HR CONNECTION

Avoid the Legal Pitfalls of Management

Managers at all levels are held to a high standard of professional, ethical and legal behavior. Every day, these individuals make key decisions that affect the companies for which they work, its employees and its culture as a whole. As a manager, it is essential to understand and adhere to the ethical and legal obligations of your position to meet the expectations of all employees and to set an example of such behavior for others. From your employees’ standpoint, managers and other company leaders are the fabric of your organization. Executives and compliance personnel make policies to reflect the legal and ethical standards workers are expected to measure up to. However, managers must apply, interpret and execute the policies and legal standards sensibly based on the situations employees encounter. When hiring, promoting, implementing discipline or processing a termination, all managers must make these decisions based solely on the employee’s ability to perform the job. Avoid the common legal pitfalls such as: • Poor documentation • Inflated or inaccurate evaluations • Unfair or inconsistent behavior The Manufacturer & Business Association’s Supervisory Skills Series can help you navigate these tricky legal waters. Also, make sure to consult with a member from your HR department with questions and problems. Stay focused on your goal of making the right decisions and getting the right employees in the right positions instead of tripping into a legal pitfall due to poor management.

Tracy-Daggett Tracy Daggett, PHR is the manager of Professional Development Training Services at the Manufacturer & Business Association. Contact him at 814/833-3200, 800/815-2660 or tdaggett@mbausa.org.

SURVEY TAKES PULSE OF CFO CONCERNS ABOUT COVID-19

Chief financial officers (CFOs) are concerned about a new wave of COVID-19 infections leading to a further economic downturn, according to a recent survey from Big Four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

PwC’s sixth COVID-19 CFO Pulse Survey found the biggest concern for finance leaders is a second wave of coronavirus infections (59 percent), followed closely behind by the impact of a global economic downturn (54 percent). In response, CFOs are shifting their focus to how they can create sustainable business models so they can better adapt to the new realities of working and doing business at an unpredictable time.

The majority of the 330 U.S. CFOs and finance leaders polled by PwC expected COVID-19 to decrease their revenue or profits (78 percent), but their outlook has improved, with 13 percent of CFOs anticipating a revenue decrease of 25 percent or greater, down seven percentage points from the previous survey. They now have a slightly more optimistic view, 11 percent of the survey respondents see a potential to increase revenue.

PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS CREATES NEW TYPES OF IN-DEMAND JOBS

The number of jobs lost as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has far surpassed the losses seen during the 2007-09 Great Recession. But while around 40 million people have filed for unemployment benefits, the public health crisis has also created new types of work. Contact tracers, temperature takers, health monitors and workplace redesigners are jobs that are now booming. “This pandemic has been an unprecedented shock to the labor market and has created a need for new jobs and new skills very quickly,” said Julia Pollak, a labor economist at ZipRecruiter, an online employment marketplace in Santa Monica, Calif. “Here we have a public health disaster that’s created a wide range of roles needed to contain the disease and increase the confidence of American consumers. So they are very important jobs. Many are related to other jobs, with a lot of transferable skills.” COVID-19 has created a paradigm shift in how we think about work and how businesses protect their employees and customers, said Patrick Beharelle, CEO of TrueBlue, a recruiting and staffing firm based in Tacoma, Wash. “The demand for new safety-related roles will continue to grow, and companies will continue to evolve their workplace practices with stricter health protocols and more flexible work options,” he said.