Do you remember when you used to get that email from friends, family and colleagues with a list of archaic laws that for whatever reason were never repealed? This sort of thing:
•You may not carry a plank of wood along a British pavement
•In Arkansas, it’s legal for a husband to beat his wife, but only once a month
•All males over 14 be trained to use a longbow
•It remains illegal to be drunk in an English pub
As ridiculous as these may sound, the world of HR remains overloaded with similar rules that are all at the same time talent-repelling, insulting, pointless and utterly unhelpful to today’s forward-thinking businesses.
In an article published on LinkedIn last week by Liz Ryan, CEO and Founder of Human Workplace, it states that most companies have a series of outdated HR policies that are de-humanising the workplace when in reality they should be re-humanising the workplace…
References
Some bosses forbid their management from giving out references to former employees on the basis that the manager will give a less than favourable testimonial and wind up with a defamation lawsuit. How can you employ someone, ask them to work hard and be part of your corporate family and then not try and help them when they need it most?
Attendance
You employ adults so why must you subject them to primary school attendance rules? Punishing them for being ten minutes late doesn’t help anyone and it will alienate your talent. Instead, ask them if there’s anything you can do as a business that would help them get to the office on time.
Bereavement
Quite unbelievably, some businesses still require proof of a death certificate to fork out bereavement pay. If a close relation of an employee dies, treat them with the respect and sensitivity they deserve, not like a common criminal.
Employee Perks
More and more people travel abroad for business and clock up air miles, yet there are still unscrupulous bosses who ‘steal’ them and keep them! One word – don’t. You instantly become Scrooge and who wants to work for a tightarse?
Progressive Discipline
‘Three strikes and you’re out’ discipline is absurd, as is giving people warnings about their behaviour or actions. That’s what we do to our kids. Again, you employ adults, treat them as such. Talk to them and get to the root cause of their issues and then help them through it.
Big Brother
Are you tracking the keystrokes of your employees? If you are, why? Don’t you trust them? If you don’t, perhaps the issue is yours? How productive do you think they’ll be if they know you’re looking at literally everything they’re doing, every day?
Take some time to look at your HR policy documents. When was the last time you reviewed them? Isn’t it about time you did?
•You may not carry a plank of wood along a British pavement
•In Arkansas, it’s legal for a husband to beat his wife, but only once a month
•All males over 14 be trained to use a longbow
•It remains illegal to be drunk in an English pub
As ridiculous as these may sound, the world of HR remains overloaded with similar rules that are all at the same time talent-repelling, insulting, pointless and utterly unhelpful to today’s forward-thinking businesses.
In an article published on LinkedIn last week by Liz Ryan, CEO and Founder of Human Workplace, it states that most companies have a series of outdated HR policies that are de-humanising the workplace when in reality they should be re-humanising the workplace…
References
Some bosses forbid their management from giving out references to former employees on the basis that the manager will give a less than favourable testimonial and wind up with a defamation lawsuit. How can you employ someone, ask them to work hard and be part of your corporate family and then not try and help them when they need it most?
Attendance
You employ adults so why must you subject them to primary school attendance rules? Punishing them for being ten minutes late doesn’t help anyone and it will alienate your talent. Instead, ask them if there’s anything you can do as a business that would help them get to the office on time.
Bereavement
Quite unbelievably, some businesses still require proof of a death certificate to fork out bereavement pay. If a close relation of an employee dies, treat them with the respect and sensitivity they deserve, not like a common criminal.
Employee Perks
More and more people travel abroad for business and clock up air miles, yet there are still unscrupulous bosses who ‘steal’ them and keep them! One word – don’t. You instantly become Scrooge and who wants to work for a tightarse?
Progressive Discipline
‘Three strikes and you’re out’ discipline is absurd, as is giving people warnings about their behaviour or actions. That’s what we do to our kids. Again, you employ adults, treat them as such. Talk to them and get to the root cause of their issues and then help them through it.
Big Brother
Are you tracking the keystrokes of your employees? If you are, why? Don’t you trust them? If you don’t, perhaps the issue is yours? How productive do you think they’ll be if they know you’re looking at literally everything they’re doing, every day?
Take some time to look at your HR policy documents. When was the last time you reviewed them? Isn’t it about time you did?