SHRM Blog

Sports recruiting is an intense industry.  Scouts spend years following hopeful athletes in high school and college.  If a talent scout represents a well-known school or professional organization the number of prospects that they may be able to recruit are considerably larger than those that represent lesser known or lesser performing institutions.  For example, in the state of Kentucky recruiting for University of Kentucky is significantly different than recruiting for Western Kentucky University.  The University of Kentucky has the ability to attract higher performer high school students than WKU based on the basketball programs performance.

What happens when...

I was reading this Third Circuit decision yesterday about an employee who got demoted for sleeping on the job, and all I could think of was Homer Simpson. For not unlike Homer J., a nuclear safety technician, this employee was responsible for monitoring his plant's equipment to prevent malfunctions that could result in explosions, property damage, injuries, and fatalities. Except, unlike Homer, the former employee was allegedly found sleeping on the floor of his office, with a pillow, blankets, and an alarm clock nearby. Now that's what I call an all-out Costanza! All that's missing here...

"Globally linked virtual teams will transform every government and company in the world. Any of our peers who don’t do it won’t survive."

-John Chambers, CEO, Cisco
 

Rising travel costs, coupled with the global dispersion of talent, are just some of the reasons that organizations have migrted toward telecommuting and virtual work.  While numerous organizations have made significant investments in virtual teams and the technology to support them, a surprising number of virtual teams are not reaching their full potential.
 
OnPoint Consulting surveyed 48 virtual teams across industries...

Poorly run meetings start in the wrong place and end up rushed before they’re done.

Right place: Leave inconsequential items for the end. Deal with big items at the beginning. I’m tempted to check off a few quick agenda items before digging into the meat of meetings. It’s seductive but ineffective and inefficient.

Don’t prioritize insignificant agenda items by placing them first.

Starting with insignificant issues raises their significance. Trivial items frequently take longer than expected. Additionally, you’re wasting your best moments on least important issues.

Better to rush through less consequential items – at the...