Joseph Fung

Joseph Fung is co-founder and CEO of TribeHR, pioneer of the industry’s first social HR platform and headquartered in Boston and Waterloo, Ontario. Connect with him at joseph@tribehr.com.

Articles by Joseph Fung

HR Management

Is Office Radio Music to HR’s Ears?

by on May 16, 2013, 12:20 PM  |  1 comment
Photo by istockphoto.com

Open office layouts, like them or not, are here to stay.

While there are many benefits to having a shared collaborative environment (frequent communication, more effective use of space, etc.), it’s not all sunshine and roses.

For all their faults, walls, doors and cubicles are excellent sound barriers. They cut out distractions and work to keep your private conversations private. But not all noise is the same. Some sounds — like music — are meant to be shared.

Unfortunately for country music and hip-hop aficionados, not everyone has the same taste in music. When you’re in a closed environment, this doesn’t matter: you can blast Britney Spears all day, and no one will stop you. Read more…

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HR Management

Smart Device Policies: If HR Doesn’t Insist on Them, Nobody Else Will

by on May 9, 2013, 10:22 AM  |  No comments yet
Smartphone

Last week I got a call from a telemarketer.

I field dozens of calls from salespeople and potential business partners every week, so this in itself wasn’t an exciting occurrence.

What was interesting, however, was the complete misalignment between the centralized IT purchasing services the gentleman on the phone wanted me to invest in, and the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies I promote to my team.

This got me thinking. Not about BYOD in and of itself — I’m a fan, and its benefits have been covered extensively, including most recently here on TLNT by Michelle Smith — but rather about who is responsible for advocating for it. Read more…

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Culture, Talent Management

Exercising Your Workplace Culture: Does Fitness Have a Place?

by on May 2, 2013, 10:20 AM  |  2 Comments
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What does wading through mud pits or running a grueling half-marathon sound like to you?

If you’re like a growing number of companies, the answer is “team bonding.”

Fitness events like mud runs, bike trips, and other sporting challenges are increasingly common in businesses of all sizes, as companies work to increase employee engagement through teamwork, while simultaneously promoting healthy lifestyles and wellness for their workers.

For some employees, however, participation is a luxury that’s far out of reach. What happens if other commitments, different abilities, or varied interests keep some of your team from participating? Is physical exercise the best way, or will it work to marginalize some of your staff? Read more…

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Talent Management

Should Businesses Change to Better Accommodate Millennials?

by on Apr 25, 2013, 9:13 AM  |  1 comment
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Generation Y (also known as Millennials) can seem like a bit of an enigma.

They were still tweens when American Idol first aired, they cringed (and secretly cheered) when Justin Bieber found fame using YouTube, and they grew up alongside Mark Zuckerberg as he went from baby-faced student to billionaire.

Gen Y grew up with messages from society telling them to work hard, because “you can change the future.” The dream for this latest batch of fresh faces to enter the talent pool is distinctly different from that of previous generations. Read more…

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HR Management

Out-of-Office Messages: Self Manage, Micromanage, or Just Leave it to HR?

by on Apr 18, 2013, 9:10 AM  |  No comments yet
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Every week in even the smallest organizations, countless automated messages are being sent to your employees, your partners, your customers, your sales prospects, and your job candidates.

In most cases, marketing hasn’t designed them, legal hasn’t vetted them, and IT wants nothing to do with them.

I want to focus on this forgotten task, the ubiquitous but unacknowledged, the haphazardly thrown together moments before leaving for the beach, the accidentally left to operate for three weeks too long, and the totally off-brand and riddled with spelling mistakes.

Yes, it’s about out-of-office email auto-responders. Read more…

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Culture, Talent Management

Blue Jeans in the Boardroom: When is it Time for a Company Dress Code?

by on Apr 11, 2013, 10:20 AM  |  No comments yet
From www.istockphoto.com

Blue jeans in the office? Sneakers in the boardroom?

How much should you tolerate before you start cracking down on your employees’ casual clothing?

The answer, I would argue, is a lot.

In most industries, you don’t select employees based on their good looks or great style. In most industries, you hire the best person for the job, and do everything you can to have them work as hard as they can for as long as they can without burning out.

Casual dress is an easy way to encourage this. Read more…

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Culture, Talent Management

The Annual Employee Retreat: Best Practice or Worst Decision?

by on Apr 4, 2013, 10:15 AM  |  No comments yet
Companyretreat

Are company retreats a good idea?

Ask yourself: Does it really make sense to pack up your team and their gear, ship them off to a hotel somewhere nice, and spend a few days developing a long-term vision, cranking out a new product, or getting to know each other better without outside distractions?

Or, would it make more sense to save your money, spend a little more on the perks you know your team enjoys, and focus on building a stable, scalable, in-it-for-the-long-haul company culture?

Let’s take a look at both sides of this issue. Read more…

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HR Management, Talent Management

Does March Madness Always Have to Mean Workplace Madness?

by on Mar 28, 2013, 11:25 AM  |  No comments yet
madness1

We all have our passions, and sometimes they can get away from us.

When I was in college, I launched a business that consumed so much of my time that it took me three extra years to graduate. I’m thrilled with the outcome, but it doesn’t always pay to get carried away.

We’ve all had employees whose personal passions sometimes interfere with their passion for work. Whether it’s fine wine or video games, fast driving or family, the distractions are typically minor and rarely make a major impact on an employee’s work.

But what happens when a passion is so all-consuming, so pervasive, and so condensed into just a few weeks, that it’s literally all some people can think about? For many Americans, that’s what happens during March Madness. Read more…

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Culture, HR Management

Swearing in the Office: It’s the Workplace’s Four-Letter Word Dilemma

by on Mar 21, 2013, 8:10 AM  |  4 Comments
© giz - Fotolia.com

Workplace taboos have changed dramatically over the years.

In the Mad Men era, the idea of working from home was laughable. And forget gender equity or open office plans. You were toast if you showed up a few minutes late or tried to speak openly in a meeting, but drinking and smoking while working were pervasive.

Society has changed and so, of course, has work.

Many offices now offer flexible work arrangements — that is, unless you’re Yahoo. We champion the idea of open communications, and encourage workers to be themselves. We want them to take their unique strengths and put them to work, not all try to be the same cookie-cutter, 9–5 worker. Read more…

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HR Technology, Recruiting and Staffing

Is Facebook’s Graph Search the Future of Social Recruiting?

by on Jan 25, 2013, 7:00 AM  |  No comments yet
graphsearch

When Facebook announced the launch of Graph Search last week, there was a lot of commentary on how it signaled the social network’s move into Google’s traditional search territory.

It was called payback for the search engine’s (third) foray into social networking, with the 2011 launch of Google+. But it’s more than that. With Graph Search, Mark Zuckerberg and company have created a lot of buzz in the staffing and HR industry.

Are they taking on LinkedIn? Zuckerberg himself noted during the press conference that the tool holds promise for recruiters. Read more…

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