innocent family at home that would like to see you in a good mood on most days coming home from work. Don't let your boss affect you and your household!

These micro managers will lose sleep at night if they don't feel confident that a task is done, their problem, not yours! They will show up at the workplace after hours and during vacations just to be sure everyone is doing what they are suppose to--you can only imagine what their family thinks of this!

So what can you do to put your boss at ease? Just do whatever he or she asks. If it makes him feel good to get a second signature on a document that only requires one, do it. If she feels that a follow up call to a client is necessary, do it. The more you harbor angry feelings about your boss, the more you will want to quit prematurely.

You can always suggest to your boss some things that could be changed at the workplace, but you will have to do an exceptional job proving your case. If your idea will save money or time, you just might tickle the micro managers ears. But by all means, put it in writing and schedule an appointment to go over your suggestions with your boss. Who knows if you have won his or her trust, the boss just might start using your ideas and hopefully give you credit!

Nicholl McGuire is the creator of What About My Job found on Blurb.com

Crazy-making Co-Worker Driving You Crazy? 6 Tips to Help Get Him, Her Out of Your Hair

When you have a crazy-making co-worker, there are many things you can do rather than just deal with "the issue" on a daily basis.

1)  Confront the co-worker on what is bothering you only after you have reported the issue to human resources or a supervisor or manager who doesn't particularly care for him or her as well.  If you confront prematurely, the co-worker can flip the script and tell someone you are the problem.

2)  Document the times and days the co-worker is saying and doing things that bother you.  Be sure you have this information before you bring up to those who can help alleviate the situation.

3)  Question the co-worker about why he or she does the offensive thing.  Note his or her response.  For instance, if he or she is often tardy and is impacting your work, ask if the individual can start showing up on time.  If there is a reason or many reasons for the chronic tardiness, then note his or her response.  If it continues to happen, you will need to notify management and request that he or she show up to witness the chronic tardiness.

4)  Explain how the offensive behavior is making you feel.  Of course, a nonchalant co-worker is going to continue with the negative behavior, so escalate the matter.  If nothing is addressed, begin looking for other employment.  You might mention to a supervisor or manager, something like, "I no longer feel comfortable coming to work due to the following..." be sure this is in writing.  If you are a good employee, the manager most likely would not want to lose you and will deal with the matter.

5)  If there are witnesses, ask them if they could share what they have observed to management.  They may have already discussed what they don't like to the co-worker and he or she just ignored them too.  Getting others to talk about what they are witnessing/experiencing whether good, bad or otherwise is one way that gets results sooner rather than later.

6) Request to change your work schedule or be removed to another area or department.  If it is feasible and you really like the company, discuss with management about making adjustments to your schedule or work location.  This also puts management on notice that there is something ongoing that is causing the change and it is then that a caring authority figure will question why the sudden change.

Whether a co-worker is annoying with daily story-telling or crazy-making when it comes to not completing tasks, whatever the issue, it is always better to watch, document, confront and share rather than keep everything bottled up inside.  Too often irritating managers, supervisors, and co-workers end up remaining at jobs because no one either bothers to speak up and/or escalate matters; instead victims either find themselves terminated due to the annoying co-worker manipulating the situation against them or quitting a job.

Keep in mind the crazy co-worker may know he or she is the least favorite and will attempt to fault-find, be sure you are performing your job well and you have people around that will support you.

Nicholl McGuire is the blog owner and author of these workplace journals.

12 Bad Habits Complacent Employees Do at Work

They are complacent employees, they have reached a time in their careers where they believe they are untouchable.  They still perform well at their jobs (when they feel like it) and they still believe that one day they will be promoted despite all the things that they do below.  During times like these with many business owners looking to recoup profit losses, this is not the time to be the complacent, nonchalant and self-entitled employee no matter how much tenure you have with a company!  

These "mistakes" or "I forgot" or "I wasn't aware..." excuses have been the culprits in getting some employees prematurely laid off (with the hopes to one day get rid of them altogether), suspended from their jobs, demoted, or worse terminated.

1)  A pattern of showing up late to work and leaving early.  After all these years of getting away with this behavior with old managers, new management decides to carefully watch the time-honored employee who is guilty, and so the write-ups start building up.

2) Missing important deadlines whether a pattern or not.  Whatever the excuse for missing a deadline, the point is the so-called established employee is cherry picking when he or she feels the need to work or not "I didn't think I had to do that...I didn't think it needed to be done so soon."  Evidently this employee doesn't want to be promoted.

3) Missing meetings.  Once again, the time-honored employee who believes that he or she can never be replaced and doesn't think that certain things are important, also doesn't think that having to attend every meeting is necessary.  Why wonder why employees like this, regardless of tenure, are passed over?

4) Refusal to take company classes.  They are boring and a waste of time to the long-standing employee, but necessary.  Chances are there is something new being discussed and that employee who thinks he or she knows it all will be bothering his or her coworkers for answers.  Why get angry when they don't want to help?

5) Workplace harassment (sexual and bullying).  After all the media hype about harassment, yet an employee still thinks it is okay to flirt with a coworker while bullying another with insulting remarks.  Can someone please call human resources?

6)  Discriminating behaviors.  The deep-rooted leader sitting cushy in the corner office, huh?  What's with the eye rolls and deep sighs when "those people" come around?  Why does an employee consistently hire people who don't look anything like he or she while there are plenty of resumes that aren't even viewed because "I think that name is black...that name is definitely middle eastern...I know how those people are...U.S. and China aren't getting along so let's just pass on this one."  Again, can someone please make some phone calls, we have racist on site?

7)  Lying.  The complacent workers recruit new employees to lie.  "I just say this...Don't tell the manager that...If she asks about...tell her this..."  Long-standing employees sure know how to lie and when caught they are "never aware, don't recall, can't ever remember saying that."  Enough already! Let's just start building that case to get rid of them!  There are plenty of other companies that welcome liars.

8) Stealing or so-called "borrowing."  Interesting how things go missing and then are suddenly returned when questioned, then go missing again and are never returned.  The seemingly stable employee still has something at home from like five years ago and another long-standing employee knows all about it (chances are he or she used it to) and never says one word.  Write them both up or better yet can we just call this company theft and start the process of getting them out!

9) Bring family and/or pets to work.  What's with this?  The workplace isn't a family reunion and there sure isn't any babysitters at work.  Stop with the "emotional support" case.  Funny, how all this happens when now it is inconvenient for everyone to stay home.  Start looking for a new job, because coworkers are only going to deal with so much concerning an employees' crying child and barking dog--either they get to work from home or not!  How long they have been with the company is not an excuse to keep allowing children and pets to come to work adding to an already stressed atmosphere.

10)  Staying on personal phone calls for long periods of time.  Established employees feel quite comfortable doing this because they have gotten away with it for so long.  Meanwhile, coworkers are answering phones, running around offices, helping visitors at the door, and doing other things while the veteran employee continues to talk and talk and talk.  Then after the phone call, this employee wants to share.  Well this kind of sharing is not caring to most employees, stop accepting these unimportant phone calls during business hours!  Is anyone noticing that the employee is stealing company time to do his or her nonemergency personal business?  Hmm.  I smell a write-up.

11)  Using company equipment to visit websites for personal pleasure.  The use of this equipment was never meant for employees to have fun doing what they want when they want and how they want it, but veteran employees feel like they are entitled because "well I use my personal phone to take photos for the company and I receive texts from management on my phone...so I can use their computer, copier...whatever to do what I want.  No one cares."  Are you sure about that?  Someone is keeping track of how much shopping for company supplies is happening each month.  Looks like it's time to check company credit cards, phone bills, office supplies and the like.  There's a veteran employee guilty as charged.

12)  Favoring employees who one has a friendship with while criticizing others. This behavior is key in creating division between workers.  It is obvious that the personal friendships that the complacent employees have with their favorites is getting in the way of making important business decisions.  Those that aren't favorited are reprimanded formally, but friends are rarely talked to.  Can we find another department for this employee or an exit out the door?  If there is racial, gender, or sexual discrimination involved well there is another case to build against the complacent employee.

So if you aren't one who is guilty of the above, no worries.  However, if you are, it is never too late to change.  Do it before all this catches up to you sooner rather than later.

Nicholl McGuire is the blog owner and author of many nonfiction books.