Recently a Jet Blue flight attendant named Steve Slater made a dramatic exit from his job—and made the news world-wide. His “I can’t take it anymore” rant was heroic to some, and simply whiney to others.

Those who see him as a hero say he represents the overworked masses that have made it through the recession, but with nerves frayed and tempers flaring. Many of these workers, it seems, are just waiting for the next incident to push them over the edge.

But what about their bosses? Many have been hesitant to pile more onto employees who are already maxed out. Are managers getting ready to crumble under bigger piles of responsibility, too?

How does a manager avoid putting too much onto employees and risk having one quit in a dramatic fashion, or “slide the chute,” as the Jet Blue flight attendant did? It’s a matter of delegating—which is an art. Doing it right maintains a balance and keeps everyone’s workload manageable—including yours.

Here are some tips on delegating well:

• First of all, recognize that if you don’t delegate, you will cripple your ability to manage.
• Get to know your staff better. What area of the business they want to learn more about? Find tasks that will advance their knowledge and they’ll be more likely to do them well.
• Don’t “hover.” Once you give someone a task, let it go and let them do it—even if they’re doing it differently than you would (also known as doing it “wrong”).
• Give them time. Realizing an employee is capable of handling some things as well as you—even if they’re only at 50% now—comes with time. So delegate a task, teach them how to do it right, and expect that that will. Be patient.
• Empower employees with knowledge of how each project fits into the company’s operations. Let them see how important it is, and they’ll be more likely to take ownership of it.

When the recession hit, employers knew their workers couldn’t just walk out the door and find another job. Now that we’ve been through a couple of years of the downturn, stressed-out staff need to be handled carefully in order to keep them from running toward the exits as soon as things start getting better.

But, just because your staff may have options now or in the near future doesn’t mean you can’t add to their responsibilities. Who knows—maybe delegating some of your job duties will make their jobs much more fulfilling and your employees more likely to stick around!

Why employees are voluntarily leaving their jobs in larger numbers than we’ve seen in nearly two years, and what employers can do about it.

It may seem like a slap in the face to employers who’ve worked hard to keep their employees happy (and employed) through this tough economy, but they’d better get used to this fact: employees are voluntarily leaving their jobs in larger numbers than we’ve seen in nearly two years.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the number of employees quitting their jobs surpassed those being discharged by employers this past February. And as quoted in the Wall Street Journal, a poll conducted by Right Management at the end of 2009 indicated 60% of employees intend to leave their jobs when the market improves.

Some employers are bracing themselves for major turnover. Formerly-nervous employees are starting to feel more confident that the economy will turn and employers will begin hiring again. And, they feel they’ve waited long enough to pursue better opportunities, according to the survey.

Another factor inspiring employees to jump ship could be low morale and job satisfaction. We’ve written about ways to keep employees motivated through the recession, as job responsibilities increased and perks disappeared. But some employers may have taken the “you’re lucky to have a job” approach to employee management too far—even if it was true!

Employees are again going to be faced with choices, as recruiters call and their networks start buzzing again with opportunities. While no one knows exactly when that will happen, history shows that what goes up (unemployment figures, for instance) must come down.

Employers concerned about losing good employees—and the associated costs, like recruitment, lost productivity and training—should think ahead and keep communication flowing. Talk to your employees one-on-one and hear their grievances. Ask for ways you can help improve the work environment. The goal is to catch your valued staff before they head out the door. After all, most employers know it’s much easier to keep a good employee than to find another one.

Small employers often don’t worry about strict regulations and too many rules. With a small group, your employees may be more like family, and if everyone is getting along, it’s a good thing. But what if two or more employees are getting along a little too well, and start seeing each other outside of work? No big deal? But what if one of them is in a supervisory role? Now it gets complicated.

While relationships between coworkers don’t present a threat to employers, those that involve a person in power are a different story. A consensual romance that goes sour could lead to charges that it was, indeed, non-consensual. Favoritism is another potential hot issue, like when a manager promotes her boyfriend. No exactly fair to the other staff, is it? As an employer, you must protect the company from charges of sexual harassment. An inappropriate relationship between a supervisor and subordinate could leave the organization vulnerable to a lawsuit.

That’s why every organization with employees needs a basic, written dating policy. What should it include?

• First, make it clear that while dating is not prohibited, romantic relationships between supervisors and employees are not allowed. Train supervisors to avoid workplace romances with subordinates.
• Some firms avoid issues with nepotism and claims of unfair treatment with a policy that no couples or relatives will be hired.
• Other companies require employees who intend to pursue a romantic relationship to report such to management. Why? For a written record that it is indeed consensual. Make sure to ask for notification when the relationship ends, too.
• Clearly state that sexual harassment will not be tolerated in any form. This includes inappropriate language, behavior, or unwanted attention. Remind employees that “no” means “no.”

How to Deal with the Office Rumor Mill
When one employee spills the beans on another’s extracurricular activities, encourage him or her to pay attention to their own worries, not to mention their job. It’s best not to tolerate employees reporting on each other.

If Jack and Jill’s relationship is creating a negative work environment, deal with it before morale and productivity plummet. Obviously, your employees are being paid to perform their job duties and nothing else, so any damaging behavior should not be tolerated.

As it generally has in the past, the United States Supreme Court has unanimously ruled on the side of employers in a recent case concerning employees’ use of employer-provided technological equipment.

Sexting Police Officers
In the case, two Ontario, CA police officers sued the Police Department after one officer’s department-supplied work pager useage exceeded the allowed limit month after month. A supervisor requested transcripts of text messages sent and received by the employees. The search on Sgt. Jeff Quon’s pager turned up over 400 personal text messages received and sent in one month alone—including sexually explicit messages. The officers claimed the search violated the Fourth Amendment.

Do Employees Have a Reasonable Expectation of Privacy?
The Supreme Court’s decision was based on whether or not the officers had a “reasonable expectation of privacy” concerning their text messages. The department’s formal policy which that employee communications would be monitored—and Quon signed a statement agreeing to the policy. However, Quon’s supervisors informed him that they would not audit texts as long as employees paid any over-limit fees imposed by the wireless service provider.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that this informal policy was enough to give the officers a reasonable expectation of privacy. But the Supreme Court reversed that ruling, saying that even if Quon had a reasonable expectation of privacy, the ruling itself was indeed reasonable.

How Does the Ruling Affect Employers and Employees?
This ruling indicates the law is on the employer’s side concerning employees’ use of employer-provided equipment. Legitimate company interests trump employees’ privacy interests.

Finding a balance between allowing reasonable personal use of company-issued laptops, cellphones, iPads, and computers and protecting a company’s reputation, business practices and trade secrets is tricky. There is a reason employers provide such equipment—it makes employees more available, and allows work to be done anywhere. Employers are advised to provide employees with detailed policies governing use of such equipment.

There are a lot of talented, unemployed people out there. People with skills, talent, and years of experience. Some have been looking for work for 3, 6, 12 months now—or longer. And if you’re hiring employees, prepare to be inundated with resumes and applications.

Before you start the hiring process, here are a few tips that might make it more pleasant for the folks you’re going to be interviewing. “But wait,” you might be thinking to yourself. “Why should I care about whether it’s pleasant for THEM? What about ME?”

It is about you. You see, when you treat people well, they’ll remember. They’ll probably tell their spouses. They might even tell their siblings, or their friends. But if you treat people badly, they’ll remember a lot longer. And they’ll definitely tell their spouses, along with their parents, their friends, the cable guy, their hair stylist—they will tell more people than you care to know that you are a bad person, they had a rotten experience with your company, and it doesn’t deserve anyone’s business.

So hire politely. Here’s how:
1. Remember the person you’re interviewing is an individual. Call them by name, make eye contact, and smile. Make every attempt to connect with the applicant—even if you find it difficult to warm up to them. They might be really nervous. Be kind.

2. Don’t rush. You don’t have to make the interview last for 3 hours, but don’t make the job applicant feel unworthy of your time by rushing through it. Relax, take a breath, and pace your questions.

3. Listen. Make notes, ask follow-up questions, nod—in other words, give signals that you’re listening. The candidate can tell if you’re not.

4. Be honest. If you have many applicants for a single position, it’s okay to let the applicant know that there is competition. But don’t wield it like a weapon to scare him or her. You might find out how much they want the job and what they’ll do to earn it—and isn’t that the purpose of the interview?

5. After the interview, do what you said you’d do. If you tell the candidate, “We’ll get back to you in a few days,” then do it. If you tell the candidate, “It’s looking good; I’ll call you with next steps,” then do so. Each person who takes the time to come in and talk about your business deserves at least what you say you’ll do—even if you haven’t made any decisions yet. It’s okay to say, “I know I said I’d call you, but unfortunately I don’t have any news yet.”

6. When the hiring decision is made, call the interviewees who did not get the job. If you don’t have time to do it, then have someone else call. Why? It’s the polite thing to do.

7. And when you reject an applicant, don’t give them the reasons why. Don’t give into requests to talk about it. Just tell them you appreciate their time and interest in your company, but you hired another candidate.

Perhaps your company is just starting to hire again after the economic downturn, and you need ideas on how to make your new hires more successful. You don’t want to just hire them, run them through the standard orientation, and let them go.

Here are a few tips that just might help your new employees do their jobs better, sooner—and make you happy that you hired them.

New hires need to know your company’s culture. Simply put, if everyone except the new guy knows that Fridays are Hawaiian shirt day, or that nobody ever works late, you’re not doing them any favors by withholding such information. It can be difficult for business owners to see the company culture because they’re so used to it—but it’s important to help new employees adapt to it.

And start right away—maybe even before the person is hired. Hiring the candidate who’s most qualified but just won’t fit in with your company culture is probably a recipe for failure. Let candidates know during the interview process how things are done, and allow them to decide if your company is a good fit for them. Be honest and paint a realistic picture of your organization.

Introducing a promising candidate to the rest of the team will make them feel more comfortable when and if they are hired. They’ve already met the people they’re going to be working with, so one big barrier is overcome. If you can’t make introductions before hiring the new employee, be sure to make proper introductions on Day 1.

As manager or owner, your job is to recognize who the new hire will work closely with, who their possible conflicts might be with, and who can help them in their position. Tell your new hire who the 5 most important staff members are for her to know. Ask those staffers to take a few minutes to meet with the new hire and identify ways they will work together.

Training is good, but too much training and not enough working can be detrimental to a new employee. Provide resources and support the new employee needs, but let them do their job, too. This allows your new employee to make connections with other staff, and learn how things are really done.

Helping your new employees learn your company culture and who they need to know are two ways to help them transition more successfully!

Are stacks of resumes piling up on your desk? Is your email inbox overflowing with inquiries from potential employees who not only are not qualified, but didn’t follow your application instructions? It’s not easy to find qualified employees, even when the nation’s unemployment rate is 10%. In fact, it’s harder than ever for some business owners to weed through the flood of applicants to hire just one or two employees.

We asked a few HR Managers where they go to save time and their sanity when it’s time to hire. Perhaps you can use some of these great ideas:

Professional Associations: If you’re a member of a group for accountants, attorneys, credit managers, automobile dealers, natural food store owners, or whatever your profession—try checking in with your local or regional affiliate. You might find an out-of-work industry veteran in their ranks—maybe even someone can fill your job opening.

Ask yourself, “Where do the people with the skills I want hang out?” or, “Where do they go for continuing education?” For example, if you need a website programmer, do an online search for a local web developer group, or see if there is a Facebook group in your area. Then, check local community colleges, technical colleges, and universities. Their placement offices could have your perfect candidate waiting for an opportunity.

Check your own online networking groups. LinkedIn is the most popular professional social media site. If you belong, ask your LinkedIn group members if they know people who match your needs. If you don’t belong to LinkedIn, it’s easy to join. Put out the word that you’re hiring on your company’s Facebook page and Twitter account. Use the contacts you’ve already made online to spread the word fast.

Does your company website have a news page or blog? Consider it your company bulletin board—only with a much bigger reach! Post your “now hiring employees” notice there.

Talk to your competition—if they’re not hiring, let them know that you are. Perhaps they can send a candidate or two your way—or give you the contact information of that terrific employee they just had to lay off.

Are you registered with a local Workforce or Employment office in your area? After all, that’s the place you’ll find people who don’t have jobs but want to work.

When you use your networks and online contacts, or just try using a personal touch and reaching out in your community, you may find your search for qualified employees just got a little easier!

When you’re an owner or in charge of a company, there are so many individual issues to worry about—sometimes it’s a wonder you can think at all. Is it true that the most important thing to worry about is profit—for without it, you don’t have a business at all?

Focusing on profits blinds some managers and business owners to the real purpose of business, which is people. After all, no matter what business you are in, it exists to sell a product or service to people; it needs great people to keep it running smoothly, and having happy people as employees and customers makes it all worth doing.

A good team makes a manager’s job easier—but leading them effectively takes time and effort. And good leaders know that putting profits before employees is a recipe for disaster. No matter what size business you’re running, from a team of three to three hundred, you can’t reach goals and become a successful company by yourself. But how does a manger create a tight, efficient and effective team of employees?

Find the people who work best for you and with your other team members. Hire for skills, sure, but skills alone won’t make up for a lousy attitude. Passion and drive can’t be taught, so look for those attributes along with a stellar set of skills. Personality differences help make a stronger, more diverse team. But it’s not a good idea to bring polar opposite strong personalities into the same team. Knowing your team members well and hiring for compatibility will help ensure a winning team.

Don’t be afraid of conflict. Conflict helps employees sort out leadership roles, and move toward a tighter-fitting, focused group dynamic. But conflicts must be worked out or your teams will be completely ineffective.

Watch the rule-makers. Let your team leaders set the rules for the group—to a certain extent. Nobody wants a bully at work, but employees with natural leadership qualities will find ways to make the team work most efficiently. Working together pleasantly is a nice by-product of great leadership. If you start hearing complaints about rules that aren’t working for everyone, address them right away to avoid losing productivity.

When you have passionate, driven individuals, clear and focused leadership, and healthy doses of well-managed conflict, you have the beginnings of a great team of employees—and the potential for great profits, too!

Every business has different needs from its employees. A day-care center and a lawn-care service both have “care” in their names, but if the nanny is better with chrysanthemums than with kids, he or she is not going to fill the day care owner’s needs.

Still, there are plenty of basic traits employers like to see in their job applicants. We surveyed a few employers who are hiring right now about the most important qualities their new employees have. NO matter how smart, how educated, or how articulate a job-seeker is, remember this list when you’re hiring—because these are the qualities that really count!

Christine, a communications company owner, said, “First, I look for talent, then creativity. Everyone has a gift, and my job as an employer is to figure out how each employee’s talent can benefit my company. Creativity is absolutely essential. I can’t be the only one to solve problems. Having creative people around spurs ideas, growth, and helps us overcome challenges.”

Joseph, a construction company manager, looks for honesty and integrity, a positive attitude, and flexibility when he’s hiring new employees. “I know it’s difficult to judge these qualities through a job interview. That’s why we conduct background checks to make sure we’re hiring honest people. Past employers will tell me if a candidate has integrity. And asking the right questions reveals the person’s attitude and flexibility. These are traits that I cannot teach an employee—and I don’t have the time to deal with anyone’s bad attitude or rigidity.”

“I like to hire adults,” says Cynthia, a financial services HR manager. “Follow-through is important. Our supervisors don’t want employees who just don’t do what they say they’lll do. And who has time to follow-up to make sure they do their job? So, self-reliance and drive are two other qualities I definitely look for in a job candidate.”

To Kevin, owner of a small organic farm, three things are all that matter: “Passion. Confidence. And the desire to work. I can teach anyone how to do their job if they have those three attributes going for them.”

Heather owns a tech-services company. She says, “To me, adaptability is key. Things in our business change every day. Employees who are stuck in a rut or work only within the limits of their job description are just not going to succeed here. So, I don’t hire anyone without demonstrated adaptability. If they’re highly responsible and smile a lot, that also helps them when I’m deciding whom to hire.

If you’re an employer getting ready to hire again, keep these traits in mind, and see how they fit within your company’s needs and culture. Some qualities are just good for employees to have!

Supervisors everywhere know the frustration of strolling past an employee’s work station, only to find them texting furiously instead of doing what they’re being paid to do. Increasingly, employers are taking steps to cut down on employees’ extracurricular digital communication—whether its instant messaging (IMing), web surfing, texting or making personal phone calls on company time.

Some consider it an invasion of privacy, but the law is solidly on the employer’s side. Employers are allowed to monitor employee communications, and most communication equipment is the property of the business—so its use is dictated by business needs, not staff’s need to keep up with their friends’ latest activities.

Three forces are at work in employee monitoring: first, employers are ever-vigilant about squeezing every ounce of productivity out of workers. If an employee is not giving 100% to his or her employer, there are probably others who will be happy to take over that position. Second, risk-averse employers know that keeping workplaces completely litigation free is an elusive goal—but one that can come closer to happening with the right monitoring practices. Keeping all staff safe from harassment is easier if you know what types of emails and IMs are flying around the company. Third, it’s more important than ever to keep company information and trade secrets confidential. Too many firms have been taken down by loyalty-lacking employees. It’s way too easy to forward a company-only email to the press or a blogger who will quickly spread the information throughout the industry.

Monitoring software is easily found online or at electronics retailers. Depending on the package features, keystroke monitoring, website tracking, and even webcams capture employees’ activities.

Data from 2007 shows that 2/3 of employers check up on employees’ Internet use. From tracking time spent and websites visited, to keystroke monitoring to capture search terms, employers can get a full picture of which employees are using company equipment for work use and for personal use. And a 2009 survey shows that nearly 90% of employees used office networks to send jokes, rumor, or gossip to outside recipients. 14% have sent confidential company emails to third parties.

So far, the courts have ruled that employees have no expectation for privacy when using employer-provided computer systems, cell phones, and pagers. Even employees who send personal emails through a private account are using company servers—and so have no right to expect those emails will not be monitored.

Employers’ best practices are communicating the need for monitoring, and to put a clear policy in place, so workers know exactly what is and what is not allowed—and the consequences for breaking the rules.