SHRM Blog

SOPA & PIPA: Coordinated Advocacy

by Michael Layman On January 23, 2012 0 comments

Social media sites Wikipedia and Google held a blackout day on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 to highlight their opposition to the "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA) and the "Protect Intellectual Property Act" (PIPA) bills in Congress. Wikipedia claimed that over 162 million people saw the blackout message on its website. One day later on January 19, the unofficial vote ledger switched from 80 members of Congress supporting SOPA/PIPA and 31 opposing to 65 supporting and 101 opposing it. This was a net loss of 85 votes for the SOPA/PIPA advocates in only one day!

How did...

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What Makes P&G Great

by John BellOn January 23, 2012 0 comments

I could talk about their brands, their global clout, their sales growth or their stock market value. Not today. The mystical factor that distinguishes Procter & Gamble from everyone else is people. From 1837 to the present, P&G people have been the company’s sustainable success factor. To many in the consumer packaged goods industry, this isn’t an epiphany. But what is it that makes the people at P&G stand out from the rest?

1. The character of P&G can be summed up in one word – Exploration. Throughout its history, P&G has exemplified...

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The Challenges and Rewards of Recruiting Gen Y

by Matt CharneyOn January 20, 2012 0 comments

The first thing you should know about recruiting Generation Y? According to pioneering generational researchers William Strauss and Neil Howe, workers born between 1982-2000 actually prefer to be called Millennials.

That nuance illustrates the essential element to recruiting and attracting the best Millennial talent -- effective communications that speak to and understand their language and values.

Millennials and Social Media Use

While it’s no secret that communication is increasingly facilitated by social tools and technologies, social networking is particularly relevant for Millennials.

According to the Pew Internet Foundation’s 2010 Future of the Internet...

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Creating Our Own HR Standards

by Amanda Benedict On January 19, 2012 0 comments

As 2011 draws to a close and a new year begins, SHRM is pleased to report that the global HR standards initiative has not only successfully launched but also continues to gather steam across the world. As of the end of December, there are 13 participating countries and 19 observing countries from around the globe that are involved with ISO Technical Committee 260 for Human Resource Management. Additional countries are expected to join the effort in 2012. This assembled body will propose and develop global standards for topics within the purview of HR.

Why do...

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HR Advocacy: Help Shape the Workplace

by Lisa HornOn January 18, 2012 0 comments

Numerous employment, labor and employee benefit laws regulate the American workplace. Human resource professionals conduct business daily within this framework. But what if HR professionals helped shape these very laws and regulations?

Given HR’s unique knowledge and experience of implementing these laws within their organizations, wouldn’t their influence make for better HR public policy? The answer is unequivocally YES, which is why the role of an HR Advocate is so important.

But what does being an HR ADVOCATE entail? Consider these key elements of the job:

Activism

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Why Do Companies Go Green?

by Steve BatesOn January 13, 2012 0 comments

What’s more important? Looking good or doing good?

An increasing number of businesses are responding: Why not do both?

Recent articles, including a McKinsey & Co. global survey report and a column in The Economist, have laid out the advantages that many organizations seek, and some organizations find, when they commit to environmentally friendly and sustainable practices. There are a variety of approaches to sustainability, and some of them depend upon the industry in which the company competes. For example, companies in the energy, transportation and extractive (or mining) industries have a greater incentive to be environmentally...

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Washington Wrap: SHRM's 'Top 8' List for 2011

by SHRM StaffOn January 13, 2012 0 comments

Between now and New Year’s Eve, just about everyone — from late-night comedy show hosts and newspaper editorial boards, to individual families — will be compiling their Top 10 lists for 2011. SHRM’s Government Affairs Team has taken a slightly different approach and compiled its Top 8 list of HR public policy accomplishments for this past year.

As Thomas Jefferson once said, “America is not governed by the majority, but by the majority of those who participate.” 2011 saw a huge uptick in the level of advocacy engagement...

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Jobs Blog: A Silver Lining Behind the Dark Clouds?

by Joe CoombsOn January 12, 2012 0 comments

2011 will not be remembered as a hallmark of post-recession job creation, but there’s some hope hidden beneath the gloomy headlines kicking off 2012.

It’s easy to forget that job growth is a lagging economic indicator. This is what lends to the frustration so many of us have when we keep hearing that consumers are spending more, that corporations are raking in record-level profits and that there’s little fear that the economy will slide back into a recession.

We want a good jobs report, and...

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HR Professionals Target for Workplace Bullying

by Beth MirzaOn January 11, 2012 0 comments

A side effect of HR professionals taking on more leading, visible roles in business could be becoming the target of workplace bullies.

More than 30 percent of HR professionals responding to a survey in the summer of 2011 said they had been bullied at work—about the same rate as other employees responding to recent surveys. But over half of the bullied HR professionals said they felt that the abuse was related to their role as an HR practitioner. (See Study Probes Bullying of HR Professionals, SHRM Online.)

“Because the role of HR has increasingly become less...

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How Mentoring Can Save Even the Most Downtrodden Managers

by Ann TardyOn January 10, 2012 0 comments

Mentoring Saved Best Buy’s Future President

Brian Dunn started with Best Buy in 1985 selling VCRs, but his first day was so bad that he wanted to quit. He confessed to his store manager that it had been a “lousy experience.” At that the manager invited Brian to come in on Saturday morning and he would personally teach Brian how he operated on the sales floor when he was in Brian’s position. The manager mentored Brian. In doing so, he cleared the way for Brian to not only be good at his job, but to love it....

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