Through its America’s Heroes at Work initiative, the Department of Labor aims to increase awareness of PTS/TBI (Post Traumatic Stress / Traumatic Brain Injury) employment issues among employers, the workforce development system, service branches, key military support systems, career centers and veterans service organizations like The American Legion. Another goal of the program is to create and raise awareness of resources that assist employers with accommodations for transitioning servicemembers and veterans with TBI or PTS.

The America’s Heroes at Work website features:

• Fact sheets and reference guides on PTS/TBI as they relate to employment;
• Web-based training tools on making workplace accommodations for employees with PTS/TBI;
• Promising practices for helping those with PTS/TBI succeed at work;
• Veterans employment success stories; and
• Links to additional PTS, TBI and veterans employment resources.
• Common employer questions about returning servicemembers with TBI and/or PTS;

PTS or TBI isn’t what’s wrong with you, it’s what happened to you.

Carol Boyer, policy advisor for the Department of Labor’s Workforce Systems Policy Team.

Take down walls of stigma and build self-esteem. Don’t believe the hype. Hire a Veteran.

You have 5 seconds to click on the link

What are you waiting for?

Disclaimer: Yes, I am a dues paying member of the American Legion and believe in its work.

Imane Boudlal wants to dress piously and wear a hijab at work as a hostess at Storyteller’s Café in Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.  It’s too much, doesn’t jive with our culture and people want her to take it off…

Ines Sainz wears form fitting jeans and tops that pop cleavage while conducting interviews with athletes who do the hubba hubba behind her back. She’s asking for it, right? According to a lot of public opinion I have read today — that answer would be yes.

Apart from the fact there is clear civil rights protection against unlawful workplace discrimination — that covers dress associated with a particular religion, aren’t we all aware of protection against sexual harassment and responsibility to govern our own actions?

In regard to Imane wearing a hijab versus Mickey Mouse Ears (or whatever her co-workers wear)… If religious wear is not a potential safety hazard or there isn’t some other compelling reason it could impede one’s ability to effectively perform work — no one should feel compelled to call the fashion police. I understand uniforms (please.. I was a scout and in the military) and know that if someone needs to wear something that important to them, there are other parts of the uniform that can still be worn to clearly identify them as part of the team.

Concerning Ines, frankly it’s really not about her at all. She is employed by TV Azteca — and they are responsible for setting a dress code and ensuring employees follow it. If they are OK with how she dresses then there is no issue. The players have contracts with the Jets and as an organization they are responsible for the conduct of their players. It doesn’t matter if it is a football field or locker room -  it’s no different than working in any other environment — professional conduct is a must. I’ll gander that harassing others on Jets’ time isn’t Kosher.

Regardless of how Ines was dressed, it is not an EXCUSE for inappropriate conduct by others (let’s be real) — and the conduct was very inappropriate. That is why there was a public apology by the team management. And, it doesn’t matter that she was in the dressing room — that’s where reporters go to interview team members all the time. Before the opposite sex enters a dressing room it is announced so everyone has time to put clothes on. A locker room is just a room like any other as long as the rules for conduct are observed. Yes — male reporters go into women’s locker rooms to report. They go in with cameras just like this reporter did in the men’s locker room.

Let me reiterate just once more time for kicks and giggles… Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

It is no wonder the EEOC is a busy place.

Inc. Magazine posted an article by the founder of Zappos on why he sold to Amazon. The article bears reading for many reasons, but I was struck especially by its emphasis on ‘happy.’ I think that is an error in focus.

The whole idea of an employer making employees happy is presumptuous, in my view. There are too many variables not in the employer’s control. And an individual’s view of their happiness quotient changes, constantly.

Happy is quite a few notches above satisfied. Satisfied to me is really only acceptable and Zappos really shoots for happy. Tony Hsieh’s “social experiment” is the practice of hiring employees who find happiness in delivering an exceptional customer experience.  When it comes to companies that build their brand on superior customer service –> happy employees are exactly what they need. The business of customer service demands employees who take ownership of the customer experience, delight in helping others and derive not satisfaction but pleasure from it. It’s the only way to have staff who doesn’t burn out quickly and get frustrated listening to complaints all day. My experience as the former manager of a team of 50 customer service reps taking calls for the nation’s largest food manufacturer is, satisfied doesn’t last as long as happy and it doesn’t perform as well either.

Employers looking for people who would be happy doing the job can attract them by advertising for them, source passive candidates who are a delight to work with and may be open to other opportunities, work to have an employer brand that attracts them and walk the talk with internal and external customers and clients. The happy staff they have will be natural ambassadors and recommend the place to others they would like to work with, so a great employee referral program is important.

Employers can assess if candidates would be a happy addition to their staff by using psychometric tools and well designed situational, behavioral and performance based interviews and ensuring they understand each individual’s motivators to assess if they are a potential fit with what the company offers. They can implement job shadowing and observe interest, allow team members to meet with them and get their feedback too. Most importantly, it is essential to be honest about culture, performance and reward when speaking with candidates. Promising Utopia and once on-board delivering a barren waste land will make even a happy person turnover.

Though having a 100% success rate at hiring employees who will indeed be happy at work is an unrealistic expectation, it is something to aim for. Rita is right, “some folks have it, others don’t.”

I say, try diligently to hire those that have it.. You can do it.

In fact, one Amazon distribution center recently began experimenting with its own version of Zappos’s policy of paying new employees $2,000 to quit if they’re unhappy with their jobs. ~Tony Hsieh

Go Tony =)

Someone called me today to ask how to do it. How to move on, not take it personally, make wiser decisions about engagement in conflict, how to avoid it, how to choose which battles are worth it. I don’t think she expected what I told her.

Transitioning back to the U.S. after 11 years of work in Mexico and Spain I took an entry level customer service rep position at the 15th largest on shore call center with full confidence I wouldn’t be in the seat for long. They wouldn’t hire anyone in a management role that didn’t have call center experience.  The fact that a company of that size and importance didn’t have an onboarding or new manager training program is fodder for another post in the future — promise.

After having managed a vacation club (OK sure, it’s really timeshare) sales room of 50 sales people and closers on the  Mayan Riviera and a mega buku bucks budget, I was taking customer service calls about $4.00  products for the world’s largest food manufacturer tethered to my cubicle by the umbilical cord of a headset. I spoke with people who purchased frozen entrees and claimed chicken uteruses in their food, not enough peas, misleading photos on the packaging and every foreign object imaginable and unimaginable on their fork or in their mouth.

To say that it was not the job for me at that point in my career would be an understatement. But I made the choice to get my foot in the door. I was keenly aware of what I was doing, it was a strategy.  The place was only 5 minutes from my house! I gave myself 6 months to learn everything I possibly could about the biz and move up or out. It worked out exactly that way I intended and in 8 years I climbed up the rungs of the ladder 4 times. But that’s not really the point of the story.

What IS the point?

Learning the business was fun and challenging. I went way above and beyond product information and procedures. I was interested in growth, remember? Yet the majority of stint in the seat was taking those calls and after a very short time they started to get on my nerves. Tons of nice people called too but soon I was answering calls in my dreams and on remote control during the day. I quickly had had enough of that front line stuff…

One day I took my doodling to new heights while on the job. I cut black construction paper into small tombstone shapes and stacked them like a memo pad next to my PC. While listening to nasty, stupid, entitled, A-driver types I would grab a colorful gel pen and write the caller’s initials and an equally colorful epitaph.

“Loser logic got him nowhere”

“She proved that the customer is not always right”

“He accomplished his goal to irritate others”

“Incapable of a real life“

“She made chicken uteruses in food desirable”

“He financed college with free coupons“

A little additional glitter pen action and each offender of common sense was quickly and firmly tacked to my cubie wall graveyard. And then I was done with them. I put them out of my misery to their final resting place. It was cathartic and I could move on with a smile on my lips for the next mystery caller.

I shared other innovative methods of moving on too like reward from the voices in my head. This technique works awesomely. The voices ask me questions like,

“Do you really need to argue about this or would you rather a latte?”

“Is this relationship worth the effort or would your time be better spent checking Facebook?”

“Will this be important tomorrow?”

If the battle is that important to engage me it is revealed by being more important than having a latte and checking my friends status updates. That’s rarely the case.

What techniques do you use to deal with unwanted situations, make wiser decisions about engagement in conflict, or choose your battles carefully, or do you just dive in with eyes wide open?

P.S. Those little voodoo dolls work too

The agenda flowed and it came time for him to speak. He reported on the annual business plan competition and how this year’s students didn’t seem as sharp as other years. This was very concerning and we all sat on the edge of our seats waiting for details of the fall out.

The students seemed bright prior to the presentations he reported, but something just wasn’t right that evening. One had on pants that hung kind of low and sneakers. Another had hair like a girl. A girl had an earring on her face. They lacked professionalism and they weren’t “sharp”. Next year we would have to do something about it, these kids would never make it in the real world.

As he spoke I observed how others were taking in his comments. Some nodded their heads in agreement, some sat like stone statues just looking at him and those few Gen Y and Gen X members that were there had abnormally big eyes. As a Joneser who admittedly tries hard to dress in pajamas disguised as business casual I was in the middle. I tuned out for a moment after, “When I was 7 my mother told me.…” then I came back.

When the suit was finished airing his grievances I asked, “How was the content of the presentations they gave?” It turns out that the kid with the baggys won, though it was a tough decision. I continued on. “If you would have closed your eyes and just listened would your opinion be any different?” That apparently was not the point.

I lodged in a few thoughtful and hopefully respectful sentences about the War for Talent and how the best present could come in a brown paper bag and costume jewelry could be wrapped in gold gilded paper with ribbons and bows. I think my rebellious nature came through. 

Shouldn’t it be all about performance?

With the exception of good personal hygiene and attire that would present potential safety concerns in certain environments, why does it matter? 

Gartner Dataquest reported in 2008 that 25% of workers telecommuted in 2007, and in their recent 2009 projections, they estimate that number to hit 27.5%. Companies like Booz Allen Hamilton, eBay, Gartner, Goldman Sachs, Principal Financial Group, S.C. Johnson & Son, Yahoo, and Qualcomm, continue to lead the pack with flexible work and telecommuting benefits.

I’ll bet a good number of them work out of flannels and do just as good of a job as when they are all decked out.

At the end of the discussion I offered to go into the classroom to talk about employer expectations. But I won’t be speaking about how self-expression can be achieved by wearing a slightly bold tie or colorful scarf. I’ll be talking about generational differences, asking about the dress code prior to the interview, understanding business dress code norms and choosing a career and employer that meet lifestyle preferences — the things kids don’t learn in school.

I’ll continue to monitor workplace vogue and help students and new professionals understand it. When it is no longer a topic for discussion I’ll have my Gen Jones self in a flannel shirt, jeans and sneakers working right alongside them. Oh, and I’m supporting the City of Brooksville, FL in their common sense approach to the employee dress code of deodorant and underwear required. Go Brooksville!