Are your Employees Adults or Children?

At the end of World War II, millions of young Americans returned home and began looking for work. During the economic boom that followed their return, most companies adopted command-and-control operating structures that resembled the military. Adapting to that culture was natural for former GIs.

Fast forward to the 21st century when many companies are attempting to move from command-and-control cultures to more collaborative ones. Many articles from the Harvard Business Review discuss this transition to more trust-based management styes. The Great Place to Work Institute dedicates an entire section of its annual survey on how employees perceive they are trusted by management.

When organizations adopt those practices associated with treating employees like “adults”, they find that their adult employees do thrive. Unfortunately, they still have employees who continue to act like “children”, even when they could be treated as adults. For example, when organizations routinely separated vacation and sick leave, high performing employees tended to use sick leave only when they needed it. But lower performing employees tended to see sick leave as an entitlement, not insurance, so they never ended the year with any unused sick days.

How does an organization treat its adult employees like adults while managing its child-like employees who need more guardrails and are always looking for loopholes? The simple answer is to treat the adults like adults and the children like children. But it’s not that easy.

So what happens when a child employee is disciplined or terminated for any non-performance-based infraction, such as attendance? The employee, the EEOC, the DOL or any agency is going to ask is to see your policy. They are expecting to see a highly detailed policy (written for children). The wording in your policy is important. For example, “we expect you to be at work on-time,” may not satisfy those regulators. So, many companies feel compelled to implement point systems, or some other detailed policy, that defines for the children exactly what lines can’t be crosses. Is five minutes late, late? How about six minutes late? These policies understandably frustrate the adults in the room.

There are no easy answers. Many organizations benefit from having one of our experienced HR professional provide advice on policies and performance management platforms. We design these processes to support the adults and not allow the children to run amok. Contact the Davidson Group for beneficial HR advice.