How many companies have your worked for where gossip was king?!  I have had plenty in my day. And, when a company is expecting to conduct layoffs, the gossip becomes rampant; people become fearful; and production goes down the tubes.

An article in the NY Times illustrates how one company eliminated gossiping. When hired, an “agreement to values” is signed so that people are not talked about behind someone’s back. If so, the company has the right to let the individual go, since it is a breach of their agreement. Most importantly, the company management keeps information, including layoffs, timing, reasons for layoffs, all out in the open. Knowing what is expected of each individual, and holding each other accountable, eliminates the need for office gossip.

Further, the company identified how employees can communicate with diverse personalities within the company.  Can you imagine how they can be successful with the diverse personalities of your customers?!

Awesome company! Bravo!

I just made an offer to an individual who will serve as customer service support. Ahem. I think I may have to retract the offer. She is demanding to start at a particular time in the morning, and needing to leave during a particular time in the afternoon. During the interview, I explained that the company makes every attempt to be flexible with hours. For example, we have several single mom’s who come in early and need to leave to get to day care later in the afternoon. Some come in later to accommodate for different time zones across the country. If someone has to leave for a doctor’s appointment, we allow to make up the hours throughout the course of the week, etc.

I think she heard what she wanted to hear, but not what I was explaining. If she is making these demands now, what kind of employee will she be?!

I am having a serious customer problem. Four people have spent the past seven days working on this account. Yes, we had mistakes. Yes we jumped into fix-it mode, changing procedures and the way we do things to better serve. But, there was a minor discrepancy — and not anything to do with what we delivered — where the customer became unglued (again. Screaming and threatening over the phone to us (again). The stress levels are at their highest. The nerves at their extremes. And we cannot, obviously, deliver to the best of this customer’s ability.

Tomorrow will be another packed day on dealing with with the continued madness. Here are a few suggestions I am trying to take:

(1) Don’t argue with the customer. Ever. Give facts and details on what took place the decisions made at the time. Take the blame no matter what.

(2) Compensate the customer for the poor experience (which we have already done).

(3) Change the approach immediately on procedures, performance, and how to reach your customer’s expectations.

(4) Identify who is the communicator to the customer. You? Your rep? Your CEO?

I’m about to say my Hail Mary’s for tomorrow…

OMG, no! Even if you have second thoughts on if an incident is harassment, if you even have any inkling that you may have caused harassment, don’t, please don’t keep it to yourself.   It is absolutely the wrong thing to do. You need to fess up and talk to your supervisor or HR Director.  I’ve heard of one employee who thought that if he/she just waited to “clear things up” it will all go away. Well, it didn’t, and it only got worse.  And, because the employee did not talk to anyone about the incident, thinking it would “all go away” is what made the incident get to a boiling point.

There are several state government websites that define and advise on what happens when you have an employee who is conducting harassment of any types, or even if you, yourself, believe that you have been harassed.

Let’s just hope that none of us have to deal with these issues. Be respectful out there folks!

Coffee, anyone?

Yes, folks, you read that right. A sales rep did not hit quota four months out of the eight and wants commission or compensation changed in order to bring in more money. It’s sort of hard to believe. Now she is talking about getting a second job in order to make ends meet. Well, if she would just grow sales, she would make commission and all of us would be happy! Jeez!

What happens when you don’t get specific projects turned in by your direct reports? I have a laundry list of at least ten specific requests to a sales rep, and he never turned these in. It’s beginning to mount. I’m addressing these with him next week.

How can someone do that? What happened in the previous jobs? Pathetic.

This is an interesting one. I have a sales rep who put a quote together for a client – in the body of an email! No logo, no format, nothing. It did have a signature line for the client to sign. Honestly! I could scream!

I hope so. I mean, your company and what you do rely on the integrity you provide to your customers. Just think if you were perceived as another Bernie Madoff?!  Ugh!

In a recent article in CareerJournal.com, Stephen Covey stresses that you should (1) learn the skills that will earn you greater trust; and (2) don’t over promise what you can deliver. Particularly during these lean times with less resources and  short personnel, that is great advice.

I have a direct report who completely screwed up with a client. He just didn’t have the answers and instead of making sure someone was on the call to help answer the questions, he delayed and delayed, not knowing how to get the answers (or not looking) and after a week the customer calls the President and complains. So, I had to un-$@$#% the problem and  transferred the account over to someone else.  The customer is now a happy camper.

Fast Company provides a no-brainer way to fix a sales problem!

The company I work for conducts two annual performance reviews on direct reports. Neither are tied to compensation. I spend an inordinate amount of time on these with clear examples, facts, and offering suggestions for my direct reports to grow. What I get is garbage. No one spends time on these. No one provides examples on what they achieved, or challenges they have overcome, nor described how they did it. It looks like they spent a total of maybe 15 minutes on them.

I have advocated that these move to once annually and be performed on the individual’s anniversary date. I realize that the company goals may not coincide with the timing of these, but for me, it makes it easier to spend time on each individual. Otherwise, I’m cramming a half dozen reviews into two weeks!

Eventually, when the economy grows, they can be tied to compensation. For more information on performance reviews, Compensation Today blog provides a terrific overview.