None of us are perfect. No matter how hard we try, weird things creep into the workplace.

Below, Scarlett Pruitt, brings to light 10 Signs of a Dysfunctional Workplace. I’ve added some comments because it’s great having the last word.

Can you see anything below that resembles your workplace?

1. Nothing can get done without the boss’s approval. Empower your organization by delegating, says Pruitt. There’s not much CEO work going on if the boss has to sign off on every little thing. And there’s a corollary …

1a. To get things done, you have to hide them from the boss. Now you know you’ve got a situation that is going to end badly.

The “Boss” sets the course and keeps the boat going in the right direction. If the boss can’t trust those whom he has hired to make daily decisions and when work is being done “in the dark” it won’t be long before employees will begin to abandon the ship. In short, the boss must allow people to do what they were hired to do. Bosses who micro-manage are not being efficient.

2. Who is the boss? The structure may be clear on paper, but no one knows who really makes the decisions. Everybody benefits from clarifying decision-making responsibilities.

An “empowered” employee must be allowed to use the power/responsibility that has been delegated to the individual. When a person is empowered by the boss and then not allowed to use the authority given, the message that is sent is…I don’t trust you, I’m afraid you’ll make a mistake. And the biggest mistake…the boss not trusting the employee.

3. Do-nothing meetings. If a meeting has no agenda or just rehashes previous discussions, axe it. And again, a corollary:

3a. IMing during meetings. Meetings are for brainstorming and discussing, not “snarky IM conversations,” says Pruitt. “Pull the plug” on cell phones.

I once worked for a company that became famous for the muffins that were served at meetings. I didn’t have to worry about breakfast or lunch because I knew that I was going to be in at least 2 meetings during the day where muffins would be the most important thing at the meeting. Some very successful companies have meetings standing up (get ‘er done). Use an agenda, if there is nothing on the agenda, cancel the meeting.

4. Cubicle co-workers IM instead of talking. Some topics require face-to-face discussion. Arrange some meetings (but don’t forget rule number 3.)

Please do some interactive things between departments. Allow employees the opportunity of building some interdepartmental relationships. And remember, if your department managers do not have good working relationships with other department managers you have an obstacle that is preventing your business from being great. The Boss must provide opportunities for department managers to build relationships. And Boss…never talk poorly about a department manager to another department manager, keep your complaints about department managers within your executive group.

5. There’s more than one “secret couple” around. They usually don’t stay secret for long, and tension and drama (and lawsuits) result if there is perceived favoritism. Write a policy and enforce it.

Those with authority can never date subordinates. You might know of some isolated examples of manager-subordinate relationships working out. However, the chance of this kind of relationship going bad is huge. Don’t allow it. As said above, make a rule against this kind of thing and enforce it.

6. IT rules are so tight that you’re not told your own password. Tech security is important, but there are limits. Find a reasonable middle ground.

How many hoops do your employees have to jump through to do their job? If your IT Department requires employees to dig tunnels, climb walls and break down metal doors to just start working, way too much time is being wasted. If nothing can get done without the IT Department being involved, you’ve given too much authority to IT and in fact IT is running the business. That’s not going to work long term.

7. There’s a “wall of shame” where employee mess-ups are posted and highlighted for the entire world to see. “Rewards should be public, but chastisement should be private,” Pruitt says.

Okay, do you want to instill fear into every employee? Just punish an employee in public and you’ll have every one afraid that they are next. If you have a manager who believes it’s effective to punish in public you are on the course to a law suit. A good manager does not make himself look big by making his staff look small. If someone in your organization is doing this, demand a change or find a new person who will not manage with fear.

8. The boss screams at staffers, for example, when there’s skim milk instead of half-and-half for the coffee. Authority should never be used to bully or intimidate. Counsel or call in the consultants.

Management rule #1 - Never yell unless the building is on fire.

9. Everyone has 10 weeks of accumulated vacation because no one can take a day off. “People are not machines,” says Pruitt. “Encourage them to take vacations, or they are likely to walk out one day and not come back.”

You know what all work and no play does to “Jack.” Of course there are times when you need all hands on deck. A special project, an emergency, etc. Time away from work is important. Want to impress an employee with how much you appreciate the person? Give the person an extra day off now and then. Send a group to the movie, close the shop for the afternoon and take everyone to the movie. The hero will be the person that showed appreciation to the staff, not the high priced actor on the screen.

10. What matters is not what you get done, but how many hours you are seen “working.” Don’t be impressed by the person who arrives early and leaves late just for show. Reward productivity, not hours, says Pruitt.

In order to know who is getting it done you have to go out and see it for yourself. The best thing a manager can do is to get out from behind the desk and go do the work with the staff. Give your employees an opportunity to show you what they can do, the result of spending time with staff is that they will show you a better way to get it done, ignore them and they will eventually go show the competition a better way to get it done.

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

As a business owner, manager, supervisor, you wonder why your expectations for work attendance seem to be communicated to your employees in an ancient language that no one understands. Why is it so hard for everyone to understand that you really do expect an employee to show up and work the posted schedule?

On close examination, the final answer just might be that it is indeed your fault, your communication to employees concerning attendance might be flawed. Is there a difference between what you say and what you actually make happen?

Here’s a short list of some factors that contribute to attendance problems:

1- No one is in charge of attendance – who’s keeping score?

2- Generational issues, older employees who know how important attendance is and younger employees who believe they can come and go as they please.

3- Internet knowledge – more and more employees are informed about FMLA and are learning how to use “the system.”

4- Use it or lose sick leave plans.

5- Supervisors who believe if they enforce attendance policies they might lose their “best” employee.

6- No plan to fix the problem.

My Grand Pa would say to me….if a person keeps a cow-pie in his hat eventually he will get used to it. In my youth I didn’t have any idea about what Grand Pa was trying to tell me, but I know now. If there’s a problem and I don’t do anything to fix it, by and by I’ll just get used to the problem, the problem will become status-quo.

Grand Pa might have given a few ideas about fixing the attendance problem (for sure there was no attendance problem on his farm!)

1- Make sure everyone understands what is expected. No questions. We hired you to come to work everyday…we expect you to be here everyday.

2- Who does the employee contact when she is going to be late or absent. There must be a clear line of authority. Telling a co-worker to tell the supervisor is never appropriate.

3- Some things must be set in stone, like:
a. Requests for vacation or personal time off (we highly suggest doing away with vacation and making all leave fall under PTO) must be submitted in advance.
b. If you miss work and fail to follow the established rules for notification you will receive a warning, a verbal warning the first time and then a written warning…no exceptions.
c. If you miss 3 or more days of work due to illness you can’t come back to work without a doctor’s note…no exceptions.
d. More than 2 or 3 or 4 days (the company must decide) absence within a quarter are considered attendance abuse and can lead to discharge.
e. Use Decision Making Leave before discharging a person for poor attendance. This forces the employee to commit to changing his ways or being subject to discharge.

4- Post the rules for attendance where everyone will see; by the time clock, in the break room, etc. Don’t accept as an excuse…I didn’t know.

5- Use the 90 day introductory period to assess a person’s willingness to abide by the attendance rules. If a person has an attendance issues in the initial 90 days of employment do not employ that person past 90 days. Attendance issues will not get better (or any other policy violation the employee having issues with).

6- Be consistent.

7- Keep attendance records. (document, document, document)

Allowing some (my best guy) to violate the attendance rules while enforcing the rules with others will ultimately lead to a morale problem.

Set clear expectations and professionally enforce your attendance policy. In the long run your organization will run better, be more productive, and morale will be better.

What’s under your hat? Hopefully not an “attendance cow-pie.”

Please contact the HR Department at A Plus Benefits if you have further questions or concerns.

We appreciate your business!

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

I continue to hear people mention how difficult it is to find employees in the current hiring environment. This seems particularly true when business owners feel they need compete with larger organizations like HP, Simplot, or Micron.

I was visiting with a friend this morning and we were talking about working with the big guys and he mentioned several things that caused me to think about the benefits associated with working for one of the little guys. Seriously, how many big company jobs allow an employee to work on two, three or more very different tasks on any given afternoon? How many big company opportunities include constant change and significant job flexibility? When I was working for Intel two years ago I spent my entire day boxed in a cubicle working on a very specific job. I had little interaction with co-workers unless it was over the phone and even less task flexibility. I was there to do a very finite job day in and day out.

It was this experience that convinced me that regardless of the health plans, stock options, and a good salary I wanted something different. Among other things, I wanted change, I wanted more responsibility and I wanted to feel like my contribution meant something. Fortunately I found that opportunity and by working for small businesses, so have many others. Small business owners can attract key talent by highlighting their flexibility when working with employees versus their much larger counterparts. Focus on the benefits of working in a smaller, more adaptable company and you’ll be in good shape.

Jake Lunt is the General Manager of Idaho operations for A Plus Benefits, Inc.

Keeping good employees tends to be less of a problem for large companies according to a recent article on the Forbes Web site. The article states that this trend is the result of larger firms are able to offer higher salaries, weeks of paid vacation and other perks that draw employees in and keep them there.

That is not to say that small business owners are unable to retain good employees. There are several strategies small business owners can adopt in order to compete with the big guys. For instance, a survey by Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration found that employee retention increases for small companies by 26.2% for a given year when benefits are offered.

Many small business owners don’t consider offering a benefits package to their employees because of the associated costs. However, there are options for small businesses including working with a PEO. Sometimes it just takes some shopping around to find a solution that will work best for your company.

There are also some other inexpensive retention strategies suggested in the article including company picnics, participation in community sports leagues, and offering discounted gym memberships or other company discounts.

These perks play up the main benefit employees see in working for a small company: a close-knit, community working environment. Many employees find value in knowing the people they work with on a more personal level and feeling like they are an important part of the company. That sense of pride and belonging can help your employees stay put rather than looking for new opportunities.Samantha Bushard is an HR employee for A Plus Benefits, Inc.

In previous blogs I have discussed some of the benefits of owning an HSA, but what are the benefits to employers for offering HSA qualifying health plans?

One benefit is lowering your healthcare costs as an employer. Most group health plans require the employer to make some contribution to employee premium amounts. The High Deductible Health Plans that qualify for HSAs generally have lower premiums. This gives the employer the opportunity to pay a part (or all) of the premium and contribute some money to the employee’s HSA for a lower overall cost than the premium on a traditional health plan.

HSAs can offer greater flexibility to your employees when it comes to controlling health care costs and can be a less expensive alternative for you as an employer. Offering flexible benefits options helps keep employees content and may assist in attracting and retaining quality employees.

It may be time to consider HSAs for you and your employees.

Samantha Bushard is an HR employee for the Idaho office of A Plus Benefits, Inc.