Managing Your Business

Common items, such as hairspray, perfume, cleaners and air fresheners, have odors that can be over-powering to fragrance-sensitive employees. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, it may be necessary for you to adapt policies and work areas to accommodate workers who react to strong scents. Try the following:

• Establish a policy. Some companies have banned certain strong fragrances in the workplace, but it is unclear whether this is constitutional. Instead, try asking employees not to wear potent fragrances and send out frequent reminders.
  
  
• Ventilate. Regularly clean and service your office's ventilation system, and avoid using deodorizing fragrances in the system. It also may be necessary to consult an air-purification expert about your office's needs.
  
  
• Accommodate. If you have an employee who is fragrance-sensitive, assign him office space away from ventilation ducts. An office that contains a window, air conditioner or air-purification unit is best. In severe cases, you may consider letting the employee work from home.
  
  

Source: Adapted from the Job Accommodation Network Web site, as cited in The Manager's Intelligence Report, September 2001 issue.

Pros and cons of paying for performance

In recent years, merit pay and seniority bonuses have become less attractive to companies when compared with raises based on performance. If your company is considering pay-for-performance raises, you should weigh the pros and cons before deciding.

The following may make you decide against pay-for-performance raises:

• Employees who are motivated by their work's value may find tasks less attractive if cash incentives are involved.
  
  
• Many employees like the security of regular salary increases.
  
  
• Managers may have difficulty making distinctions between employees' performances and give everyone the same salary increase.
  
  
• If salaries only are adjusted once per year, pay-for-performance raises are not immediate motivators.
  
  
• Employees may think you are trying to keep compensation low by switching to a pay-for-performance system.
  
  

However, the following may help you decide to establish a pay-for-performance system:

• Money can motivate many employees to perform better.
  
  
• Top employees may increase their efforts if their contributions are rewarded accordingly.
  
  
• A good pay-for-performance plan may make your employees feel more involved in your company's goals.
  
  
• A pay-for-performance plan may eliminate surprises during performance evaluations.
  
  
• Employees can keep track of their performances and challenge themselves to improve.
  
  

Source: Adapted from the University of Colorado at Denver's Web site, as cited in The Motivational Manager, December 2000 issue.

Avoid hiring dishonest workers

Nobody wants to hire dishonest workers. To combat this problem, some companies give prospective employees an honesty test during interviews. Companies that use honesty tests claim they can identify employees with dishonest tendencies with 85 percent accuracy. Such a test can address multiple topics, such as substance abuse and social behaviors, and should take 15 minutes to complete. Although an honesty test should not be the only reason for not hiring a prospective employee, it may be helpful when narrowing an applicant list.

Source: Adapted from Workforce Online, as cited in The Working Communicator, September 2000 issue.

Supporting an unpopular policy

Managers, such as superintendents, often must support company policies that are unpopular with employees, such as longer hours, shorter vacations or higher insurance co-payments. Although a manager may disagree with a policy, it is important he shows no bias when discussing it with employees. Disagreeing may achieve temporary rapport with crew members, but a manager eventually may lose their respect for evading responsibility. If you believe a manager has negative feelings about a policy, encourage him to talk to you.

Source: Adapted from Manager's Tough Questions Answer Book, as cited in The Manager's Intelligence Report, January issue.