Don't Use Sexual Harassment to Sell Doughnuts

Quik Trip is a chain of convienience stores in 10 states. They have a heavy representation in the State of Georgia, over a hundred stores. I am a frequent customer. They are clean, well lighted at night, and their employees are efficient and generally friendly. I even enlisted them one time to come to a job fair I was hosting at a local high school. So what I am about to say does not come from a dislike of the company or its business.

I heard one of their radio ads the other morning and I was APPALLED! Here is the scenario of the ad. A woman in an office is having to fend off the attention of a co-worker wants to date her. He is persistent and pushy. He promises to stop asking her for a date if she will go out one time for coffee with him. She relents and she picks Quik Trip for a cup of coffee... and oh, a doughnut, because it is quick, with the emphasis on the quick. That way she can be done with him in short order and not have to endure a disagreeable date.

Well perhaps it is my HR sensabilities but I practically screamed at the radio "YOU CAN'T USE SEXUAL HARASSMENT TO SELL DOUGHNUTS!" I can guarantee the marketing person that put that ad together was not a woman. Too many women in business and school have to deal with this kind of crappy situation. And they should not have to. This woman in the commericial should have been reporting this jerk to her boss or HR department rather than accepting a "date" that could lead to an unsafe situation.

I would encourage Quik Trip to drop this ad as soon as possible and to encourge their ad agency to engage in some sexual harassment training awareness because obviously they don't get it. (BTW, I happen to know a consultant that could help them with that. ) Perhaps in the future they need to have HR screen some of the ads.

But as a lesson to everyone, DON'T USE SEXUAL HARASSMENT TO SELL ANYTHING.

Employment Law Compliance: It Is Not Your Father's USDOL

I know there have been some arguments amongst HR people calling for reform in the HR field to have "legal" handle compliance and let HR deal with "people/talent" issues. My reaction to that statement is that it works very well in a company that has "legal". However, far many more companies do not have an in-house legal department and to go to outside to legal counsel would be very expensive. So the HR practioner has to be the "compliance officer." And in today's world that is NOT a simple issue. As I have stated many times in this blog the world of employment compliance is much more complicated and dangerous. The USDOL has hired 250 more wage & hour investigators, another 200 or so OSHA investigators, another 100 or so contract compliance officers for the OFCCP, the IRS is putting on more people to investigate independent contractor situations, the EEOC has been given several million dollars to beef up its efforts, ICE is getting hot and bothered about I-9s and all of them say the fines will be increased heavily and they are looking for CRIMINAL cases not civil remedies. And State DOLs are jumping on the bandwagon too.

One well known "Co-Employer" or PEO, which used to advertise their services as a way to recruit and retain employees is now advertising using the phrases "Trampled by overpowering employment law", "steeper fines", "harsher penalties" and "choking on red tape". So people are starting to sit up and pay attention. You should too...

I borrowed from the old Oldsmobile commercial for my title. This is not the same USDOL from 20 years ago. This one has stated you as an employer are stealing from your workers and they are out to get you. So beware and remember this is the US DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, NOT THE US DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYERS. Hone those compliance skills and keep up to date on the ever changing world of employment law.

And, by the way, you had better pay attention to the National Labor Relations Board too. They also are not on your side and may make rules changes that may make it much easier for someone to organize you employees. You make wake up one day and have a union in your lap.

Great way to start a week huh?....

Creating Jobs By Eliminating the Minimum Wage

I mentioned earlier in the week that the September 13th issue of Forbes had several articles that I wanted to post about. The second of these is an article entitled Scrap The Minimum Wage written by Art Carden, and assistant professor of economics and business at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn. Dr. Carden talks about his research that shows that "The effect of a minimum wage is a classic example of the law of unintended consequences. Minimum wages create unemployment: At above-market prices people want to supply more labor than employers wish to hire." He goes on to suggest "Repealing the minimum wage would have two effects. First, it would create job opportunities, particularly for teenagers, and the chance to acquire experience today that can translate into higher future earnings. Second, it would send a powerful message to employer, employees and investors that they can hire and invest without fear of punishment."

Carden makes the observation that the increase in the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per had the effect of reducing employment 6.9% among teens, even more so for minority teens. Carden writes that repealing the minimum wage would create work and says "even a low-wage job in most cases beats no job and no wages." He points out that "supporters of the minimum wage argue that earning $7.25 an hour makes a statement about the kind of society we live in." But as he further states "Unfortunately, that statement amounts to: "We don't understand how competitive markets work." He concludes with "Minimum wage advocates might mean well, but other people without jobs can't buy food, clothing and shelter with others' good intentions."

I like Carden's idea. I have seen companies that cut down on staffing because of the increase in the mimimum wage. Just like overtime, minimum wage was put in place during a time of economic depression and recovery in order to "provide" for the welfare. I have also seen the marketplace work where companies did not pay minimum wage, even fast food companies, because the labor pool was too small and they were competing for workers.

However, I have a very hard time seeing this coming about. Just like anything else, especially govenment programs and mandates, if you provide it too long it becomes an entitlement. I don't see any politician supporting getting rid of the minimum wage. I see the reverse. In today's environment I actually see another minimum wage increase coming. Another 3 step process to get it to $10  per hour. It will most likely be called the Ted Kennedy Memorial Wage Increase or Wage Increase for Equity (WIFE). Let's see how good of a futurist I may be...

Good News! The Sex Pay Gap Is Gone!

In a September 2, 2010 article in USA Today reported research done by Reach Advisors on 2008 Census data. This data compared the income data for single men and women ages 22-30 in major metropolitan areas. The results showed that single women in this age bracket when compared to single men in that age bracket out earned them by significant factor, in a range of 12% to 21%. Several factors where cited, but the prime reason was education. More women than men are going to college and they are 1.5 more likely to graduate. This trend is even more apparent in cities with higher minority populations. As an example single women in the study made 21% more than their male counterparts in Atlanta.

Women in their 20's who are married and have children do not have the wage advantage their single "sisters" have. They are making just 90% of what married with children males make. Hmmmm... could that be due to the career interruption of having the child? Could it also be that women in that age bracket with children are also less likely to have college degrees?

Does this mean that sex discrimination in pay may not be the "great evil" it was once considered to be? Does this mean that legislation such as the Paycheck Fairness Act is unnecessary? Can the market actually take care of this, as many have postulated?

What do you think???

Solution To Job Creation Is To Make Everyone an Entrepreneur

The September 13th issue of Forbes magazine had several interesting articles on job creation. The first one I want to discuss is that of Tim Kane of the Ewing Marion Kauffmann Foundation. Mr. Kane's article is entitled Every Man (and Woman) An Entrepreneur. (Sorry no online version available). He makes the point that America will not see more job creation without more job creators and he quotes a study he had done that shows that since 1970 all net job creation was accounted for by new companies. Existing firms since that time have accounted for over 1 million jobs lost. Kane goes on to say that government(s) make becoming an entrepreneur too expensive with fees and taxes and therefore people are hesitant to start companies and thus create new jobs. Without freeing up the ability to start a company by removing these restrictions we will not see the jobs needed being created. He also says that the current structure requires companies to be "paternalistic" and thus life becomes too comfortable for workers discouraging them to become entrepreneurs. His solution is to make everyone an entrepreneur.

Now being an entrepreneur myself, since 1991 in fact, I am all for the concept. I am also for the concept of reducing taxes, removing fees and other roadblocks to people starting businesses. The only problem is the Federal and state governments themselves, particularly the current Federal administration. Mr. Kane even gives the real reason they will not change things to allow freer entrepreneurship. The third line of his article is "Of all the money government collects, none makes less sense than the $800 billion a year scraped from payrolls." There is the answer... $800 BILLION... which I will say is easily collected from payroll taxes on corporations. If the government had to try and collect that from individual entrepreneurs they would be broke. And the government is not in a mindset to collect less taxes, they blame tax breaks for the recession.

Additionally, the current mindset of the Federal government is that workers cannot protect themselves so they have to do it. If everyone was an entrepreneur what would the US DOL do?

So as noble and productive as the idea may be of making everyone an entrepreneur, free to negotiate pay and benefits, I just don't see it happening anytime soon. Any of you know any politicians willing to give up $800 billion?

The History of Labor Day

Labor Day as an observance of the "working man" originated in 1882 in New York City and was observed on September 5th of that year. Although the originator is in some dispute it is generally attributed to Matthew Maguire, a machinist and  later secretary for a machinist local. In 1884 the first Monday of September was suggested as the day of observance, rather than the 5th of September. As labor unions caught on the movement for celebrating became more widespread. That did not occur until 1894 following a contenscious and violent strike by Pullman Rail Car workers, which had been declared a violation of Federal law, by President Grover Cleveland. Because it was an election year, Cleveland was looking for a way to appease the labor unions (gee imagine a politician doing such a thing). Thus right after the Pullman strike was settled (not in favor of the union by the way) Cleveland had a law rushed through Congress and he signed it 6 days after the strike ended. That made Labor Day a Federal holiday. (It also cemented it in September, keeping it away from May Day, which many European countries celebrate for workers and communists and socialists.) States also passed state legislation and the dawn of the 20th century saw widespread observance.

The holiday was origianlly supposed to be on involving speeches and parades. Today it has lost much of that ballyhoo.. It is for many the mark of the end of summer. Pools close, even though in the South September can be a very hot month. So we head to lakes. Children get ready to return to school, though that has changed too. Here in Georgia kids have been in school since the middle of August. It is marked by massive retail sales. Cars, appliances, home goods and much more go on sale. It also means that Halloween candy, if it is not already out on store shelves, will soon be.

It is no longer a day, which, as Samuel Gompers, head of the America Federation of Labor (the AFL in what would become the AFL-CIO that most people are familiar with) once called it "the day for which the toilers in past centuries looked forward, when their rights and their wrongs would be discussed...that the workers of our day may not only lay down their tools of labor for a holiday, but upon which they may touch shoulders in marching phalanx and feel the stronger for it."

So if you happen to be reading this on Monday, September 6th, then finish up, pop a cold one and put a burger on grill for me.

For further reading, as if you might be interested you can go to these links:
Pbs.org online NewsHour
USDOL History of Labor Day
Labor Day in Wikipedia

A Pre-Labor Day Warning

As we come up to Labor Day, a day originally intended to appease labor unions, I thought it would be constructive to remind readers of the current state of affairs with the U.S. Department of Labor. Notice that last word please... it is NOT the U.S. Department of Employers. There is a Secretary of Labor, who has a union background and family history. She has publically stated that that employers are stealing money from their employees and that she is "the new sheriff in town" who will rectify the situation. So the Wage & Hour section has hired more investigators. The Office of Federal Contract Compliance, part of the USDOL, has also stepped up investigations, in particular applying a standard of equal wages to federal contractors. OSHA, also part of the USDOL, has hired more investigators and the Assistant Secretary has announced that he intends to pursue CRIMINAL solutions to safety violations.

The USDOL has also broadcast a program called WE CAN HELP. See my April 6, 2010 post entitled US Department of Labor: It's War! And Employers Are The Enemy .

So what can you do as an employer? Well I would suggest the following:

• Have accurate records of all employees rates of pay.
• Make sure all employees are accurately classified.
• Make sure your independent contractors are indeed independent.
• Have clear policies on overtime and make sure employees and supervisors know them and follow them.
• Have clear policies on work performed outside of "normal" work hours. Often called "donning" and "doffing" rules they deal with the prepartory work necessary to do work.
• Make sure people taking meal breaks do so for at least a half hour and that they are full relieved of ALL duties.

I will give you an example of a violation. My son worked for a landscaping company. The boss had them arrive at the workplace for a meeting prior to being released to the worksite at 8 am. He did not pay them for the meeting. He paid them from 8 am until 5 pm. His reasoning was that they were not performing the work they were hired for by sitting in the meeting. BIG NO-NO.

So if you are dealing with alot of hourly workers be very, very aware.

A Great Job Description for HR?

I received the most recent issue of The Futurist, the publication of the World Future Society. (I have just joined because I want to be a futurist. Saying that reminds me of the movie It a Wonderful Life where young George Baily says "I am going to be an explorer, because I am a member of the National Geographic Society." ) Anyway, I digress. The first article I read was the featured one entitled Wisdom Facing Forward-What it Means to Have Heightened Future Consciousness, written by Tom Lombardo. Lombardo is a psychologist and is the director of the Center for Future Consciousness and is the author of The Evolution of Future Consciousness: The Nature and Historical Development of the Human Capacity to Think about the Future. He also wrote Contemporary Futurist Thought: Science Fiction, Future Studies, and Theories and Visions of the Future in the Last Century.

Ok, so far you are saying "so what?" while stiffiling a yawn. But stick with me, I will get to HR. In this article Lombardo connects wisdom and future consciousness. To him both require similar thought processes. As I read further I started to think this would be a good job description for the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). See if you agree. Lombardo defines wisdom as:

"...the continually evolving understanding of and fascination with the big picture of life and what is important, ethical, and meaningful; it includes the desire and ability to apply this understanding to enhance the well being of life, both of for oneself and for others.... wisdom sees the forest and not simply the trees. It searches to the horizen and beyond, and identifies what is really signigicant in life.... it combines knowledge with practical application (and) lastly wisdom has an ethical dimension. It is not simply self-serving, but is applied to the benefit of others."

Lombardo then goes on to define future consciousness as:

"...part of our general awareness of time, our consciousness of past, present, and future. It is the human capacity to have thoughts, feelings and goals about the future. It is the total integrative set of psychological abilities, processes and experiences that humans use to understand and deal with the future. Future consciousness covers everything in human psychology that pertains to the future."

To offer a summary statement Lombardo says "Wisdom brings the lessons of the past to the problems and challenges of today and tomorrow; heightened future consciousness see patterns across time and extrapolates from past and present into the future."

I don't know about you but that is a pretty good description of a skill set I would want to have in my CHRO. It sounds strategic. It embraces ethics and empathy. There is a future focus that allows proactive actions, yet maintains a touch point with the past.

Perhaps we should put more screening for wisdom in our HR hiring and promotion processes. What do you think? Know anyone in who exhibits both wisdom and future consciousness?

Unions.. Well What Can I Say

Ah Yes....Local 32BJ of the SEIU was out marching the other day (as an anti-rally to Glenn Beck's Washington rally) showing you why you want to be a union member. They are all about workers' rights and freedom and the AMERCAN way... oops... isn't that missing something... that's right! There is no "I" in union it is "WE."  No... wait a minute there is an "I". Hmmmm may be we need to change the spelling to UNWEON.

(photo credit Joe Schoffstall, eyeblast.tv)

Engagement and Leadership: Follow Up to HR Happy Hour

The discussion on the HR Happy Hour hosted by Steve Boese focused on employee engagement and leadership. Broadcasting from the HR Florida conference, the show featured Cathy Martin and China Gorman. The discussion focused on the question of how to get employees engaged in their jobs and in the strategic direction of the company. One answer was that, while companies have traditionally focused on tactical moves to get employees engaged, what they really need to do is win the hearts of their employees. To do that leadership, based on ethics and values, and leaders who "walked the talk" were critical. But I don't think I really heard any "how to's" in that discussion. And I am not sure if there is any universal set of "how to's".

Geoff Colvin, in his book Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else, talks about where the passion comes from that makes someone be a world class performer. His discussion really became one of motivation and whether world class performers were extrinsically or intrinsically motivated. Of course we all know there has been a ton of verbage written about that. My belief is that we all have an inidividual genetic make up that predesposes us to do some things better than other things. Then extrinsic factors take over "motivating" us to use, or not to use, those genetic "talents." Those that get motivated or rewarded to use those talents have the opportunity through what Colvin calls "deliberate practice" to then turn that talent into world class achievement.

This makes me wonder if the discussion of engagement and leadership boils down to a discussion of extrinsic motivation providing a situation that allows intrinsic talents and interests to take over. Is engagement just motivation theory in a different guise?

What do you "practicing theorists" out there think? Help me develop my thinking. Leave comment or comments, it is easy to do.