Articles tagged 'Best practices'

OSHA Cranks Up Its Focus on Safety for Temporary Employees

by Edwin G. Foulke Jr. on Jun 11, 2013, 11:37 AM | No comments yet

By Ed Foulke

In a recent memorandum from the national office to its Regional Administrators, OSHA set forth new issues that Compliance Officers should examine when they inspect work sites where temporary employees are working.

The information to be documented includes determining whether the employees are exposed to conditions in violation of OSHA rules or other safety and health hazards and whether the employees received safety and health training “in a language and vocabulary they understand” as well as the supervising structure under which the temporary employees are reporting (i.e. who is supervising the temporary employees at the work sites). Read more…

Talent Management

Show Me the Money: The Bottom Line Impact of Employee Engagement

by Reese Haydon on Jun 11, 2013, 10:25 AM | 4 Comments

Employee engagement seems to be the buzzword constantly reverberating throughout the global HR arena. But is it legitimate?

I mean, really, does it matter if employees are engaged? Are organizations with engaged employees any better off?

And I’m not talking about employees being better off emotionally (no one cares about that). I mean does the company have a stronger financial performance and operational efficiency with engaged employees? If not, then employee engagement is just another time-wasting hoax for executives to deal with until the HR department comes up with a bigger-and-better distraction to throw their way. Read more…

HR Insights, HR Management

Big Data: Too Much Too Fast Can Get Too Creepy For Employees

by Ann Bares on Jun 11, 2013, 8:27 AM | No comments yet

The era of Big Data, and the technology and tools that accompany it, have opened the doors to new ways of designing and managing how we reward employees.

No longer must we treat our workforce as one big homogeneous mass. Now we can gather and analyze the data necessary to understand every individual’s needs, values and preferences – and tailor our offerings accordingly.

Much in the same way that Big Data has paved the way for marketing departments to customize their pitches and offerings to consumers.

It’s all good, right? Read more…

HR Technology

Are You Getting on Top of the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Debate?

by Lance Haun on Jun 10, 2013, 11:37 AM | No comments yet

Bring your own device (or BYOD) is all the rage.

Device policy and administration is beyond my pay grade. For that, you can talk to Steve Boese.

What I can tell you is that there are a couple schools of thought when it comes to thinking about employee wants and technology from the HR perspective: Read more…

HR Insights

Following Your Career GPS: Recalculating to Keep Yourself on Track

by Ron Thomas on Jun 10, 2013, 10:25 AM | No comments yet

Recalculating, make a right at the next light. Recalculating, make a left at the next intersection.

With GPS in a car, there is no need to get lost anymore. I now live in Saudi Arabia, and of all the items that I brought over, my Google Maps app is something I never leave the house without.

Try following direction and the entire street markings are in Arabic. So if I am looking for Exit 8 this is how the signs look: ٨مخرج

Sometimes, our careers can be like traveling in a foreign country. We get lost, we make the wrong turn, and sometimes end up in a destination that is far from our original target. Read more…

Recruiting and Staffing

Hiring Wisdom: How Performance Reviews Help With Structured Interviews

by Mel Kleiman on Jun 10, 2013, 9:12 AM | No comments yet

If you have a performance review form, you have a structured interview form

And, if you have a GREAT performance review form, you also have a GREAT structured interview form because:

The purpose of the performance review form is to gain a shared understanding of how well the employee is meeting agreed to goals and objectives as well as company standards. (It’s also an opportunity to explore the person’s strengths, challenges, and interests as well as set new goals.) Read more…

HR Insights, Training & Development

What the IRS Spending Mess Shows: Nobody Gives a Hoot About Training

by Crystal Spraggins on Jun 10, 2013, 8:08 AM | No comments yet

The IRS saga continues, with the latest news being that two IRS administrators have been suspended for accepting free food and other gifts during a 2010 conference in Anaheim, California.

Yes, that’s right. Free food.

Hmmm …

Raise your hand if you think these two are being scapegoated because of all the bad press surrounding the $4.1 million the IRS spent on this three-day conference. Read more…

Culture, Talent Management

Want Business Impact? Just Balance Employee Happiness and Performance

by Derek Irvine on Jun 10, 2013, 7:00 AM | 2 Comments

Last week I shared insight from Eventbrite Co-Founder and President Julia Hartz on the importance of helping employees understand how they personally and individually contribute to achieving the company vision.

In the same interview, Ms. Hartz also tackled a subject I’ve seen more and more in the last few months – should happy employees be our goal? Shouldn’t we, as a business, be focused on performance and results?

I like how Eventbrite arrived at the answer.

In Ms. Hartz’s words: Read more…

HR Insights

How to Be Superb at What You Do

by Laura Stack on Jun 7, 2013, 10:20 AM | No comments yet

“Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em, ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.” — Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States.

Competence. These three syllables mean everything in business, art, and industry alike, embodying as they do an individual’s overall capability as a practitioner of their chosen field.

Like the older terms “able seaman” or “journeyman,” competence signifies an individual’s capacity to handle all aspects of a particular job, and even in our overhyped world remains something to be proud of. Read more…

HR News & Trends

Virginia Cab Company Gets a $10 Million Employment Screening Lesson

by Nick Fishman on Jun 7, 2013, 9:07 AM | No comments yet

Here’s a real head-scratcher: Imagine that you are an employer (LOL, if you’re reading this blog, you probably are), and you get the following criminal rap sheet on a prospective employee.

Failure to obey a traffic signal, 2007
Speeding, 2009
Failure to pay attention, 2012 Read more…