The following is a very thought provoking story and then a follow up to the original story. While this HR Update is longer than usual I believe it’s worth the time it will take to read the article.

After reading the article I believe a business owner or manager needs to ask several questions about the reader’s organization, do employees understand their role in the organization, does management know what is going on in “the trenches,” when an employee “colors outside of the lines” what effect does it have on other employees, is just okay good enough – have we accepted mediocrity.

What questions does this article spark in your mind about your organization?

We appreciate your business! We hope what we do for you allows you to get back to business.

Randall Barker SPHR CELS – VP Human Resources – A Plus Benefits, Inc.

Goodbye, Mr. Foster–A True Story About an Employee Who Was Too Good
Friday, September 26, 2008 7:00 AM HR Daily Advisor by BLR
by Steve Bruce – Andy Andrews also contributed to the story.

Can an employee do his or her job too well? If so, what do you do? Praise? Raise? Discipline? Terminate? Today’s guest columnist tells the true story of Foster, who did his job too well.

I met him at least 8 years ago at the Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport. He wore black pants and a white shirt with a black tie and bib apron. “Let me carry that for you, young man,” he said, noticing the balancing act I was performing with my luggage and the tray of food from Paschal’s Restaurant.

The old fellow grabbed my tray with a smile and was off, limping heavily on one leg that was obviously shorter than the other. I followed him around the escalator to an empty table I would never have found, and it was only then when I realized that he had also brought napkins, a straw, and packages of salt and pepper … items I usually forget.

With a flourish, he wiped the table, removed my plate from the tray and arranged it carefully with the napkins and the iced tea. Pulling back my chair as I hurriedly retrieved three, one-dollar bills from my pocket, he smiled and said, “God bless you.” His nametag read: FOSTER.

I was curious to see if this was a new service the airport had put in place. Certainly, I had never been “helped” before. I saw several other men and women dressed like my new friend, loosely assembled, and talking with each other, waiting without enthusiasm for tables to come empty. At that point, one of them would disengage from the group, clear any trash left on the table wipe it down, and return to their co-workers.

Glancing around the huge area, I quickly spotted Foster. Smiling, laughing, and moving fast, he helped one person after another. He never waited to be summoned. He went where he was needed.

I was back through the airport the next day and couldn’t wait to visit the food court again. Sure enough, there he was, the old man with the big smile. He helped me to a table as he had the day before (with napkins, salt and pepper, and a straw) and said, “God bless you, young man,” as he held out my chair.

I had a twenty folded and ready to place in his hand that day. I was impressed and inspired by this old man who struggled to walk, yet moved like a dervish as he cleaned empty tables and looked for people to serve. From that day forward, he was Mr. Foster to me.

As the years rolled by, I developed a great admiration for Mr. Foster. I saw him several times each month and introduced him to anyone with whom I was traveling. “Watch this guy,” I would always instruct as he left our table. “And watch that bunch of other people over there dressed just like him.” The contrast was clear.

I never once suspected Mr. Foster was making a play for tips. In fact, though I rarely slipped him less than twenty dollars, he often made me wait while he helped someone in obvious need of assistance. And whether they offered money or not, he always smiled, held their chairs and said, “God bless you.”

And then he was gone. Unable to find my friend, I asked the ladies at Paschal’s, “Where is Mr. Foster today?”

“Fired,” they told me. “They fired him. Humiliated him. Sent the man home!”

The Atlanta Airport Authority, I was told, had determined that Mr. Foster had become “a distraction.” They ordered him to stop helping people. “Stand with everyone else,” he was told, “and wait for the tables to empty. You are a busboy; act like one.”

A few months later, he was back (happy as ever) on a trial basis. But I never again let him carry my tray. I did, however, continue with the tips. He took the money because I made him take it. I was mad for him and he knew it. His “God bless you’s” often came to me with a tear. His spirit was gone.

Today, I went by Paschal’s. Before I could even ask, one of the ladies on the serving line spotted me. “I been expecting you,” she said. “Mr. Foster’s gone. He quit. Told ‘em he was old and sick and couldn’t do the work no more.” Then she cocked her head and added with a whisper, “He ain’t sick. There ain’t nothing broken about that old man.”

Nope, I thought as I turned away, there ain’t nothing broken about that old man. Nothing but his heart.

What happens to the Mr. Fosters in your organization? What can you do to encourage employees to go above and beyond for customers? Or should you? What do you think?

Readers See ‘Mr. Foster’ Column as Inspiring, Troublesome, Symptomatic
What a response to our recent story about “the employee who was too good”! Some readers called for a boycott, some lashed out at management, and one lashed out at HR.
Although most readers heaped lavish praise on Mr. Foster, one reader wasn’t convinced that he was such a good employee after all.

‘Mr. Foster personifies the ultimate customer service!’
One group of readers focused on what a good employee Mr. Foster was:

“Mr. Foster should be director of training. Where is this man now? Maybe I can hire him as a consultant!”

“Mr. Foster sounds like an exceptional employee. He should have been rewarded and given a pay raise.”

“Shame on that company. This is a person who should be rewarded and held up as an example to his co-workers.”

“Exceptional customer service … is becoming so rare that when some one does encounter it they write a book or a story about it.”

Boycott Foster’s Employer
Two readers called for a boycott of the restaurant where Foster worked:

“We should vow that when we go to Atlanta we will not use the services of Paschal’s. But we should stop and tell the manager what we think! I know I will take the extra step to do so.”

“Stories like this one make me angry and I retaliate by refusing to spend further money in their establishments.”

‘Going the Extra Mile Doesn’t Put You Ahead Any More’
Three readers felt the tale was symptomatic of what is wrong with America:

“From our school systems to our social systems to our work places, going the extra mile doesn’t put you ahead any more, but it alienates you from the group. Those who excel are punished while those who only put forth minimal are rewarded.”

“It was easier to ask people to be ’status quo’ so the managers did not have to encourage other employees to meet a higher standard.”

“I suspect poor Foster was the victim of a metrics push, and since the core function of the job was to clean tables, perhaps Mr. Foster didn’t react as quickly or clean as many tables as his do-nothing counterparts. In today’s workplace, it’s not about how well you do your job or please your clients, it’s about the number on the metrics chart.”

‘From top to bottom this story is about a management issue’
A number of readers blamed management for failing to appreciate Mr. Foster:

“Good waiters, busboys, etc. are trained, not born. If the ownership trained laziness, they got laziness … do-nothing employees are created by slacker ownership, management, and trainers.”

“This seems to have happened because of a lazy or unaware manager. It was easier to tell Mr. Foster to work less hard than to get the other workers to perform to his level.”

“I think we have all seen this attitude, ’slow down, you’re making the rest of us look bad.’ The question is, do you care about your customers enough to care about your employees?”

“If employees have no way to differentiate themselves from the herd of mediocre workers, everything and everybody achieves a lower, flatter, blander mediocrity because the real stars move to a better universe.”

“This is a situation where HR could and should have stepped in … or maybe HR is the problem.”

Maybe Mr. Foster Wasn’t that Great
One reader saw another angle:

“On the face it appears that the employer is the bad guy, but what do you do when an employee expands his job description under the guise of enhanced customer service at the expense of other job functions? What if customers were uncomfortable with his attentiveness and the undercurrent that perhaps a tip (How much is enough? You tipped $20) was required?

“Perhaps the employee was not being effectively recognized for doing the expected job functions. But you come along and tipped him $20. What behavior will he continue to exhibit?”

Finally, one reader added, “This was an excellent, thought-provoking story that I will use to underscore the need for timely, reasonable and relevant reprimands and rewards.”

Randal Barker is the VP of Human Resources for A Plus Benefits, Inc.

Yesterday we posted an article from BLR’s HR Dailey Advisor that re-introduced the need for legally compliant interviews. Today we follow up with another article from BLR that covers the questions you don’t ever want to ask.

Remember, these are questions that you do not want to ask during the interview process. You will legally discover the answer to many of these questions once an applicant becomes an employee just from new hire information that is gathered during the orientation process.

During the job interview stick to job specific questions.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact your A Plus Benefits HR Advisor.

Interview Checklist–The 25 Forbidden Questions

Forbidden Questions—Age
1. “How old are you?”
2. “What is your date of birth?”
(You may ask, “Do you meet the state minimum age requirement for work?” and “Are you over 18 and under age 65?”)

Forbidden Questions—Availability for Work and Travel
3. “Can you work Saturdays and Sundays?”
4. “Do you have children?”
5. “What are your child care arrangements?”
(You may ask, “These are the hours of work—can you attend work during these hours?” and “Work sometimes requires overtime. Can you work such a schedule?” and “Do you have any obligations that would keep you from work-related travel?”)

Forbidden Questions—Birthplace and Citizenship
6. “Where were you born?”
7. “What is your native language?”
(You may ask, “Are you legally authorized to work in the United States?”)

Forbidden Questions—Clubs and Affiliations
8. “To what organizations do you belong?”
9. “Do you want to tell me about any of your memberships relating to the performance of this job?”

Forbidden Questions—Disabilities
10. “Do you have a disability?”
11. “Have you ever filed for workers’ compensation?”
12. “Have you ever been treated for any of the following conditions or diseases (followed by a checklist of various illnesses)?”
13. “How many days were you absent from work because of illness last year?”
14. “What prescription medications are you taking?”
15. “Is there any health-related reason you may not be able to perform the job for which you are applying?”
(You may ask, “Can you perform the essential functions of the job for which you are applying?” and “Can you demonstrate to me how you would perform those functions?”)

Forbidden Questions—Economic status
16. “Have you ever had your wages garnished?”
17. “Do you own your own home?”
18. “How long do you plan to work on this job?”
19. “Have you ever filed for bankruptcy?”

Forbidden Questions—Name
20. “Have you ever had your name changed?”
21. “What is your maiden name?”
(You may ask, “Is there any additional information we need about your name to verify your employment/education record?”)

Forbidden Questions—Relatives
22. “Who is the relative to be notified in case of emergency?”
23. “Are you married?”
24. “Do you have children?”
25. “Do you plan to get pregnant?”

Randall Barker is the VP of Human Resources for A Plus Benefits, Inc.

I receive HR Updates from several sources, often the information is very timely and applicable to many if not all of our clients. The article below from HR Dailey Advisor is a good example. From time to time we all need to be reminded about the important of conducting compliant interviews.

I hope you enjoy the article.

9 Legal Landmines for Untrained (and Maybe Even Trained) Interviewers

Even seasoned interviewers can inadvertently ask questions that lead to legal problems. That’s why the first rule in interviewing is “Innocent questions can lead to trouble.”

“An interview is essentially a pretty casual conversation, particularly if it goes well,” says Amy Berecek. And in a conversation, it’s just human nature to ask people if they’re married and about their family and where they’re from and about their national origin.

Don’t do it, says Berecek, an associate with Thorp, Reed & Armstrong in Pittsburgh.

Nine Types of Questions to Avoid
Berecek says that problematic interview questions tend to fall into nine categories:
–Marital status
–Family obligations
–National origin or race
–Age
–Religion
–Disability
–Arrests or convictions
–Financial condition
–Off-duty activities.

Berecek recommends avoiding such questions altogether because your hiring decisions could be challenged based on questions asked during interviews.

Even if a question is not illegal, “it may show a discriminatory intent” if the applicant is not hired, she says. For example, if an employer asks a female applicant about her child care obligations and later hires a male for the job, the female could potentially file a discrimination lawsuit.

Similarly, an interviewer who realizes that he went to the same school as an applicant and asks in what year she graduated could create a legal problem if the applicant is age 40 or older and a younger candidate is hired, she says.

One bad question alone won’t necessarily result in a lawsuit being filed—or won. “It depends on how egregious the comment is or if the topic is prevalent throughout the interview,” she says. However, even if an applicant doesn’t sue, he or she might file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or a state agency, Berecek says, which would still cause the employer to incur the costs and hassles of dealing with complaints.

Training Prevents Legal problems
Here are steps employers can take to minimize legal trouble associated with interviews:

Educate all interviewers. Frontline supervisors and other employees who interview applicants need to be trained on interviewing techniques. They should receive periodic reminders about what the company expects of them during the interview process, what types of questions are appropriate, and what types of questions should be avoided.

Don’t get too conversational. The best interviews are conversational and provide an opportunity to get to know the job applicant, but don’t let interviews become “too conversational,” Berecek says. As mentioned above, getting too chatty about when an applicant graduated from high school, whether he or she is married, or what his or her national origin is could lead to trouble.

Check applicable state laws. Many of the nine categories of questions identified by Berecek are governed by federal laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and bankruptcy laws. However, employers also need to be familiar with state (and in some cases, local) laws.

She notes, for example, that some states prohibit employers from basing employment decisions on arrest or conviction records or on applicants’ “off-duty use of lawful products” (e.g., cigarettes or alcohol). Employers that ask about those issues may put themselves at greater risk for legal trouble.

Comments: Not much time to train supervisors in the art of hiring? The HR Advisors at A Plus Benefits can relieve your interview training burden, please give us a call. By the way, we are prepared to conduct training sessions in several important areas for supervisors; sexual harassment, progressive discipline, documentation, performance reviews, etc.

The work our HR Advisors can do for you will allow you to get back to business.

Randall Barker is the VP of Human Resources for A Plus Benefits, Inc.