Archive

November 2013

It’s small, it weighs very little, and it has the potential to disrupt millions of workplaces.

Google Glass is that cool new toy you’ve been hearing about. A lightweight band worn like regular glasses that features a camera and a small display screen, Glass can take videos, display directions and browse the Internet. It can even be operated by voice command.

Possibilities for workplace benefits are beginning to emerge: Surgeons can get real time data while tending to a patient. Businesses can capture even more data about customers and their buying habits.

November 26, 2013

To say that today’s employees and job candidates value a company that can provide a strong work-life balance is an understatement. With more flexibility in work schedules and work from home arrangements in greater demand, employers unable or unwilling to meet those expectations will have a hard time keeping their best employees – not to mention, finding new, high-quality talent to replace them.

November 26, 2013

Washingtonian magazine has selected the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) for its 2013 list of 50 Great Places to Work in the Washington, D.C., area.

“We are thrilled to be named one of the Washington area’s top employers,” said Henry G. “Hank” Jackson, SHRM president and CEO. “SHRM educates HR professionals and employers on workplace best practices. So we are gratified for the recognition that SHRM ‘walks the talk.’ ”

News Updates
November 25, 2013

As companies around America drag out the lights, consult with caterers and order booze for their annual holiday parties, know that once the celebrations are over, more than one in three employers will report that the festivities got out of hand.

It could be that a worker used the mistletoe as an excuse to get frisky with a colleague, or a few tipsy employees exchanged heated words—or even came to blows.

News Updates
November 25, 2013
She shows up to the interview in a tidy dark suit, polished pumps, understated pearls, studious-looking spectacles—and a head bursting with fuzzy, matted black-and-blond dreadlocks.

In her world her hair is a social statement—a rejection of conventional, Western mainstream beauty standards.
In your world she looks like a Hydra.

News Updates
November 22, 2013

On November 20, @weknownext chatted with @DavidKovacovich about "Are We Really That Disengaged?"

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

 

November 21, 2013

Today we’re going to look at leadership, how it can fail, and how it can succeed. When we look at the leaders at the top of the organizational chart, we usually don’t think of them as the worst leadership examples in the organization. However, recent data has shown that to be the case.

November 21, 2013
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Immigrants in the U.S. and other developed nations need better jobs skills, according to an October 2013 report from the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, D.C.

News Updates
November 21, 2013

The Arizona Republic’s recent strategy to move its community reporters out of the office, suggesting they hunker down with company-provided laptops at local coffee shops and fast-food restaurants with free Wi-Fi, is becoming the norm for other employers, according to Kelly Walsh, PHR, a 20-year human resources professional.

News Updates
November 20, 2013

Are Problem Solving Skills Innate or Learned?

November 20, 2013

For the past six years, my Thanksgiving Day routine has gone something like this: get coffee at Starbucks, grab breakfast at McDonalds for the kids, fill the tank at the Shell gas station, buy a pack of Trident and hit the road to spend a perfect day with family. These businesses had real live people working there. I am curious as to why we are so mad when retailers decide to start their “Black Friday” sales on Thanksgiving evening.  With so many other industries open on this day, why are we mad at retail?

November 19, 2013

Religious displays at Christmastime may offend some workers.

As Christmas and Hanukkah approach, some employees will decorate their cubicles and offices with religious and secular displays—a nativity scene, a Star of David, a Santa Claus figurine, an angel-topped holiday tree. What do managers do if some workers are offended by the exhibits?

News Updates
November 19, 2013

If you're like most employees and managers, you dread the annual performance review. It's outdated and frozen in time. It's a relic of the way business used to work and doesn't capitalize on the way business works today. Can it be saved?

November 18, 2013
Labor advocates and business representatives at an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) hearing offered conflicting views on how anti-discrimination laws should be applied when workers are treated differently because of ethnicity, culture, accent or English proficiency.
News Updates
November 18, 2013

In leading organizations, managing diversity is no longer limited to increasing representation of a certain identity group and building equality. Rather, both the definition and the focus have expanded to include not only the workplace, but also the workforce, the marketplace, the community and suppliers. An increasing number of organizations are adopting diversity and inclusion strategies, not only for ethical and legal reasons, but also because it positions them to be more competitive.

November 15, 2013

Gallup recently reported that 70 percent of American workers are disengaged. In a recent Forbes article, leadership development experts Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman claim that this data is wrong. They “question the accuracy of this number” and “are particularly concerned about the impact this message has on the executives of organizations.”

November 15, 2013

Don’t you hate it when you don’t know what to wear to work, your fake eyeball falls out of its socket or your fave football team loses? It’s enough to make you call in sick—and some people have, using those very excuses, according to CareerBuilder’s national online survey.

Among the most outrageous excuses for taking a sick day that CareerBuilder reported:

*A swarm of bees surrounded the employee’s vehicle, preventing him from getting into it.

News Updates
November 14, 2013

It is no brainer that employees who fit your organization’s culture stay longer and hiring the right match assures continued success.

Organizational culture is civilization in the workplace. – Alan Adler

November 14, 2013

On November 13, @weknownext chatted with Steve Boese and Trish McFarlane about "HR Technology - Implementation and Adoption."

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

 

November 13, 2013

Kindness, real kindness, fosters trust. Kindness is not about saying the right things or being polite, it is about showing through your actions genuine caring and respect. – Lori Ada Kilty 

November 13th is World Kindness Day, recognized around the world as a day for people to be kind. In 1998, the World Kindness Movement initiated this day of celebration to encourage everyone to make a little extra effort to be kind to one another.

November 13, 2013

As U.S. employers continue to grapple with the surge in wage and hour lawsuits, class-actions charging exempt-status misclassificationoften brought by former employeesare a growing concern, finds a survey report by labor law firm Littler Mendelson P.C.

November 13, 2013

April 27, 1987 is a day I will always remember. Mr. Bartender and I had been married for 3 weeks (24 days to be exact). I was wearing white pants. We decided to have dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant. Well, that’s what we would have done if we had actually made it to the restaurant. You see, April 27, 1987 was the day of my “auto accident.”

November 12, 2013

My post title is missing its normal, and grammatically incorrect, double exclamation points ( !! ) for a reason this week. I had the most amazing experience and just had to share it with you !! (oops, there they are)

November 12, 2013
There’s a lot to learn from emerging-market economies. Businesses seeking to expand into Asia, Africa and Latin America would be wise to analyze emerging-market experiences and shift their talent focus, according to global professional services firm Deloitte.
News Updates
November 12, 2013

Steady Hiring and Few Layoffs Expected in November

 In November, the pace of hiring in manufacturing and
services will rise compared with a year ago, according
to the Society for Human Resource Management’s
(SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment
(LINE) survey for November 2013.

November 11, 2013

There once was a shepherd boy who was bored as he sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. To amuse himself he took a great breath and sang out, "Wolf! Wolf!

November 11, 2013

Health flexible spending accounts (FSAs) are becoming more flexible. New federal guidance permits employers to allow workers to carry over unused amounts of up to $500 for expenses in the next year and still contribute up to $2,500 annually.

News Updates
November 11, 2013

Technology solutions have for some time helped Human Resources departments improve service delivery, find and attract talent, provide employees opportunities to learn and develop their careers, and support an organization’s business strategy. But what has changed in the last few years are the methods, strategies, and challenges for to insure the successful implementation and adoption of modern workplace and HR technologies.

November 8, 2013

Human resource leaders at Amadori decided in 2008 that the large Italian-food company needed to add emotional intelligence to its leadership culture. The following year the McDonald’s supplier teamed with emotional-intelligence consulting organization Six Seconds to help managers develop stronger people skills and insights, an effort later expanded to others in the company’s plants.

November 8, 2013

Ensuring that postsecondary education and workforce training programs are aligned with employer needs is one of the priorities the Business Roundtable has identified as essential to building a skilled U.S. workforce, according to a report it released during the fourth annual Education Nation Summit, held Oct. 6-8, 2013, in New York.

News Updates
November 7, 2013

Gallup released it's "State of the Global Business" report for 2013. The results are unbelievable.

According to Gallup:

1. Worldwide, only 13% of Employees are Engaged at work. 
2. The Actively Disengaged outnumber the Engaged 2 to 1 in the workplace.

So, if 2 of every 10 of your employees are engaged you are an above average organization?

More people hate their job than those who love it?

Are you willing to accept that?

...because I'm not!

November 7, 2013

Today’s world is powered by the most diverse workforce in history. Businesses, non-profit organizations and institutions of all shapes and sizes are experiencing dramatic change in the composition of their workforce – due to alterations in the economic landscape, technological advances, globalization, and – for the first time - members of five generations working, competing, learning and leading together. The very nature of our work has changed with the continuing rise of the “knowledge worker”.

November 6, 2013
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Beer maker says companies should stick with what makes them great

NEW YORK-If your organization’s culture works, don’t compromise it when expanding to different countries and even to different regions within the same country, said Carlos Brito, CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev).

News Updates
November 6, 2013

How are new trends in biometric technology affecting employment?

News Updates
November 5, 2013

When the Forrester Research on groundswells came out a few years ago, many in the social media business saw an opportunity to have real conversations about advocacy marketing. That conversation was limited to marketers, and only just now are we seeing the groundswell concept reaching talent management.

November 5, 2013

Now that a bill expanding California’s Paid Family Leave program has been enacted, employers should review their leave policies and be prepared for many questions from workers, according to employment attorneys.

News Updates
November 4, 2013

According to a recent poll, 73‑percent of workers value flexibility in looking for a job (or staying in a job).

Employers, in their self-interest, need to help employees with work life challenges.  But that is easier said than done.

This blog addresses some of the rarely discussed issues when it comes to work-life challenges.

1.   Nomenclature

November 4, 2013

One of the less glamorous aspects of the HR profession is dealing with conflict and behavioral problems in the workplace.  It’s a hat they must wear, at some point, regardless of industry or size.

Most organizations have policies or codes of conduct that indicate which behaviors are -- and are not – acceptable in the workplace, and respect for these policies usually depends on the consistency with which they are enforced.

November 1, 2013

SAN FRANCISCO—When a woman at a large Denver-based dialysis company told those attending the 2013 Workflex Conference that she does her job almost exclusively from her California home, the next words out of her mouth said a lot about lingering attitudes toward flexible work schedules.

News Updates
November 1, 2013

Instead of focusing on young applicants’ college degrees, consider their hobbies, travels and pastimes—pursuits that may tell an employer more about what those individuals can bring to a company than “a fancy piece of paper,” child prodigy Adora Svitak told attendees of the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2013 Diversity & Inclusion Conference.

News Updates
November 1, 2013

Generation Y, those born between approximately 1978 and 2000, currently number 76 million in the U.S workforce today (Financial Post). By 2016 they will be 100 million strong (Genup). This group, also called the millennial generation, are stirring things up in the workforce.

News Updates
November 1, 2013

There has been lots of talk lately that companies are increasingly looking to hire older workers. But, which types of employers are actually doing the hiring and what kinds of jobs are they filling?

One way to answer those questions is by taking a close look at AARP’s recently released list of the 50 best employers for workers over 50. They are firms and organizations with programs to help retain, retrain and recruit older workers.

News Updates
November 1, 2013
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Want to be a chief human resources officer (CHRO)?

Get experience in a wide range of areas. Ask for what you want. Broaden your knowledge base of all HR specialties. Network and nurture relationships with your connections, and if you don’t know the answers, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

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November 1, 2013