By Lynne Curry A surprising number of employees, determined to hold on to their “work from home” status and aware that managers and others suspect remote employees of working less than their required hours, practice digital presenteeism. Digital presenteeism involves remote employees demonstrating they’re hard workers by responding to additional emails, attending additional … [Read more...] about Digital presenteeism: Faking you care, faking you’re even there
Managing staff
What to do when an employee uses FMLA to cover drinking
By Lynne Curry Question: We suspect one of our employees of using intermittent FMLA leave to cover her abuse of alcohol. We see a clear pattern. She takes leave two to three Mondays a month. Prior to her requesting FMLA leave, she claimed occasional sick days on Mondays. Other employees have noticed her leaving early on Fridays as well. With this fact pattern and given … [Read more...] about What to do when an employee uses FMLA to cover drinking
Flexibility is the key to remote work practices
“The name of the game is flexibility,” says Carl Kutsmode, Senior Vice President at Talentrise, an executive search and talent management consulting firm, talking about the nature of remote work since the coronavirus pandemic. Kutsmode discusses how the pandemic has changed the workforce, likely for good. Additionally, his perspective provides tips to help employers adapt to … [Read more...] about Flexibility is the key to remote work practices
Get a grip on costly office gossip
By Dr. Steve M. Cohen No matter how distracting, office gossip is something that no manager will ever completely eradicate. Like other human foibles, it’s too ingrained in our systems. That doesn’t mean you should ignore it or let it dominate your workplace. Office gossip is increasingly dangerous to many workplaces, including medical offices. It’s not that people do it … [Read more...] about Get a grip on costly office gossip
Make online team meetings work for you
By Lynne Curry If you dread online meetings–attending them, hosting them–and long for meetings to become more than a necessary evil, you can make it happen. Recently, I hosted a two-day, 15-hour meeting that the 17 attendees said “zoomed by,” “was fun, kept me engaged the entire time;” and “made an hour seem like five minutes.” Here’s how we did it. A “you” start We started … [Read more...] about Make online team meetings work for you
Office politics and how it damages your firm
By Elizabeth M. Miller bio Office politics can be a problem in any size law firm—from a firm as large as 1000+ to as little as a solo practitioner with 2 staff members. A definition "Office politics" is the use of networking within an organization to further one's own agenda. The word "networking" could easily be interchanged with the word "gossiping". That is office … [Read more...] about Office politics and how it damages your firm
Recognize and stop ‘gaslighting’ in the workplace
By Lynne Curry In the end, what saved “Ella” was a friend’s love of old movies. Worried about what she heard in their last call, her friend sent her a link to classic psychological thriller film “Gaslight” and texted, “I think this is what’s happening to you.” Ella had joined a large company headquartered in Chicago, with branch offices in Anchorage, Seattle, San … [Read more...] about Recognize and stop ‘gaslighting’ in the workplace
Quiet firing meets quiet quitting
By Lynne Curry Quiet quitting, the employee behavior pattern that swept through the nation this summer after a viral TikTok video in July, has met its match—quiet firing. Employers, disgusted by employees that consider it justified to do the bare minimum at work, are blessing these employees out the door. Managers take action In September 2022, 91% of 1,000 managers … [Read more...] about Quiet firing meets quiet quitting
Workplaces slow to get well from COVID-19 damage
By Lynne Curry You’ve heard that “long-haulers,” individuals with long COVID, suffer persistent COVID-19 symptoms that erode their quality of life. Anyone scanning the workplace soon realizes that some employers suffer from “long COVID”. A few refuse employers treatment, expecting to get well on their own. Three symptoms signal an employer suffers “long COVID”. Difficult … [Read more...] about Workplaces slow to get well from COVID-19 damage
Is it a recession or not? The answer may surprise you
By Lynne Curry My in-box filled with questions after I posted a Recession Fears Loom blog. Readers asked how I made sense of the different views voiced by economists and politicians. As a law office manager with responsibilities around staffing and profitability, you are probably watching to see which way the economy goes. Here’s the background, and my answer to “are we … [Read more...] about Is it a recession or not? The answer may surprise you