1.  Annual physicals and wellness visits

2.  Weight management

3.  Not smoking

4.  Regular exercise

5.  Reducing alcohol intake (…a little wine is good though!)

While we all scream at the thought that employers are going to delve further into our lives by telling us what to eat, drink, and do, the rules change when our actions outside of work impact the bottom line.  Employers have taken actions from small steps like higher premiums for smokers to drastic measures such as not hiring smokers (which is not legal in my state) at all.  Employer wellness programs have gone from voluntary, to strongly suggested, to required participation if you want to pay a lower premium on your health insurance.  While most employers haven’t gone this way yet, my crystal ball urges the employee to pay attention or pay the premium.  If your employer offers a smoking cessation program, take advantage of it.  Wellness programs? Try them, they might actually be fun.  And don’t forget annual wellness visits to your PCP (and the GYN for the ladies) are also important to heading off serious illnesses and disease.  It’s really up to all of us to work to keep our insurance costs down.  We have to redefine fun.  New definitions of fun include shopping at farmer’s markets for locally produced and/or organic produce, joining a team sport activity, and stopping after one glass of wine.  Gasp!

1.  Walking around with mistletoe and offering it to your opposite-sex colleagues.  This is a great idea if you want to get smacked or kicked in the nards..or slapped with a sexual harassment charge.

2.  Dressing up like the baby Jesus in the office.  Creative, yes, but I can’t imagine a way this can be executed without ill effects on your career prospects.  You can’t claim religious discrimination when you get canned for wearing a diaper to work and ..well..using said diaper for its intended purposes.  This also applies to lining your office floor with hay to simulate the nativity scene.  It’s a mess to clean up and you might get “presents” left for you from the cleaning staff.

3. Dirty dancing with your subordinates, colleagues, and/or boss at the office/company holiday party.  The office extends to outside functions as well, and this could get very dicey.  Read my lips, do not drink if you can’t control your inhibitions.  Nevermind, just don’t drink around work people.  Save yourself the trouble and reserve your drunken foolishness for your family who unfortunately cannot fire your ass.

4.  Bringing lingerie or some other inappropriate item for the grab bag party.  This almost always makes the recipient and everyone else in the room very uncomfortable.  Perhaps a nice full body covering snuggie or slanket will do?

5.  Giving naughty Christmas cards.  Sure, there are tons of dirty cards at innocent family box stores like Target and Wal-Mart but it doesn’t mean that you should give them to a colleague or subordinate.  Oh, and someecards are out.  This one in particular from Someecards should not be sent to a co-worker or your secret santa person through elfster.  Save those gems for your family who will appreciate your biting wit and your lack of concern for decorum and/or decency.

Got anything to add?  Feel free to add your “donts” in the comments below.

I wonder if we’ll see Andy Stern rescuing puppies and kittens from euthanasia.   That would be a terribly nice thing to see, but I still would never support an employee giving up their right to have a democratic election to choose whether or not they want to be represented.

In speaking with colleagues and other HR professionals at various networking functions, it abundantly clear that many HR professionals outside of recruitment don’t seem to find value in social media.  I explain to them that I use social media to help me do my job better, which in turn helps the organization that I serve.  Many people give me blank stares, look at me quizzically and nod and say, “yeah.”  However, there are no follow up questions, and you can tell they think you’re speaking a different language.  So I thought I’d explain just a few reasons why I think those in management, generalist and specialist roles should pay attention.

1.  Your employees are using social media, and so is your marketing team.  Your marketing/PR team knows how to reach out to prospective customers, but you are still baffled as to how to communicate effectively with employees.  Find a way to bring people in.  Post your events on Yammer, a corporate style twitter site, and make contact with those aloof Gen Yers you’re always complaining about.   Have a launch party for your own corporate social media sites and use it as an opportunity to explain your social media policy and have employees sign up for your own social media site.  Have random drawings for those who sign up and stay involved on the media platform.

2.  The information highway has become about the length of your driveway (unless you’re Donald Trump).  You can use social media find out what people are saying in Congress about the legislation that affects your organization’s future, now, live! Yes, those people you elected are tweeting from Congress.  You want to show that you are involved in current legislation?  Pay attention while the laws are being drafted, not petitioning with letters after they have already been written and signed.

3.  Best practices are out there, and the best way to find out best practices is not by Googling “Best Practices in Subject X.”  It’s by networking and talking to people who have actually lived through the change that you are trying to move through.  Often publications highlight all the good things that became of a particular initiative or change, and there is always another side of the story.  Talk to people, get to know how it really worked, and try to learn from other’s mistakes.  You’ll save yourself time, your organization money, and you a few hundred bottles of Exedrine.

While these are just a few things I’ve had success in with social media, there are many many more.  Get out there, don’t be afraid, embrace the change because you’ll eventually have no choice in the matter.

Currently, I’m working on developing a best practices model for the no-fault attendance policy.  Rather than edit an already confusing policy, I’d like to start from scratch.  As you know, no-fault policies would mean that employees who are out for any non-FMLA or pre-approved absences count against them in the attendance policy.  This policy is for a large organization, so scrapping the attendance policy all together would not be an option.

I’d like to build in 2 “free” days into the policy, so if you have any suggestions to that effect, I’d love to hear them!  I’d also like the language to be clear so folks are not getting confused over terms like incidents, occurrences, or what constitutes a “half” an absence.  Feel free to explain your organization’s best practice in the comment section!  If you’d rather email your policy, feel free to send it to me at: mona@froth.com

While it is impossible to weed out all workplace violence, there are things employers can do to educate and their managers on recognizing the warning signs before tragedies such as the Annie Le murder.  According to Environmental Health and Safety Today, these warning signs include changes in mood, personal hardships, mental health issues (e.g. depression, anxiety), negative behavior (e.g. untrustworthiness, lying, bad attitude), verbal threats and past history of violence.  I would have created a great list for you, but I found the suggestions from Environmental Health and Safety Today to be very inclusive. These suggestions include:

1. Management should conduct a thorough organizational risk assessment and develop workplace violence prevention policies and programs that address potential risks in environmental design (security cameras, key card access), administrative controls and behavioral strategies.
2. Programs should clearly define the spectrum of workplace violence (ranging from harassment to homicide), delineate employee responsibilities for recognizing and reporting signs, and be shared with every employee. All programs should promote zero tolerance.
3. Ask for and integrate employee ideas when developing and implementing a violence prevention program.
4. Create a confidential and seamless reporting system. Encourage workers to report any and all concerns to a single representative, such as an occupational health and safety professional or human resource manager.
5. Incorporate a variety of communications tools such as posters, newsletters, staff meetings and new employee materials.
6. When training employees, review common warning signs, behavioral traits and how to recognize potential problems. Employees should also understand that each case is different, and to not limit at risk behavior to a standard profile.
7. Involve all employees in workplace violence prevention programs. Training should be ongoing and mandatory for every employee.
8. As an employee, actively participate in all education and awareness programs. If you do not have a violence prevention program at work, request information from your occupational health department, human resource department or manager.
9. As an employee, if you recognize that a colleague exhibits at risk behavior, report any concerns to your human resources representative or occupational health professional.

Lastly, I think it would be prudent for large organizations to pay for a service to run conviction record on all current employees each year.  Smaller organizations may want to hire an intern to look up employees on their state’s public convictions record database (which are almost always online). Employers would be surprised to find that many of their long term employees have several convictions ranging from drug trafficking to felony assault.  You will want to decide in advance how you will deal with employees who are convicted of drug related or violent crimes.  This will be your hardest task in this equation.

When reviewing past cases of workplace violence, it often seems that there are numerous warning signs that people notice, but never report.  An employer should do everything in their power to protect their employees.   The most powerful thing they can do is not beef up security or add cameras, but add awareness and provide access to confidential reporting of suspicious behavior.

Ever since I was a child, I understood that there was a class system in America.  There were the “haves” and “have nots” and you knew which category you fell into.  I have always considered the middle class to be a large group with a lower middle class and an upper middle class with professional careers ranging from teachers and skilled tradespeople to attorneys.  It was a common theme amongst parents in my community to tell their children that “they” can take anything from you, but they can’t take away your education.  “They” were defined as those in society who may barrier or impede your success.  If individuals choose to abandon pursuit of knowledge, skill and/or education, why should it be society’s burden?  If someone chooses to quit their job, have 5 kids, and live off of state assistance, why must taxpayers bear the cost?  I know this sounds very Republican of me (Note: I am a registered Independent and I detest the GOP), but it seems as if every day American citizens are asked to shoulder more and more of the cost.  I’m in support of federal and state assistance for those who are not able-bodied or minded, but it boils me to see the system being used as a catch-all for those who have made poor decisions and don’t want to work for a living.

Personal accountability in our society has gone by the wayside, and now taxpayers have become the responsible parties.  Unions have now stepped in, demanding that the Employee Free Choice Act, which strips worker’s rights to a secret-ballot election, be passed in order to aid in the middle class restoration process.  Specifically, Unions are pitching it as a means to provide a “living wage” for entry-level workers that will allow them to provide for their families, oftentimes on one salary.  You’d be amazed as what is considered a living wage in communities across the country.   Pennsylvania State University has put together a living wage calculator which shows precisely how much it costs to live in different areas in the country based on your family size.  For a couple with two children in New Haven, CT, it states that the “living wage” is $28.76/hr.  This is more money than I made after my first job after graduate school in 2000.    I would never expect that I could abandon educational pursuits, pop out two or more children while working at Wal-Mart part-time.  I would also not have the expectation to receive fully paid health benefits at no cost to me with a pension that will allow me to afford a “dignified retirement” and retiree health insurance.   The entitlement culture that has been bred in America’s society only serves to deter people from the path to success.  It’s much easier to wait for someone else to give you the benefits that you have “earned” as a citizen.  As the great Homer Simpson once said, “If you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now, quiet! They’re about to announce the lottery numbers…”

I always tell people that you can choose how you approach your day, every day.  Even if yesterday was the most miserable day at work and everything went wrong, the next day, you can choose to start fresh (with a smile) and put that positive energy towards building and cultivating relationships in your current field, profession or job as you call it.

Sure we can all sit and daydream about “dream jobs” and the ultimate opportunity, but in the real world, we work for a living.  We don’t do it for free, and if we’re getting a competitive wage for what we are doing, we should be more than gracious.  There are a lot of individuals out there who are working well below their skill set just to make ends meet, and if you’re going to be miserable about your job, there is a positive person out there who would happily take your seat. Remember, we’re all replaceable, no matter what you think.

The great takeaway from this message is, sure, you can truly “fake it” but there is a saying “fake it until you make it.”  I think its kind of what jr. executives do until they become successful in their roles because many of them take positions far beyond their initial expertise.  If you go to work and put on a smiling face and a positive attitude, it is infectious.  Now I’m not telling everyone to go in and end up with the nickname “bubbles” due to your new shiny outlook on your work/life.  However, you must think about what is most important to you and those you impact, and now more than ever.

The economy is causing many employers to think harder about expenditures and everyone is being asked to do more with less and to work smarter.  While this understandably adds an increasing level of stress on an already burdened workforce, moaning and griping about it never made anything better.  I commented yesterday on a co-worker who looks absolutely miserable every time I see her.  She is one of the most pleasant people I’ve ever met and she seems to be very negative about her day to day work.  It really affects how she is perceived by other managers and leadership within the organization, and it may potentially cloud their judgment of an otherwise stellar employee.

Consider how you can make an impact, positively.  These are the rules I live by:

1.  You can choose your attitude, every day.  Choose wisely.
2.  Use the 10-5 rule.  Make eye contact and smile within 10 feet of co-workers you encounter, and say hello within 5 feet.
3.  You can’t change other people’s behaviors, but you can change how you respond to their behaviors (either positive or negatively).
4.  Stop dwelling on things you can’t change or impact, instead, putting your energies towards the influence that you do have, and build on that.

Eventually you will find that it will impact your relationships with others and your overall happiness at work.  Food for thought.  Now I have to go get my lunch! The CNN video (and my inspiration for this post) is below.

I can’t understand for the life of me why there are still people in this economy who show up to work whenever they feel like it.  Woody Allen once said that 80% of success is showing up.  This is something I whole heartedly agree with, but I would make a small modification.  Eighty percent of success is showing up on time.

I know of far too many people who take this lightly and even more who lose their jobs because they fail to report to work on time repeatedly.  When organizations are deciding who to layoff and when, this can be the deciding factor between you and a colleague.  While everyone seems to think that they use only seniority, they also look at performance, the quality of work, the work ethic, and the commitment of the individual to the organization.

On the topic of visibility, I know that telecommuting arrangements are becoming more and more popular these days and I fully support them, but be careful that you still maintain the visibility and credibility in your workplace.  If you do choose to telecommute and are near the office, do your best to be in the office at least once a week, whether to attend a meeting or to work from the office.  People who are never seen or heard from, are likely layoff candidates.

The reason I bring up the topic of habitual lateness, is because its low hanging fruit.  If you can be 15 minutes late, you can be 15 minutes early and so on.  If you are a chronically late person, plan to arrive 15 minutes early and you’ll probably be right on time.  Otherwise, I have news for you, job cuts are coming and they are talking about YOU.