Internet use and abuse

This week I have been asked to advise a company who have discovered that one of their admin workers has been using the office internet connection to watch television programmes whilst at work.


This worker has been watching online television programmes during working hours. I asked whether they believe this is the first instance of this or if they suspect previous occasions. The admin supervisor told me that they had caught this person watching TV previously and they had had a quiet word. It didn't work. They caught her again a few days later. They asked their IT people to block access to the website in question. That didn't work either because they found her again watching via an alternate site.


Now they have involved me.


The directors of the company asked me if I thought that they had been too lenient. What do you think? 


I'm now sorting this out for them but my strong advice to other companies is to make sure that you have in place a suitable procedure covering internet and email use and that you monitor usage appropriately.


To monitor individual email and internet browsing etc you must advise employees that the monitoring systems are in place and that their usage may be monitored.


Once your systems and procedures are in place you can then set-up reporting of any inappropriate use. If anything is flagged in the reporting, or if you observe any inappropriate use personally, you must deal with it.


Too often I am asked to deal with repetitive behaviour which has not been adequately addressed previously. Being too lenient sends mixed messages to your employees and complicates the disciplinary process when you finally run out of patience.
  

talmaday: Tribunals - Sometimes the good guys win

talmaday: Tribunals - Sometimes the good guys win: "I have been involved in two Employment Tribunal cases in the last week. One case involved two employees who were dismissed from a small em..."

Tribunals - Sometimes the good guys win

I have been involved in two Employment Tribunal cases in the last week. 

One case involved two employees who were dismissed from a small employer after bullying a work colleague through Facebook.

The two bullies were not friends with their victim on  fb but she found out about their comments through another colleague who was friends with them.

They argued that they never intended the victim to read the comments but the employer acted on a belief that the victim had been subject to harassment and victimisation and that their comments had brought the company into disrepute.

The two bullies were dismissed and brought a complaint of unfair dismissal to the Tribunal. Their claim's failed when the Tribunal found that they had been fairly dismissed.

The second case involved a well-known nationwide gym and personal fitness company who had instigated a business re-organisation project, which led to a redundancy process, that resulted in only one pregnant employee being dismissed.

She brought a claim that the redundancy process was a sham; her post had been abolished and replaced with a very similar-sounding job title with identical duties, the selection process was flawed, had been prejudged by the recent appointment of a favoured employee who retained their post and, an unfair approach to offering suitable alternative employment.

Half-way through the employer's evidence, it apparently became clear to them that their case was very weak, and they conceded. They agreed to pay the claimant, the equivalent of six months salary as a settlement.

Two very interesting cases:

• A small employer appears to have gone to impressive lengths to investigate the Facebook bullying properly and has followed-through with a sound and fair procedure, which resulted in two fair dismissals;
• A very large employer, with a proper management structure and a dedicated HR function, appears to have got it all wrong.

Two more interesting features of these cases:

• The two complainants in the bullying case, appeared to focus all their bad-feeling, both prior to their dismissal and afterwards, on their victim. Until the Tribunal they had seen themselves as the victims, had continued to make similar comments on Facebook and had pursued their claims indignantly. At the hearing, they were properly confronted with accounts of their behaviour, which, I think made them consider their victim and the nature of their actions for the first time.  The employer sensibly asked for costs to be awarded against them and the Tribunal agreed.
• In the fitness company redundancy case, the claimant didn't have a bad word to say about anyone, her case was presented calmly and thoroughly on her behalf and she thanked everyone for taking the trouble to listen.

Sometimes, the good guys win.

How Boring is Health and Safety ?

Have you ever noticed how some people really engage with health and safety - taking everything to heart - responding to every piece of information by organising another briefing meeting and designing a new checklist ? 

• Hi-Vi Jacket
• Safety Boots
• Clipboard
• Boring, Boring, Boring

Why is that ?

We know that clients and customers are getting more and more demanding of their suppliers.

There are more hoops to jump through and more contractual compliance issues to keep on top of. The legislation is increasingly complex but more importantly, how your clients and customers interpret the requirements can be a nightmare.

Did you know: that presenting your business favourably including your safety, quality and environmental performance professionally can pre-qualify you for more business and make your existing contracts more secure and profitable.

And: a good advisor should be able to build constructive relationships with your customer's compliance bods so that you can concentrate on the day job – delivering your best service – with fewer complications and distractions – letting you concentrate on making a profit.

At last: a business savvy compliance service with a practical, sensible approach.

www.talmaday.com/    Not all safety advisors are the same. 

Having a sense of purpose

Do you ever have a day when you can't really get into the mood; where you can't really be bothered ?

You know, where you fiddle about, make a coffee, shuffle a few things around, make another coffee, sit staring out the window or even worse - at the Motivation poster on the wall.

We all have days like that.

But some people are better at resisting the temptation to do nothing and are not easily distracted from their work whilst others just find it too easy to amuse themselves with little distractions.

I think pretty much everyone is susceptible to the odd day, where they can't get going.

If you notice that you are having one of those days, how do you snap out of it ?

Do you have any little tricks to jump-start your mind, to give you that energy lift to get stuck into something more meaningful ?

I was recently discussing this problem with the managing director of a business which employs about 100 employees. He was saying that he sometimes has to remind his staff that they are at work and should keep focussed and be diligent at all times. I asked him if he ever had days like that. He admitted that he did. I couldn't hold back a wry smile. I admitted that I do too. Sometimes, when I'm faced with a boring task, the prospect of a coffee and a chat can be more appealing.

The thing is this: very few people can keep going at 100% all day, every day.

As long as you know what you are trying to achieve. What your purpose is and you are mindful of what needs to be done, I think you can afford yourself a degree of balance.

I was once asked a question that I have since adopted. I believe it is a most important question that I should be continually asking myself. It is this:

"What is the most important thing I can do, right now,                                    to help achieve my ambition."

Knowing your purpose, setting yourself objectives, monitoring your performance and being realistic about your progress - I believe these are all critical to success.

If you have established yourself this framework and you understand my question, you can regulate your activity and keep in perspective the odd quiet day or indeed, use this thought-process to energise yourself, giving you a sense of purpose, to do something right now that will help you to achieve your ambition.

Doing nothing is not an option

I was talking to a gathering of small business owners yesterday. We were talking about the current business climate, who's doing well, who's doing not so well etc etc. Most people present were quite animated, putting forward their analysis and in some cases offering the actions they were taking, based on their assessment.

One particular chap caught my attention. He wasn't really adding anything to any of the conversation points, he seemed somewhat subdued but he was generally signalling his agreement that times were tough.

I had the opportunity to talk privately with him later and I asked him about his business and his current situation. He explained that he ran a high street retail outlet. A few years ago he had two outlets but as the market has contracted he has consolidated to one. He explained that the high street was being overtaken by the internet.

I asked him if he had a plan to deal with this but that he said he had no answer and didn't really want to engage in further analysis as it made him depressed.

I moved the conversation on - talking about the need be honest and realistic about prospects in the market-place and that all businesses need to keep a weather eye on what's going on. Sometimes more of the same is just what needs to be done but if it's not working as well as it did previously, something different needs to be considered.

It's easy to get caught out. The world is constantly changing around us and for businesses to survive, we - and our business - need to constantly assess, evaluate and innovate.

I was reminded that:

"even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there!"

So,

If you find yourself in difficulties, doing nothing is not an option.

The first step though is often to acknowledge the difficulties themselves. It's not personal, it's usually not a conspiracy but it is time to face-up to the situation, seek advice and assistance, plan to make some changes and take decisive action.

A moment in time

I had a moment the other day.

It was Saturday. I spent a couple of hours in the office in the morning but spent the afternoon playing golf.

A rare treat on a Saturday for a guy like me. I have been playing golf for about three years now. I’m not very good yet because I don’t practise enough.

However, that day I was playing on a championship course at Dale Hill. The par three 5th hole is a tricky little thing. A large green with fierce undulations, surrounded by sand traps and deep rough. You don’t want to be short. You don’t want to be wide. Too long would be out-of-bounds. Landing the tee shot on the green is no guarantee of par.

So - what's going to happen next ?

As it turns out, on that day, all of this was completely irrelevant.

I struck my tee-shot sweetly. It pitched 2 metres from the pin and the ball rolled, guided by the undulating green, straight into the cup.

A HOLE IN ONE  !!!

So, the question is ………………………. was it a fluke ?

I suppose you could say that. I have only been playing a relatively short time. I play off a high handicap and to be fair, the chances of me ever doing this again, I must admit, are slim.

Slim …… but not non-existent.

Was I lucky ?

Well yes, I guess so. But, I did actually do, exactly what I was aiming to do.

A rare moment, when intention was followed by perfect execution.

If it can happen to me on a golf course. There is hope for us all.