Today’s churches sit empty. More than any other time in history, your employees spend increased amounts of time commuting to and from work, working in their workplaces, and working evenings and weekends, disengaged from their families and communities. These increased hours have resulted in employees spending more waking hours at work than they spend at home with their families, with friends or volunteering in their communities. Because of this, we all have an opportunity and a mission: a mission to reach those who need saving. This is the world’s untapped harvest, a field of opportunity. And, as God proclaims, we need more workers into his fields.
Matthew 9: 35-38 (NIV) The Workers Are Few 35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
According to Pew’s 2014 Religious Landscape Survey, those who say they go to church or another house of worship at least once a week fell from 39 percent in 2007 to 35 percent in 2014. This number is probably misleading because many people may have embellished their attendance a bit out of a sense of guilt or obligation! However, assuming it is accurate that would leave a whopping 65% of U.S. residents not attending any religious services each week. This is a concern, because it clearly proves that, statistically speaking, your employees are probably not spiritually grounded.
This is where Christian business owners and executives must step in to help God fill the void.
As a human resources professional with 25 years of experience in both public and private companies, I can tell you from firsthand experience that the lack of faith in our workplace affects every aspect of the workplace. Employees’ lack of time to focus on their own spiritual needs will undoubtedly affect productivity, quality and safety. Harder to measure but just as important, it affects their own and their coworkers’ morale. Employees lacking in faith will bring far more problems to the workplace than those who are seeking God or are Christ followers.
You can try to run your business without God. Or you can include Him in your plans. I urge you to include Him. God is the ultimate business partner!
Therefore, those of us that are hesitant to embrace Christianity in the workplace must really look at it not only from a spiritual perspective, but from a business perspective as well. Far from being self-serving, this shows the attitude of a responsible business owner, attempting to prosper their business for the financial security and future of their employees and employees’ families.
If you are a business owner, sometimes you might feel like your the only christian in the workplace. Often times these feelings are not necessarily accurate. They are real feelings, but we find many organizations have faithful Christians working along each other, they just are not aware of it because of the fear of talking about faith at work. We are not in the business of creating “religious companies”, on the contrary we are in the business of helping to create a “Kingdom Minded” company. There is a big difference.
Makes Financial Sense
Leading a company with Christ-centered values just makes good business sense. I believe that Christ-centered organizations can experience:
Lower absenteeism
Higher quality products
Fewer employee morale issues
Safer work environments
Better perceptions by customers and vendors
What I have found to work
You must have a Vision, Mission, and Core Values. Many business professionals stop there. I urge all of you to go further. Integrate your core values into your Human Resources practices. This will:
Memorialize your standards
Provide guiding principles in all you do
Make your values easily understood by employees
Drive a values-based culture with your customers
Don’t just hang your Vision, Mission, and Core Values on the wall! Integrate, Integrate and then Integrate some more. Get your values into your culture and make it an intrinsic part of the way you work.
I believe that employees who work for an outwardly faith-based Christian organization are committed at a different level than those in non-faith-based organizations. Employees are more likely to go the extra mile, to trust their leadership, to deliver on their promises and be led by those who demonstrate Christ-like servant leadership, because they can!
Feel free to reach out to me and ask for my assistance in helping you develop and prosper a “Kingdom Minded” company. Contact Us
Have you worked for a company that has been outward in their faith? What were some of the obstacles the leadership faced? What were some of the benefits that the company enjoyed because of their desire to lead with principles? What’s your opinion? we would like to know.
Sexual Harassment and Your Responsibilities Under the Law
You can’t open a news website without seeing another #MeToo circumstance being reported. As a result, many organizations have a “zero tolerance” policy for sexual harassment in the workplace, but what does that really mean to you, as a leader? Or you, as an employee? What is sexual harassment? In this interactive presentation, you’ll learn:
What sexual harassment is—including the verbal, visual, and physical conduct that could be considered or perceived as harassment
What your rights and obligations are under the law
What you can do as an employee to support a harassment-free work environment
What you should do as a leader to help provide a harassment-free workplace
What to do if you feel you may have been the subject of sexual harassment
Steps your organization can take to better your work environment
Sexual harassment is unacceptable in any workplace. It simply should never be tolerated. Come learn how you can help free your workplace of harassment and make it one where all employees will grow and prosper.
For more information about the TRACS conference click here.
About The Speaker
Mark is an accomplished HR expert with a fresh perspective. He believes in challenging people to think differently when presented with obstacles in any situation. His passions are inspiring, motivating, and helping others. Peers describe Mark as creative, proactive, determined, and eager to learn. Just a few of Mark’s professional skills include organizing, presenting, and problem solving.
Mr. Griffin received his Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resources Administration from Saint Leo University. He earned his MBA from Bloomsburg University while interning for Congressmen Kanjorski as a military liaison during the first Gulf War. Mark has completed several executive education programs at the University of Michigan.
Prior to leading In HIS Name HR, Mark worked for Quaker Oats Company, Kodak Inc., and Merck Inc., and private companies Woolrich, Conestoga Wood Specialties, and Valco Companies Inc.
In addition to helping people professionally, Mark also believes in helping people personally through volunteer work. Mark has coached leaders on “Business as a Mission,” traveling to Eastern Europe, India, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.
Do you wonder why good employees leave your organization?
Dr. John C. Maxwell gives his opinion about this in his book Leadership Gold: “People quit people, not companies.”.
My conversation with a young professional twenty-something started simply enough.
“How’s the new job going?”
My eyes widened as I listened to this passionate young lady talk for more than half an hour about how she and many of her colleagues want so much to impact the organization they work for, but how management there is weak and how the leadership completely lacks direction. People are not held accountable, she explained. There is no collective vision as a team and new folks are not brought on board with any sense of excitement or motivation.
I nodded. I knew exactly what she was talking about. I’d seen it for myself in many instances. Eliminating the kind of frustration she was feeling is one of my greatest motivators in doing what I do, helping leaders move forward and build high-performance organizations.
So, what’s going to happen? It wasn’t hard to figure out. She made it quite clear—she won’t put up with it for much longer. Instead, she would become one of the many sharp, smart people I’ve encountered who choose to exercise their skills in more fertile fields instead of enduring such barren conditions. They go on to positively fertilize other organizations, contributing to a sustainable harvest by taking them to greater levels of efficiency and performance.
Meanwhile, those organizations with chronically weak and mediocre managers fade, eventually cease to operate, and die. Maybe not right away—it may take time, but ultimately they fail to survive.
If your organization has great leadership, is on the ball, and inspires and motivates all of its employees, including its young All-Stars, then you are indeed building a high-performance organization.
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In His Name HR helps organizations build high performance Human Resources programs. Visit them at In HIS Name HR or e-mail them here.
Mark A. Griffin is the founder and chief consultant of In His Name HR LLC. Connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter.
If your organization is having an identity crisis. You may be the last to know. The clues aren’t usually obvious, but you may sense something is wrong.
Do you spot any of these patterns emerging?
More and more employees are leaving
Quality and/or performance is trending downward
Your organization is missing deadlines
Your clients or customers are complaining more
It’s getting harder and harder to find good talent
These issues are not random blips on the landscape. They reveal deeper problems, those below the surface. Greater attention to structure and organization may be needed, but there is a core issue at stake: Organizational Identity.
An identity crisis may happen for a number of reasons. Some reasons are inevitable. Some are regrettable. But, many times an identity crisis starts from what are, initially, positive changes. What is positive at first, like growth or increased capabilities, can morph into quagmire without attention. This drag causes confusion and does not just hinder your workers but will inevitably affect your customers and outside contacts, too.
An identity crisis will likely coincide with these circumstances:
A change in key management, ownership, or structure
A new technology replacing an old way of doing things
Expansion into a new territory or demographic
Offering new services
Expansion and increased public visibility
New or changing partnerships, associations, or clients
Organizations, if they last long enough, experience seasons where renovating identity is crucial. This is a good thing. What your organization stands for or why it exists may seem obvious to you, but it needs routine upkeep to ensure everyone shares a cohesive vision. Creating and cementing your organization’s Mission, Vision, and Values are essential to new and continued success.
Organizational Identityanswers the questions:
Who are we?
Why do we exist?
How do we share that vision beyond ourselves?
Core values and identity should be found together—in a partnership with owners and employees. It should be built from the ground up to forge something solid and genuine. Identity can never be reduced to platitudes or window dressing. It shouldn’t stop at a new logo and updated policies. It must be the foundational way that your group functions, together and with the outside world
Organizations like charity: Water, Starbucks, and The Coca-Cola Company, for example, have all crystallized their organizational identity for us. But, more important, they have all reinvented or re-clarified themselves as times have changed and found continued success. With some effort or outside expertise, you can usher in higher performance for your organization, too.
So, what problems have you seen that were evident of an identity crisis? Help us and our community of readers to learn from your experiences
Mark Griffin is founder and Chief Consultant at In His Name HR LLC. He has over 20 years of HR experience. Follow In HIS Name HR on Facebook, Twitterand LinkedIn.
Most employees loath them; many managers avoid them. High Performance Organizations have them, and they do what they’re designed to do—evaluate precisely the performance of each employee.
Feel like you don’t need them? Here are 10 great reasons that should change your mind.
Aligning performance to goals and objectives
Most organization employees I meet with say they have no idea what the yearly top two or three goals are for their organization. A great performance program sets these goals as their starting point. Ninety-nine percent of employees in this country want to do well at work, but we lack leaders who know how to align their desire to achieve to the organizational goals.
Providing a basis for promotion/transfer/termination
Many organizations are not transparent concerning how to be promoted. A performance review process more readily identifies those employees who deserve promotion and those who require lateral shift (transfer) or need to enter into a remedial program. This system also aids career planning.
Enhancing employees’ effectiveness
Most people really do want to be better at their jobs! Helping employees to identify their strengths and weaknesses and informing them of the organization’s expectations concerning their performance helps them to better understand the role they play and increases work efficiency. Feedback reinforces good performance and discourages poor performance.
Aiding in designing training and development programs
Instead of creating “programs of the month,” you can use performance review data to more accurately ascertain training needs and identify skills that need to be developed in order to tailor-make the most effective training and development programs.
Building teams
Counseling employees corrects misconceptions, which might result in work alienation. Performance management also helps employees to internalize the norms and values of the organization. (I have met leaders who have not talked to their employees about their performance since 2012!)
Removing discontent
Performance management puts all employees on the same measuring tape. Identifying and removing factors responsible for worker discontent motivates them to perform better at work. Performance management helps to create a positive and healthy work environment in the organization.
Developing interpersonal relationships
Relations between superiors and subordinates can be improved through the realization that there exists a mutual dependence that leads to better performance and success. By facilitating employees to perform introspection, self-evaluation and goal setting, their behavior can be modified. Better interpersonal relationships lead to team building.
Aiding wage administration
Performance management can help to develop fair and more equitable base lines for reward allocation, wage fixation, raises, incentives, etc.
Exercising control
A performance review process provides a means to exercise control of projects focused on, and helps keep employees aligned to the agreed upon annual goals and objectives.
Improving communication
Performance management serves as a mechanism for improved communication between superiors and subordinates. Often times managers shy away from counseling employees. When the right system is in place, especially is it is employee driven, it forces discussions on a regular basis.
In closing, my experiences lead me to support employee driven programs. Programs that rely on managers and leaders have a higher propensity for failure. Simple yet meaningful programs that include goals, objectives, behaviors, an employee development component and stretch assignments meet what most employees’ desire.
How important are employee performance reviews in your organization? Leave your comments below!
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In His Name HR helps organizations build high performance Human Resources programs. Visit them at In HIS Name HR or e-mail them here.
Mark A. Griffin is the founder and chief consultant of In His Name HR LLC. Connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter.
As a long-time veteran in the field of human resources (HR), I’ve seen telecommuting storm onto the scene through advances in technology. Telecommuting employees complete work from remote locations, and sometimes the method backfires.
In February 2013, Yahoo!’s CEO, Marissa Mayer, killed the long-standing policy that allowed employees to work from home. The news sent shockwaves in every direction, especially throughout high-tech industries. Many wondered whether the decision was a step backward and a signal of changes to come elsewhere.
Two months later, Mayer spoke at a human resources conference. She clarified that the new rule applied to just 200 of the 1200 Yahoo! employees. She reinforced the idea that collaboration and innovation happen best in an interactive environment. Even though the change was drastic for a tech company, she wasn’t backing down.
Many people feel their best work happens when they are uninterrupted and left alone, but even the best worker can hit some snags.
Five Common Pitfalls in Telecommuting
Misalignment of organizational vision
Loss of focus
Derailed project or job expectations
Poor time management Burnout (as work hours lengthen at a remote environment, like one’s home)
Remember, the key principle for an ideal telecommuting situation is this: Working from home, or from another remote location, should include the same qualities that make work at the office productive.
Five Workplace Features that Help Telecommuters Succeed
Workspace boundaries – Can the employee shut the door when they need to work and otherwise maintain a good work-life balance?
Ability to concentrate – Will children, friends, or other obligations frequently interrupt the employee?
Organization – Can they make a schedule and stick to it?
Productivity – Have they been given expectations and goals? Can they get help quickly if they hit an obstacle?
Focus and Fitness – Can they take short, regular breaks throughout the day to stay fresh and avoid fatigue or burnout?
What single safeguard makes telecommuting most effective? Ajob description!
Do the groundwork and craft a solid job description for a telecommuter before telecommuting takes effect. When a manager latches onto telecommuting as a hot trend without making the necessary preparations, trouble lies ahead.
A job description is not only important from an employee management standpoint; it’s a strategic necessity.
Your organization’s productivity and growth can be stymied when skills and competencies are unknown variables. Be definitive.
What’s the future for telecommuting?
Telecommuting is here to stay! The kibosh on telecommuting seen at Yahoo! won’t be the norm. While a number of organizations may rein in their telecommuters, many organizations will increase their use of telecommuting.
They will also recognize the high value of the expertise from contracted workers through portals and agencies like UpWork.com, Fiverr.com, and Guru.com. Specialized workers will continue to work from home, their local coffee shop, or other spots as the trend becomes normalized and wireless networking becomes more widely available worldwide.
Now is the perfect time to set expectations and boundaries to make the best of the situation.
How many people do you know who telecommute? What has been your experience? Would love to hear from our readers.
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Mark A. Griffin is founder and Chief Consultant at In His Name HR LLC. He has over 20 years of HR experience. In His Name HR helps organizations build high-performance Human Resource programs.
Enjoy watching Claudia Wert of Wells Fargo Advisors and Mark Griffin discuss In His Name HR and trends to look out for in 2019.
About Mark: With over 20 years of Human Resources experience at both fortune (Kodak, Quaker Oats, and Merck) as well as small and mid-sized companies, Mark has seen it all in the workplace.
About Claudia: A retirement plan specialist with Wert Investment Consulting Group, a wealth management practice within Wells Fargo Advisors. Her team advises on $260 million assets under management for high net worth families and businesses. Claudia’s partner, Robert Wert, was recognized in 2018 by Forbes magazine on their list of Best-In-State Wealth Advisors.
Berks Community Television Mission Berks Community Television’s mission is to enhance the unity and strength of the community by providing:
♦ A medium for community dialogue and educational opportunities
♦ A source of information of local, national and international origin
♦ A forum for the exchange of ideas on issues and topics of community interest
Looking to make a difference in our world? It’s time to use all of your education and experiences to be an instrument of change.
In HIS Name HR is honored to have been retained by the Institute of Lutheran Theology (ILT) to seek their next Dean of Academic Affairs.
The Institute of Lutheran Theology is a Christian faith community, seminary and graduate school that rigorously equips faithful pastors, teachers and lay people to effectively proclaim the gospel and serve Christ’s church throughout the world.
The Dean of Academic Affairs administers the academic programs of the Institute of Lutheran Theology (ILT) and is responsible for ensuring they fulfill ILT’s Mission Statement and Institutional Learning Outcomes. He/she takes a responsibility for policy related to ILT’s academic programs.
Some Position Requirements
A terminal degree in a theological discipline with experience teaching at a college, university, seminary, or graduate level.
3–5 years of administrative experience in a higher education.
Ordained Lutheran pastor with ministry experience preferred.
Evidence of research competence.
Adherence to the Institute of Lutheran Theology’s Mission, Vision, Goals, and Values.
Some Essential Responsibilities
Teaching and Research
The Dean of Academic Affairs is a member of both the Graduate Faculty and Certificate Faculty and may teach courses as duties and time allow (normally, not more than two courses a year).
The Dean of Academic Affairs authors academic and general audience articles and books as time allows.
Administration
The Dean of Academic Affairs is responsible for administering and overseeing all the academic programs of ILT. As such, he or she:
Presides at the monthly meetings of the Graduate Faculty Senate and the Certificate Faculty Senate.
Seeks out and recommends new members to both faculties, as needed.
Recommends adjunct faculty to the President for appointment, as needed.
Assigns courses to faculty members.
Evaluates faculty effectiveness.
Ensures that students receive competent academic advising from faculty.
Develops academic policies in consultation with the Graduate Faculty Senate and the Certificate Faculty Senate and is responsible for implementing them.
Leads the faculties in developing, implementing, and improving the curricula of the academic programs so that they fulfill their Program Learning Outcomes.
Adjudicates student appeals presented according to the academic appeal policy.
Approves or denies all transfers of credit, course substitutions, and similar issues in collaboration with the registrar.
Recommends candidates for degrees to the Graduate Faculty Senate and the Certificate Faculty Senate and brings the faculties’ recommendations forward to the President and the Board of Directors.
Supervises the preparation of the text of each year’s academic catalog.
Publishes and maintains an updated faculty handbook.
Oversees the Academic Department budget.
Facilitates faculty development.
Negotiates articulation agreements with other institutions of higher learning in consultation with the faculties and the President.
Supervises the writing of grants, as needed.
Academic Assessment
The Dean of Academic Affairs is responsible for the ongoing assessment of ILT’s academic programs. As such, he or she:
Creates an Academic Assessment Plan for continual assessment of how well ILT’s academic programs achieve their Program Learning Outcomes.
Oversees the administration of the Academic Assessment Plan.
Prepares an annual Academic Assessment Report and submits it as a foundation for planning to the President and the faculty senates.
Works with faculty members to delegate assessment responsibilities, as needed.
General Educational Ministries
In addition to administering ILT’s academic programs, the Dean of Academic Affairs is responsible for ILT’s lay education ministries. As such, he or she:
Designs, builds, and maintains educational programs for lay people.
Communicates with potential instruction sites, pastors, instructors, and leaders.
Helps plan and prepare educational events for pastors and lay people.
Advertises and promotes educational ministries.
Builds and maintains relationships with all congregational partners.
Enrollment Services
The Dean of Academic Affairs cooperates with other staff and administrators in ILT’s recruitment efforts. As such, he or she:
Contributes toward developing and amending the Enrollment Management Plan.
Assists the Admissions Coordinator, as requested, in counseling with potential students.
Assists, as requested, in developing recruitment materials.
Performs other duties as assigned.
Some Required Personal Attributes
Conscientiousness
Displays a professional image at all times, even when facing significant job challenges.
Submits to the Cross of Jesus Christ.
Delivers on commitments made to others.
Takes ownership for resolving problems, rather than allowing them to persist or simply pointing them out to others.
Flexibility
Listens to all ideas and thoughts of others.
Adapts quickly to changing situations, including last-minute changes and scheduling disruptions.
Willing to consider new information, ideas, or strategies to achieve institutional goals.
Influencing/Negotiating
Anticipates potential reactions or concerns of staff and students to a situation and prepares to address these.
Boldly asserts the truth of the gospel.
Builds ownership for new initiatives or changes by involving those responsible for implementation in planning the details.
Integrity/Honesty
Avoids any action or situation that gives the appearance of unethical or inappropriate behavior.
Demonstrates the courage to do the right thing in difficult situations.
Holds oneself and others accountable for meeting the high standards of the institution’s integrity.
Leads by example by modeling ethical practices and standards.
Sensitivity
Treats others with respect, fairness, and consistency.
Demonstrates empathy and understanding when addressing sensitive issues with others.
Is hospitable in serving students.
Maintains appropriate standards of confidentiality.
Institutional Skills
Organizes department materials, including recruitment and department informational handouts.
Administers procedures for Academic Department.
Verbal Communication
Adjusts communication style and language to most effectively connect with different/diverse audiences and individuals.
Follows through with students and staff to ensure that important information has been understood.
Communicates information concisely and clearly.
Clearly explains complex concepts (e.g., schedules, policies, and procedures) and at an appropriate level of detail.
Maintains an appropriate level of contact with administration to keep them informed about important or controversial situations that may arise.
Communicates professionally with all levels of employees in the institution.
Other Interpersonal Skills
Possesses effective interpersonal communication skills, both written and verbal, plus organization and presentation skills.
Exhibits a strong desire to be a part of an institution that combines commitment to the divine with an entrepreneurial spirit.
Learn how to make social media use in the workplace a win for everybody.
What is your organization’s policy on social media? It’s time to better understand this powerful tool and make it work for you.
Research from Fierce, a Seattle-based training and development company, concludes that 80 percent of workers log onto Facebook during working hours.
Facebook is not going away. LinkedIn is right behind, and if you don’t know what Instagram or Snapchat is, well, you’re just missing out. Having worked in an era before these tools existed and then became popular, I offer you some vital insights from a Human Resources perspective.
Transforming connections and communications
In an age of smartphones, websites, and computers with preloaded social media integration, social media technology is standard fare inmost environments. Customers routinely “check in” and post photos from restaurants, shops, attractions, and events. Pastors tell attendees to tweet quotes from their sermons. Celebrities make big announcements on Twitter, and the most important world news breaks on social media first. It’s not going anywhere. In fact, it’s growing, integrating, and upgrading faster than ever.
Despite this prominence, only 51 percent of organizations have any policy on social media. Some organizational leaders feel participation hurts productivity or even contributes to interpersonal problems (think of publicly bad-mouthing leadership), yet many more believe its use is crucial to good morale and a happy working environment, and current research bears this out.
Today, a whole new generation of workers considers social media a nonnegotiable aspect of their job environment. In a recent study by Fast Company, 40 percent of college students and 45 percent of young professionals said they would turn down a job or accept less pay rather than work for a company that disallowed social media use.
Be clever in how you integrate social media usage into your organizational culture and policies. If you have bans on social media, review and amend them to fit the times. If you don’t have a policy yet, remember these key points before issuing sweeping prohibitions on the technology:
When treated as adults, most employees behave as adults.
Give great guidelines up front—don’t wait for a crisis. Regularly encourage responsible posting on social media.
Assign someone who understands social media to create a vision of how your company can be positively perceived or promoted online, and then articulate that vision clearly.
Risk vs. Reward
Without guidance, employee involvement with social media can be risky, but social media remains an excellent tool to engage participants and current or future customers and get your message out. The right use of this powerful tool can benefit everyone involved.
Many opportunities exist to mobilize your workforce to connect with others and broadcast a healthy and positive image of your company or non-profit. Some of the most productive and profitable companies have integrated it well, and so can you.
What type of policies do you have in place on social media?
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.
~ Matthew 9:37-38
This was so very true when it was written and still so very true today. The workers available to bring the good word to the world of Christ’s saving blood are few. This piece of Scripture is the foundation of what it is that we do here at In HIS Name HR. We help create the workers; we develop Christian business leader, to be the worker to gently get the message out to the workplace. I have worked for organizations where we took care of employees’ financial needs by paying them. We took care of their medical needs by providing health care benefits. But we hardly come across any companies, even Christian-owned companies, that provide a venue to reach employees’ spiritual needs.
Christian-owned companies should feel obligated to provide spiritual benefits
We can no longer go to church on Sunday and work on Monday without addressing our faith. We are obligated to develop our organizations in a way in which it is comfortable for employees to be led to Christ.
If you are sharing your faith with your teams, if you are developing ways of integrating Christ into your workplace, you are building a “Kingdom Minded” Organization.
Help our community of readers
For those of you in the “Marketplace”, How do your share your faith at work? When do you know you have gone too far? We would love to know your experiences.
