Another update from the Jungle…..
Millie is employed because her mom is friends with Janice, owner of the company. Millie’s mom begged Janice to hire Millie and promised that Janice wouldn’t regret it. Janice agrees.
Millie learns of her new job when her mom tells her, that starting bright and early the following Monday, she will be working for Janice, but Millie doesn’t want a job. She wants to be an actress beloved by millions.
Late Monday morning, Millie floats into the office to find her new co-workers hard at work. Janice takes Millie on a quick tour of the office, introducing her to everyone and explains basics, like the schedule and benefits.
Millie perks up when she hears about the benefits. She says she needs to leave early the next day to go to an audition. She enthusiastically describes the play and how she expects this show will be her big break into professional acting. She asks if she can give a provisional resignation now in case she has to pack for Broadway on short notice.
Recovering her composure, Janice explains that until the big break arrives, Millie may want to learn a few things about her current job. Millie is uninterested in the job, but she soon realizes that Janice’s company can teach her plenty of new stuff that she can use to advance her career in the theatre.
A few weeks later, a couple of Millie’s co-workers discreetly approach Janice. They have been following Millie’s social media posts so that they can keep up with her acting career. They believe Millie is contacting prospects and clients of Janice’s company to invite them to support her career.
Janice drops everything to take a quick spin through various social media platforms looking at Millie’s posts. What she sees convinces Janice that it’s time to dump Millie at the curb. In her haste to fire Millie, Janice forgets to protect her company’s data.
Within days, Janice realizes that Millie is still accessing her company’s systems. Millie’s social media shows that she is using Janice’s documents and processes to build a rival business while waiting for her big break in the theatre.
What steps should Janice take next to protect her company?
- She can become Millie’s patron, underwriting her acting career as a way to obtain some return on her investment in Millie.
- She can call Millie’s mom to complain that Millie is a rotten kid.
- She can create a checklist of all company systems that need to be updated to terminate Millie’s access.
Most employers have well-developed on-boarding processes, but pay less attention to their termination process. A termination process can protect company resources from misuse by former employees.
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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Bettysue loves the holiday season but this year she’s frustrated. Her children are grown and have other plans so they won’t be coming home. Her husband just says, “sure, honey, whatever” when she asks his opinion. Her husband has long-since concluded that the secret to their marriage is to keep his mouth shut, stock up on suitable beverages, and hide in his man-cave until after the Super Bowl game.
Bettysue’s coworkers have enthusiastically joined in because decorating beats working any day of the week. Now miniature menorahs, fake Yule logs, and a plastic Christmas tree create a fire hazard in the elevator lobby. A Kwanzaa fruit broom serves as a seasonal centerpiece in the middle of the conference room table.
However, most of Bettysue’s time at work is devoted to buying things online. Her Amazon Prime deliveries now exceed regular business deliveries to her employer. FedEx, UPS, and the post office have offered to set up a mini hub at the building to handle the volume of deliveries.
Gwen, the HR manager, arrives at work in a really bad mood. She’s running twenty minutes late after sitting in traffic on the giant parking lot otherwise laughingly referred to as an interstate highway.
Gwen mellows slightly after she has a cup of coffee. Back at her desk, she cranks up her laptop and begins reading her emails. The first one is from Laurie, whining again about needing a window view as an accommodation for her unspecified medical condition. Gwen sighs. The company works from a converted warehouse. No one has a window view, not even Tim. Gwen marks Laurie’s email for later in the day and opens the next email.
It involves the Case of the Traveling Trash Can. For weeks, every female employee has been fixated on the mystery of the moving bathroom trash can. The consensus is that the trashcan should be set close to the toilet. But someone is moving the can closer to the sink.
She can nail the trashcan to the floor with a 10-penny nail so that it never moves again.
Fran is a passionate woman who supports many worthy causes. Every day she arrives at work, gets a cup of herbal tea and begins looking for an audience to unburden herself.
Mike points out that pet shelters are full and often have no choice but to euthanize animals. She tears up at the thought of dead puppies. Will is a “manly man” who enjoys fishing and hunting. He also believes in conservation but detests Fran’s moralizing. So he retaliates with a story of deer hunting which ends with him killing Bambi’s mother.
Fran’s supervisor, Mindy, is also exhausted from frustration. She’s taking heat for low productivity caused by Fran’s lousy work habits and the interruptions to other employees’ work. She’s tried performance improvement plans without success. She’s thinking of skipping the initial steps in the progressive discipline policy and going straight to justifiable homicide in a bid to save her own career.
HR Compliance Jungle 