In The News

MEDICAL JOURNAL - HOUSTON

November 2003

HR & EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Are your employees working or playing?

By Joe Sansone
CEO, TMC Orthopedic

Without fail, most managers at some point in their career struggle with one question: Are my employees really working? Employers are constantly faced with the dilemma of how to manage their employees in such a manner as to ensure that their workforce is working yet still offer the flexibility of a relaxed work environment. Supervisors often vacillate from one extreme to the other in desperate and oftentimes futile attempts to keep their staff happy, while still enforcing company policy.

Most realize the obvious need to establish employee guidelines and to ensure that employees are working throughout the day, but is it necessary to run a practice with an iron first? Or should a healthcare provider be unencumbered by corporate bureaucracy and given the ability to allow their employees to enjoy their workday? The following is a tale of what transpired at our company and how we solved the aforementioned problem.

We once had an employee that I will call Rose. Every time I walked by Rose's desk, she seemed to be engaged in personal phone calls or some other sort of leisure activity. Upon questioning Rose as to why she never seemed to be working, she would retort, I never take a break throughout the day, so I'm just taking a 5-minute break now. Rose further stated that she often ate lunch at her desk, so that she could be available for the constant patient interruptions, and on occasion worked 9- to 10-hour days without ever taking an official break. I tucked my tail and left Rose to finish painting her nails. Soon I caught on that perhaps Rose played most of the day and that it was quite unlikely that I was happening upon this activity on the rare occasions that she took a 5-minute break from her grueling work schedule.

How should management answer an employee who states, I can't work all day without a break; I need a few moments to gather my thoughts or have some down time?. Something had to change. I needed a mechanism to allow Rose to take reasonable breaks throughout the day, but also to ensure that she was giving me an honest day's work. Management, who had been pressing me to allow our workforce to take break times throughout the workday seized upon my concerns about Rose and used this as the impetus to force my hand.

Management convinced me that employees needed breaks throughout the workday. They explained that if we were able to give employees these breaks throughout the day and walked by their desk during non-break periods, we could expect that the employee would always be working. I agreed to allow two 5-minute breaks to the employees. Management again stepped in and demanded more. My employees would come in at 8 0'clock work until 10 0'clock, take a break from 10:00 to 10:15, work less than two hours, and then go to lunch. They would then return after a one-hour lunch, work another two hours and then take another 15-minute break, only to go home less than two hours later. The employees would never work over two hours without a break.

Not only was I expected to give my employees a lunch and not one but two 15-minute breaks, management actually expected me to pay my employees to take their breaks! While employees took their 15-minute cigarette break out back, they would be on the clock earning money. I again acquiesced and slowly backed out of the room before I was hit with the demand for some additional benefits.

Why did I allow such a generous benefit to my employees when I had previously felt so strongly that such policies were needless pandering to the employees? Management had offered something in return. I was given the guarantee: If during business hours and non-break times, I saw an employee on the internet or engaged in a personal phone call, then they were abusing our policy, and strict disciplinary action could be taken,. By receiving two paid breaks daily, the employees received what they desired – the ability to unwind periodically throughout the day.

Management learned that if you treat your employees fairly, and let them know that you are concerned about their work environment, then employees in turn will give you an honest day's work and offer a higher level of commitment to the company. It is this mindset that has created a company culture that has allowed us to offer latitude to our employees in many other areas. Problems that are commonplace with other companies are not seen. For example, when I am faced with an issue and management tries to determine how unscrupulous employees may try to "beat the system," we look at each other and smile. We now know that we have the highest caliber employees, and that they appreciate what we do for them. Those that try to manipulate the system are not the type of employees we prefer to work with, and they will be dealt with sternly.