The proper way to socialize with employees

According to the article “3 rules for socializing with staff” on www.businessmanagementdaily.com, summer is the time for social get-togethers, and your chances of being asked to hang out with employees may increase. However, it’s important to remember your position as the boss during these times, so here are three tips for how to behave on these outings:

• Find out who’s going. Before accepting any invitation, you should find out who is going. Has everyone been invited, or is just a select group going? If the entire team or department is going (or has been invited to go), it’s fine for you to accept, but if only a few people are going, other employees who weren’t invited may see it as favoritism, and it would be best to decline.
• Limit the alcohol. While one or two drinks is acceptable, don’t make the outing all about drinking. Keep yourself from becoming intoxicated, and never encourage your employees to drink. If you drink too much, you could behave in a way you’ll regret should it get back to the office.
• Don’t overstay. Socializing is fine, but as the boss, it doesn’t look good for you to be club or bar-hopping at all hours of the night. Take some time and enjoy yourself, but leave after an hour or so, so that you maintain your professional and supervisory relationship with your employees.

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How to deal with “vent letters”

According to the article “How to legally deal with an employee’s post-termination ‘vent letter’” on www.businessmanagementdaily.com, it’s becoming more and more common in the workplace for a fired employee to leave without any drama but for the employer to receive an email or letter soon after in which the employee spouts off about the company. Some of these letters may even have legal implications. Therefore, it’s best to handle them accordingly. As such, here are four tips for handling vent letters:

• Treat letters like exit interviews. Take these complaints seriously. While the former employee may just feel the need to get his or her feelings out, the letter might offer insight into serious issues.
• Look into any legal risks and respond. While some complaints may be general in nature (such as “my boss has unreasonable expectations”), others, such as allegations about sexual harassment, discrimination and unlawful retaliation, should instigate an HR investigation.
• File away the letters. Keep these letters in the personnel files. However, before filing them away, you need to make sure there are no complaints that could lead to legal risks. Make sure all of your managers know to forward any vent letters to HR.
• Handle any vent letters in accordance with your PR strategy. For instance, if your company’s policy is to respond to comments on social media or Glassdoor.com, you may need to draft a short, polite response.

Having an exit interview may reduce the probability of receiving vent letters, as they may allow the affected employees to let you know what they are thinking.

Related: Wash Wisdom: Best practices for firing an employee

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