ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603150100
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: G-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAMILLE WRIGHT MILLER
Q: In our organization, each department individually interviews and hires professional staff. Personnel becomes involved after we make a decision. We've had a growing concern that we may be asking for legal trouble with this approach.
A: Many departments individually hire professionals, believing that only peers can evaluate candidate credentials. While reasonable, this fails to consider the legalities.
Every department should require that all members complete interview training before anyone reviews applications or meets candidates. New employees should also receive interview training to ensure consistency.
Training should cover, at a minimum, the legal areas. At first glance, the areas may seem questionable. Regarding names, for example, one may ask whether an applicant's work records are under another name; however, it is illegal to ask if a woman is a Miss, Mrs., or Ms. It is also illegal to request an applicant to give a maiden name or to ask any other previous name a man or woman has used. Similarly, with respect to questions about address, it is illegal to ask applicants if they own their own home, rent, or live in an apartment or house.
The areas of illegal inquiry cover the following: name, address/housing, age, birthplace/national origin, race, gender, religion/creed, citizenship, marital/parental status, relatives, military service, education, criminal record, references, organizational membership, work schedule, physical data, handicaps, and nonjob related inquiries. While each of these areas may have legal inquiries, all have illegal aspects.
Additionally, photographs may not be taken or requested until after hiring.
Training in basic interviewing skills would also help departments make better hiring decisions. These skills include how to make candidates comfortable and how to identify candidates who will make good co-workers.
Companies that can't offer in-house training should consider bringing in a lawyer for instruction.
Interview training is an effective risk-reduction tool. It also provides an educated staff which can impress competitive and desirable candidates.
Q: I was told, when I joined this company in December, that I shouldn't bill for "learning time." I'm to bill fully once I know my job; until then, learning time is absorbed by the company. I bill about 40 percent of my time. My supervisor just jumped me for underbilling. I feel it's unethical to bill clients for more, but I love this job.
A. Before charging ethical misconduct, recognize there's a communication gap between you and your supervisor which can be bridged only by another conversation.
Consider the possibilities. Your employer may want you to, unethically, bill for your learning time. Clients then unfairly pay for your on-the-job education.
Or, you know much more than you realize. Lacking confidence, you're shorting the company. Your supervisor is sending a signal both to have confidence in yourself and to shift the billing ratio.
Or, you haven't learned at the rate expected. Your supervisor wants improvement in certain areas. Unless you know which areas, progress is unlikely.
Meet with your supervisor. Recount the conversation and offer your interpretation of it without any reference to ethics. Ask if your interpretation is correct. If you've misread the meaning, corrections will eliminate unfounded concerns.
If you're moving too slowly in learning, ask for help, hints and acceptable short-cuts.
If the issue is one of ethics, reconsider your love of the job and company. Similar jobs are available in companies which practice ethical behavior.
Full understanding is key to your ultimate success.
Q. Our organization is undergoing tremendous change. Planning and implementation require many meetings. We're meeting so much it's impossible to get our jobs done - unless we put in 12-hour days. We're suffering meeting and work overload.
A. At the end of each meeting talk about the progress. State, upfront, your support of the changes. Then discuss the generalized belief that meetings have taken over both work and the desired change.
Ask for help in designing meeting changes. Coax agreement that no meeting can be called without a stated objective and distributed agenda. Gain agreement that committee members are free to leave, without penalty, any meeting lacking an objective and an agenda.
Discuss committees which have served their usefulness. Can remaining tasks be given to another committee? Which committees duplicate efforts. Can one disband? Could a member of "A" committee roll over to "B" committee membership to ensure a smooth transition?
Request that one day each week be declared "meeting free." This provides time for job-related tasks. It also ensures that committee days are reviewed for meeting performance.
Request one week each quarter be declared meeting-free, with the understanding that no later "catch-up" meetings will be allowed. This perk can revive tired employees.
Because your organization is changing, meetings are part of the job. On the other hand, unnecessary meetings can undermine enthusiasm and productivity in a way necessary change can't.
Organizations engaging in change are perfect settings to try new approaches to old meeting styles. Your symptoms, shared by others, suggest it's time to shift strategy.
Camille Wright Miller, an organizational behavior sociologist who works in Lexington, answers questions from our readers about workplace issues. Please send them to her in care of The Roanoke Times, Business News Department, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke 24010.
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