Archive for the ‘IT’ Category

HR Shield’s Lesson on Office Email Etiquette

September 17th, 2012

In most working environments, there are no hand-written rules surrounding proper email etiquette. Many of us know to avoid the obvious: politically incorrect cartoons, offensive video content, unforgiving language and other questionable materials.

But, it’s often the lapses in communication that result in conflict. For example, by simply pressing “forward” without an explanation or introduction, you leave the message’s meaning up to the recipient’s interpretation. You could quickly offend your recipient and create an unnecessary misunderstanding.

Think about this: While you may think that simply forwarding an article or e-newsletter is a great way to share useful content, if the title of that email is “Ways to Improve Your Attitude,” or “Ways to Stop Wasting Time,” the recipient may immediately see this as a personal attack.

The following 10 guidelines are offered by HR Shield. We encourage you to share them with your office!

  1. Don’t Be Lazy: Clicking “Forward” with no explanation as we mentioned above, can create a great misunderstanding. If you are a manager passing along a task, you may come across as impersonal or rude. If you are forwarding an article, the recipient may think that article is intended for them personally. Long story short, if you’re sending something, provide the reason you are sending it.
  2. Use Spellcheck: There’s nothing worse than tarnishing a powerful message or important email with numerous spelling errors. It reflects poorly upon you, and your business. A quick click to confirm all of your spelling is correct will save you the embarrassment.
  3. Control Your Urge to “Reply All:” “Reply All” is a bad habit to get into. Ask yourself: “Is this message relevant to every single recipient?” If no, don’t waste the time of others.
  4. Confirm Receipt: Did you receive an email this morning that you won’t be able to address until tomorrow? Confirm receipt. Let the sender know that their email is going to be addressed, and did not get intentionally ignored or land itself in the spam filter.
  5. One Subject per Email: Do you have a lot of projects circulating around the office? One subject per email will help keep you and fellow employees organized. It will also make emails and resources surrounding a project easier to find when you are searching for it within your inbox.
  6. Huge Attachment? STOP: Wait a minute, how big is that attachment? There is nothing worse than having your email backed up for a significant amount of time while it’s struggling to download something. If you have a large attachment, resort to other ways of sending it, or at the very least check with your recipient to see if it is okay to send.
  7. Use Caps Sparingly: CAPS= SHOUTING. If something is important, it may be best to bold or italicize it. If it’s very important and the point you are making needs to be stressed, go ahead and use the caps. But use them sparingly!
  8. End Emails With Positive Salutations: The subject of your email may not always be positive, in fact you may be delivering bad news. But, never fail to let people know they are in fact appreciated. Sign off with “Thank you,” “Regards,” “Much appreciated,” or other nice sayings.
  9. Contribute Something: Answering an email with “you too” or “thank you” may seem polite but it adds little to the conversation. Avoid clogging up people’s inboxes with one or two word emails. Support your message with added detail or refrain from sending.
  10. Think Twice: Reread all emails before sending. If the message is not clear, or is left up to too much interpretation, do not send it. Think of a way to reword the message before creating an avoidable miscommunication.

HR Shield is committed to helping improve office atmospheres everywhere.  From HR best practices and basic office protocol to benefits and taxes, we’re here to help. Need more support than our weekly blog? Count on HR Shield for all the human resource support you need—when you need it. Call today to learn about the HR Shield membership options at (877) 636-9525 or contact us for more information.

Posted in Best Practices, Conflict, IT | No Comments

3 Common HR Violations within the IT Department

March 26th, 2012

Sometimes we live in our own little worlds- with HR on one side, and IT on the other. IT employees are extremely skilled and knowledgeable within the area of information technology, and in most instances the two departments create one powerful team!  For example, recruiting initiatives:  As a people-focused team, HR recruits new relationships and talents, and IT, as a technologically adept team, can provide valuable resources and tools to truly streamline the process.

But, when a team is as technologically adept as an IT team, and their specific work tasks surround something outside of your specialty as an HR professional, it can be rather difficult to spot an HR violation. And, if you suspect an HR violation, how do you go about approaching the situation when you may not fully comprehend the scenario?

Here are 3 common HR violations, as they relate to IT, as well as some quick tips for approaching the situation as an HR professional:

  1. HR Violation: Internal Hacking - Quick Tip: Accessing, manipulating or even simply monitoring individual’s private information through company systems or proprietary hardware is an HR violation (if it is NOT part of the IT employee’s job description).  Whether malicious activity or for “fun”, appropriate measures need to be taken to ensure protection of privacy for other employees. This includes proper documentation of the incident. In some cases, this may be a first time violation or warning, but in other cases depending on the seriousness of the situation, it may require employee termination. It is recommended that you consult an HR advisor for a second opinion before taking any action if the situation requires termination.
  2. HR Violation: Employee Misconduct at the Company Help Desk – Quick Tip: As previously mentioned, everyone specializes in a different area. Not everyone is an expert in HR, nor is everyone an expert in IT. As an IT professional, the company help desk can be a very frustrating responsibility if the individual is attempting to resolve issues for employees that are not as technologically adept.  However, this is not an excuse to communicate poorly, or express frustrations towards other employees. If you currently suspect an IT employee (or any employee for that matter) of communicating poorly or creating tension amongst other employees, schedule an employee performance review. If your company has predetermined employee performance review dates, and there is not one in the immediate future, schedule a meeting to review the employee’s behavior and discuss proactive ways to prevent miscommunications and tensions. A little patience and understanding will help to avoid a future HR violation in most cases!
  3. HR Violation: Sweeping Violations Under the Rug -  Quick Tip: In many organizations, IT is responsible for monitoring employee activity on the web, or company email. They scan for inappropriate content and/or misuse of company technology. However, it is not unheard of for employees within the same department to fail when it comes to blowing the whistle on one another. When fellow IT employees are in charge of monitoring employees within the same department, they may bury or overlook certain violations.  Your first step is a review of your company’s most recent employee handbook and job description for the employee in question—is this employee required to monitor and report HR Violations?   This situation also requires proper documentation of the incident. In some cases, this may be a first time violation or warning, but in other cases depending on the seriousness of the situation, it may require employee termination. Again, it is recommended that you consult an HR advisor for a second opinion before taking any action if the situation requires termination.

Follow us each week to improve your HR processes with HR management best practices from HR Shield. For more information on this topic, or to speak with an HR Advisor, call (877) 636-9525.

Posted in IT | No Comments