It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know low morale = stressed employees = a lower quality of work product including more mistakes are made.  Management and leadership who fail to put a stop to workplace bullying of any sort often bury their heads even further in the sand these employees just happen to be major income producers.

Bottom line is this — if verbal violence and other bullying behaviors are not stopped in their tracks, there is an obvious absence of smart, effective and progressive leadership.  In my opinion, this makes leadership and management as guilty as the actual bullies are for causing the resulting and ongoing widespread negative effects.  Thanks for “listening” as always and let me know if you want me to tell you how I really feel!

All the Best,

Nancy

• Rules applied sporadically and unfairly among employees (e.g. starting time, length of lunch breaks, # of vacation days)
• An ongoing frantic pace — day after day — caused primarily by a supervisor’s poor planning and organizational skills … leadership should step in sooner than later to coach, train and/or mentor these folks….of which the legal profession and many others have a costly excess!
• Guilt trips over personal, sick or vacation time taken (see NBJ 2002 Lawyers USA column on how vacation policies …and attitudes… mirror a firm’s culture)
• Thinking that “real” lawyers always work a 60+ hour week and lacking the wisdom to understand that the most productive and satisfied employee lives a balanced and healthy life style (e.g. In addition to encouraging healthy behaviors, consider providing an exercise room for employees — even a small one with one treadmill and an aerobics workout video is better than none — and 10 minutes of exercise can rejuvenate energy levels far better than pouring on the caffeine)
• Frequent start/stops of promised (and needed) changes — too often not completing projects begun
• Allowing tensions or outright conflicts between partners or other employees to go unresolved for an unreasonable length of time (If they refuse to resolve their differences in a timely and responsible manner, firm leadership should mandate a resolution via the use of a firm ombudsman, mediator or the like — Every employee should have access to excellent resources such as Stewart Levine’s 2nd Edition of Getting To Resolution – eye-opening, thought-provoking and packed with simple and wise conflict resolution tips)
• Little or no constructive feedback given to employees in a timely manner
• Assuming staff have no personal plans after normal working hours and that they will always work overtime on short notice (the poison to morale of this culprit escalates in direct relation to poor planning and/or procrastination by supervising personnel)
• Acceptance by leadership of loud, abrasive, demeaning and other bully like behaviors
• A noticeable lack of common courtesies shown to employees (Good Morning greetings, showing appreciation, etc.)
• An absence of well deserved bonuses from cash to creative “Job Well Done” gifts (e.g. childcare fees paid for a week, dinner and other gift certificates, “free” personal days off, firm-wide recognition for achievements, etc.)
• Not holding regular staff meetings and if they are held, failing to give it our full, undivided attention (e.g. no looking at our watches or mobile phones, no shuffling of files around on our desks, etc.)
• Attorneys not taking the time to personally introduce staff members who will be working on the case to new clients
• Expecting top notch work quality produced at a 90 mph pace in spite of outdated equipment and software, unclear instructions, and/or insufficient training
• Romantic relationships between supervisors and subordinates giving the presumption — if not the actuality of –  unfair advantages for the participating employee
• Never (or too rarely) sending employees to appropriate work-related seminars or workshops for training and networking purposes
• Not providing the right kind and adequate amounts of training needed for new software, systems, etc.
• Talking negatively about employees (directly or within earshot) to other employees
• Failing to put an end to an employee’s chronically negative attitude either through mentoring, discipline or termination (firing should, of course, be the last resort after all other reasonable efforts to correct the situation)
• All work 24/7 day after day after day….Never making the time for non-work related group activities (e.g. sporting events, cookouts, community group volunteer projects)

A few Morale Boosters include:

• Not allowing any of the above morale busters or others to exist in your office; and …
• when they or other morale busters do occasionally show up, acting quickly and decisively to rid your office of these progress, morale and productivity thieves

Happy Weekend everyone and I hope you go into work on Monday ready to try out some new morale boosters! We all function far better in a positive environment regardless of our type of work, title or years of service.   As always, thanks for visiting my blog.

Nancy (& Jessie, our resident Tennessee Walker comedian!)

Be on the lookout within the next month or so for a totally new look to my blog. ….going to be getting the polish it desperately needs with the help of folks who are experts when it comes to blogging and who have the time I haven’t had to get it spiffed up for you, my wonderful readers….bottom line is the blog will be much easier to navigate, search, etc.  Once it’s up and running – still down the road a few weeks, please share the benefit of your feedback with me.  I am writing for YOU, my readers for which I am so grateful and want to make it a worthwhile and enjoyable stop during your online time.

On a different subject, many thanks to Vicki Voisin (http://www.paralegalmentorblog.com/), paralegal specialist, author and speaker. She recently blogged about one of my posts (http://bit.ly/ezzGP). It was the one in which I shared my frustrations over the use of the word “non-lawyer” (http://bit.ly/Es6Ye).  Lawyers USA also published my thoughts on their online site (http://bit.ly/MZaEh).  Had a few attorneys and others acknowledge their agreement via their Twitter posts.  As I’ve written and stated previously many times, of course the term is used in many forums with no negative intent whatsoever…I know that.  Still, just don’t “get it” as to why we’re the ONLY profession to use a “non” label when referring to those that don’t have a law license.  More importantly, why can’t we use ANY other word or combination of words (e.g. legal assistant, staff member, paralegal, etc.) instead of “non-lawyer?!?”   What do you think – please take a few minutes to share your thoughts re my concerns over our use of the “N-L” word!?

Thanks again for visiting, let me know any subjects you’d like me to address (more legal staff issues, client rights and appreciation, business smarts, marketing on an hourly basis, effective communications, working with difficult folks, stress management tools, time management/organization, etc.!).  Wishing everyone a great week ahead with many smiles along the way both shared by you and with you!

1. RESPECT IS 24/7 ….. you appreciate, value and genuinely respect employees at all times — even the smallest showing of disrespect negatively affects everyone’s morale, productivity and work quality.  And, removing the memory of manager’s disrespectful actions  is difficult (and in some cases impossible) to achieve.
2. ENTHUSIASM ….. your enthusiasm for your clients, customers, product, service, overall mission never falters and it is highly contagious….as is your lack of enthusiasm for the job to be done!
3. SYNCHRONIZATION ….. your actions are in perfect sync with the professionalism, ethics, work habits and attitudes you expect from your employees  (old Indian proverb….“Your actions speak so loudly, I cannot hear what you say.”);
4. PROMISES ….. if you fail to fulfill a promise you made (any promise whether small,big, in-between), you acknowledge it and let employees know if and when you will do what you said you’d do or why you now cannot or will not do as promised;
5. ENGAGEMENT ….. your engagement of employees does not stop upon their initial hiring date…you must make employees a part of finding solutions for problems, hurdles and the like ….. benefit from their perspectives, ideas, concerns by asking for their input and truly listening to what they have to say – - the ongoing, active engagement of your entire employee team is an essential cornerstone in the building of lasting success stories;
6. CLARITY ….. you take the time to clearly communicate your requests and expectations of employees; and
7. TIMELY INFORMATION ….. leadership and management beat the miscommunications and other hazards of the gossip grapevine by keeping employees timely informed re non-confidential changes made or in the works.

Remember – respect means the genuine, consistent showing of your best side …

NOT your “other” side!