Do your employees routinely come to you with complaints about each other and expect that you will resolve it? If so, it may be time to for a change! By telling them to deal with interpersonal conflicts on their own before they come to you, you have more time to focus on your work; and you help them develop the ability to handle conflict.

Managers who rush to resolve employee’s conflicts sometimes assume that problem solving calls for a top-down approach. As a manager, you can assert your authority by refusing to let them unload their conflicts on you unless they have attempted to work it out on their own. In addition, if you consistently confront one employee with another’s complaints, you’ll be seen as “taking sides” and creates the perception of bias.

Coaching employees to solve their own problems will initially take more time and energy than handling the conflict yourself. However, in the long term, you’ll create a work environment where conflict management is seen as everyone’s obligation, not just the manager’s job. Below are a few tips to get you started:

1. Don’t put your employees’ “urgent” issues at the top of your priority list. As a manager you may find yourself spending too much time dealing with issues that are urgent but not important. If you’ve allowed yourself to get drawn into employee problems, making a change may take some work but will eventually reduce the “urgent” problems dropped in your lap.
2. Train employees in conflict-resolution skills. By beginning with a self-assessment for each employee, you will allow them to better understand their own conflict-management styles and the pros and cons of using a particular style.
3. Communicate clear expectations. If employees are trained in conflict management and required to follow a specific course of action when conflicts arise among team members you will deal with less employee issues. If the policy is that managers should not be involved in refereeing petty disagreements, the team will be less likely to involve them.
4. Set specific guidelines. In some organizations, that standard procedure is that if an employee’s behavior is creating a problem within a team, the team is expected to work it out without involving the manager. If this is unsuccessful, the manager can be brought in to make a decision.
5. Remind employees to focus on behaviors, not personalities. Remind employees to focus on the other person’s behavior and the consequences of that behavior—not on personalities or subjective judgments.
6. Have an open-door policy—and stick to it. Let employees know that you’re still available to coach them on how to work through specific situations. For example, if they are having s specific problem, you could follow-up meeting to discuss how things are going for the employee. Employees also need to know that if they try and fail to resolve a conflict, you’re available for follow-up guidance.
7. Know where to draw the line. Clearly communicate that management must always be notified and involved in certain types of conflicts, especially where there are indications of physical violence, harassment, theft, or illegal substance use or possession. Your employees should never be expected to confront violations of the law or to enforce company policy without management’s knowledge.

While it’s impossible to create an atmosphere free of conflict, it is not impossible to enable your employees to learn valuable workplace skills such as conflict management. And bonus: you might just reclaim and protect your own time.

Today’s companies are utilizing temporary employees more than ever before. As the number of companies utilizing a temporary workforce grows, so does the need to take a closer look at employment law in this area. The ideal way to avoid co-employment issues is to partner with an experienced staffing provider that has established policies to ensure compliance with employment laws.

What is Co-employment?

Co-employment arises in situations where two companies maintain control over an employee’s work. This typically occurs when companies utilize temporary or contingent employees as part of their workforce.

In most temporary staffing arrangements, the client is responsible for the day-to-day direction of the temporary employee, while the staffing company is responsible for all of the other employment aspects of the temporary employee’s assignment. Typically, a provider of staffing services:

1. Recruits, screens, interviews, hires, disciplines and terminates the temporary employee.
2. Maintains all necessary personnel and payroll records, including drug screens and background checks.
3. Computes wages and withholds applicable taxes.
4. Remits employee withholdings to and makes employer contributions for federal FICA and federal and state unemployment insurance payments.
5. Pays net wages directly to the temporary employee.
6. Provides Workers’ Compensation insurance coverage.
7. Resolves the temporary employee’s complaints and grievances.
8. At the request of the client, for any valid legal reason, removes the temporary employee assigned to the client.

How Midwest Staffing Helps Manage Co-employment

For the co-employment issues described above, we partner with our clients to ensure that each of us fulfills our role in the relationship with temporary employees. While client employees are regularly involved in the supervision of the actual work performed by our temporary employees, we take great care to ensure we maintain control of the employment relationship at all times. We accomplish this by adhering to a few best practices:

1. All aspects of the economic relationship with temporary employees (e.g. payroll, raises, bonuses, benefits) are administered by Midwest Staffing Group without client involvement. The client provides performance feedback to determine which temporary employees are eligible for bonuses but Midwest Staffing administers the programs.
2. All communications regarding the length or termination of employment are handled by Midwest Staffing Group without client involvement.
3. Employment-related issues that arise between temporary employees and client employees are promptly communicated by the client to Midwest Staffing Group staffing managers. This practice enables Midwest Staffing Group and the client to resolve these issues effectively.
4. We have implemented an open communication policy so that temporary employee issues are recognized early and addressed by Midwest Staffing Group staffing managers before they escalate.

By implementing the above practices, Midwest Staffing Group has been successful in avoiding co-employment issues with our clients. In addition, if issues should arise, we have the support of our experienced human resources and legal staff to advise and assist in these matters. We are committed to providing superior service to our clients in all aspects of our partnership, from properly managing co-employment risks to supplying a high quality workforce!

December often marks the month of performance appraisal’s for many organizations. For many managers and employee’s this is a dreaded time of year for one reason or another. Some managers procrastinate because they see the review as a hassle with little evidence that the review actually improves employee performance. The key is that if you want to motivate employees to improve their performance, start by motivating managers to do a thorough job on reviews.

Manager’s should ensure that the review is meaningful by discussing what was/was not accomplished while also focusing on what’s important to move ahead.

Secondly buy-in from the management team is essential since they utilize the forms. Through their experience in working with the forms, they may have excellent insights and suggestions on how to improve them. If the managers felt included in the review form development/improvement process, they will be more likely to comply.

A solid training system should also help motivate managers to review performance by demonstrating how individual performance benefits the organization and how managers can measure performance in an objective manner. If manager’s can clearly see the correlation between a performance review system that adds value to their margins, they will be more likely to give quality feedback to their employee’s.

Lastly, all managers should be required to conduct timely and thoughtful employee performance reviews. If managers are evaluated on the quality and the consistency with which they do their performance appraisals, there is a clear message that communicates the value to the organization. Overall, for performance reviews to be as effective as possible, managers should feel involved in the process, receive proper training and be able to see a clear correlation between the review and reaching organizational goals.

Businesses across the country are preparing for the holiday season. Instead of focusing on the differences of religious belief companies focus on the joy that the holidays bring to everyone.

Holiday decorations promote a cheerful festive ambiance into the workplace that is inviting to co-workers, clients and visitors. Not only can they symbolize the holidays but they can be uplifting during the cold dark days of winter. Keeping spirits up during these days will directly contribute to an increase in productivity, profitability and service. Dale Carnegie once said, “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.”

This holiday season is a great time to lift each other's spirits and show off your creativity or the creativity of your business. Here are just a few cost saving ideas to get you started.

1. Collect colored leaves and place them in a bowl with pine cones and maybe some fake berries.
2. Use small gourds, pumpkins, squashes to accent desks and counters; they can also be double as paperweights.
3. Spray paint pots, candles, bowls, and other useless items colors of the seasonal holiday.
4. Wrap hanging pictures in festive wrapping paper and a bow and then re-hang back on the wall.
5. Use paper; cut snowflakes or fold into decorative fans then glue jewels and ribbons for added effects.
6. Fill the office with colors that symbolize the holiday.

Do not tolerate your workplace spiraling into another dreary Ebenezer Scrooge like office; cater to your spirit.

Buzz Marketing

Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tactic, which can either help or hinder companies. Every visit and encounter between you and your staff with a customer is categorized and ranked by the customer. If the service is good or bad, it will be remembered and most likely be talked about. If the visit is non-eventful run of the mill encounter it is not thought about twice. It seems to me that the majority of my conversations with family, friends, and co-workers lead to places we have just been, places we want to go because we heard good things about it and always leads into places we will never go to again because of the service or quality.

“The average person who has a bad-service experience tells at least nine others about it and l3% of complaints relate their experience to more than 20 other peoples. In comparison, people who receive an excellent service only tell three or four others about it" - Research Institution of America

Triggering a Good Experience

1. Be personable
2. Make connection with customer make them feel like their business matters
3. Listen to your customers
4. Empathize with customers
5. Exceed customer expectations
6. Stay proactive and keep gathering customer service ideas
7. Employee satisfaction directly correlates to quality customer satisfaction

Management at Culvers Connects

I had a memorable experience at St. Albert’s Church bazaar where the Albertville Culver’s catered in a stand. I have always enjoyed Culvers because of their great quality food and friendly service but at the bazaar, their service went above and beyond especially being out of their element with limited supplies on hand. My family and I ordered four corndogs and a pulled pork sandwich. The corn dogs were brought out to our table promptly but too promptly, I bit into mine and found that it was cold. I pondered just eating it but decide to take mine back so Culver’s was aware that their cooking time needed to be tweaked.

I brought it back to the counter where they apologized profusely and said that they would bring one out right away. Shortly after I sat down a Culver’s employee had followed me back and asked about the condition of our other corndogs we informed him that they were all cold but too hungry to wait for new ones. He apologized again and offered to bring out four new ones, which we declined since the other three were already devoured.

Management then made the decision and brought us over not just one but four new-cooked corn dogs. We were all pleasantly surprised by this gesture and commented on how this kind of exemplary service is needed at more places in order to gain customer loyalty. Thanks to Culvers initiative, they retained 5 loyal customers

Importance of Good Customer Service

1. Customer retention
2. Customer referrals
3. Trigger a good experience worth talking about