Dear Reader

Welcome to you first Labour Bulletin for February. Can you believe January’s already over? It seems like this year’s going to fly by as fast as 2009 did.

It’s certainly going to be a very busy year for me. My manager’s “upped her game” in terms of making sure we’re challenged at work, so it’s a very interesting time here at Fleet Street. I’m also studying a management course this year, just to keep me out of trouble...

Real-life case studies are more interesting than fiction!

Wow! Who knew learning about management could be so interesting. I’m doing HR at the moment, and we have a phenomenal lecturer (I’m working on him to be a part of our upcoming seminars), and he’s full of entertaining anecdotes about his work experience.

I know you’re probably thinking, “whatever!” but I’m not kidding when I say he literally had us on the edge of our seats on Monday night, telling us a true story about a big South African company. We’d run 15 minutes over the lecture time and none of us wanted to leave until he finished his story...

So what was it about?

What happens if a top performer’s colleagues all hate him?

Basically, a high-flyer (let’s call him Brad) was hired by a manager in a well-known company. He was an outstanding performer, and made the company millions of rands. But, his subordinates and colleagues couldn’t stand him. He completely disregarded the company culture, which it had taken decades to create.

Naturally, the bosses thought he was fantastic...business is about the bottom line after all. However, after a year and his performance review, Brad wasn’t given a bonus because a part of the performance criteria was to ensure he worked within the values of the company.

Brad pushed for what he thought he deserved

Brad was NOT a happy man! He knew he’d achieved financially and deserved more than any of his colleagues. He called a meeting with the top brass and demanded what he thought was due to him. That’s pretty pushy of him... or was it?

It turned out his manager had made all sorts of ludicrous promises he wouldn’t be able to keep just to get Brad on board! And he didn’t even have a contract.

The result: a dismissal and criminal charges

The meeting didn’t end very well for either party, and the situation resulted in a dismissal, manic fire-fighting and even criminal charges for the various parties!

That’s a very abbreviated version, because it’s a very long story and it was confidential. I don’t want to get on my lecturer’s bad side!

Poor management processes WILL land you in hot water

You can’t afford to ignore simple things like contracts or effective performance management, even if your employee seems like the best hire you ever made.

Protect your job, yourself and your company by finding out exactly what steps you need to take to be an effective manager who stays on the right side of the law. One disgruntled employee and one bad decision could mean the end of your career!

Until next time

 
Sarah-Jane Bosch
Managing Editor
Labour Law for Managers Practical Handbook
Practical Guide to Human Resources Management