Part 2:  A Menu of Five Scenarios with Tips to Avoid Workplace Meltdowns

September 8, 2011 the GourMelt Grilled Cheese Truck came to The Applied Companies. The melts truly are yummy and the sweet potato fries incredible! Staff, clients and friends enjoyed visiting and eating delicious comfort food.

Last week we posted part one of our two part series addressing common workplace scenarios that could trigger emotional meltdowns resulting in suffering, illness, and loss of joy and productivity. This week’s blog continues A Menu of Five Scenarios with Tips to Avoid Workplace Meltdowns:

Mergers & Acquisitions
Usually served with a choice of take it or leave it.

Employee: Try not to assume the worst. Be pro-active, flexible and grow with the transition. Maintain your value to the company. Be willing to learn new systems and educate yourself about the organization and its new directions. Talk to management about opportunities where you can use your skills and talents to move the company forward.

Manager: Protect the company’s greatest asset – its people. Take responsibility for your team and their concerns. They want to be informed whether the news is good or bad. Communicate constantly and honestly. Maintain credibility. Treat employee’s well, help them deal with the changes and offer outside resources if needed. Create or obtain a due diligence checklist. Members can access merger and acquisition resources on the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) website.

Holiday Stress Express
  À la carte variety of anticipation featuring strained peers.

Employee: Share the importance or unimportance of holidays with your manager. Your manager should understand your expectations and those that are close to you. Let your manager know you have kids out of school, visiting relatives or out-of-town trips planned. Schedule time off in advance. Be respectful of coworker’s beliefs.

Manager: Be close enough to your team to understand their expectations. Understand your employee’s distractions and help them focus on the job. Do employees need skills training in how to deal with heavier foot or Internet traffic? Do employees need refresher courses in how to deal with stressed clients who are feeling holiday pressures or have over indulged?

Written by Tom Miller, Director, Staffing & Recruiting Solutions and Susan Fix, Community Liaison Partner. Tom has over 30 years human resource, management and recruiting experience. Susan has 15 years staffing experience with a dash of social media.