In Golf, as in Life, The Mental Game: Leah Cooper
Corrections or additions?
Published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on March 29, 2000. All rights reserved.
Disciplining Difficult Employees: Len Morganelli
E-mail: MelindaSherwood@princetoninfo.com
Beverly is a difficult employee. She is supposed to
be on the job at 8:30 a.m., but she rarely arrives before 9 a.m. Her
tardiness is affecting the performance of co-workers, who rely on
her to be in on time.
Tom is also a difficult employee. Ever since he and his wife split
up, his morale has sunk. He comes to work on time but leaves just
as promptly, and his presentations at important meetings have been
lackluster, causing investors to lose confidence.
Tom and Beverly are otherwise good employees, but these eccentricities
are having an effect on the overall business. And chances are, you
know them. “Every seminar, when we ask the employers to share
some of their problems, almost a quarter of them raise their hand
and say lateness,” says Len Morganelli, the New Jersey Department
of Labor’s human resource analyst, who instructs a seminar on “Managing
or Supervising Troubled and Difficult Employees,” on Thursday,
March 30, at 9 a.m. at the Labor Building in Trenton. Cost: $10. Call
609-984-3518.
“It seems tardiness is endemic to every industry, and the question
is always how do I get the employee to come in on time,” says
Morganelli, who has a degree from St. Peter’s College and has spent
25 years with the New Jersey Department of Labor. He now works with
the Employer Human Resource Services Unit, a division that functions
like a private management consultant, but is far less expensive (seminars
costs $10). “We have worked with mom and pop operations as well
as major Fortune 500 companies here in New Jersey,” says Morganelli,
“from turnover and absenteeism, to writing post-exit surveys and
creating career ladders.”
Tardiness, absenteeism, depression, substance abuse, and a bad attitude
are all traits of the troubled employee and pose a serious dilemma
for employers: is it worth replacing them, after investing the time
and energy into train them? “Every time someone leaves, walks
off the job, it costs the employer money and it’s money that they
could save,” says Morganelli. “If you have an employee who’s
a sterling individual, the kind you wish all your employees were like,
but they show up 20 minutes late for work everyday, it begins to be
a snub to the rules and regulations and sets an example to other employees.”
Ironically, most problems with employees can be settled easily, says
Morganelli. Pink slips and years of psychoanalysis are unnecessary.
“Usually, when you sit down and talk to an employee and find out
why the problems exist, you can come up with a plan of action,”
he says.
Morganelli’s suggestion for coping with recurrent employee issues:
First, ask why. “Try to understand what is causingthe employee to conduct themselves in a way that we would considerinappropriate,” says Morganelli. “Some employers don’t evenbother to ask the question. They just say, `you’re late, you’re fired.’Sometimes it’s a matter of asking someone a very simple question:why are you late everyday? They might say, `I have a child,’ or `Irely on public transportation and I have to take three buses to gethere.’ An employer could then say `why don’t you come in at 8:30 a.m.or 8 a.m.?’”Be objective and consistent. “Listen to what youremployees have to say,” says Morganelli. “Maybe it’s not complaining.Maybe there’s validity. Offer them courtesy and treat them fairlyand squarely. What we try to impress upon employers is that it’s veryimportant to be consistent in administering the various rules andpolicies and to know your companies’ policies. It doesn’t really matterwhat the transgression is — if the company has a policy againstbringing in alcohol, even if it’s a sealed bottle of champagne thatsomeone is giving to a coworker as a gift, then that employee hasbroken the law.”Even when it’s necessary to confront an employee about his behavior,use common sense — determine whether it was a willful act, oran act of ignorance or best intentions.Develop a plan of action. It should be based on companypolicy, rules and regulations, union rules, or civil service rulesand regulations.Turn to professional help. In situations where an employeehas problems that are beyond the scope of human resources, turn toan employee assistance program organized through a medical plan orcontracted with an organization or community health center.Whatever you do, don’t turn your back on the behavior, or giveup on the employee. “An employee should do what is requested ofhim or her, and to refuse is usually wrong, and they can always grieveor complain about it later,” says Morganelli. “I hate to usethe word `anarchy,’ but that’s when trouble arises. You have rulesand regulations and they have to be adhered to. You have to set downsome code of behavior or you have a three-ring circus going on andan employer can’t afford that.”— Melinda SherwoodTop Of PageIn Golf, as in Life, The Mental Game: Leah CooperE-mail: BarbaraFox@princetoninfo.comB>Leah Cooper has been called the next Harvey Pennick— a motivational trainer who helps people find out what they needto do. Golfers find that what they learn in her “stress managementfor putting” workshops somehow works its way back into their businessday.Cooper teaches how to help your body operate in the present. Then,she says, “you are using your observing mind, and the judgmentalmind disappears.” At the Learning Studio, 4250 Route 1 North,her “Managing Stress and the Mental Game of Golf,” will beTuesday, April 4, at 7 p.m. Cost: $69. Bring a putter and an emptytin can. Call 609-688-0800.Cooper has been coaching golf since 1993 and she also conducts stressmanagement training for corporations and educational institutions.Originally from Montclair, she is the cousin of the legendary choreographerJerome Robbins, grew up in Florida, studied modern dance and playedsports avidly. She lived in the Pacific Northwest for 28 years beforereturning to New Jersey. Her businesses, Managing Stress in the MentalGame of Golf Inc. and Steal a Moment, are at 3371 Brunswick Pike (609-538-1477).All of the stress management tips for golfers can be done on the coursein full view of everybody watching. Golfers are paranoid, she observes,because they think that everyone is watching them — and indeedthey are being watched. So she coaches them in socially acceptableactions that cannot be detected, such as to release tension in variousparts of the body from the head to the toes. She starts with the jawand works in conjunction with the breath. A simple exercise like tighteningthe big muscles of the stomach for three seconds, then relaxing andsensing how the relaxation feels, can help someone, as she says, “feelthat you own yourself from the skin in.””If you do these things each time and pay attention to the sensationsproduced, both in the squeeze and the release, you are right insideyour body — which is where you need to be to helpful for golfshots,” says Cooper. “You have also burned off some of thestress hormones for a sensation of relief. You have chosen to do somethingabout the way you feel.””All day you give out parts of yourself, and by the end of dayyou feel like emotional Swiss cheese,” says Cooper. “Whenyou take the time to do something about your stress, it is a reminderthat you work for somebody but you are still a human being. I callit feeling from the inside, realizing that you have a right to takecare of yourself, to take a little vacation, to let the steam outof the pressure cooker. By the end of the day, there will be moreof yourself left, for your family, yourself, your other activities.”Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
