“What do you do?” A seemingly innocuous question we ask and are all asked so many times in our adult lives. At a party, on an airplane, when meeting someone for the first time- it’s the “icebreaker” that helps understand, or perhaps even define each other. But what’s struck me through the years- particularly since I’ve retired from the military- is what I reveal to and about myself in the answering.
Business leaders need to embrace sustainability—and embed it into their organization's core mission—in order to ensure lasting success, according to the authors of The Sustainability Edge: How to Drive Top-Line Growth with Triple-Bottom-Line Thinking (Rotman-UTP Publishing, 2017).
Every industry has its own buzzwords and catchphrases, and the human resources profession is no different. It has hundreds.
Whether to inspire and build morale or to create a common language among peers, these HR expressions have had a long history and have served a purpose. While some of these phrases are ready for retirement, others need to be tweaked to reflect HR’s evolving role in the new world of work.
For the last 50 years, the SHRM Foundation has funded two major initiatives: academic research on effective and efficient HR practices, and scholarships for HR professionals and students. Over that 50 year span the SHRM Foundation has impacted the lives of thousands of HR professionals and students by providing research-based HR solutions and scholarships—but it was time for a change.
At the end of 2016, the SHRM Foundation forged a new partnership with ACDI-VOCA, a Washington, DC-based international development organization experienced in managing impactful, skills-based international volunteering programs. They offer professionals international volunteer opportunities at no cost to the professional or their organization.
In today’s workplace, it is not enough to have an employee handbook in name only, but it must be one that employees have read, digested and received training on. Now is the perfect time to take your employee handbook off the shelf, drag it into the kitchen and add a little spice to it.
Here are some ways:
Much of the employment-related commentary and guidance around what to expect from the Trump Administration can be summed up as follows: wait and see. I’ve been guilty of it myself with HR Intel, harping on the uncertainty that this transition presents to employers in the absence of specifics.
On January 25, @shrmnextchat chatted with SHRM Senior Vice President of Knowledge Development Alex Alonso (@SHRMKnwldgeSVP) and SHRM Vice President of Research Shonna Waters (@Shonna_Waters) about What's Next for Paid Leave.
In case you missed this informative chat, you can read all the tweets here:
Okay, it doesn’t necessarily need to be your travel policy; but I think it’s particularly useful for this exercise.
Allow me to explain.
In all team environments, good communication is fundamental and great communication is critical to excellence. I have found through observation that there are basically four actions necessary for optimal communication. At the risk of sounding contrived, disingenuous, and plain ol’ corny, I put the main points in an alliteration. They are simply:
Listen
Lip
Love
Learn
Some people seem to have a magnetic quality that attracts others. These charismatic individuals command attention and guide with grace and ease.
A secure, comfortable retirement is every worker's dream. Nowadays workers are living longer, healthier lives. Your employees can expect to spend more time in retirement than their parents and grandparents. It is important that their earnings are posted correctly on their Social Security record, as it will affect their benefits when they retire.
On January 18, @shrmnextchat chatted with Maddie Grant (@maddiegrant) about Creating Powerful Cultures.
In case you missed this informative chat, you can read all the tweets here:
It's a common assumption that most organizations don’t do succession planning. Often the reasons include the high level of administration involved with succession planning and the difficulty in identifying and developing talent. It’s hard enough to figure out what the business world will look like in three years, much less what the organization’s talent needs will be.
Today's global economy evolves at breakneck speed, with technology, consumer trends and generational shifts constantly reshaping the business landscape. The labor force is changing, too, and has now reached a tipping point in terms of what employees expect from work, according to HR experts Jeanne C. Meister, founding partner of the consulting firm Future Workplace LLC in New York City, and Kevin L.
Many states and localities are increasing their minimum wage, effective this year. January is the popular month for changes.
So, the minimum wage went up in your state or city, like it did in dozens of others. You budgeted to increase the pay of the minimum wage earners. Now the more senior employees are upset.
The number of HR manager positions will increase this year by 1,100 in California—the highest volume in the nation—and by 8.6 percent in Nevada, the largest percentage increase among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., according to a set of forecasts at Projections Central, a website with employment data compiled by state agencies.
After a tumultuous 2016 and on the cusp of some major changes in regulations and protections for employees, your workers are undoubtedly looking for some stability from their employer. One of the best ways to demonstrate that is to ensure effective outreach and interaction with employees by being exceptionally responsive, thorough and clear.
On January 11, @shrmnextchat chatted with members of the SHRM HR Competencies and SHRM Educational Products teams (@HRCompetencies, @josephajonesphd, @Miller843, @shrmChristine, @keefe_mk, and @SHRMLindsay) about
Making a manager: The people behind the success stories
As a new manager, I often wondered about my own managers’ mentors and inspiration.
by Mariam Ganiyu, Joe Jones and Ashley Miller and Lindsay Northon
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As a job-seeker, making it to the interview stage for a potential career opportunity is serious business. This is your opportunity to feel out the company, the hiring manager, and the role in a more intimate fashion.
Stressed out at work?
According to the SHRM Online article, Work Related Stress on Employees' Health, 40 percent of workers report their jobs as very or extremely stressful.
On January 4, @shrmnextchat chatted with Joyce Maroney (@wf_institute) and Evren Esen (@shrm_research) about The $687 Billion Question.
In case you missed this informative chat, you can read the tweets here:
Try this to become a better employee and a better person.
Here are some plans for four popular resolutions. You will find that they overlap; so if you're daring, resolve to do all four.
Take the stairs instead of the elevator… ALWAYS!
Park far from the entrance… ALWAYS!
“There is a point of complexity beyond which a business is no longer manageable.”
— Peter Drucker
