The good manners police

smurray

I work in the HR Dept. at a manufacturing company. I feel I must set a precidence for fairness and consistency. I also feel that if I am required to enforce policy, then I should also abide by it.

The problem is, I find myself hearing jokes and kidding between the various office staff. Anyhow, I usually just walk off and ignore it unless it is something I cannot.

Sometimes I feel like I am the good manners police. I just had to issue a written warning to someone who told me he hacked into someone elses e-mail and sent a message with sexual overtones then signed his name as the person whos account he hacked into.

I tried to explain to him that no one forced him to tell me about this and I am required to investigate any type of potential harassment. Not only that but he also violated or MIS policy and invaded someones privacy.

I could not ignore this.


Besides the office staff, there are the production and maintenance workers who mean well but are not always PC.

We have conducted harassment training on numerous occasions. Policies are followed and enforced.

Do any other HR professionals encounter any problems such as this? How do you deal with your co-workers?

Don't get me wrong, I like to joke and have a good time too but I cannot allow myself to participate in some of the office converations. For example, blonde jokes.

Any advice????

Gillian

You are dealing with an organizational culture issue. The only way it will change is for the top leadership to demonstrate proper behavior and to insist that others do as well. You can't be effective in HR being the police presence and if you are you will, at some point, become the subject of jokes yourself. If this issue isn't important to the top leadership, and if they participate you know darn well it isn't, the best thing you can do is find another job where the culture is closer to your values.

Hatchetman

I was the "discipline enforcer" for my agencies for years. In fact, my screen name, "Hatchetman," comes from my job of being the bearer of bad news to emplOyees by preparing discharge letters, and delivering them, and working with managers to get rid of problem emplyees, if they couldn't be "salvaged." I've done it for over 21 years. This included representing management in full-blown, administrative evidentiary hearings before arbitrators and hearing officers justifying the disciplinary action it imposed.

While you do have a responsibility to provide guidance to managers on acceptable conduct from their work force, you must remember you are not the "Morals Police." Acceptable conduct is the responsiblity of every manager and supervisor, and employee too, not just the HR types (although many managers and supervisors like hold only HR as responsible for the encforcement of various conduct standards on their employees rather than themselves).

Also remember, you are an employee too. You still have to relate with your co-workers and other parts of the company, on friendly terms. Once employees know what your resonsiblities many of them will tone down their comments and behavior when you are present even though what they would have said or done may not be inappropriate. But, you shouldn't have to go beyond reasonable standards for guiding your own conduct. You can make jokes, get angry with the "system" and "management," do all the things reasonable and appropriately acting employees do. And if that on occasion results in you saying something that may not be in the "pink", well so be it. Remember, most managers don't ask for HR assistance unless they determine they have a real problem employee who isn't responsding to counseling or who continues to create difficult situations for them. An occasional "off-color" joke, an incident of tardiness, a minor situation involving resistance, shouldn't get you in serious trouble if the rest of your work is satisfactory. You may get counseled, but I suspect that will be it unless you continue on a frequent basis to act improperly. Put everythign in balance (that DOESN'T mean you can walk up to the CEO of your company, one time, and loudly call him a "jerk".) Good luck and hang in there.

WOCO Frank

"Hatchetman"? Ouch.

After a few months at my first HR job I earned the name "Captain Uptight" from the payroll department (which had a habit, by the way, of appearing topless during the company Christmas party). That was (and still is) quite a role reversal for me, as I am still a legend in my home town for some of the stunts I pulled in my teen years.

System

There's a huge difference between PC and a hostile work environment under harassment laws. Your biggest problem is language that could get your company sued.

I agree with Gillian that you could quickly lose your effectiveness if you confront employees over too many things. Whenever practical, you might want to go to the offensive employee's supervisor and have him/her handle it.

James Sokolowski
Senior Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers