Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER CANADIAN HR REPORTER March 24, 2014 March 24, 2014 INSIGHT INSIGHT 27 27 Claudine Kapel Guest Commentary Doctor's notes give employers the chills Doctor's notes give employers the chills Strict employer policies around medical notes may perpetuate a culture of distrust Strict employer policies around medical notes may perpetuate a culture of distrust Question: Should employees be required to submit a doctor's note when taking allotted sick days? Answer: Many employers require employees to present a doctor's note when taking sick days. Em- ployers often require a doctor's note as proof that employees are not abusing sick day policies. But with fl u season aff ecting many employees across the coun- try, Scott Wooder, president of the Ontario Medical Association, recently spoke out about this is- sue. He advised employers to stop requiring doctor's notes from em- ployees with fl u-like symptoms, because their visits to the doctor's offi ce are not only unnecessary but may in fact put others at risk by spreading germs. In his exclusive commentary in the Feb. 24 issue of Canadian HR Reporter, Wooder raised an important issue HR profession- als need to consider when imple- menting policies around doctor's notes. Although it is true that some policies around doctor's notes are contributing to a drag on our health-care system, employers should be more concerned about implementing policies that per- petuate a culture of distrust in the workplace by policing sick days. HR professionals who insist on implementing policies that demand doctor's notes from em- ployees who use their allotted sick days are not promoting a work- place culture based on trust. Some employers are so dis- trustful of their own staff , they use surveillance tactics to monitor social media posts and even drive past an employee's home to see if she is really sick. irty per cent of employers in- dicated they have checked up on employees who called in sick to make sure they weren't lying, ac- cording to a 2013 CareerBuilder survey of 2,100 HR professionals in the United States. Of those, 19 per cent checked the employee's social media activity and 15 per cent went as far as driving past the employee's house. is type of behaviour cannot possibly benefit employer-em- ployee relations. When employee actions are highly monitored, HR risks alien- ating the top performers who do behave ethically. Treating these employees as untrustworthy will likely create resentment among the top performers who will not only feel unappreciated but will begin to distrust their own em- ployer as well. Unfor tunately, employer policies are sometimes too gen- erous and allow employees to carry over unused sick days into the following years. Perhaps a "use it or lose it" policy would be more eff ective in curbing chronic absenteeism where employees accumulate too many paid sick days and then want to use them all at once. Another issue? ere's no deny- ing that absenteeism can be prob- lematic because there are some employees who do not behave ethically and call in sick when they are healthy. The CareerBuilder survey showed that 32 per cent of U.S. workers called in sick when healthy. However, 30 per cent of employees who were actually sick did show up for work. Therefore, we cannot focus solely on the issue of absenteeism without considering the negative and often harmful eff ects of pre- senteeism in the workplace. Workplace trust aff ects morale, productivity and profi tability To retain valuable employees, em- ployers need to establish trust in the workplace, according to the 2010 Deloitte Ethics & Workplace Survey, which revealed that em- ployers may not fully understand the implications their decisions have on workplace trust. During the 2008 recession, one- third of U.S. workers planned on looking for a new job once the economy improved, found De- loitte. Out of this group of respon- dents, 48 per cent indicated that a loss of trust in their employer was a contributing factor. In addition, 65 per cent of For- tune 1000 executives surveyed thought this loss of trust would contribute to voluntary turnover rates. Although the study does not di- rectly correlate sick day poli- cies with the issue of trust, the evidence is clear that trust in the workplace plays a crucial role in employee per- ceptions of their employer. Respondents also believe morale, productivity and profi tability are most posi- tively impacted when an em- ployee trusts his employer, found Deloitte. Better management, recruitment of ethical employees needed HR needs to resist the tempta- tion to implement heavy-handed policies as a means to control the bad behaviour of a few individual employees. ere are other ways to manage employees who are fre- quently absent and not perform- ing well. It is important to develop the right strategies with respect to sick day policies. It isn't eff ective to collectively group all employ- ees in the same communication or create policies to manage the specifi c actions of the few employ- ees who are the culprits of abusing sick days. Rather than micro-managing all employees and creating a cul- ture of distrust, managers will be more eff ective if they address issues directly with problem employees. If a manager suspects an em- ployee is misusing sick days, then a private conversation with that employee is needed. is conversation should not be ac- cusatory but used more as a way to let the employee know it has been noticed she's been off sick frequently and management is there to support her as much as possible. Abuse of employer benefits speaks to the quality of the can- didates being recruited. Perhaps greater attention should be fo- cused on the recruitment and se- lection of high-performing, ethi- cal employees who are less likely to abuse employer benefi ts and privileges. Policies that empower employ- ers to constantly monitor employ- ee activities and behaviours rein- force a culture of distrust within organizations. Instead, employ- ers should focus more eff ort and attention on recruiting not only top talent but employees who are ethical. In any relationship, whether it's a marriage, friendship or work, there must be a high degree of trust to make the relationship succeed. Yaseen Hemeda is a product devel- opment and process co-ordinator at Carswell, a omson Reuters busi- ness, in Toronto. He can be reached at yaseen.hemeda@thomsonreuters.com or (416) 298-5012. Yaseen Hemeda Toughest HR Question Weak training focus carries high price tag Weak training focus carries high price tag Conference Board fi nds only modest gains in spending levels since 2010 Conference Board fi nds only modest gains in spending levels since 2010 New research tells a familiar story about organizations and their struggle to fa- cilitate employee development while still containing costs. e Conference Board of Cana- da's Learning and Development Outlook reports Canadian or- ganizations spent about 1.4 per cent of their annual payroll — or an average of $705 per employee — on learning and development initiatives in 2012, up from $688 in 2010. at represents a small gain of less than three per cent (or $17 per employee). But the Conference Board notes that gain, while small, refl ects a "modest reversal of the downward trend of the past two decades." e study results refl ect responses from 198 Canadian organizations. Overall learning and develop- ment spending is still down nearly 40 per cent from its historic high of $1,207 per employee in 1993, says the Conference Board. "Over the past 20 years, spend- ing has declined in both the public and private sectors and in organi- zations of all sizes." But a strategic focus on learn- ing and development is vital for a number of reasons. Employee development is a key total rewards component that in- fl uences an organization's ability to attract and retain talent, drive performance and ensure contin- ued access to essential skills and knowledge. Inadequate attention to em- ployee development can under- mine more than just an organiza- tion's talent management strategy. Over time, it can erode the orga- nization's ability to compete as a business. e Conference Board warns Canadian organizations are "lag- ging other nations in terms of the relative importance and consis- tency placed on employee skill development and learning." It points to the 2013 Interna- tional Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Com- petitiveness Yearbook report, in which Canada ranked 28th out of 59 countries in terms of the im- portance organizations place on workforce training. e Conference Board notes it has been concerned about the de- clining competitiveness of Cana- dian organizations for some time, reporting that "global rankings, based on a number of key per- formance indicators, show that Canadian competitiveness has dwindled in recent years." Ongoing learning and skills development are "crucial factors" in ensuring organizations have employees with the training to drive both innovation and per- formance, it says. "But it appears that Canadian organizations are still struggling to keep pace with global leaders." e Conference Board cautions that if organizations don't take ac- tion to strengthen organizational learning, they run the risk of fall- ing even further behind. "In the end, the consequences of doing nothing far outweigh a move toward investing in areas requiring immediate attention, such as human capital and skills development." So what does it take to trans- late employee training and de- velopment into a competitive advantage? Not surprisingly, the Confer- ence Board says it starts with strong leadership support for learning and development, which supports the creation of a strong learning culture. "Over the past decade or so, there have been a growing num- ber of studies investigating the link between leadership develop- ment and the business success of organizations." e Conference Board notes re- spondents who reported the over- all leadership of their organization was better or signifi cantly better than their competitors were four times more likely to have eff ective leadership development practices in place. Yet, while 60 per cent of respon- dents indicated leadership devel- opment was a strategic priority, only about one-third felt their practices were eff ective. As a result, when it comes to strengthening the approach to employee development, some or- ganizations may fi nd themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. Without leadership commit- ment, the approach to develop- ment may be less than robust — leaving them without the means to build the leadership capabilities needed to drive a learning culture. To escape this chicken-and- egg quandary, organizations may need to revisit and strengthen the business case for employee development in general — and leadership development in par- ticular. is could be done as part of a broader review of their total rewards or talent management strategies. Some organizations may need to begin with baby steps — such as modest increases to investment levels. is would at least repre- sent a step in the right direction. But much more needs to be done if Canadian organizations are to drive performance and innova- tion and successfully compete on a global stage. Claudine Kapel is principal of Ka- pel and Associates, a Toronto-based human resources and communica- tions consulting fi rm specializing in the design and implementation of compensation and total rewards pro- grams. For more information, visit www.kapelandassociates.com. When actions are highly monitored, HR risks alienating top performers.

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