OD and Title VII Consulting

There's a curious thing about being an Organization Development (OD) Consultant. Few in the recruiting and HR spaces understand what it is. Then toss in a specialty in Title VII (also known as Diversity and Inclusion) and eyes begin to blur. How does one succinctly but definitively describe that role? It's a hybrid. And when you toss in a few ancillary matters such as training and development, compliance, ethics, and workplace (or domestic) abuse, the waters get very muddy for many.

Said succinctly, RapidBI explains that OD's focus is on improvement via ". . . a complex strategy intended to change the beliefs, attitudes, values, culture and structure of organizations so that they can better adapt to new technologies, markets, and challenges." It's about performance improvement.

What's the correct job title for such a person? Perhaps we should look to a job description site for the right fit. However, job search expert, Ed Han, as well as many of his advocates, recommends creating your own title that describes who you are and what you do. Now there's a challenge. Aptly admitted by David Wride, OD is not the same as HR. The waters are pretty murky. It isn't about recruiting and hiring yet it's associated with making certain you've got the right input that will result in the optimal output for the organization.

However, I'm getting away from the mission of this writing. The focus is why this OD consultant loves the hybrid HR/recruiting work. Still, the fundamentals of OD dive deep into the necessity to research and analyze what's happening before implementing any form of change that's intended to improve the organization in regard to its people, its culture, its product and brand, and its overall effectiveness and profitability.

First, There's the Legal Aspect

Our legal system has various entities that strive to exact fairness among the participants in the "marketplace." With regard to labor and employment, especially those who have differences, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB in relation to union issues) provide guidance. However, there are other entities and there are federal as well as state laws that guide what are the proper practices. There is also case law that serves as guidance. When trying to determine what is happening and how to best address the situation, it's a good idea to research what the actual rules are and how they're applied in order to reach the best outcome. It's important to know not only the "how" but the driving force of "why" in order to come to a best possible solution. The law is the orderliness of all things; it's the rule book that helps keep things in order.

The Seldom Discussed Issue: Compliance

After knowing where to find the rules, and then forming an accurate interpretation of what they are, when they're applied, and the effect on the situation, it's important to make certain there's adherence to them. It makes for a greater amount of sanity in the environment.

To be certain, compliance is not a matter of "you must not do" as much as making certain the playing field is as open to all participants as possible while protecting many of the interests involved. The OD consultant is not only helpful with regard to compliance matters, the OD consultant finds the empowerment that is buoyed through adhering to the rules - or at least understands why those rules work toward a betterment of the situations that arise and need to be addressed before they become the tempest.

Ethics in the Mix

Still part and parcel with regard to the law and compliance is the matter of ethics. Ethics examines the fairness of matters, given the circumstances. Ethics relates to the proper way of doing things so that the organization and those who are part of it are putting forth reliable end product. Ethics is about being held accountable for what is related to proper governance.

"Is it ethical?" may be the driving question. However, researching, understanding, and knowing the answer, based on the law, is an exciting asset.

Workplace Culture and Morale

Examination of the workplace, all of it, is critical to producing the most desirable end product, whether goods or services. Sometimes it only takes a quick immersion into the workplace to become aware of where the strengths and where the weaknesses reside. Poor workplace culture results in poor morale. Those two aspects combined spell a high turnover rate and employment (not to mention product) costs that are inflated while offering poor return on investment (ROI). They also mean a workplace that is in a constant state of churn - and possibly disarray and confusion.,

Being part of the means of finding solutions is also exciting. Setting the proper tone, as well as providing equity among the participants, respecting them as individuals whose differences have value to the overall health of where they are, is so critical. It is also a brand magnet because customers and clients are immediately struck by the health of the organization; it drives their decisions about repeat business.

Training and Development

Is the universe expanding to an infinite point or is it expanding to a predictable distance only to collapse back onto itself? That same question can be posed to an organization. Are the members of it in a state of expanding their knowledge and skills, constantly offered the opportunity to continue to grow? In the alternative, are the members of the organization allowed to reach a particular plateau and then find themselves in a persistent vegetative state until they die, retire, or just become so obsolete that they're terminated? I like the idea that the universe is expanding into yet undiscovered areas. Organizations and people should follow that prescription - in a constant state of growth and being revived and renewed by the advances in knowledge, through the use of ever-improving technology and tools.

The Bottom Line

There's so much more to be said about the OD consultant, especially with regard to Title VII Diversity and Inclusion. However, the bottom line is OD is not really recruiting. It isn't even an actual part of HR. Instead, it's that vitally necessary middle ground that helps to bring those two functions together to form the best possible performance at many levels and in innumerable ways.

Resources:

• Organization Development, Wikipedia
  
• organizational development OD, Mike Morrison, RapidBI (29/09/2007)
  
• What is Organization Development?, Organization Development Network
  
• What is Organization Development? (video), Organization Development Network
  
• What’s the Difference Between Human Resources and Organizational Development?, Matthew Wride, DecisionWise (May 16, 2017),
  

You May be Interested:

• Assessment and Diagnosis for Organization Development: Powerful Tools and Perspectives for the OD Practitioner
  
• Organization Development: A Practitioner's Guide for OD and HR
  

At Will Employment: A Case Study

In the previous post we defined what at-will employment is and examined some of the exceptions to at-will employment. At this point you might be saying, "Charity, discussing at-will employment is like beating a dead horse." I disagree. The term "at-will employment" is one that has been used so often that everyone assumes that we understand its implications, and we do not.

What happened to pique this interest in the "at-will" verbiage and disclaimers?  My partner, who I will call "Rufus" for the sake of his privacy, was injured at work. His employer sent him to an occupational health doctor who diagnosed the injury as knee strain. The doctor gave Rufus some pain relieving balm, told him to rest the knee, and sent him back to work. Two days later, Rufus’s knee had worsened and his employer sent him back to the same doctor. The doctor diagnosed the injury as "arthritis," advised Rufus to take ibuprofen for the swelling, and sent him back to work. 

Three days later, Rufus's condition was still worsening and his employer refused to send him back to the doctor because of the doctor's previous diagnosis. Rufus advised his supervisor that he was unable to perform his duties safely and effectively due to the knee injury, stated that he would seek medical attention for his knee, and left work early. 

Rufus didn't have insurance and decided to go to an urgent care facility the next day because it was cheaper than going to the emergency room. The next day Rufus called his supervisor and the site's HR manager 3 hours before his shift started to inform them that he was going to urgent care to have a doctor examine his knee and would be absent for the day. The urgent care doctor examined Rufus's knee and advised him that the knee was sprained.  The doctor advised Rufus that he could not stand for long periods of time and placed Rufus on work restriction for three weeks.

Immediately after the doctor's visit Rufus called the site’s HR manager to advise him of the work restriction. The HR manager advised Rufus that his employment was terminated due to "attendance" and refused to consider the circumstances surrounding Rufus's absences. Rufus had not been counseled or disciplined for absenteeism, he passed the post-accident drug screen administered by his employer, and Rufus had been clear that his absences were caused by his work-related injury. We then consulted with a lawyer who advised us that we had no case against the employer.

Why did the lawyer say that we had no case? After all, what the employer did should be illegal since it violated state laws regarding worker's compensation thus Rufus's case should be covered by the public policy exception. Unfortunately, Rufus needed to prove the employer's intent and was unable to do so. Rufus was fired due to excessive absenteeism and the reason for Rufus's absences was not documented. Simply put, Rufus could not prove that the employer fired him because of his work-related injury.

You might be asking, "What about the disciplinary procedures in the employee handbook? Wouldn't that pertain to Rufus's situation?" No, because Rufus lives in a state that does not recognize implied contracts. Lastly, it may seem that Rufus's situation was not handled in "good faith." While that assessment may be true, it does not apply to Rufus because he lives in a state that does not recognize the covenant of good faith exception.

What I hope you will understand is the fact that as an employee (or HR student), you need to be aware that the ability to leave one's job at any time comes at a price. It is up to you as an employee to understand what that price is and what your rights are before you agree to those terms. It is up to HR associates to explain the benefits and consequences of at-will employment to applicants and employees in plain language.

If you are interested in learning what your rights are, you can Google "[state name] labor department." Also, the U.S. Department of Labor offers a webpage, DOL Services by Location, which provides links to your state's labor department.

Thank you for reading, and best wishes.

At-Will Employment Simplified

In the previous post we discussed my struggle with creating an at-will employment disclaimer for the staffing manual. It was mentioned that many applicants may not understand the potential benefits and consequences of at will employment and we will pursue this train of thought in this post.

Before we go any further in this discussion, it is important to understand what at-will employment is. In short, at-will employment means that your employer can fire you or ask you to resign at any time, for any reason or no reason, and with or without notice. Conversely as an employee, you can leave your employer at any time for any reason or no reason and with or without notice. You might be thinking, "There's an exception to every rule." If so, then you are correct. There are a few exceptions to at-will employment.

The first exception is called the "public policy exception" which means that an employer cannot fire you if the reason violates state law, or if you refuse to violate state law.

The second exception, "implied contract," means that any policies and written or oral promises that are made by your employer may constitute an employment contract (some call this a "gentleman's contract" or "handshake agreement"). However, many states support disclaimers that are used to invalidate the policies and promises made that guarantee the terms of employment. Also, some states do not automatically assume that the presence of a disclaimer cancels an implied contract and a few states do not recognize implied contracts (with or without a disclaimer). In short, even if your employer has outlined a disciplinary process in its employee handbook or promised you employment for a specific period of time, your employer may not have to follow that process or wait before firing you.

Finally, the "covenant of good faith exception" states that an employer cannot fire an employee in "bad faith." Simply put, this means that your employer cannot fire you for dishonest reasons such as to avoid paying for retirement or severance benefits. However, most states do not recognize this exception.

Hopefully this has helped to better your understanding of the at-will disclaimers that you see on employment applications or in your employee handbook. The next post will demonstrate the importance of understanding these disclaimers before you sign an application or an employee handbook.

Thank you for reading, and warm regards.

At-Will Employment: An Employee's Perspective

During the winter break I prepared some work samples to share with readers and prospective employers.

While putting the final touches on the staffing manual that is included in the work samples, I recalled struggling with the application form because of the legal verbiage that is seen on the last page of many application forms. This verbiage asks the applicant to confirm that the information the applicant provided is true to the best of her/his knowledge, that the applicant understands that a job offer may be contingent upon factors such as drug test and criminal background check results, and the disclaimers that discuss the terms of employment.

I became so frustrated that I asked my mentor, Yvonne, if the ability to create this legal verbiage from scratch was relevant. She pointed out to me that HR students needed to understand what the legal verbiage meant because we would need to explain it to applicants and because we needed to understand the laws that the legal verbiage referred to. That was when it hit me. While many applicants and employees can recite the "at-will disclaimer" verbatim, they may not truly understand what it means or understand its implications. I know I didn't until I encountered a situation in my personal life that made me realize the benefits and consequences of at-will employment.

In the next post we will continue this discussion by defining what at-will employment means in plain English. Until then, thank you for reading.