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Hiring, managing and firing employees all can be fraught with potential problems that can endanger your business or organization. Poor hiring practices result in about 30 percent of business failures, while, on average, about 50 percent of all new hires fail. Failure to handle employee conflict is another trouble area, and mishandling employee fires has resulted in everything from cyber attacks to shootings. This week's articles may help you avoid some of these problems.

Do you know the best way to fire someone? (Item #1)   Don't let workplace conflict erupt into potential business disruptions. (Item #2)   For your organization's sake, you cannot afford to ignore or mishandle employee problems. (Item #3)  

Your telecommuting employees present special challenges. (Item #4)   Whistleblowers can be important to your organization. (Item #5)   The importance of employee background checks should not be underestimated. (Item #6)  

As always, we look forward to hearing about your concerns with regards to business continuity. If you have a topic you'd like to see covered, please email me at [email protected]

Best Regards,

Bob Mellinger
President
Attainium Corp

Quote of the Week

"Hiring people is an art, not a science,
and resumes can't tell you whether someone will fit into a company's culture.
When you realize you've made a mistake, you need to cut your losses and move on."
- Howard Schultz -

Articles

1. Employee Termination - Does it have to be painful, for them and you?
Many managers, when faced with the challenge of firing someone, forget, or are unaware of the emotions that are experienced by the person being fired. Nor are they aware of the behavior that most often results from these emotions. The tips in this article may help you avoid serious issues and retaliation by the terminated employee.
http://www.employer-employee.com/Nopainfiring.html

2. How to Deal With Employer-Employee Workplace Conflict
Workplace conflict is common, whether it is between employees or between the employer and an employee. Employers and employees can both benefit when a company has in place a method of dispute resolution that fairly and quickly takes action on any workplace conflict.
http://www.life123.com/career-money/career-development/team-conflict/workplace-conflict.shtml

3. Avoid Legal Trouble with Employees
Can you afford to ignore or mishandle employment problems? Definitely not. In addition to the negative effects on your business -- declining morale, retention problems and poor productivity, to name a few -- a botched employment situation can cost you millions of dollars if it turns into a lawsuit. Protect yourself using these common sense tips. (Scroll down to second article on page)
http://www.employer-employee.com/october2000tips.html

4. Telecommuting: Keeping Data Safe and Secure
With the increased availability of broadband access and VPNs, telecommuting is more viable for many workers. But with this new opportunity comes new risks. While telecommuting is an advantage for employees, making sure they adhere to security policies can be a headache. If you're aware of the security issues, it will be easier to guide telecommuting employees as they set up their home networks, and you'll end up with fewer security problems.
http://www.networkcomputing.com/1224/1224ws1.html

5. Encouraging Internal Whistleblowing in Organizations
When Time magazine editors named WorldCom's Cynthia Cooper and Enron's Sherron Watkins two of their People of the Year for 2002, they were acknowledging the importance of internal whistleblowers-employees who bring wrongdoing at their own organizations to the attention of superiors.
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/whistleblowing.html

6. Background Check Basics
While the cost of a reasonable criminal background check can be less than fifty dollars, most businesses know the cost of a "Bad Hire" is incalculable. The question then always becomes "How do I conduct the best background check for the least money"?
http://www.articlesbase.com/human-resources-articles/background-check-basics-678242.html