The HR Answer Blog

Conversations about politics will come up in the workplace. My March 12th post, "How to Handle Political Discussions in the Workplace" has hints on how to keep out of hot water when these discussions occur.

Carpooling is practically out of the question for people living in rural areas because it's very rare to have someone who lives near them. If I wasn't working from home now, I'd be calling in sick because I could afford the gas (and combine that with a babysitter...)now pretend that's someone making minimum wage with kids to support...

A solution for the workplace smoking issue comes in the form of electric cigarettes, cigars and pipes available from Crown7 (www.crown7.com):
* They emit only a harmless vapor that simulates smoke yet satisfies the nicotine urges and cravings;
* They're not offensive and can be enjoyed anywhere smoking is prohibited; and, perhaps best of all,
* They leave none of the residue and odors that accompany traditional cigarettes on clothing and other surfaces.

Worth consideration, don't you think?

Kim- Thanks for the comments and examples. When I first wrote about this employee concern less than a month ago I had been surprised to see gas at more than $4 a gallon at the expensive pump I passed. This past weekend I felt like I got the best deal I could when I paid $4.21! Yes this has changed habits and employers are looking at routes. We still have opportunities to reduce our usage. I have recently read about diminishing opportunities for efficiencies in Europe where these tactics are a way of life. Gas there costs an average of more than $8 a gallon. I am looking forward to hearing more ideas to share.

I am extremely fortunate. I do the majority of my work at my home. But I still feel the gas pump woes, just not quite as much as those that work outside the home. I was speaking with a few people about the prices this week and asked if their employers were trying to do anything to help. One of them works in the public sector at a college district. He stated that they were trying to put in line a 5% raise across the board for their employees. When you add it up, sad to say, it will pretty much only pay for the overages in the gas prices compared to last year, depending on how much you make. But with the way the public sector works, it could be a year before anyone sees that raise. Another who is a social worker and drives all day (I think she has been hit the hardest) tries not to pay attention to the prices because she has no choice in driving. She has an economical car, but even still with driving across the 6 cities that she services with Hospice, it has literally eaten up all the money she had left from her check. She stated her employer has not mentioned any new programs or raises which is sad because these people in this field are not paid much to begin with. The last I spoke with was a construction worker. He hasn't been hit hard by the gas prices as he drives a company vehicle with a company gas card. His employer, however, has started keeping tabs on how many miles his employees put on the vehicles and is mapping out routes for them. He also stated that he has noticed a huge drop in the amount of cars on the road now. People are being affected greatly and are being forced to take drastic measures. For some in big cities who live in the surrounding areas carpooling is next to impossible. If there is no mass transit available to the area in which you work, then you have no alternative but to drive. I just have to say good luck to all!

I would rather see an emphasis on fuel savings than increased exploration for oil in the US. As far as car pooling before you give up ask for help. I worked today with managers from a non-profit spread across 2 large counties with employees with long commutes. They were sensitive to not scheduling short shifts, encouraging reimbursements or providing information about tax deductions. They too serve individuals with disabilities. Speak up about the issue and you may get some relief or help.

there are many a job that car pooling will not work. I work for an agency that services people with dissabilities.some of my clinets are a distance away.it can cost up to 75.00 per week for gas and no reinbursement plan for mileage or gas. so, yes by friday it is sometimes necessary to call in sick.

We have an employee who may be leaving due in part to the high price of fuel and her commute. Why we aren't drilling for oil here and developing more capacity I will never know.

Okay, first off I know some of these people that were suspending from there for smoking. They lied to save money, and therefore diserve what they get. You can't tell me that they didn't know they were lying. They actually think it is funny that they FINALLY got caught. The worst part about this is these employees do worse things then that. There is a problem with employees selling perscription drugs to other employees at Whirlpool. Whirlpool needs to look into that because it has been going on for awhile. The employees got what they diserved because it's not fair for the non-smokers and the smokers that were truthful about their smoking habit.

I can't identify all motivators. Employers are motivated to provide rewards for quitting or premium penalties for smokers to promote good health and save money. There's plenty of research about the additional medical costs incurred by smokers.

As if the motivators to stop smoking aren't already high enough, this raises the motivator bar even higher. I made a choice a long time ago to give up smoking. It was in leaner times when I had to choose between cigarettes and groceries. Now that the motivators are even higher, what keeps them smoking? It's a paradox of huge proportions.

Marvin- Mentoring programs come in a variety of formats. One way to start one is to identify or seek out individual expertise and create matches or publicize their availability. You probably have employees who are write the best reports, create the most effective presentations or always hire the best staff. Starting out with "experts" gives mentoring credibility and reasons to grow. Training on coaching and communications could then be provided to mentors who have shared their knowledge to strengthen relationships.

Marvin-

Mentoring programs can be implemented in a variety of ways. It helps to start with identifying who has particular expertise that would help their peers. One person may write the best reports, another creates stellar presentations and yet another always seems to come up with fabulous new hires. These internal experts can be paired with or available to others. Starting with this format a program could be built to include skills training on coaching and communications to strengthen the value of the relationship. The "expert" route will give a mentoring program credibility and and provide reasons for growth.

Having been asked to create a Peer to Peer Mentoring program at work, how might I go about that?

Having been asked to create a Peer to Peer Mentoring program at work, how might I go about that?

Ankur- Thanks for the comment. Yes it's hard to stop using jargon. I don't think you have to but you should be mindful of times when listeners might not understand or be confused. These are the times you explain yourself or use different words.

nice article. Keep posting these article. Also visit my blogs on http://managehrnetwork.blogspot.com/ http://aboutentrepreneurs.blogspot.com/ ...

Hahaha, The parking lot example was really nice. I understand, using jargons can create a lot of confusion for people who doesn't understand or who are not from the same line of business. But it is difficult for the people to interact in the language using common words because they are used to on applying words which are common in their line of business. Ankur http://managehrnetwork.blogspot.com/ ...

Aslamm- What kind of information are you looking for? The HR Answer Book includes information about basic workplace HR and I could answer additional specific questions.

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Thank you for propounding the middle-ground approach to personal computer use. I once worked for a big company that sent out a mass email during the holidays announcing that employees would be forbidden to receive personal packages at work. This outraged us all because it seemed like an arbitrarily applied, inconsiderate policy. I don't remember the reasons cited by the management for this prohibition, but it seemed like an HR/operations crackdown that was probably out of proportion to whatever their concern was. Companies must recognize that employees have to conduct some personal business while remaining at work during business hours, and I agree that to shut off access to personal business would be counterproductive for everyone.