Another update from the Jungle….
Shelly owns a small company that is growing rapidly. She’s hired four new employees in the past year, including Anna and Zach. They are ambitious and full of energy. Zach is now Shelly’s right hand helper, replacing Shelly’s former right hand, Claudia.
Claudia was the first employee Shelly hired. She’s not ambitious or energetic; she moves at a pace akin to a sloth needing a nap. But in many ways, Claudia is responsible for Shelly’s success because she did all the tedious, time-consuming administrative work while Shelly was busy beating the bushes looking for clients. Best of all, Claudia was willing to be flexible about her pay when cash flow nose-dived.
Unfortunately, what worked back then isn’t working now. Last week Claudia spent hours obsessing over a simple task until Anna told her to shut up because she (Anna) would handle it. Five minutes later, Anna was done and stomped out of the office in search of another double espresso. Shelly emerged from a client meeting to find Claudia waiting to complain about Anna’s rudeness.
Claudia also feels threatened by Zach who is now making decisions that she and Shelly used to make together. Claudia shuffles around with a woebegone smile, feeling unappreciated and scared that she’ll be replaced. The more she worries about being replaced, the more she gums up everything.
Shelly feels guilty because she knows what she owes to Claudia, but she also sees Claudia’s limitations. Claudia’s sluggardly pace is causing permanent grumpiness. Zach and Anna are in favor of tossing Claudia out on her ear. Shelly is also growing tired of the drama. She no longer has time to spend hours helping Claudia agonize over every decision or listening to her complain about Zach and Anna.
Shelly’s been struggling for months to figure out what to do about Claudia. What are her options?
- She can promise Claudia a huge severance package as an enticement to leave.
- She can hire an HR manager and delegate responsibility to listen to whiny employees, like Claudia. After all, why else hire an HR manager?
- She can create a new role for Claudia in recognition of her contribution to the success of the company, but that shunts her aside so that she doesn’t slow down co-workers.
Different skill sets are needed at different times in the development of a company. Small business owners often struggle with accepting that early hires may no longer have the necessary skills and need to be transitioned into new roles or moved out the door. Having clearly defined roles and tasks makes it easier to complete these types of transitions.
If your company is struggling with HR issues, Corporate Compliance Risk Advisor can help you create HR policies that are appropriate for your company’s size and then serve as a resource to your staff as the policies are implemented.
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Another update from the Jungle….
But Matt is lukewarm when Otis calls about returning for another summer.
There is no bright line test dividing 1099 from W-2 workers; it depends on the total circumstances. Basically, the more control a company has over how and when the work is done, the more likely the worker is a W-2 employee. 
With two retail locations and a constantly expanding line of products, Sondra can’t keep up with the details.
It’s December and Adele is planning the company’s holiday party again. It’s one of her least favorite duties in the whole year.
What are some options available to Adele this year? 
Gwen became the temporary manager of Wade’s department when he failed to return from a business conference in New Orleans.
By the second day of the conference, audible death threats floated in the air near Wade.
She needed to fortify herself with a double espresso from the coffee shop next door.
Leeann is a controller.
As they finally headed out the door, Leeann offered to drive because she needed to run an errand on the way back from lunch.
Every office has a Leeann.
Two hours later, Rhonda galloped into the office. She screamed at Linda that she had been working non-stop for months and couldn’t take it anymore and wished she had never left her old job to work with such an ungrateful witch. Julie bounced out of the workshop to say that Linda’s rotten inability to set priorities was the cause of their problems. 
Most new business owners want to avoid written rules because they dislike bureaucratic boondoggles. They quickly learn that there is a huge difference between bogging down in bureaucratic rules and creating a framework of HR rules to allow the business to grow effectively.
Charlotte marched into the office determined to be cheerful. She turned on her computer and then trudged to the break room for a cup of coffee.
The dupes in the office thought Hannah was sweet and helpful; they would never believe she intentionally screwed a co-worker.
Later that morning at a staff meeting, Hannah droned on as usual reporting all her activities in excruciating detail. Charlotte day dreamed about non-lethal ways to settle the score with the nincompoop. Homemade fudge laced with laxative might hurt others. Boiling oil would ruin the carpet.
Every workplace has insecure people who build themselves up by tearing down others. Rather than testing the limits of the workplace violence policy, use emotional intelligence to recognize the root cause of their obnoxious behavior so that you can calibrate your response appropriately. 
HR Compliance Jungle 