Summer Hires... What You Need to Know

Ice cold lemonade.  Tank tops.  Bathing suits.  Melted ice cream.  Are you thinking what I'm thinking??  It's about that time when the sun starts shining brighter and you need to begin thinking about hiring for the summer.  As business picks up for your organization, you may be considering adding a few extra bodies to your payroll.  Hiring teens is a great way to increase your productivity during your busy season, while providing new experiences to a future member of our workforce.

Just make sure you know the rules!  Many states require age verification at a minimum for hiring those under age 18.  Check here for your specific state's requirements: http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/certification.htm.

Here are a few of the basic rules that are pretty consistent across the board:

• Employers may not hire minors younger than 14 years of age.
• Teens age 14 and 15 may legally work between June 1 and Labor Day between the hours of 7 am and 9 pm.
• During the school year, teens age 14 and 15 may only work between the hours of 7 am and 7 pm.... And may work no more than 3 hours on a school day and 18 hours in a school week... And no more than 8 hours on a non-school day and 40 hours during non-school weeks

With these tight restrictions, there are both benefits and challenges for you, as an employer, to hire teens during the summer months.  Teenage workers without a work history may require close supervision and more instruction and repetition to learn a task.  But you can help them develop good working habits by encouraging them to ask questions and always request assistance when they need help.  Patience is the key!  And, of course, always stress the importance of safety on the job.  

Good luck with the employee hunt and have a wonderfully warm summer!

Innovative Approaches to Working Together

A tall woman in a soft pink blazer opened the front door to the office and proceeded down the hallway toward her desk.  As she passed by a co-worker’s office space, she asked if the files she had requested were completed and on her desk.  The co-worker rolled his eyes and answered that he was still working on it.  The woman stopped and turned toward the gentleman that gave her such a crass answer.  She replied with an icy tone and continued toward her office…

Do you find that your work group or department is not working together as well as they should be?  Do you see personality differences among your employees that are negatively impacting the work environment?  Is there an inability by your employees to manage conflict effectively?

If you answered “yes” or even “sometimes” to any of these statements, your team may benefit from professional intervention.  There are consultants and organizations that can assist your team in learning to appreciate the differences in each individual and work together to resolve differences.

One such approach is to conduct a 360-degree profile of each person.  This process involves each employee completing a self-questionnaire about their work preferences, beliefs and approaches to working on various work-related issues.  The questionnaire is then completed by the employee’s direct supervisor, and a pre-determined anonymous number of peers and direct reports, thereby giving the employee a 360-degree picture of how they are perceived by others in the organization. 

A second approach involves having everyone in the team answer the same set of questions involving how they approach different work situations.  The results are then summarized on a quadrant and assigned a color.  For example, a person identified as the color “yellow” may exhibit personalities that are passive or easy-going, while a person identified as the color “red” may exhibit personalities that are more dominant or controlling.  By understanding the personalities of a coworker, one can hopefully better understand why individuals act the way they do.

A third approach involves the completion of a questionnaire based on how an individual would react in different situations, such as dealing with an aggressive employee or a difficult employee.  The results then identify if the individual is prone to conflict avoidance, conflict resolution, and so on.  By better understanding how one deals with conflict, an individual can take appropriate action to resolve conflict in a more effective manner.

While each of these approaches involves different questions and results, they are all focused on helping individuals be more productive and effective in the workplace.  However, taking the assessment and understanding the results is but the first step.  For these assessments to be worthwhile, the individual must also take action to build on their strengths and overcome their development areas.

This article should not be construed as legal advice.