Click here for a full transcript of the episode.

In episode 96 of “The JoyPowered® Workspace Podcast,” JoDee and Susan discuss some of the more delicate issues that business leaders and HR professionals have to navigate through.

The hosts start off by discussing what to do when your boss has a personal characteristic that drives you crazy, like chewing with their mouth open, not washing their hands after using the bathroom, or terrible breath. Is honesty the best policy, or should you avoid the situation in the interest of harmony? Next, JoDee and Susan share their thoughts on how you should respond when a close friend is in an intimate relationship with someone in their chain of command, and whether the answer is different for people who don’t work in HR. The third scenario our hosts talk through is stratifying performance ratings when you think that all your employees deserve the top rating. Should you argue the point or find a way to comply with leadership’s expectations?

Next, what should you do when your two best employees are overly competitive with each other and it’s draining both their time and yours – is the cost of losing them higher than the cost of keeping them? On the other hand, when the most beloved member of the team isn’t very good at what they do, should you try to justify keeping them or let them go? Finally, the hosts discuss what they would do if a staff member with a hidden disability that needs a very visible accommodation of several breaks throughout the day didn’t want them to share with the team that they had a disability or needed an accommodation. How should you handle complaints from other employees who don’t understand why that person gets breaks when they don’t?

In this episode’s listener mail, JoDee and Susan share their ideas for increasing visibility of underutilized fringe benefit programs like EAP and telemedicine. In the news, allowing staff to use the expression “OK, Boomer,” could put your company at risk of discrimination lawsuits.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Purple Ink
• Susan Tinder White Consulting
• The JoyPowered® Team audiobook
• “’OK, Boomer’ in the Workplace Can Get You Fired”

Let us know what you think! Rate and review our podcast on Apple Podcasts – we love hearing your feedback, and it helps people find our show.