Blog & News: Management

Did your parents ever tell you not to smoke while a cigarette dangled from their lips? Or, tell you not to curse when they had a potty mouth? If so, you know that the “Do as I say and not as I do” philosophy is not an effective parenting technique. A recent administrative hearing demonstrated that it’s not an effective technique for employers or supervisors either.

“One of the most difficult things about starting a business is trying to learn all of the state and federal laws that pertain to business owners,” said Gerald Lavarias, clinical director and co-owner of MAPSS, a local business that provides support services to children and adults with special needs. California is home to more than 850,000 small businesses (< 500 employees), according to the latest data from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Being told to “just wait until your father gets home” was a very effective method of punishment for me as a child. Any reprimand I received from Dad upon his homecoming was easy compared to the torture of waiting from him to arrive. That’s probably the reason I’m now quick to confess when I’ve made a mistake – waiting to see if my husband, boss, client, or whoever finds out about it is more torturous than whatever bad things might happen as a result of my confession.

The summer I was 15 and working at my dad’s bait shop, he posted a sign by the cash register that said, “no cussing.” He didn’t put the sign there to remind me not to curse; it was there to let customers know that swearing was not allowed around my delicate ears. While my ears are not so delicate anymore, I encourage employers to curtail the use of cursing in the workplace by themselves, their employees, and their customers.

When I was the HR manager of a local business, I suggested to management that a hand scanner be installed to track employee time and attendance. At that time, employees clocked in and out with a card that they swiped through a scanner. Some employees frequently forgot their cards, so the hand scanner was my solution to ensuring their time was recorded properly. I thought it was very James Bond-ish; the employees thought it was a yucky hotbed of germs.