Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 19, 1995 TAG: 9503180027
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAMILLE WRIGHT MILLER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A: Risk management includes professional teams with lawyers, insurance experts, counselors and employment consultants.
Lawyers provide knowledge of employment law and practices. When firing someone, ask your attorney to review the reasons for termination. Your attorney should listen to what you'll say to the individual and suggest ways to reduce liability.
A new area of insurance coverage is for ``employment-related practices liability.'' Duke Baldridge, account executive with Thomas Rutherfoord Inc., has seen increased interest in coverage for ``wrongful termination, sexual harassment and discrimination claims.'' When ``suits are brought by employees against employers because of the way they employ, the costs of defense can be high.'' Employment-related practices liability covers areas not protected by traditional insurance.
Consider areas beyond litigation. With increased violence in the workplace, employers need to understand the mental state of discharged employees. Having a counselor conduct an exit interview helps the individual work through hurt and anger; the counselor can also assess the potential risk for violence.
Employment consultants provide alternatives to termination by recommending workplace changes to improve performance. They also evaluate risks for litigation and advise employers of changes needed in employment practice.
Baldridge notes that all employers make decisions whether to ``retain risk or place risk. It's another cost-benefit decision.'' Placing risk, in insurance, means purchasing policies to protect assets in event of a problem. Placing risk, in employment terms, means working with professionals for advice and guidance in employment practices to reduce the probability of litigation or provoked incidents.
Q: I have a co-worker who clockwatches the rest of us. I'm uncomfortable and irritated by the resulting looks of disapproval. Some of my lunch ``tardiness'' is time spent running office errands, which ultimately saves company time.
A: Behavior that we believe is directed at us often isn't. We're aware of how we relate to others, and we often assume they also act with us in mind. For example, a co-worker who glances up when others come and go may actually be distracted by movement. Your leaving causes the individual to break a train of thought - the clock glances may be an unconscious response.
It's possible that, rather than mentally recording your breaks, your co-worker is always surprised to see how quickly time passes and the looks are self-directed.
If, on the other hand, your co-worker is a self-appointed hall monitor with no authority to inquire into your behavior, adjust the way you mentally respond. When you know you're right but can't easily change another's behavior, understand that it's the individual's problem, not yours.
Mentally shifting your mind-set takes time. Remind yourself every time you see clockwatching that it isn't your problem. Force a smile and begin to see the situation as humorous. In a matter of weeks, this individual won't ``get'' to you.
When we don't fully know the cause of relatively harmless behavior, it's sometimes best to change our mind-set. Confrontation in this case could cause more problems than it resolves.
Q: I worked at a company for more than 15 years, never giving my employer any problems - just doing my job. Suddenly, my supervisor started harassing me about every little thing. I quit, but I don't understand the problem.
A: Your inability to understand the problem is likely the same inability your supervisor had. Management sometimes becomes dissatisfied with an employee's work but doesn't name the specific problem. Careful and full assessment of problems leads to solutions. When supervisors fail to accurately identify problems, they take a fallback position.
Without knowing what specific behavior they want changed, they begin to alter their body language, tone of voice and standards when talking with you. These unfocused changes signal a supervisor's desire for employee change.
The clueless employee may change in an effort to capture old interaction styles. This isn't successful, because no one is certain what the real goals are.
Make an appointment with your former supervisor. Ask if he or she can identify specific problems in your employment. Make clear that you want to know so you can improve in future employment elsewhere. If you gain insights, use them to improve on your next job. If you aren't given reasons, understand the problem may be your former supervisor's.
by CNB