March 27, 2024

This paid piece is sponsored by Alternative HR.

Alternative HR, a provider of outsourced and fractional human resource services, gets calls regularly about difficult workplace situations.

• “We have a long-term employee who wants to retire, but says she can’t afford to. She has health issues, and her performance is suffering. We think it’s time to let her go. Any problems with that?”
• “We had an employee quit two days ago. She has been with us six months. She said her manager has made advances and inappropriate comments. She also said others have quit because the same manager was harassing them. Can you help?”
• “We have someone whose medical leave is up. Now, he wants accommodations I don’t think we can provide. Oh, and he’s not a very good employee. Can we go ahead and terminate?”
• “We hired a new benefit administer who found several mistakes: people not offered insurance, not removed from insurance when they quit, and we didn’t offer COBRA to a couple of people. How can we fix this?”
• “A couple of our people just don’t get along. They won’t talk to each other and refuse to work together. They are good employees except for this. It’s affecting morale. What do you suggest?”

Karen DeLange, director of operations for Alternative HR, said she fields these types of calls every week.

“Sometimes, we feel like an HR hotline. There are not too many employee-related situations that are new to us,” she said.

“Many times, we can give them direction over the phone. Other times, we meet with them and with the employee. Having us serve as an impartial, knowledgeable professional helps mediate the situation and find a way to move forward.”

DeLange explained that 80 percent of the firm’s clients have no HR professional on staff.

“They lean on us to help them with problems like these. They may have tried to work through a tough issue, and their attempts to resolve it haven’t worked,” she said.

Alternative HR has a team of more than a dozen HR professionals who provide support to several dozen employers every month – some on a project basis, and some with on-going managed services.

While DeLange occasionally may address some situations herself, she typically has one of her team members work with the client to address the issue.

“Everyone on our team is an HR pro with many years of experience,” she said. “It’s usually not just a simple phone call, though. We’ve got to find out the full situation, the backstory, the history of what’s happened and what’s been done or not done up to this point. Then, we can make a plan to address the issue.”

Michelle Blewett is one of the human resource consultants DeLange relies on when calls come in.

Blewett is in her third year with the HR firm. She is a senior certified professional and has over 15 years of HR director and operations management experience.

Blewett explains how she approaches situations where the client is seeking help with a difficult situation: “I listen thoroughly and work to build rapport,” she said. “I try to understand the client’s concerns, perspectives and needs. I use a collaborative approach that fosters problem-solving and helps resolve challenges.”

Sometimes, Blewett said, emotions are high with business owners and employees.

“That’s when staying calm is critical. Keep a cool head, and get all the facts. Understand everything that’s going on before any recommendations or decisions are made,” she said.

In addition to listening to individual complaints and responses through interviews, Blewett said she frequently needs to review company policies and employee files, look at past management actions and sometimes dig into e-mails and other company records.

“We also work hard to stay current with all the federal and various state employment laws that may apply.”

Rhonda Toft is another HR consultant with the firm, who joined in 2023. Toft had a 30-year career in the credit card industry, serving as an employee relations specialist throughout the U.S. and Canada and rising to a vice president role.

“I retired,” she said, “but then I got bored and wanted to get back to work!”

Because of her broad experience, Toft is especially adept at handling difficult and complicated workplace situations.

“I always just ask them to describe the problem in their own words. This will show me where their biases are and hopefully lead to the facts of the situation,” she said.

When giving advice to business executives who may have a pre-determined, and sometimes ill-advised, outcome they want to follow, “I empathize with them, but then I lay out the risks in both financial terms as well as possible consequences,” Toft said. “Business owners and managers are personally liable when illegal actions take place.”

Toft emphasizes the importance of having and documenting conversations with employees who have a complaint, with employees who have medical or other personal issues impacting work, or with employees whose performance may not be up to par.

“Don’t assume the problem will get better on its own,” she said.

Toft also advises that there are times to bring in an attorney, including “any termination where there is evidence, or even the perception, of possible discrimination or harassment towards the employee,” she said.

In fact, it is not unusual for law offices to engage Alternative HR to conduct workplace investigations for their clients.

DeLange said that in addition to the situations mentioned above, her team has helped clients work through company layoffs, expansions, embezzlement situations and employee deaths.

“All of those scenarios cause stress to individuals and businesses involved,” she said. “We find that employers want to do the right thing, but sometimes people make mistakes. We’re here to help find solutions.”

Blewett’s advice “is to address concerns or conflicts as soon as they arise,” she said. “That can prevent small issues from snowballing into larger ones that are more challenging to resolve.”

To find out more about Alternative HR, go to alternativehr.com, or call 605-335-8198.

Local business becomes pioneer in fractional HR