Archive

October 2014

 

California employers will soon have to prove, under penalty of perjury, that workplace safety and health hazards have been corrected before receiving any penalty modifications, and even while they are contesting the citations in an appeals process.

Governor Jerry Brown signed A.B. 1634 into law on Sept. 20, 2014.

The new law also requires employers to fix the most serious hazards cited by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) more promptly, and allows employers to delay correcting a cited hazard only during a first appeal.

News Updates
October 31, 2014
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Traditional preferred provider organizations (PPOs) are fast becoming relics of the past, like Model Ts.

News Updates
October 30, 2014

On October 29, SHRM @weknownext chatted with Bill Boorman (@BillBoorman) about Off The Hook Recruiting.  NOTE: Bill Boorman tweeted via the Twitter profile @MattPearson for this chat. 

In case you missed this exciting conversation, here are all the great tweets from the chat:

 

October 29, 2014

 

Five minutes ago, after taking the obligatory selfies and between games of Candy Crush, one of your employees texted (because, calling in, as if!) from an Ebola quarantine tent to alert you that she will be out of work for 21 days, while under observation for Ebola.

As an employer, what are your obligations? What workplace laws are implicated?

And, of course, because half of you are thinking it, can you just fire her?

October 29, 2014
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Both job seeking and recruiting can be frustrating endeavors. Both can require a ton of work that seemingly gets little results. Both can leave an individual overwhelmed, stressed and irritated.

October 29, 2014

 

While retail sales clerks should see a surge in seasonal job opportunities at the end of 2014, demand for temporary labor in package delivery, cybersecurity, resort services, party planning and a few other niche industries will also be strong, staffing experts say.

And let’s not forget Santa and his elves. With some economic indicators pointing toward the North Pole, seasonal workers who have the requisite girth and mirth to portray Santa at stores and other venues will be at a premium—particularly if they have a genuine beard, as opposed to the imitation variety.

News Updates
October 29, 2014
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Almost 3 in 4 HR pros say managers don’t reward them for supporting flexible work arrangements

 

HR professionals say telecommuting and other flexible work options will increase substantially during the next five years, yet nearly three in four of them say it’s “not very true” or “not at all true” that managers reward them when they support such flexibility, according to a new Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) survey.

News Updates
October 28, 2014

“I think technology is doing so many things to us. It’s helping us connect and preventing us from connecting.” – Spike Jonez
 

October 27, 2014

 

Understanding job seekers’ profiles and preferences is the first step to attracting top talent, according to the 2014 Candidate Preferences Survey released Oct. 7 by ManpowerGroup Solutions Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO).

News Updates
October 27, 2014

 

High-earning employees will find more of their salary subject to Social Security payroll taxes starting on Jan. 1, 2015.

News Updates
October 24, 2014

 

Businesses in California now have added motivation to protect residents’ personal information after Gov. Jerry Brown signed A.B. 1710 into law Sept. 30, 2014, amending the state’s data breach notification law.

October 24, 2014
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 Getting hiring right requires getting interviewing right

 

Too many companies’ interviewing tactics are hurting their chances of rooting out top performers, said Geoff Smart and Alan Foster during their keynote session at the Staffing World 2014 conference, held Oct. 13-15 near Washington, D.C. But a multitude of common hiring mistakes can be corrected if staffing professionals and hiring managers simplify their interviewing process.

Smart and Foster asked conference attendees what kind of interviewers they were.

News Updates
October 23, 2014

 

Insights and Inspiration from the 2014 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Technology
 

“It takes a great man to be a good listener” Calvin Coolidge

October 23, 2014

Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results

October 22, 2014

 

Advocacy groups urge federal OSHA to expedite stalled infection control rule 

 

Although widespread outbreak of the Ebola virus in the United States is unlikely, California’s worker protection and public health agencies announced on Oct. 15, 2014, interim guidelines for preventing occupational exposure to the deadly disease.

News Updates
October 22, 2014

There is no silver bullet for performance management: not an app, platform or systematic flow chart. It turns our that managing performance is as much about knowing your people as it is knowing the metrics of their performance.

October 21, 2014
 

Research shows where HR should focus to make improvements 
 

Lack of strategy, cultural awareness and solutions to manage an increasingly diverse, mobile employee population are keeping many companies from building a workforce that will meet their future business objectives, according to research released Sept. 10, 2014.

News Updates
October 21, 2014

 

Does paying to freeze eggs suggest motherhood and career are incompatible

 

With the decision by Apple and Facebook to offer company insurance coverage to women who want to freeze their eggs come questions about the message this may send to women who pursue careers at prominent tech companies. 

News Updates
October 20, 2014
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The Ebola virus has reared its ugly head inside the U.S. and is spreading at an unknown rate due to the nature of its incubation period. While guidance is available from the CDC and other health organizations, it is not entirely clear that we know everything about how the disease may be transmitted.

The “facts” and updates change hourly, so, by the time you see this post, these will have changed again.

October 18, 2014

 

A university properly terminated a professor for failing to undergo a fitness-for-duty examination after he had engaged in instances of threatening behavior, the California Court of Appeal ruled, affirming a judgment in favor of the University of San Francisco on a professor’s alleged disability discrimination claims under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). Significantly, the court ruled the university was not required to engage in an “interactive process” before requesting the examination because the professor never sought any accommodation for any disability.

News Updates
October 17, 2014
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We’re getting closer and closer to another election season.  Even though this is a “light” year for elections locally, that doesn’t stop the candidates who are running for office from filling the airwaves with commercials. And, true to form, there are few candidates who say what they’re going to do.  Instead, they spend millions of dollars to smear their opponent.  People must feel it works because it gets worse the closer you are to the actual election day.

October 16, 2014

I am pleased to include a link to an article I wrote last month for Entrepreneur on subtle bias:  How Entrepreneurs Can Spot Subtle Bias 

The focus is on what I collectively call “micro-indignities”: micro-inequities and micro-aggressions.

There are often are complex definitions for these terms. But the definitions can be simplified.

October 16, 2014

 

Authors of new book promote unconventional ways to make meetings more meaningful

A decade ago, Eric Lindblad—vice president and general manager of Boeing’s 747 program—multiplied the number of people who attended his meetings by their average hourly rate and concluded that meetings were a pretty costly way to communicate.

News Updates
October 16, 2014

On October 15, SHRM @weknownext chatted with special guest Army veteran and SHRM Director of Social Engagement Andrew Morton (@SHRMSocial) about "Hiring Veterans - A Goldmine of Talent." 

October 15, 2014

 

If I could sum up what twenty-plus years of multicultural experience afforded me during my time in the Army I’d say it’s humility- and I think many of my fellow veterans would agree.

October 15, 2014
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With a 7.2 percent rise in business travel spending expected for this year—up to $288.8 billion—as well as a rise in both global and domestic travel risks, organizations must take proactive measures to protect their traveling employees.

Whether your company has three employees or 30,000, the following simple steps can help you keep your traveling workforce safe and prevent legal, financial and reputational fallout.

News Updates
October 15, 2014

Remember that Americans with Disabilities Act case involving Walgreens and the $1.39 bag of chips. In that one, the store appeared to really step in it by firing a diabetic who ate a bag of chips from the store without paying for it. The employee claimed that she needed the chips for her diabetes. The store defended its actions by arguing that the employee violated its no-grazing policy. $180,000 later, that case settled.

October 15, 2014
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Employers concerned about the spread of the Ebola virus in the United States don’t have to sit on their hands and do nothing, even if the risk of the disease spreading is low.

News Updates
October 14, 2014

Employers and recruiters continue to bemoan the lack of skilled talent in the U.S., while at the same time overlooking the masses of returning veterans whose skills and experience make them a goldmine of talent for organizations looking to fill highly skilled positions.

October 14, 2014

 

LAS VEGAS—What makes a leader successful?

Best-selling author and consultant Patrick Lencioni closed the Society for Human Resource Management’s Emerging LEAD(HR) Conference by telling attendees what makes a leader unsuccessful, and encouraging HR professionals to take the risk of speaking candidly with their companies’ leaders to improve the overall health of their organizations.

News Updates
October 14, 2014
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It’s time for HR to step up to the plate—and take a few lessons from baseball.

Beyond the obvious—that HR professionals, like baseball players, do best when they work closely as teams—there are additional baseball practices that can HR leaders can emulate:

October 14, 2014

 

During open enrollment, be mindful of age-based differences
 

With four generations working side by side in the labor force—Millennials, Generation X, Baby Boomers and Traditionalists—employers are challenged during open enrollment season to meet each group’s distinctive needs and expectations. These differences become especially relevant when honing ways to communicate health care options.

Millennials Embrace Technology

News Updates
October 13, 2014

 

The 2014 HR Technology Conference wrapped up an exciting week with a closing keynote session with R "Ray" Wang.  We've captured some of the highlights below.


R "Ray" Wang, Founder and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research; Author of the popular enterprise software blog A Software Insider’s Point of View .

October 10, 2014

 

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1897, which will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2015. This bill creates new Labor Code section 2810.3, which applies to most companies with 25 or more employees that obtain or are provided workers to perform work within their “usual course of business” from companies that provide workers. The new law makes such companies liable for:

October 10, 2014

One of the recurring conversations I had during the first day of the HR Technology Conference revolved around using these tools to solve business problems. The issue with that, says Michael Rochelle, Chief Strategy Officer at Brandon Hall Group, is that “HR is a buffet of broken processes.” Applying technology to a misaligned strategy, poor tool selection, or inefficient process isn’t going to magically solve anyone’s problems—in fact, it’s just as likely to exacerbate the problem instead.

October 9, 2014

LAS VEGAS —  October 9

Are you a simply irresistible employer? 

That’s the question that Katherine Jones and Stacia Sherman of Bersin by Deloitte asked attendees during their Thursday morning session “Creating a Compelling Employee Experience Through a Unified Talent System” at Human Resource Executive’s 17th Annual HR Technology Conference & Exposition in Las Vegas.  

October 9, 2014

LAS VEGAS - Josh Bersin spoke at Human Resource Executive’s 17th Annual HR Technology Conference & Exposition at a Wednesday afternoon in a session titled “The New Talent Agenda: How Integrated Talent Management Has Fundamentally Changed.”  During the session, Bersin explained the need for organizations to embra

October 9, 2014

Moderator: David Gergen, Senior Political Analyst, CNN John W. Boudreau, PhD, Professor and Research Director, University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and Center for Effective Organizations
Steven G. Cochrane, Managing Director, Moody’s Analytics

October 9, 2014

 

During open enrollment, encourage use of benefits information resources

 

This open enrollment season, employees have a message for employers about their benefits: Tell us more, please.

News Updates
October 9, 2014

Jason Averbook of Appirio delivered the thought-provoking session “Creating a Workforce Technology Strategy for the Year Ahead” at the Human Resource Executive’s 17th Annual HR Technology Conference & Exposition in Las Vegas.  During the session, he challenged HR business partners to lead the technology efforts in their organizations.

October 8, 2014

It’s been said that the most important values of any profession are shared knowledge and shared experience, the passing along of what we know from person to person and generation to generation. This is certainly true of HR.

October 8, 2014
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On October 8, @weknownext chatted with special guest @DamonLovett at the 2014 HR Technology Conference about the most pressing issues around the successful application of next generation HR technology solutions in #Nextchat: Can I Get a "Cloud" of Witnesses?"

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

 

 

October 8, 2014

With the HR Technology Conference (#HRTechConf) in full gear this week, we're inviting our Next Official Bloggers and other experts to offer their perspective on how technology is impacting the profession today -- and their predictions for the future.

The following is a Q & A with Jeremy Ames:

October 8, 2014

 

Analytics is a hot topic and HR analytics is no different. New software products and visualisation tools are being launched. Talk of data is everywhere! It is all quite a buzz. But what does it mean? Why does it concern HR? Why is it really so valuable?

1. What does Analytics Mean?

October 8, 2014
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With the HR Technology Conference (#HRTechConf) just around the corner, we're inviting our Next Official Bloggers to offer their perspective on how technology is impacting the profession today -- and their predictions for the future.

The following is a Q & A with Damon Lovett:


 

October 7, 2014

 

In October, job creation rates will rise in the manufacturing and service sectors compared with a year ago, according to the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey for October 2014.

News Updates
October 7, 2014

 

CHICAGO—Some of the U.S. labor market’s biggest problems, particularly income inequality and a lack of employment opportunities, are long-standing issues—not issues created by the Great Recession, according to experts gathered here for the annual meeting of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE).

Economists, academics and other speakers addressed the challenges facing the unemployed, underemployed and other people struggling to make a living. NABE is a nonprofit trade group based in Washington, D.C.

News Updates
October 7, 2014

With the HR Technology Conference (#HRTechConf) just around the corner, we're inviting our Next Official Bloggers to offer their perspective on how technology is impacting the profession today -- and their predictions for the future.

The following is a Q & A with Chip Luman:

October 6, 2014

 

With the HR Technology Conference (#HRTechConf) just around the corner, we're inviting our Next Official Bloggers to offer their perspective on how technology is impacting the profession today -- and their predictions for the future.

The following is a Q & A with Robin Schooling:


 

October 6, 2014

 

Job creation rates are expected to rise in the manufacturing and service sectors in October compared with a year ago, according to the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM’s) Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey for October 2014.

News Updates
October 6, 2014
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Human Resource Executive’s (HRE) 17th Annual Technology Conference & Exposition is touted as the must-attend event for HR technology professionals and, for the first time ever, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) will have two bloggers in attendance.

October 6, 2014

 

With the HR Technology Conference (#HRTechConf) just around the corner, we're inviting our Next Official Bloggers to offer their perspective on how technology is impacting the profession today -- and their predictions for the future.

The following is a Q & A with Matt Stollak:


 

October 5, 2014

 

With the HR Technology Conference (#HRTechConf) just around the corner, we're inviting our Next Official Bloggers to offer their perspective on how technology is impacting the profession today -- and their predictions for the future.

The following is a Q & A with Jonathan Segal


 

October 5, 2014

 

When a former employee of a Domino’s Pizza store in California filed a sexual harassment complaint in 2009, she decided to sue a variety of different parties. This included not only the franchisee and her former supervisor, but also the franchisor.

The dispute ultimately made its way to the California Supreme Court. In August, the court ruled that franchisors are liable in such cases only if they have day-to-day control over relevant employment matters (Patterson v. Domino’s Pizza LLC, Calif., No. S204543 (Aug. 28, 2014)).

News Updates
October 3, 2014

With the HR Technology Conference (#HRTechConf) just around the corner, we're inviting our Next Official Bloggers to offer their perspective on how technology is impacting the profession today -- and their predictions for the future.

The following is a Q & A with Ross Smith:


 

Q. What's your social recruiting prediction/trend for 2015?

October 3, 2014

With the HR Technology Conference (#HRTechConf) just around the corner, we're inviting our Next Official Bloggers to offer their perspective on how technology is impacting the profession today -- and their predictions for the future.

The following is a Q & A with Matt Charney

October 2, 2014

With the HR Technology Conference (#HRTechConf) just around the corner, we're inviting our Next Official Bloggers to offer their perspective on how technology is impacting the profession today -- and their predictions for the future.

The following is a Q & A with Jessica Miller-Merrell

October 2, 2014

With the HR Technology Conference (#HRTechConf) just around the corner, we're inviting our Next Official Bloggers to offer their perspective on how technology is impacting the profession today -- and their predictions for the future.

The following is a Q & A with John Hudson

October 2, 2014

 

With the HR Technology Conference (#HRTechConf) just around the corner, we're inviting our Next Official Bloggers to offer their perspective on how technology is impacting the profession today -- and their predictions for the future.

The following is a Q & A with Next Official Blogger Sharlyn Lauby:

October 2, 2014

 

On October 1, SHRM @weknownext chatted with Mike Vandervort (@MikeVandervort) about "The Extinction of the Middle Class Job."  

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

 

October 1, 2014

The next time a supervisor asks you to help “leverage our investment in IT infrastructure across multiple business platforms,” hand her a copy of Accountemps’ 2014 survey on what HR managers consider the most annoying business buzzwords.

Doing so is not likely to earn you brownie points with said supervisor, but it may send this message: However trendy, meaningless jargon tends to confuse workers, which means that no matter how brilliant the boss’s idea is, it may never gain traction if no one can decipher what the boss is saying.

News Updates
October 1, 2014

 

With the HR Technology Conference (#HRTechConf) just around the corner, we're inviting our Next Official Bloggers to offer their perspective on how technology is impacting the profession today -- and their predictions for the future.

The following is a Q & A with David Kovacovich

October 1, 2014