Archive

November 2012

In case you missed it, here’s what happened on We Know Next this week.

News Updates
November 30, 2012

We all know that a strategic human resources function is critical in today’s competitive global market, but many top-level executives still believe that HR is ineffective and consistently fails to provide value.  You can read all about HR’s continued woes in a new report from The Economist Intelligence Unit/KPMG. They obviously didn’t interview your CEO, who would have told them about all the amazing things you’re doing at your organization.

November 30, 2012

This is the second most popular post from the first six months of this year and a topic that gets brought up a lot between job seekers and recruiters. Unfortunately, dishonesty can run rampant on both sides. I would love to hear your thoughts.

November 30, 2012

The U.S. Army kicked off its “Hire a Veteran” campaign Nov. 19, 2012, during a press conference with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). The campaign is aimed at debunking employer misperceptions about the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) on veterans’ job performance, and at educating employers on what reasonable accommodations involve.

News Updates
November 30, 2012
News Updates
November 29, 2012

An Interview with Ross Smith by the American Journal of Play

Reprinted with permission from the American Journal of Play (Volume 5, Number 1, Fall 2012)
 

News Updates
November 29, 2012

Social media tools Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are now ingrained in internal communications   

News Updates
November 29, 2012

Jay Forte, author, speaker and The Greatness Coach at Humanetrics LLC, explains the importance of HR advocating for a seat at the C-Suite table and how HR can effectively do so. Jay Forte, a former financial executive and corporate educator,and is a nationally ranked Thought Leader.

Videos
November 28, 2012

"If you want to make enemies, try to change something."  - Woodrow Wilson

On November 28, SHRM We Know Next chatted with China Gorman (@ChinaGorman) about Change Management.

November 28, 2012

The Obama administration issued three new proposed rules to implement provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

The rules, released on Nov. 20, 2012, and published in the Federal Register on Nov. 26, pertain to guaranteed issuance of coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions; essential health benefits that nongrandfathered plans in the individual and small group markets will be required to cover; and an increase in maximum allowable wellness program incentives.

News Updates
November 28, 2012

My very first job in HR was based on what I knew. Every other job offer after that was because of who I knew.

The rules about getting ahead at work haven’t changed. According to a survey from Right Management, 44% of employees believe the key to their success lies in “who you know”. Not far behind was job performance (39%).

November 28, 2012

I wanted to point out a super piece last week on the Smashing Magazine blog, (a site about and for Web Designers), titled 'The Difference Between Good and Bad Job Requirements', that provides a great look into what technical, (and often hard to find) talent thinks about the typical job descriptions they encounter online.

November 27, 2012

Senior executives say they understand that a strategic human resources function is crucial in today’s competitive global market. At the same time, however, the C-suite believes that HR is ineffective and consistently fails to provide value to the organization, a new report found.

News Updates
November 27, 2012

You walk into your building and you see that holiday decorations are everywhere. You pass by a beautiful pine Christmas tree eloquently decorated. A co-worker responds: "The tree is inappropriate to the workplace."

Segal: WRONG. It is beautiful and Christmas can and should be acknowledged (says the Jewish guy who wears his grandmother’s Chai). Don’t remove Christmas from the holiday season. But recognize other holidays, too. A Hanukkah menorah and a Kwanzaa harvest basket would be nice additions.

November 26, 2012

Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute, writes in a new article on the Harvard Business Review HBR Blog Network about how to prove to skeptical employees that results matter more than time worked. To read the original article, please click here.

 

News Updates
November 26, 2012

The Transition Network is a small nonprofit organization near Wall Street that helps women 50 and older plan the next steps in their personal and professional lives.

When Hurricane Sandy struck the eastern United States on Oct. 29, 2012, Transition Network Executive Director Betsy Werley and her four employees had to scramble to find a plan to keep the business open.

News Updates
November 26, 2012

You’re introducing a new software solution for…performance management, rewards and recognition, time and attendance management…your choice.  The solution will impact every employee.  You’re heading up the change management project.  What’s next?  Check out this post before you join us on the next #NextChat:  http://chinagorman.com/2012/11/20/competence-enemy-of-change

Change management model?  What’s your favorite?

November 25, 2012

Organizations with established employee recognition programs seek to improve employee engagement and morale, a new Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) survey finds. The majority of employers contended that they are achieving that goal.

News Updates
November 23, 2012

The National Football League (NFL) has launched several diversity initiatives designed to improve the representation of racial and ethnic minorities and women in the league headquarters and among the teams. Generally, sports diversity experts give the league high marks for improving racial diversity, but progress for women lags.
While the ranks of players are racially and ethnically diverse, the team owners, executives and coaches are less so. The league is trying to leverage its brand to make it more attractive to a wider array of job candidates.

News Updates
November 22, 2012
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More than two-thirds of leaders (72 percent) said that an understanding of their own biases is helpful when working in a diverse environment, according to a survey released Oct. 24, 2012.  Just 18 percent said training is helpful.

News Updates
November 21, 2012
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Since this month’s We Know Next theme is HR Advocacy and several SHRM members have been “heading to the Hill” in Washington, D.C., I wanted to take this opportunity to encourage the need for thinking differently as it relates to hiring veterans.

We’ve been behind closed doors discussing what it would be like to bring a potential threat to our culture into our organizations by hiring those who may have PTSD. We’ve looked at it as something that might upset the apple cart and make our lives more difficult.

November 21, 2012

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the SHRM Leadership Conference. It is a true favorite for me because it is made up of fellow HR volunteers from all over the United States !!  I also had the chance to meet some great people from SHRM India!

November 20, 2012

A poll of U.S.-based HR managers conducted just after Election Day found that many respondents had delayed enacting health care plan changes required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

News Updates
November 20, 2012

Last week I had the good fortune of delivering a new strategic workshop in collaboration with Don MacPherson of Modern Survey. Don and I examined the future of work and the opportunity that HR professionals have to drive business performance through employee engagement. We leveraged the most current data set from Modern Survey research in an effort to facilitate a robust discussion related to what is next in talent strategy and workforce readiness.

November 19, 2012

Just after the nation endured one “superstorm,” it now faces another: the fiscal cliff.

News Updates
November 19, 2012

In case you missed it, here’s what happened on We Know Next this week.

Contrary to some reports that working just a little bit longer—to age 70—will allow between 80 percent and 90 percent of households to have adequate income in retirement, new research by the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) shows that for approximately one-third of U.S. households between the ages of 30 and 59, that won’t be enough.

News Updates
November 16, 2012

There’s a veritable goldmine of tips for intern etiquette out there, but on the employer side—not so much. In a perfect world, hiring managers treat interns with the same professionalism, consideration, and respect they use with full-time employees. We at InternMatch, however, know that this isn’t always the case. Plenty of students who use our services are seeking internships to offset less-than-ideal experiences; we spill the beans on their most common complaints.

1. Inflexibility with Scheduling

November 16, 2012

This summer's Supreme Court decision upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has employers scrambling to redefine "part time." Under the law, employees who work 30 or more hours a week will be considered full time and will be eligible for health care coverage. This requirement means companies with 50 or more full-time employees have to reassess their entire range of benefits.

"We are just planning the best we can," says Tyler Sanderson, director of total rewards at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee in Chattanooga.

Uncommon Benefits

News Updates
November 16, 2012

There are some lessons that HR professionals can draw from the saga of Gen. David Petraeus, who resigned as head of the CIA after an FBI investigation found that he had an extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell.

November 15, 2012

On November 14, SHRM We Know Next chatted with Rebecca Hastings (@SHRMDiversedit) about Gen X- The Invisible Generation.

November 15, 2012

Amendments to the California Labor Code impose new wage reporting requirements on “temporary services employers” and allow all employees to recover statutory penalties for violations, even where they suffer no actual loss in wages as a result of a deficiency in a wage statement.

Wage Statements

News Updates
November 15, 2012
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(The third in a series.)

You have probably heard the phrase:
 “A person’s eyes are the window to their soul.”

I have another version:
 “How an organization makes decisions is a window into its culture.”

How does your organization make decisions? How do you deal with disagreement?

“We simply decide without thinking much about the decision process.”
 -Jim Nightingale

November 15, 2012

When Tammy Erickson, author of What’s Next, Gen X? (Harvard Business School Press, 2010) and a self-described Baby Boomer, began interviewing members of Generation X for her book, she was “stunned” by how different their perspectives were from her own.

News Updates
November 13, 2012

Even though mobile devices, social media and the Internet have gained wider acceptance as important communication tools with job applicants and employees, these tools aren’t used consistently by most hiring managers and HR professionals who responded to a recent survey conducted by Dimensional Research.

News Updates
November 13, 2012

It’s that time of year again.  The annual opportunity to plan, scheme, and build a budget.  Generally, this is the time of year when we think about what new programs or technologies we could add in the upcoming year.  We dream of slick technology or powerful new programs that we could implement if we are lucky enough to be given the budget to do it.  It’s a fun time of year.  Planning and thinking big thoughts is important.

But, this year, while you plan and dream and budget, set aside a little time for another powerful exercise that we often overlook.

November 13, 2012

Researchers and experts often examine different generations in the workplace, looking for clues to improve management effectiveness. Recent studies suggest that employers should think twice before making stereotypical assumptions about individual employees based on age.

News Updates
November 12, 2012

Tuition assistance programs (or TAPs) can close employees’ skill gaps in the near term, and strengthen your internal pipeline of leadership candidates in the long term. The challenge is to manage investments in employee education in a way that maximizes returns–both for the employer and the employee.

November 12, 2012

Those who participate in a defined contribution plan have much better retirement preparation odds  

Contrary to some reports that working just a little bit longer—to age 70—will allow between 80 percent and 90 percent of households to have adequate income in retirement, new research by the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) shows that for approximately one-third of U.S. households between the ages of 30 and 59, that won’t be enough.

News Updates
November 12, 2012

In case you missed it, here’s what happened on We Know Next this week.

New research pinpoints personality traits successful leaders must emphasize and de-emphasize as they progress in their careers. Specifically, the PDI Ninth House Pulse on Leaders survey research found that certain traits that facilitate advancement to the business unit leader level actually inhibit progression to the CEO level.

News Updates
November 9, 2012

I was born in July 1963, several months before a defining moment for the Baby Boomer generation occurred—the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  I was a “latch key kid” – I walked home from elementary school to an empty house because both of my parents worked.  In fact, I started walking to school by myself in first grade after everyone else had left the house. I wasn’t supposed to use the record player but nearly every morning I used those few minutes before school to play a 45 of Tommy Roe’s hit song “Dizzy” over and over again.

November 9, 2012

Americans are less confident now than just three years ago that they will have enough financial resources to last through their retirement years, according to a Pew Research Center survey on retirement planning conducted in the latter half of 2012.

News Updates
November 9, 2012

A number of reports released in 2012 that examine the link between engaged employees and customer satisfaction suggest that human resource professionals could hold the key to improving the customer experience and generating better business results.

“Companies that want to improve customer experience (CX) will need their HR professionals to become more involved in building employee engagement,” according to the report CX Needs More HR Focus on Employee Engagement, released Sept. 26, 2012, by Temkin Group, a market research and consulting firm.

News Updates
November 8, 2012

You do not have to clean up your social media profile to get a job. 

Look, I understand taking off the “I hate my boss” posts, the mug shot of your wild weekend in Vegas or the rants about your disdain for baby seals.

But the weekend pictures where you are having a beer or a glass of wine and a great time? Those funny cat memes? Where is the harm? 

November 8, 2012
Updated 10/31/2012
 
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy and the devastation it brought, the following is an all-too timely reminder of pay and benefits issues that HR managers should bear in mind.
 
Although it is practically impossible to be fully prepared for any natural disaster, it is important for employers to be aware of employment laws that may be implicated in such situations.
 
News Updates
November 7, 2012

Election 2012 is over. It could be weeks until you hear anyone “approve this message” again. That’s the good news.

The ominous news is that the fiscal cliff is dead ahead. Both the short- and long-term fates of the economy may be altered by what Congress does in the coming months.

“Fiscal cliff” was first coined by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. It refers to the combination of automatic tax increases and spending reductions that will occur on or around Jan. 2, 2013, if Congress does nothing.

November 7, 2012

On November 7, SHRM We Know Next chatted with Steve Browne (@sbrownehr) about The Inescapable World of Office Politics.

November 7, 2012

A recent survey of corporate CFOs highlighted financial executives' concerns about rising health and pension benefits costs, while a poll of HR managers showed their top rewards priority to be helping employees to better understand their benefits.

News Updates
November 7, 2012
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Workers with skills that are most in demand are likely to receive above-average raises in 2013, in part because it's easier for them to find new jobs, according to a compensation expert.

"In the U.S., we really have two job markets," explained Paul McDonald, senior executive director of pay consultancy Robert Half International, during an interview with SHRM Online.

News Updates
November 6, 2012

Hurricane Sandy raises questions regarding leave-taking under the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act  

Natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy raise a host of issues for employers: how do you pay your employees during suspended operations? Whether and to what extent should health benefits and other benefits be offered?

News Updates
November 5, 2012

New research pinpoints personality traits successful leaders must emphasize and de-emphasize as they progress in their careers.

Specifically, the PDI Ninth House Pulse on Leaders survey research found that certain traits that facilitate advancement to the business unit leader level actually inhibit progression to the CEO level.

News Updates
November 5, 2012

In last month’s blog, we discussed the importance of providing skilled coaching during experiential learning activities to produce desired developmental results.  It is essentially an insurance policy for making experiential learning successful.  Since these activities typically involve a high degree of personal and organizational investment of time and resources, their design is critical for return on investment.  So let’s examine how to structure coaching throughout these experiences.

November 5, 2012

In case you missed it, here’s what happened on We Know Next this week.

Striking down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional Oct. 18, 2012, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals noted that the law “has varying impact on more than a thousand federal laws.” That includes numerous federal employment laws, as the AFL-CIO noted in a friend-of-the-court brief filed in the 2nd Circuit case.

News Updates
November 2, 2012

#NEXTCHAT: The Inescapable World of Office Politics

Office politics.  They’re a reality in the workplace and a necessary skill.  Whether you know it or not, you engage in office politics, every day, and they are impossible to avoid.  Even if you choose not to interact with others, you are still engaging in politics and it’s probably not helping your career.

November 2, 2012

Unusually severe storms like Hurricane Sandy can result in unusual working arrangements that raise out-of-the-ordinary wage and hour questions.

Suppose employees volunteer to perform recovery services for employers. That may sound nice, but “the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not permit employees to volunteer unpaid time to the employer under any but the narrowest of circumstances,” Lawrence McGoldrick, an attorney with Fisher & Phillips in Atlanta, told SHRM Online.

News Updates
November 2, 2012

As U.S. employers gear up for holiday season hiring so, too, do scammers.

The fall seasonal hiring period likely will lead to a surge in identity fraud targeting job applicants, according to employee screening and consumer fraud experts.

Fake job listings and bogus websites are among their most common tools. Legitimate employers also are being warned to take extra precautions. Unscrupulous employees can steal personal information of applicants or employees. And personal data left unguarded can tempt even hitherto honest employees, experts say.

News Updates
November 2, 2012
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In November, more HR professionals in the manufacturing and service sectors say their organizations will be hiring compared with a year ago, according to the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey for November 2012.  
 
November 1, 2012

Don’t look now, but very soon the U.S. presidential election will no longer be a valid excuse for holding off on hiring. When and how much the level of post-election hiring might affect the unemployment rate will continue to be tracked closely into the new year.

News Updates
November 1, 2012

A supervisor has a romantic interest in a subordinate colleague.  What can go wrong?  Let me count the ways!

November 1, 2012

The importance of higher education and technical training for the job skills that employers need has increased considerably in the past 10 years and will only continue to increase, according to a report released Oct. 3, 2012, by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Achieve, a nonprofit education advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.

News Updates
November 1, 2012