Clocked In and Checked Out

From the title, this sounds like a post that belongs in my “Employees Behaving Badly” category. However, this one is just for CEOs. Listen fella, when you run a dysfunctional company you get dysfunctional behavior. Here’s some sure-fire ways to de-motivate your workforce and pay people salaries for a) job hunting while on the clock, b) texting their friends, c) gaming, and d) gossiping/visiting with coworkers.

• Hold no one accountable. Let your top managers do their own thing and not follow established policies.
• Be unethical. Spend the day golfing with your buddies and call it “business development.”
• Call someone a liar. Tell someone who raises a valid concern to the CEO level that they are the only one in the company who feels that way.
• Be discriminatory. Promote and give raises only to white men who like to go out drinking with you after work.
• Shift gears continuously. Totally change the focus, vision, and/or strategy based solely on an article you happened to see in a business magazine and claim that it is a good business decision.
• Make business decisions that stroke your ego.
• Gossip/Trash your staff. Crap runs down the hill buddy. When you bad mouth your employees to other employees, you set a tone that permeates throughout the entire company.
• BS. Call it “collaboration” when the fact is you don’t have a clue or an answer, so you sit back and watch your managers hash out things over which they have no authority.
• Fail to model the way. Act like an ass and others will follow suit.

The Silent Treatment…what are we in Junior High?

There is nothing more dysfunctional than the silent treatment at work. If you are pissed at your boss, your employee,  or a coworker, the cold shoulder makes you look unprofessionally and frankly, downright pissy. You don’t have to slap on a big smile and be fake; just be cordial and respectful. When things get better, and they will eventually, you’ll be glad you maintained your professionalism.

Yes Jimmy, IT staff DOES read your emails…

You’ve suspected it for years. You wonder if its true. Yes folks, its true. Email is the property of your company, and as such, your manager gets to read it by request. Some companies have policies about who can read your email and under what circumstances. However, you should know that at least one of your IT folks can and probably does surf around in your email from time to time. Most IT employees are ethical and frankly don’t have the time or inclination to do this. But you should know that some aren’t very ethical and/or perhaps have a personal interest in what you’re writing. Or, a manager authorized this behavior for a number of reasons. Here are some tips:

• Don’t ever apply for jobs, send out your resumé, or respond to emails from potential employers from your work email. Some IT folks put blockers on attachments that include the word “resume” so they can notify your manager or others that you’ve sent out a resume.
• Save your company and boss bashing for your personal email account that you use at home. Remember that even if you use your personal email at work, it’s going through the company server.
• When you’re about to  resign (and certainly if you have already done so), and you want to keep some of your work files, watch out. Many companies immediately scan your emails upon receiving your resignation. Others watch for files going out. Of course, don’t be stupid enough to send confidential company property out the door. I’m talking about your own work product that isn’t subject to non-compete clauses, etc.

If your IT guy (I’m not sexist…I haven’t actually seen this behavior in a female IT staff member) is one of those information-hording, tech-speaking, insecure asses, I can pretty much confirm that he’s reading your stuff. Particularly if you are in HR or leadership.