Got spring fever? I have the cure(and it’s not more cowbell).
I’m a sucker for classic Saturday Night Live skits! One of my all-time favorites is the Christopher Walken ‘more cowbell’ skit. If you’re not familiar, go look it up… right now, I’ll wait. But the short of it is the band Blue Oyster Cult in the recording studio recording ‘Don’t Fear the Reaper’. Cast member Will Ferrel is playing, you guessed it-- a cowbell, with hilariously exaggerated enthusiasm. Let’s be honest, only a comedic actor like Will Ferrel can make that funny.
But what does this have to do with employees? Well, as February makes way for March, the days are getting sunnier, and the temps are warmer, it gets a bit harder to come to work and take care of business. I’m struggling today with a dose of spring fever myself. Our outside temperature is hitting the low 60s and the spring air is calling. So, I feel the pain of dealing with employees who may be less than focused, punctual, or even present.
What’s a manager to do?
Here are some ideas for creating a great (but fair) time and attendance policy…
Create an expectation of acceptable attendance: Like anything, it’s important to have something in place before you need it. So, think about what your attendance policy looks like. Are you clear about how and when time off can be requested? Do you have a clearly defined ‘ready to work’ description so that employees understand the importance of being on time? Do you have a clear outline of how much time off employees receive? All of these concepts help employees understand your expectations because believe it or not, not everyone operates the same way.
Communicate how to handle days off and other vacation requests: Whether it’s for a kid’s spring break, a summer holiday, or adding on to an existing three-day weekend, people are generally more opt to take time off in the spring and summer. So, as a business owner or manager, it’s important to be proactive when talking about requesting time off. Be clear as to who (if anyone) can be out at the same time, or if certain dates are just a ‘no-go’ as to anyone getting time off because it’s historically busy. Communicating these ahead of time saves a lot of heartache around employees planning on time off, only to be refused because they didn’t realize they weren’t eligible.
Be clear but have grace: We’re in an unprecedented employment market right now, meaning there are more openings than available workers to fill them. This means, gone are the days of managers laying down the hammer and letting employees go for mild violations. 1) You would run out of employees quicker than you can say ‘You’re Fired’; 2) Workplace cultures are evolving as such that treating employees as replaceable parts is no longer acceptable. This means you need to have some grace when dealing with employees. This doesn’t mean you throw the rules out the window, but instead realize that life happens. Someone might be a few minutes late, someone may take a bit longer lunch, and there might be more talking about vacation plans or sharing photos. While it’s easy to think about ruling with an iron fist and telling everyone to get back to work, consider gently suggesting when it’s been long enough and time to get back to work.
You can’t cover every possible scenario, but a caveat is your best friend. This takes a bit of grace but also a hard hand. In a policy you cannot (and should NOT) account for every possible scenario. You set a policy to encounter about 80% of what could happen. You know people are going to call in sick, they’re going to want to take time off, and they’re probably going to be late from time to time. So you create a flexible enough policy to handle all of these and still allow for personal employee freedoms. That being said, there is a chance someone will abuse a policy. Someone who is miraculously sick every single sunny Friday. Someone with an obscene number of grandparents who always seem to die on beautiful spring days. This is where you need to build in verbiage talking about suspected abuse of the policy could lead to disciplinary action.
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em: incentivize a fun team event: A hill I will die on is that you spend as much time with your coworkers as your friends and family, so it’s important to have FUN! Look for ways to incentivize hard work and focus with a fun event that you can enjoy together. This will give everyone a chance (including you) to hold each other accountable when temptation strikes, and you’re feeling the pull of the nice weather to resist and look forward to something even bigger and more fun on the books to celebrate the fact that all worked hard and not this is your reward.
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