Work/Life Balance and Motivation

Although I thought that both Egg and La Rosa are taking the right steps towards motivating their employees, I found that I liked La Rosa's practices more than what was described for Egg's. I liked that La Rosa views its employees as internal customers, and that the top executives are responsible for managing the internal employees, and I also appreciated the fact that the managers undergo a 6-week training program. While I thought that having biannual employer evaluations is a good idea, I have to question how effective the evaluation can be if there are only 4 questions and the managers receive only one letter grade for a wide range of criteria, especially since the case study didn't mention whether or not the employees can write in comments to clarify their grades.

I am also curious as to how they address the issue of supervisors with only one employee, if these are meant to be anonymous evaluations. The UT Libraries also uses employer evaluations (although we only evaluate our supervisors once a year), and in the past, we've run into some difficulty with protecting employees' anonymity when they are their supervisor's sole supervisee. (The current solution is to allow such employees to evaluate their supervisors if they want to, without fear of repercussions, although this is far from a perfect system.)

I found Egg's "Bring a Friend to Egg" program intriguing. However, I'm not sure that this is the wisest strategy to motivate employees or make people feel invested in the company. One of the articles that we read warned managers to be wary of nepotism*, and I can see this program backfiring if the friends that employees recommend do not work out, or are perceived to be the recipients of favoritism by the other employees. While I appreciate Egg's attempt to be creative and inclusive, I don't think that hiring employees should be similar to inviting a friend to sign up for an AOL account or a DVD club for a reward (which is a bit what it feels like, from what I've been able to tell).

I believe that as a supervisor I will be receptive to employees' requests for maintaining a better work/life balance. As an employee at the UT Libraries, I have had the good fortune to have supervisors and managers who have been very understanding of and accommodating towards some of my requests to better balance my job and my personal life, including my class schedule as well as some recent health issues that I have had. As UT employees, we are allowed 3 hours of work time to use for academic classes, which usually works out well with one 3-hour class taken during the day. When I or other employees who are also in the iSchool program have had to take two 3-hour classes during the day, our supervisors and mangers have been very understanding about allowing us to make up the extra 3 hours in a way that best suited our schedule. (For example, some employees stayed after an extra hour each day or others would forego a lunch hour for 3 days of the week.) In terms of health accommodations, when I developed de Quervain's tenosynovitis in my right wrist last October, my supervisor urged me right away to see the ergonomic committee about getting an assessment for my workstation, and possibly getting a different keyboard or mouse, which I found helped a great deal. It did not even occur to me to ask for such things, but it meant a lot to me that my supervisor suggested it. Similarly, when I was awarded a 10-hour TA position with the dean of the iSchool this semester, the head of the Serials department allowed me to temporarily reduce my hours for this semester, so that I could both accept the TA position and continue working in Serials without exceeding the 40-hours/week limit for non-exempt employees. Thus, I believe that if I had an employee who came to me with similar concerns, I will be sympathetic and receptive to their problems, and I would strive to be as understanding and accommodating as my supervisor and manager have been, as long as it fell within company policies and did not disrupt the office workflow.**

However, I am aware of the strain that such accommodations may place upon a department, especially if there is more than one employee with the same or similar requests, and I realize that as a supervisor, I may not always be in the position to accommodate employees' requests, even if I am sympathetic to their situations. In my department for example, there are two other employees besides myself who are enrolled in the iSchool master's program. This means that at any given week, at least one of us will be out for 3 hours or more on a certain day due to classes. We are lucky that our departmental supervisors and managers are very supportive of employees' educational goals, and they have allowed us to pursue our degrees without imposing any limitations, however I realize that this may not always be the case in other organizations. For example, it would have been very easy for the head of my department or my supervisor to say no to my request for a temporary reduction in my hours, and it's probable that had my TA position not been with the dean of the iSchool, my request would have been denied. (As it was, however, even the head of the department said that "it would be stupid to turn [him] down.") However, they didn't, not only because they are supportive of my educational and professional goals, but also possibly because they want to retain me. (This is not to toot my own horn, since I am completely replaceable, but we have had some key resignations, and the positions have not been refilled yet.) I realize that this puts them in a tough spot (and had it not been for official policy, I would not have raised this issue), and it would have been entirely within their right to have said no, and let the chips fall where they may. In fact, if I had been my supervisor or head manager, that probably would have been my response. As it is, however, I am grateful that they were both as understanding and supportive as they were, and if I were confronted with a similar request as a supervisor, I would probably be more open to exploring options that would benefit both sides within the constraints of company policies, thanks to their example.

As a supervisor, I would definitely encourage employees to take care of themselves, and to eat, sleep and exercise regularly. If there are on-site exercise facilities, I would encourage employees to use them, and I would make it known either in writing or verbally or by example that it is ok to exercise during work time. If there are no on-site or nearby exercise facilities, I would encourage everyone to take at least one 10-15-min. walk around the building or to climb stairs, if there are any. (Depending on the type of organization, I would even try to arrange a lunchtime walking group, if possible, to encourage everyone to become involved.) I would also try to provide free coffee if there isn't any by bringing in a coffeemaker (or have those who want coffee to take turns buying coffee grinds), and at least once a week (perhaps every Friday), I would try to bring in some free food, such as breakfast tacos, as I know many people may have long commutes or skip breakfast, and may be hungry when they get in. I would also encourage employees to eat lunch away from their desks if possible, so that they can get out of the office once in a while and also hopefully get some exercise. To that end, I would probably also try to organize a monthly departmental lunch, so that people can touch base and not have to worry about time, since they are with "the boss," as well as regular happy hours, although I would try to pick a place that is not just a bar, so that employees who don't drink won't feel left out.

Regarding naps, I would not object if employees wanted to take a brief nap in the break room during lunch time or while on their break. In the break room at PCL, there is a sofa for that purpose (although it was originally intended for socializing), and in the women's bathrooms, there are beds available for resting. I would try to have similar furniture installed in the men's bathroom as well, and I would let it be known that employees should not feel any shame in taking a brief nap if they need it. To regulate the amount of time taken, I would have the employees sign out when they want to do so, as if they were signing out for a break or for lunch, and if they exceed their nap time, have someone they know go and gently wake them up (which can be a potential source of amusement for end-of-the-year slideshows :).

There are a great many further things that I would consider, including ergonomic assessments, encouraging employees to take advantage of EAP services if they are available, as well as supporting employees' professional and educational career goals in ways that will benefit both the employee and the organization. As in all things, HR is likely to be constrained by institutional policies and departmental resources, which is why in some ways I think it is a good idea to make the top executives responsible for the "people issues," as they are at La Rosa (although I realize that this may not be feasible in all organizations). The bottom line is that I hope to provide my employees with the kind of support in their work/life balance that I have received, and it is my hope that in doing so, I will be able to better enact the type of psychological contract that Mayo spoke of, as referred to in the Egg case study.

*The article referred to relatives, but I think the same thing should apply to friends: they should be qualified and they have to do their jobs well.

**The TA position would not have interfered with my job duties, since my TA duties are primarily conducted online. In fact, if it hadn't been for the UT policy about working over 40 hours/week, I would not have raised the subject of hours reduction with my supervisor.