SHRM Blog

Reducing IT’s Shocking Gender Gap

by Rocío BelfioreOn October 4, 2022 0 comments

Remote-first model, focus on wellness key to gender diversity

Technology has always been a driver of progress, but rarely have we seen anything like the current era’s breakneck disruption, with whole sectors eliminated, lifestyles upended and the very psychology of humans at times seeming to be scrambled. So how smart is it that this revolution has overwhelmingly been carried out by only men?

The numbers are shocking. According to Statista, women account for under a fifth of U.S. software developers, computer programmers, systems administrators and support specialists, and just over a mere...

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Parting Gifts: Eight Strategies to Make Exit Interviews Pay

by Jay TitusOn October 3, 2022 0 comments

Employees leave. It’s a fact of working life.

It’s up to you to decide how to handle those goodbyes. You can be angry and hurt and take it as a personal rejection. Or, you can turn every departure into an opportunity to learn about, and maybe improve, your workplace.

If your goal is the latter, there is a simple tool you need to...

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Q&A with Sophia A. Nelson by Emily M. Dickens

by Emily M. Dickens, JD.On September 30, 2022 0 comments

September is Self-Care Awareness Month. To learn more about self-care and what it means for the workplace and public policy, I sat down for a Q&A with award-winning author and journalist Sophia A. Nelson. Her new book is titled Be the One You Need: 21 Life Lessons I Learned While Taking Care of Everyone but Me.

SHRM is working to see that employers are able to address employee mental health. This issue is urgent. Of the nearly 53 million U.S. adults with a mental illness, only 46 percent...

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Understanding the Difference Between Orientation and Onboarding

by Remone RobinsonOn September 27, 2022 0 comments

Does your organization have a thorough understanding of orientation and onboarding? Not just the HR Department but all other partnering departments. Both onboarding and orientation are essential but knowing the difference between both activities is fundamental. Some managers tend to use onboarding and orientation interchangeably, which should never be the case. They are different activities; however, orientation is a small component of the onboarding process. "Thank you, HR, for onboarding the new employees last week!" Yikes! Onboarding takes more than a week. That manager meant to thank HR for orientating the new...

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A Note of Thanks to the HR Profession

by Julie Develin, SHRM-SCPOn September 23, 2022 0 comments

You’re busy, I know. But I hope you’ll take a second to read this. It’s addressed to you (yes, you).

In case no one has said it to you recently, let me do so: thank you, HR.

You don’t hear it enough (or maybe at all). I know—I’ve been there.

Yet, you trod along every day at work, putting out fires, and preventing them from starting in the first place.

You show up. For yourself, for your business, for employees. Maybe for unique reasons known only to you.

That’s a big deal.

As you read this, think about all the roles you have played in your workplace since March 2020, and beyond. Times have not been easy, but we...

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Ask An Advisor: Can Employees Accrue Paid Leave During FMLA Leave?

by Jennifer Chang, SHRM-CPOn September 20, 2022 0 comments

This week I received an interesting question regarding the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Does an employee continue to accrue paid leave while out on FMLA leave?

The answer is: It depends! If an employer’s policy allows for continued leave accrual while an employee is out on an unpaid status, like FMLA, then the answer is yes. However, if an employer’s policy does not allow for continued leave accrual, then the answer is generally no.

According to the...

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We Need Authentic Leadership to Rehabilitate from the Trauma of the Pandemic

by Mostafa SayyadiOn September 19, 2022 0 comments

This article inspires a new wave of thinking in the fields of leadership and organizational studies. It helps you to achieve your plans and goals as you recover from the pandemic. The most important aspect of the post-pandemic recovery is YOU as a leader. And we recommend trying to be an authentic leader to make the right decisions for your followers. This is what you and executives need to do in the post-pandemic era.

The pandemic has set people back and there is a need to be healthy...

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In a Competitive Labor Market, Small Things are Big Things

by Anir PradhanOn September 15, 2022 0 comments

At a time when employees begin returning "back to the office" in a post-pandemic economy, human resource officers and corporate leaders seek ways to make their corporate culture most accommodating.

One thing employers can help facilitate is the financial life of their employees outside of their nine-to-five grind. They can assist in attaining employment and income verification swiftly, without the pain of long waits and red tape.

Take the case of an employee buying a...

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Ask an Advisor: Completing an I-9 for a Remote Worker? You Might Need to Get Creative

by Katie BrennanOn September 12, 2022 0 comments

As an HR Knowledge Advisor, members regularly ask me how they should complete the Form I-9 for a new hire who will be working remotely from another state. Since the pandemic began, and remote work has become increasingly common, this question comes up quite frequently.

As HR professionals know, when completing Section 2 of the Form I-9, employers must view employees’ original supporting documents—not photocopies, not e-mailed pictures, not images over Zoom or Skype. So how can an employer comply with this requirement...

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Storytelling: Amplify Learning for Effective Employee Training

by Natasha NicholsonOn September 9, 2022 0 comments

You may know that stories are a great way to convey complex messages. But did you know they are also a powerful way to make employee training especially effective?

That’s because stories can break down barriers to create meaningful connections with the listener. And by artfully weaving in related activities, the memorable aspect of storytelling can be further enhanced to reinforce a learner's ability to retain new knowledge. Here are some steps you can take to effectively include exceptional storytelling in a way that amplifies learning to create an immersive...

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