Is Your Drug Testing Policy Decreasing Employee Morale & Productivity?

I once worked for a retail corporation that drug tested all of their store employees and candidates, but did not drug test executive or corporate office employees and candidates. One day, I happened to have a few minutes alone with the head of the HR department. I took the opportunity to ask why this was. He looked me in the eye and said, "Because if we drug test our executive candidates then we won't have any executives!" And he was serious.

Does your drug test policy treat all of your employees the same? It should. After all, what does it say about your company if the cashiers can pass a drug test but the directors and VPs can't?

Of course, there's always the question of whether or not companies should be drug testing at all. According to Quest Diagnostics and SHRM, drug testing improves employee morale and productivity while decreasing attrition and absenteeism. But according to the Houston Chronicle, the DOL, and ACLU, drug testing decreases employee morale because employees view it as an authoritarian action by the employer and find the process itself to be demeaning.

Which side of the issue do you take? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section!

How to Avert Corporate Scandal by Leveraging Talent Acquisition

Corporate scandals have been sadly rampant over the last 15 years. In 2001 and 2002 alone: AOL inflated sales figures and exaggerated revenue by as much as $49 million in 2002 to secure its purchase of Time Warner. Arthur Andersen was convicted of shredding documents containing information about the Enron audit in 2001. Enron falsified its levels of profits and debts and also bribed government officials in other countries in order to win international contracts in 2001. Halliburton booked $100 million in construction costs before clients had agreed to the cost in 2001. Tyco’s former CEO was indicted for tax evasion in 2002. Xerox falsified five years of accounting, which resulted in showing an additional $1.5 billion of non-existent income. I won't even get into the more recent banking and loan scandals that caused the housing bubble to burst.

The impact of these publicized ethical lapses is diverse. First, employees who already struggle to uphold ethical standards may be inclined to try and copy-cat others. On the other hand, the attention paid to the harsh punishments and devastating effects of ethical breaches may encourage employees who are on the fence to choose the more honorable path. Most importantly, when corporate ethical lapses are publicized, it allows other companies the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others. For example, Enron had a well-written ethics policy, but did not have a corporate culture that promoted ethical behavior. By analyzing the factors that contributed to the ethical lapses, companies can take a proactive approach to encouraging employees to act ethically. Incorporating ethics into company culture and creating incentive programs that reward ethical behavior are just two examples.

So, how can the recruitment team be a resource that help an organization avoid the fate of the companies mentioned in the opening paragraph? Recruiters are the gatekeepers of company culture. They should be viewed as essential to the current and future success of the company. Recruiters can only gain an in-depth knowledge of the company’s future goals by participating in planning meetings with senior management. When recruiters understand the future needs of the organization, they can hire candidates who will perform well and fit in with or enhance the corporate culture. Recruiters who are participants in strategic planning sessions can support and expedite the execution of managements’ business strategy and contribute to increasing company profits. Additionally, recruiters who understand the company’s future plans can hire not only for the company’s current needs, but also for the company’s future needs.

References

Neuborne, E. (2003). Incentive ethics under fire. Potentials, 36(3), 5.

Patsuris, P. (2002, August 26). The Corporate Scandal Sheet. Retrieved from Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/2002/07/25/accountingtracker.html

Phillips, J., & Gully, S. (2012). Strategic staffing (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Do You Still Need a Third Leg to Get Ahead?

There is a great post circling LinkedIn right now called Why Aren't Women Advancing at Work? Ask a Transgender Person. The post addresses how differently trans individuals have been treated at work in their new gender. I, for one, would be shocked if much of the information in this post came as a surprise to women. 

Transmen experience a higher level of respect, are interrupted less frequently, and have their opinions questioned less often than when they lived as women. Not surprisingly, transmen also felt like they were given more opportunities to succeed and to advance in the workplace than when they lived as a female. Transwomen have the opposite experience, and many find it shocking that they are now talked over in meetings and that their opinions are questioned even when supported by facts. 

If you're a woman reading this, you might be discouraged. But don't worry! You don't need a third leg to get ahead; you just need to be 2.5 times more productive than the average male to be thought of as equally skilled and competent!

How can we overcome the gender inequality that exists in the workplace (especially when some insist that it has been eradicated)? 

The glass ceiling that is so frequently talked about in HR circles is built on a rock-hard foundation of unconscious bias. Policies and procedures need to be in place to reduce or eliminate the objective factors that so easily overshadow the subjective factors that hiring and promotion decisions should be based on. It is also imperative that companies start training recruiters and hiring managers on how to identify their unconscious biases and overcome them. 

But why should companies stop there? Shouldn't all employees, at every level of the company, undergo this training? Why aren't companies including this in their new hire orientation and training?

Does Your Company Really Care About You?

I have worked for more companies than I would like to admit - probably twice as many companies as are listed on my LinkedIn Profile. I have worked two to three jobs at the same time for most of my life. I have seen the good, the bad, the ugly, and the illegal. Today was a reminder about what an amazing company I work for - a company that views me as a human being instead of as a faceless number or another cog in the wheel of their strategic business plan.

There is no doubt that my company is not perfect, and could improve in a several areas. But, I have faced several health challenges since day one of working there, and they have been shockingly supportive. I accepted their offer of employment on the morning of Monday, May 6th, 2013. Later that night I found out that I was pregnant. I decided to withhold this information from them, but on my first day I had to run to the nearest bathroom during my tour of the building because I was overcome with morning sickness. I had no choice but to reveal my secret. Four days later I suddenly started having some scary signs of a miscarriage and had to rush to the emergency room. I was sure that I was going to get terminated for all of the trouble I was causing. To my surprise, my boss was incredibly caring and concerned and worked with me to help schedule my required bi-weekly ultrasounds since my pregnancy had been deemed high risk.

I was also certain that my contract would be terminated when I gave birth to my son and decided to take six weeks off from work even though contractors don't qualify for maternity leave. Once again, to my surprise, they made it work and reinstated my contract at the end of my six week leave.

Luckily, I haven't had any major health issues that interfered with work over the last seven months. Until yesterday. I had a scratchy throat when I woke up, but didn't have any other them symptoms of being ill. Then, very suddenly, around 11:00 AM my throat swelled so badly that it felt like it was taking up my entire neck, I could barely swallow, and I was having difficulty taking a full breath, along with a slew of other symptoms. I called my PCP and she told me to go to the ER. Being the cheapskate that I am, I called my husband and asked him to come pick me up and drive me to the ER because ambulances are expensive but I didn't feel like I could drive myself. My very pregnant coworker came and sat on the couch in the lobby with me while I waited. Another coworker passed by and asked what was going on. When he found out that it would be 30 minutes until my husband arrived, he immediately pulled his car up to the front door and insisted on taking me to the ER himself. He stayed with me until my husband arrived.

I was at the ER for seven hours, during which time I received text messages from my superiors one and three levels above me. When I saw the texts come through I was immediately dreading reading them because I was sure they were going to be asking me when I would be able to come back to work, or if I could make up the lost hours from home once the doctor released. To my surprise, both of them were sending me notes of kindness and support, telling me that they hoped I felt better soon and not to worry about work until I felt better because they would figure out a way to cover my workload. I was completely shocked because we are currently understaffed and going through a transitional period in our department.

It's important for you to know that, as a contractor, my company can terminate my employment at any time for any reason. They are not being supportive and caring because they have to be, they are being supportive and caring because they want to be and because that is the kind of culture that they want to spread throughout the company. Is it like this in every department where I work? I don't know, but I sure hope so!

What is the culture like where you work? Do you feel like a nameless, faceless desk-jockey for eight hours a day (or more)? Or do you feel like your company truly appreciates the work that you do and recognizes that you are a person and that your contributions matter?

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