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When struggling big-box retailer Best Buy followed Yahoo by altering its employee telecommuting policies, many industry experts and teleworkers raised concerns that the flexible work option could be falling out of favor.

The consensus between business and labor—deeply divided for years over what to do about low-skilled temporary workers—will be crucial to the success of any comprehensive immigration reform, stakeholders agreed.

The often adversarial AFL-CIO and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently announced “shared principles” outlining certain areas of agreement on critical issues, such as redefining what constitutes a guest worker and revamping the method to determine how many guest workers should be allowed into the country.

Is this Retaliation 2.0?

Two weeks ago, Adria Richards attended an industry conference at which she overheard sexual jokes from two attendees sitting behind her during a session. So, she complained...on Twitter:

And then she blogged about it here. The social-media complaints resulted in one of the joke tellers getting fired. And, last Wednesday, Ms. Richards tweeted that her employer supported her.

I firmly believe in the power of using the locus of control theory to have a richer, more fulfilling career. Read on for how you can use the locus of control theory to evaluate job candidates.

Last week I had a discussion with another local HR pro, and we were talking about interview questions that help to discern what candidates lack the requisite people skills to get the job done. We’ve all run across candidates who may interview very well, but then they turn out to be a nightmare once they are on board.

Large U.S. employers—those with at least 1,000 workers—remain committed to providing active employees with health care benefits. But they are taking more aggressive actions to improve health care delivery and manage rising costs, according to a nationwide survey by consultancy Towers Watson and the nonprofit National Business Group on Health (NBGH).

One of my favorite terms in HR is "base rate of success."  Its also rarely discussed, but absolutely critical.

Simply put, the "base rate of success" tells us the proportion of employees who would be successful on the job if we hired randomly instead of applying some predictor.

By Jonathan Segal

The term boys’ club refers to the unofficial and often impenetrable group of men—usually white men—in an organization or department who have effective control and power. Being part of or having access to the club is often critical to making the right connections to advance within the organization.

On March 20, SHRM @WeKnowNext chatted with Chip Luman (@Cluman) about the topic "Collective Leadership - Getting Everyone Involved."

In case you missed it, here are all the great tweets from the chat:

A Q&A with Appature CEO, Kabir Shahani

After my recent post about young leaders, I had a chance to catch-up with Kabir Shahani of Appature.

People’s reactions when entering BMW’s brand-new 25,000-square-foot health care center are typically the same. After walking through the automatic glass doors, most pause to gaze about and take in the large atrium lobby, where sunlight pours in through a glass ceiling.

“When people first walk in the door they usually just stop and look all around and then tell us that it is the nicest doctor’s office they have ever seen,” said Bill Raulerson, director of site operations for the BMW health care center.

More than a third of surveyed U.S. workers experience chronic work stress, with low salaries, lack of opportunity for advancement and heavy workloads topping the list of contributing factors, according to national survey results released March 5, 2013, by the American Psychological Association's (APA) Center for Organizational Excellence.

While employers have been focused on making sure that their health care plans meet the requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), new interim whistle-blower provisions under that law recently went into effect.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is catching a lot of grief for her new book, “Lean In,” and for her public appearances suggesting that women need to be more aggressive in the workplace. Her recent interview on “60 Minutes” seemed to raise the level of criticism to historic heights.

Immigration reform, the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and legislation calling for the raising of the minimum wage are some of the pressing public-policy issues HR professionals should be keeping track of in 2013, said Michael P. Aitken, pictured above, vice president of government affairs for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Half of new employees surveyed reported they are experiencing buyer’s remorse after accepting a recent job offer, according to global research findings about hiring trends published by Pittsburgh, Pa.-based management consulting firm Development Dimensions International (DDI).

And they are not alone: With one in eight new workers employed during a 12-month period having proved to be a bad hire, many employers that DDI surveyed also are questioning whether they have made wise hiring decisions, according to the study.

Human capital concerns, building global brand recognition, anticipating and meeting diverse consumer needs, engaging audiences and advertisers, and ensuring business integrity and trust are key to capitalizing on emerging global market opportunities, business leaders said recently.

Leaders in communications, finance, media and technology shared strategies and challenges they’re facing in emerging global markets at the 2013 Global Diversity Leadership Exchange, held Feb. 6, 2013, at the New York Stock Exchange here.

Thinking critically, solving problems, innovating and collaborating are highly valued at every level within an organization. More than half of polled executives, however, said there is significant room for improvement in these competencies among their employees, according to the results of an American Management Association survey released Feb. 7, 2013.

Four in 10 manufacturing and service-sector employers surveyed said they would add jobs in March, according to the March 2013 Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey, released March 7. 
A net of 49.1 percent of manufacturers and a net of 42.1 percent of service-sector companies surveyed said they will hire in March, as vacancies rose in both sectors.

Management-level employees and HR staff should be trained on the workplace impact of domestic violence, sexual violence and stalking, a vast majority of respondents told the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in research findings released Feb. 1, 2013.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced Feb. 26, 2013, that its Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is rescinding two enforcement guidance documents on pay discrimination, originally issued in 2006, commonly known as the “Compensation Standards” and “Voluntary Guidelines.” The rescission is effective Feb. 28.

Managers should take the time to recognize all employees on a regular basis, experts say—focusing on behaviors they want to reinforce—rather than singling out certain individuals or groups at scheduled times.

While some parents may view gaming as an affront to their children’s social development, businesses are finding that a combination of social media and gaming—once the milieu of middle-schoolers—could be an integral part of improving employee engagement.
And if getting employees to use internal social networks more is a behavior that’s hard to change, experts said, gaming can act as an incentive.

IDC reports that the global market for social-media platforms will grow from $767 million in 2011 to $4.5 billion by 2016.

Thomas Jefferson once said, "America is not governed by the majority, but by the majority of those who participate."

Jefferson's belief about the impact political advocacy had on Government 200+ years ago still rings very true today. That's why SHRM has embarked on a 5-year initiative to establish the SHRM Advocacy Team; a network of SHRM member advocates throughout all 435 congressional districts across America.