Employee Assistance Programs

When we were on the topic of employee benefits I wanted to look into the EAP a little bit more.  It interested me and I had never heard of it before.  It seems like a good program to enforce because many times employees bring their personal problems to work and it ends up impacting their work negatively.  It seems that it would be smart for employees to put this program into place so that their employees can get help if they so desire or when needed.

Sometimes life can be overwhelming.  Luckily some organizations incorporate employee assistance programs into their workplace.  EAP is defined in our book as a referral service that employees can use to seek professional treatment for emotional problems or substance abuse.  These employee benefit programs are offered by many organizations usually with health insurance plans.  They are made to help employees deal with personal problems in their life that might end up impacting their work performance.  It is usually confidential service designed to connect employees and their families with experienced counseling professionals for help with personal problems and issues.  I think that it is a good thing to be confidential because it might start gossip around the office.  If someone needs help it should be between the employee and their boss or whomever they select to assist them for getting help they deserve.  I wonder how many organizations offer this benefit.  I know I had never heard of it until now. I guess the program began in 1950's focusing mainly on alcoholism and then expanded later to drug treatment.  They now cover a bunch of different services depending on the organization.  Some have counseling, family treatments, financial help, drugs and alcohol, etc.  There are a lot of different reasons to hold EAP's within the workplace. Proactive programs work collaboratively with employers to help maintain high morale in the workplace and assist in the promotion of employee wellness. EAPs contribute to increased productivity, reduced sick leave, and reduced employee turnover.  Not only are they a positive thing for the companies financials, the help the employee out as well.  Win win in both situations.

Using Myers-Briggs at Work

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a test that identifies individual’s preferences for source of energy means of information gathering, way of decision making, and lifestyle, providing information for team building and leadership development (fundamentals of human resource management). It is an assessment that consists of more than 100 questions about how the person feels or prefers to behave in different situations.  The test will tell a lot about a person and their reactions to different situations.  It is a personality test, so of course you will learn a lot about a person's personality.  But is the test really useful around the office?

The information learned from Myers-Briggs can be used to find out about employees preferences or tendencies and helps the company know more about the employee’s communication, motivation, teamwork, work styles, and leadership. The results can also be used to show how employees can overcome both typical and out-of-the-ordinary obstacles in the workplace.  The test provides a bunch of results regarding the answers the employee provides.  They can be used for team work in providing talk about the differences that surfaced as a result of taking the Myers-Briggs test.  It can bring up good discussions about why certain employees are the way they are and why they act the way they do. It can also help in finding which employees would work better with other employees.  Organizations may use the results to group different employees together based on their personalities.  This can be helpful to stop confrontation and a good way to start conflict resolution. 

I think Myers-Briggs would also be helpful in employee selection.  Organizations may choose to give the assessment to applicants during the interview process so that they can see what kind of behavioral issues or personality problems exist in the applicant. 

Overall I think that although Myers-Briggs may be a long test and may not be 100% accurate, if employees are honest in their answers, it can be helpful in the workplace.

Preparing for a layoff

Layoffs are always hard.  Especially when you can feel them coming but are not sure what to do to prepare.  When we were discussing employee shortages and surpluses I thought immediately of layoffs and I wanted to know more about how to prepare in case of a layoff.  Two years ago I was laid off from my place of employment and it was definitely hard.  It was hard because I was not prepared and I did not know what to do next.  It was especially difficult because of how they told me.  One day I was driving to work just like any other day and I received a call from the Las Vegas office.  They told me that I was laid off and that I no longer needed to go in for that current day or any other day.  They said sorry and that it was nothing I did and had nothing to do with my performance.  They said that it was simply something to do with the current company.   So I drove home and immediately began to research unemployment benefits.  The other day, while researching for another class, I found a blog that talked about some ways to help prepare you for a layoff.  I want to talk about a few of them.

The first thing discussed was that if you suspect a lay off coming your way anytime soon, start looking for a new job.  Don’t give up your current job for something inferior, employees looking for a job should take their time to find a job that they love equally and do their best at.  Make sure to look for jobs that fit your qualifications.  They also talked about working towards a solution for the company.   All employees of an organization can contribute towards the company's success.  It might help you to start working on a plan to find a way for the company to start making more money or to cut expenses.  If an employee is satisfied with the current job they hold, they should work hard to keep it alive.  Another tip, was to save your money.  Saving money is always good advice no matter what you’re doing.  The final tip was to "ignore most rumors".  They gave an example about a company where there were a bunch of rumors flying around about potential layoffs.  The only time the statements were true was the day of actual layoffs.  Unless you as the employee learn of a potential layoff directly from someone reliable in the company, or you yourself have access to actual data or numbers, don't believe everything you hear.  When rumors start in an office they usually get over told and changed up.  Just make sure that you are prepared if you hear of a layoff coming your way.  It will help with the shock and with the actual layoff.

Social Security

Our book defines social security as a program which combines old age insurance, surivors insurance, disability insurance, hospital insurance, and supplementary medical insurance for the elderly.  There is a lot of talk going on about social security.  It is a flat payroll tax on employers and employees. Somepeople dont like it because they feel the government is taking their money, using it for other things, and they probably wont get it back.  Somepeople dont like it becuase they think the government is taking over their money and they would rather manage it themself.  Others are worried about how all the Social Security will go to baby boomers and there will be none left.  It has been said that social security is an entitlement because some people are getting back more social security than they put into it and others think that younger people are getting robbed because they are paying the tax if they are working, and if they are not working, the older people are stealing their place in the work force.  There is a bunch of hustle bustle that goes on about social security.  I hear a lot about my generation and that we will not ever receive social security.  People say that by the time I am ready for retirement, they will have ran out of social security.  I hope they come up with a plan to stop that from happening.  There is nothing really I can do but wait to see what really happens.  Maybe when I am ready for retirement they will have come up with an even better plan and I will receieve even more money than the baby boomers.  Yeah right.

Top Ten Minus One

Nine Hardest Human Resource Workplace Problems

I was researching the other day and I came across an article that listed the nine toughest human resource problems.  I am not exactly sure how accurate these are, but I thought they were pretty interesting.  I wanted to talk about them and what I thought about each issue.

1. How to deal with a negative co-worker.
When people don't like their job and or don't like their company, it can be hard to be around them for an entire workday.  I would start out with talking to the employee and determine what exactly is making them frustrated at work.  Maybe the employee actually has a good reason for being negative all the time.  If the employee is negative and is simply just a negative person, with no reasoning, it might help to suggest the employee to speak to someone in human resources.  If worst comes to worse, just limit your exposure as much as you can to that person or go yourself to human resources and talk to them about the issue.  Being around someone negative all the time might start to rub you in the wrong way.
2. How to implement strategic planning.
I decided to research some ways to make strategic planning happen in the workplace.  Strategic planning is the way to go of how to make change of any kind happen in your organization.

Full and active executive support,

Effective communication,

Employee involvement,

Thorough organizational planning and competitive analysis, and

Widespread perceived need for the strategic planning.

3. When management systems fail, why employees don't do what you want them to do.
When an employee doesn't do what they are suppose to, usually there are two people to blame: the employee and his manager. One way to get employees motivated is empowerment.  Letting employees decided when, where, and what they should do might help to motivate them to actually get things done.   Proper training will also help to get an employee to do what they are suppose to.  I bet, sometimes, employees are ineffective at work because they don't know exactly what they are suppose to be doing.  It
4. How do you know when its time for you to go.
Being stuck in a rut at work can be hard on you and your fellow employees.  You need to look out for your best interests. Your job consumes too many hours of too many days of your life for you to stay where you are miserable. No excuses, now. If these issues exist with your job, make a plan, and change jobs.
5.  Personal courage and conflict resolution at work.
There is no way you, as an employee, will be able to get anything achieved at work if you do not have personal courage.  Courage is necessary for implementing new ideas, resolving conflicts, changing policies and practices, and so much more.  It is especially necessary if you are going to to stick up for yourself and your ideas.  Practicing personal courage is necessary if you want to really resolve conflicts at work. It is much easier and much safer to ignore the necessary conflict and play ostrich. Conflict resolution:

• Causes people to listen to and consider different ideas.
• Enables people to increase their alternatives and potential paths.
• Results in increased participation and more ownership of and commitment to the decisions and goals of the group or person.

6. Accomplishing your goals and resolutions.
It is important to make goals and to have dreams about where you want to go with your specific career.  Make sure when you realize what you want, you create action steps to follow.  Creating a plan will help you to achieve the things you want and make your goal seem more realistic.  Making goals at work will help you achieve the dreams you have and will help you become more motivated.
7. Dealing with difficult people at work.
Difficult people come in every variety and no workplace is without them. How difficult a person is for you to deal with depends on your self-esteem, your self-confidence and your professional courage.  Make sure that you deal with people in the right way.  Have an effective conflict resolution and make sure if problems arise you take them up with human resources.
8.  Dealing with bad boss or bad manners.
It can become hard to go to work when you have a difficult boss.  It might cause you to hate your place of work.  Dealing with less than effective managers, or just plain bad managers and bad bosses, is a challenge too many employees face.  It is important to deal with your intolerable boss the right way.  Don't get yourself into trouble by fighting, gossiping, or ignoring.  Take up problems you have with your human resource and they might help you come up with an effective solution.
9. Team building.
Our book defines teamwork as the assignment of work to groups of employees with various skills who interact to assemble a product or provide a service.  Team building is important in the workplace for various reasons.  Not only is helpful for getting bigger projects done faster but it helps employees learn more about fellow co-workers.  It also helps employees to better understand themselves as to whether they are more of a leader or follower.  It helps them to know what they need to work on as a group member.

strikes

STRIKES

November 2010

Strikes can be defined as a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to perform work.  I heard someone the other day in class discussing the writers guild of america strike in 2007-2008.  I heard the strike mainly being called "writers strike'.  Writers Guild of America is the main union for screenwriters in the United States.  There are two portions of the union, Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West.  They are labor unions to represent film, television, and radio writers in America.  I wanted to research more about the strike so here is some of the information I learned....


The strike began on November 5, 2007 and there were more than 12,000 writers on strike.  It ended around February 12, 2008.  That is quite a long strike.  Their goal was supposedly about not getting enough money as compared to the profits people were receiving at the larger studios.   They got what they wanted and the board unanimously approved the "deal" to receive more money and around 92 percent ended the strike.  An economist, Jack Kyser said that the WGOA lost around 2.1 billion dollars with the strike.  I wonder if the strike was worth the loss.

When a company goes on strike I always wonder if the loss of work is worth the money lost.  When employees go on strike I always wonder if they make up the money they lost from not working or if it usually puts their company in the hole. 

COBRA

November 2, 2010

COBRA

Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconsiliation Act begain in 1985.  COBRA is defined in the book as, “requires employers to permit employees or their dependents to extend their health insurance coverage at group rates for up to thirty six months following a qualifying event.  I wanted to talk about COBRA and some of the ways and situations that someone can qualify for cobra insurance. 

Several events that can cause workers and their family members to lose group health coverage may result in the right to COBRA coverage. These include:

• Voluntary or involuntary termination of the covered employee’s employment for reasons other than gross misconduct
• Reduced hours of work for the covered employee
• Covered employee becoming entitled to Medicare
• Divorce or legal separation of a covered employee
• Death of a covered employee
• Loss of status as a dependent child under plan rules

We are all searching for our perfect career.  A permanent career that we can work at and love what we do.  However throughout a career, whether it be one we love or hate, employees will go through life events that might cause career changes or job losses.  COBRA began so that workers and their families can keep their insurance coverage during times of trouble. If you are facing the loss of your group health insurance coverage it is important that you know about COBRA and how it can protect you.

I think COBRA is a great way for people going through  a rough time to continue being covered with health insurance.  Employees still have to pay but they are given a “group rate”.    According to "Bill Aims To Subsidize Health Care For Laid-Off", only 10% of Americans eligible for COBRA insurance in 2006 used it, many because they were unable to afford to pay the full premium after their job loss.  Any organization that offers medical insurance must meet the requirements of COBRA.  COBRA brings opportunites to those in a "rough spot" and it provides employees and their families access to the same insurance services as to those who did not lose their health insurance. COBRA might have a lot of different restrictions, qualifications, and might cost more money than usual insurance, but it will probably end up helping more people than not.