Quincunx Consulting

Don't Do Anyone a Favor-Follow Policy!  By: Michael Fryar Sometimes something so small can turn into an HR nightmare.  Let's take a look at Josie and Melody's relationship for example.  Josie bursted into tears in the middle of the office, a tuna fish sandwich had brought her to a breaking point.  Her co-worker Melody threw an old tuna fish sandwich in her garbage can, the smell was so terrible that it leaked into Josie's workspace.  It wasn't exactly the tuna fish sandwich that broke Josie but instead this incident was the final of a long series of incidents in an ongoing conflict between the two since Melody started working in the department. As a leader, you tried to minimize conflict by sitting them down to talk, you moved their work stations, and even re-arranged the entire team.  So much work went into managing conflict with these two but nothing improved the situation. The tuna fish sandwich made Josie realize that it was time to call Human Resour

Stop Making Employee Onboarding so Difficult: First Day I hear it all the time; I made another bad hiring decision and it's so hard to find engaged employees.When you hire someone, you need to be committed to them, and it is your job to make sure they are successful.  What if I told you that it wasn't the employee's fault that they are struggling but a problem with the on boarding process starting from their first day of employment? Take a moment and visualize a few of your first days in previous positions.  How many of us have just been given a desk, a phone and a "let me know if you need anything."  You want to scream-yes I need a lot and please don't just leave me!  As you sit there in your cubicle, people walk by and smile or worse ignore you all together because they have no idea who you are. You start to wonder, where is my boss and when will I meet this mythological creature that everyone tells me I am lucky to be working for?  Sharing one of m

The Hypocrisy of the War on Betsy DeVos. By Michael Fryar As of today, 18 states attorneys have filed lawsuits against Betsy Devos over the delay of the Department of Education over implementation of the “borrower defense to repayment” regulations. These regulations are protect student loan borrowers from misleading, deceitful, and predatory practices by institutions who participate in, among other things, Title IV aid programs.  The complaint filed by the Massachusetts Attorney General contains this specific complaint: “ Some predatory schools, generally concentrated in the for-profit college industry, …often have more students that drop out than graduate and leave students with significantly more debt than other schools. The exponential growth of the for-profit sector has left millions of former students with unmanageable student loan debt borrowed in service of a credential they were not able to obtain or that provides little or no value.”  But couldn't the exac

Part 2: American Association of Cosmetology Schools vs. Secretary of Education   By: Michael Fryar When it comes to the American Association of Cosmetology Schools vs the Secretary of state the issue is that graduates of cosmetology schools may go into business for themselves or maintain a cash based businesses; why is this important?  So while the intent, to make sure they have incomes, is valid, at the center of the issue is the way it is checked. Social security payments, normally deducted from paychecks, is the current standard; however, when a profession operates on a cash basis, there may be little to no social security record and using the current method, it looks like someone who is making a good living has no income at all. The second issue is that schools that have failed the D/E ratio (see yesterday's post for information on this requirement) must post a warning to their students, which could result in an enrollment decline meaning an end to courses of stu

What is Gainful Employment?  By: Michael Fryar  Over the next few days Quincunx Consulting will be updating everyone on the i mplications of the recent decision in American Association of Cosmetology Schools vs. Secretary of Education.   The heart of the issue is a unique income situation of graduates from cosmotology schools and the rigid definition of gainful employment promulgated by the Department of Education.   This is not the first challenge to the regulations and definitions; in 2012 a legal challenge led to parts of the gainful employment rule being found to be arbitrary and capricious under the Administration Procedure Act   Ass’n of Private Colls. & Univs. v. Duncan, 870 F. Supp. 2d 133. The current definition for Gainful Employment focuses on the graduates debt from education compared to earnings.  At a glance: The D/E starts with the amount of debt (tuition and fees and books, equipment, and supplies) and then compares it to the graduates discretionary a

Definition of the day: Silos   If you search Google for the term "silo" you will view the following definitions: 1. A pit or other airtight structure in which green crops are compressed and stored as silage. 2. An underground chamber in which a guided missile is kept ready for firing. 3. A system, process, department, etc. that operates in isolation from others. When thinking about a silo at work, you can truly apply all 3 of the definitions to almost any work environment.  Departments typically have their own chain of commands and hierarchy which creates a 'silo' with communication. Information is typically disseminated from the head of an organization to department managers, then to assistant department managers, down to non-managerial parties. However, what about feedback or the sharing of information upwards or even among other departments?  If we edit the definitions and apply them specifically to an organization it would read: 1. A pit or air

"Workplace Bullying: Haven't We all Grown Out of This?"   Michael Fryar Bullying – the word brings an image of schoolyard fights, kids demanding lunch money, large kids picking on smaller children.  While a common trope for movies and television shows, it’s an uncomfortable topic when it comes to adults.  “Haven’t we all grown out of that?”  “Adults can stand up for themselves, so why worry about it?”  But we have taken steps to deal with some types of bullying from state statutes to internal school and company regulations. Sexual harassment laws were specifically created to prevent a form of bullying based on a person’s gender.  And employees and management all attend trainings, lectures and have printed materials detailing what is and isn’t, what can and can’t, what should and shouldn’t.  But the core of sexual harassment, and similar laws, is that we believe that people have the right to go to work, do their jobs, and then head home without the stress