Only Human
By Betsey Nash, SPHR
“You can work your exempt employees until they grow a tail.” I wish you could hear the inflection in his voice when employment law attorney, Gary Bethel reminded a group of human resources professionals who packed the Santa Maria Inn last week to hear his annual update.
He stretches out the word “tail” and we’re all laughing before he can finished the word. I’ve heard this line for the last three years and I still laugh out loud. He had another line this year that was new to me, and I confess I kept chuckling long after everyone else had collected themselves. Maybe they’d all heard it before.
He was talking about the new “anti-bullying” training that is now mandated as part of the sexual harassment prevention training for supervisors of companies who employ more than 50 people.
Much like in the definition of a “hostile work environment,” abusive conduct in the workplace would have to be “severe or pervasive” to be a real problem.
“Pervasive,” Bethel defined the term, “you know; it happens a lot.”
“Severe,” he added, “This is where the drop your pants rule comes in. You don’t need to have someone drop their pants at you more than once to feel harassed.” Again the room erupted in laughter and no further definition was needed.
Sadly, I was reminded of a case study I used to cite in my AB1825 training, about a female job applicant who was in the middle of her interview when the prospective boss (a man) walked out for a moment and came back in buck naked and sat back down, presumably to continue the interview. Yep, severe.
The case went on to describe the man’s age and physique and I think the term “way severe” may have been used. You can’t make this stuff up — or easily erase the visual.
Why do we need this training? Bullying is not just happening in schools, it seems. Even though abusing employees is antithetical to productivity, many employers still either choose to use it as a management technique or ignore it when they see it.
A few years ago, an attorney was quoted as saying, “…bullying has its benefits. This country was built by mean, aggressive, sons of bitches [and] some people may need a little appropriate bullying in order to do a good job. Those who claim to be bullied are really just wimps who can’t handle a little constructive criticism.” Not sure what “appropriate bullying” would be.
We’ll have to get used to this new topic. There is a difference, after all, between a jerk or someone having a bad day, and someone who intentionally sabotages a coworker or whose abusive behavior causes a health issue in their target.
But with “research showing that more than roughly 60% of people in leadership positions will fail, usually due to flaws in interpersonal behavior,” and surveys showing that fewer than 45% of us would choose to work for our former bosses, described most often as arrogant, manipulative, emotionally volatile and/or passive aggressive (Hogan News, Aug. 14, 3013), it seems a little sensitivity training may indeed be called for. Only I wish I made this stuff up.
Betsey Nash, SPHR, is a 25-year veteran of human resources work with all kinds and sizes of companies and she knows there is truth in that honey v. vinegar cliché. She can be reached at: . Her “Only Human” column appears regularly in Tolosa Press.
