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HR Management, Talent Management

Going Beyond the Traditional: New Hire Talent Management Insights

by on Nov 30, 2010, 1:05 PM  |  No comments yet
HR Blog on TLNT: From the Energy Files

With the economy improving, there are pockets of employers hiring again. In order to help organizations assure their new employees are productive quickly, this installment of “From the Energy Files” tells a story about research focused on new hire energy in the first few months of employment.

Most of us probably remember those first weeks of a new job. It takes some time to start feeling really productive. Between the time to sign papework, get keys, obtain computers or other equipment, process email identity and meet new team members, there is a lag time between starting and becoming productive.

Tracking new hire energy is a way to assure the new hire process is as effective as possible. The goals of energy tracking are to determine how long it takes new hires in various parts of the organization to become productive and to make fast changes to assure new employees quickly ramp up to being productive. Read more…

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Benefits

If You Really Want it to Work, Stop Calling it a Wellness Program

by on Nov 30, 2010, 11:30 AM  |  2 Comments
From the HR blog on TLNT: workplace wellness

When I was on HR Happy Hour recently talking about workplace wellness, the first point I wanted to make was that we need to stop calling efforts to improve employee health a “program.”

Why? Because doing so narrows the scope and usefulness of what companies are trying to achieve and how successful they are –and creating a culture of wellness is the big-game hunting.

I could go all professorial on you about the difference between programs and cultures (finally putting my M.Ed. to some use), but that’s a tired approach. Suffice it to say, calling something a program is the kiss of death, especially when launched by HR. Read more…

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HR News & Trends, Legal Issues

The WikiLeaks Breach: A Wake-Up Call About Disgruntled Employees

by on Nov 30, 2010, 10:42 AM  |  1 comment
From the HR blog at TLNT.

By Michael R. Greco

If the recent WikiLeaks release of more than a quarter-million sensitive files is not a wake-up call to companies about the need to proactively protect confidential information, nothing is.

The lesson is clear. When it comes to protecting trade secrets, preventative measures are as important, if not more important, than remedial measures.

If you have not followed the details of the Wikileaks breach, the basic facts are these: Bradley Manning, a young Army private first class, is accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of classified diplomatic files and memos and feeding them to WikiLeaks, a website known for publishing anonymous submissions of sensitive data while attempting to preserve the anonymity of its contributors. Read more…

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Recruiting and Staffing, Talent Management

The Link Between Talent and Teamwork: Why is it So Undervalued?

by on Nov 30, 2010, 8:10 AM  |  11 Comments
From the HR blog at TLNT.

I’ve always thought that the impact of a single person on an organization is fleeting. Even extremely talented individuals have limited impact without a cast of supporting people, opportune circumstances, and even, yes, a little bit of luck.

And while talent is universally prized and sought after (how many more “A players” articles do we have to put up with?), picking people who work well together and who make others better is ignored. We select managers because they can figure out team dynamics, get around personal disputes, and get optimal results — but we don’t pick employees that way.

And nowhere is that more true than in professional team sports. There’s a common goal and it requires everyone working together to get them. While teamwork is emphasized in professional sports public relations campaigns, many teams ignore that and simply try to assemble the most talented roster of players. Rarely does this tactic work.

As talent professionals, we need to admit that sometimes you don’t need a purple squirrel (or a super-hero squirrel).

Read more…

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Benefits, HR Insights

Do You Know How to Talk to Senior Execs About Health Care Reform?

by on Nov 29, 2010, 11:45 AM  |  No comments yet
From the HR blog at TLNT. Photo by Dreamstime.

You’re on the third floor waiting for the elevator, on the way down to grab your morning cup of coffee. The elevator doors open and standing there is the CEO. It’s just the two of you in the elevator.

The CEO turns towards you and says, “Hey, I saw something on the news about free preventive services and health care reform, what are we doing about it?”

Would you know what to say?

As the benefits team, you already know it’s your job to inform and educate your employees and their families about the changes associated with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. But do you have something prepared for those run-ins with senior-level management? Read more…

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HR News & Trends

It’s Cyber Monday – Will You Let Your Employees Shop at Work?

by on Nov 29, 2010, 9:57 AM  |  2 Comments
From the HR blog at TLNT.

A year ago, in a different time and a different place (and a different blog), I asked this question: “Why do only a third of all workers plan to shop online while at work? Why not more?”

I asked it then, as I do again now, in reaction to the latest CareerBuilder survey that says that nearly one third of workers plan to shop online at work during this holiday season. They found that only 29 percent of workers “say they have holiday shopped online at work, on par with previous years,” and “of those planning to shop online this year, 27 percent will spend one hour or more.”

The survey was pegged to Cyber Monday – today – when the predictions are that 17 percent of Americans will buy online, and that 60 percent of the people doing so will do it from work. That’s just a fraction of the projected $32 billion that consumers are expected to spend online during November and December this year, but it still makes Cyber Monday the biggest single online shopping day of the year.

So, it brings me back to my question? Why do some companies still try to limit employees shopping online at work? Read more…

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HR Insights

A Thanksgiving Thought: Listen to Your Employees, They Have Answers

by on Nov 29, 2010, 8:07 AM  |  No comments yet
From the HR blog at TLNT. Photo by istockphoto.com.

Like a lot of you, Thanksgiving is a time for both thanks and family.

My family runs the gamut from senior citizens to Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y. My wife and I have two children, a son who is Gen X and a Gen Y daughter, a daughter-in-law, and a new granddaughter. My niece who is a regular at our home along with her boyfriend, are both Gen X. Her mother — my sister — just retired. At the top of the food chain is my mother-in-law, who also recently retired from the school system.

Being in the Boomer generation myself, I love the interaction with both these groups. Our routine is always stimulating conversations which always turns into a spirited discussion. These discussions run the gamut of topics from politics to current events.

One of the topics that stirred the pot this year centered around careers, engagement, and overall talk of jobs. I drove this conversation when I mentioned a recently published post on TLNT that talked about the level of engagement within companies today. I listened intently, probed, and probed some more to try and get better insight into their thinking and the culture of their respective employers. I did not offer any opinion, but just tried to keep the thread of the conversation on track. Read more…

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Benefits

It Will Take Teamwork to Navigate the Bumpy Road to Health Care Reform

by on Nov 26, 2010, 10:30 AM  |  1 comment
From the HR blog at TLNT.

If you haven’t taken the time to grab a cup of coffee with the folks at legal, or had lunch with your friends in accounting, now would be a good time.

Over the next eight years, your company will need to examine — and implement where needed — a significant number of provisions associated with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Everyone will have an important role to play in a long and complex process that is sure to test each department’s patience, flexibility, and maybe even sense of humor.

Whether all these departments are under one roof or whether you work with external vendors, the message is the same: The magnitude of work and uncertainty around it means you’ll need to work together like never before to ensure the new rules are incorporated with as few problems as possible. Read more…

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HR News & Trends, Recruiting and Staffing

Holiday Temp Staffing and the Seismic Shift In the Workplace

by on Nov 26, 2010, 8:15 AM  |  3 Comments
From the HR blog at TLNT. Photo illustration by istockphoto.com

If you’re out shopping today, there’s a good chance that the person helping you purchase your items or finding that deeply discounted item for you had a different, permanent job last year.

Even if you avoid all forms of in-person commerce in between Thanksgiving and New Years, like me, it is likely that the person fulfilling your order at an online retailer is in the same boat.

Temporary staffing has always been a mainstay of the holiday shopping experience. The convergence between the traditional holiday staffing issues, consumer behavior, and corporate balance sheets continues to leave many baffled about what 2011 and beyond holds for employment in this country. Read more…

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HR Technology, Legal Issues

SAP Ordered to Pay Oracle $1.3 Billion For Theft of Software and Documents

by on Nov 24, 2010, 12:52 PM  |  No comments yet
From the HR blog at TLNT.

By Michael R. Greco

If you had dismissed Oracle’s lawsuit against rival SAP as just one more squabble between giant IT competitors, you likely weren’t alone.

But yesterday afternoon, all that changed when a Northern California jury ordered SAP to pay Oracle a whopping $1.3 billion for theft of software and related documents. According to Oracle’s complaint, the case arose out of  ”a conspiracy by German software conglomerate SAP AG to engage in and cover up corporate theft of Oracle intellectual property on the grandest scale.” (A copy of Oracle’s Fourth Amended Complaint available in pdf format is available here.)

Before the trial even began, SAP admitted that TomorrowNow, a company it acquired in 2005, had illegally downloaded software and documents from Oracle through the use of a web scraper (a computer software that systematically extracts information from websites). Despite SAP admitting liability for its subsidiary’s conduct, the gap between the parties’ positions was tremendous. Read more…

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