Management 2K

It wasn’t that long ago that your male employees showed up at the office with a conventional short-cropped haircut, a clean-shaven face, white shirt, tie and a sport coat.

You remember the days, right? While that style hasn’t completely vanished from the workplace, today there is a good chance that your IT director sports a goatee; your receptionist’s hair is frosted at the tips and your ad designer wears an earring (on nearly any part of his face) and has a tattoo of his dog, Tom Slick, on his left biceps. It’s all part of a more tolerant workplace.

But what can you do to ensure your employees still present a professional image to your customers, visitors and co-workers without stepping on their rights? So far, the courts have allowed businesses to establish reasonable dress and grooming standards, but the regulations must be flexible without imposing unnecessary burdens upon the employees.

In layman’s terms, that means business owners must toe the line when determining what’s appropriate and what’s not, without sacrificing their company’s high standards. Telling your Webmaster, who spends the bulk of his day at a computer terminal instead of meeting with clients, that he must wear a suit and tie every day, shave off his moustache and can’t grow his hair longer than the top of his shoulders, may no longer hold muster.

Physical appearance is just one of the changing workplace trends you’re certain to encounter in this high-tech, fast-paced business world. Another is the issue of gossip.

Remember those water cooler days, when your staff members would hover with their morning coffee and talk about who was dating whom and what manager was driving a new car? Well, courts across the country are increasingly ruling that businesses can be held liable for defaming gossip, e-mail messages and other communications that take place among employees on company property.

That may sound unfair, since much of the communication could be considered beyond the control of management, but the courts say management must try harder.

That doesn’t mean you must resort to ruling your business with an iron hand and intercepting every piece of mail or communication that enters or leaves your company. But it does mean you should consider installing control mechanisms that allow you to keep tabs on your company’s communications and still provide employees with the freedom to do their jobs without worrying that you’re standing over their shoulders.

Such controls could include letting employees know their e-mail and phone conversations may be monitored and enforcing strict policies concerning workplace gossip. What will happen is that you’ll find that over time, your liabilities decrease and your workplace atmosphere improves.

The bottom line is that business owners — like their companies — must adapt to the times. If not, you may find that your attorney — not your customer — is the focus of your attention. Dustin Klein ([email protected]) is editor of SBN.