Articles tagged 'HR communications'

Culture, Recruiting and Staffing

Is There a Gap Between Your Culture and Your Recruiting Practices?

by on May 15, 2012, 12:10 PM  |  1 comment
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Is there a gap between your recruiting practices and your culture?

In today’s economy, even organizations of modest scope can expect many willing and qualified applicants for every open position. So if your small to mid-sized company is hiring, you may think you’re sitting pretty, and you may be tempted to snap up candidates who appear most qualified by reason of their resumes.

A word of caution: in bringing talented performers in the door, you shouldn’t forget the workplace environment into which you’re releasing them. No matter how impressive a candidate’s background and apparent qualifications, a mismatch with your corporate culture can turn a seemingly stellar candidate into a sullen short-timer or, worse, a disgruntled naysayer. Read more…

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Benefits, HR News & Trends

Many Offering Health Benefits to Same-Sex Couples Ahead of Laws

by on May 15, 2012, 11:10 AM  |  No comments yet
Photo illustration by istockphoto.com

President Obama’s pronouncement last week in favor of same-sex marriage has no legal effect on employers’ decisions on whether to offer benefits to workers’ domestic partners, but some advocates believe it could reinforce a decade-long trend toward coverage.

Last year, 52 percent of all employers offered domestic partner health benefits, with the percentage varying widely by region and industry, according to a nationally representative sample of about 3,000 employers surveyed by benefit consultant Mercer. That’s up from 31 percent in 2010.

The biggest factors driving that change are employers’ views on whether such benefits help them attract and retain desirable workers. Read more…

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HR News & Trends, Legal Issues

That Was Fast: Court Voids NLRB “Quickie” Union-Election Rules

by on May 15, 2012, 10:25 AM  |  No comments yet
NLRB

By Eric B. Meyer

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is hot!

How hot is the Chamber? Hotter than Paris Hilton humming an 80′s Buster Poindexter tune. (Actually, she abandoned her trademark exclamation “That’s Hot!” for “That’s Huge!”).

I teased it two weeks ago, the day after the NLRB’s election rules took effect, when I posted that the new rules may get derailed. Well, that’s what happened yesterday as a District of Columbia federal court ruled that the National Labor Relations Board lacked authority to implement its new “quickie” election rules. This on the heels of the Chamber winning an injunction against the NLRB’s union-rights poster requirement. Read more…

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HR News & Trends, Talent Management

Relax – You’ll Never, Ever be Asked For a Facebook Password

by on May 15, 2012, 8:35 AM  |  5 Comments
Facebookpasswords

It’s one of the hottest and long-standing recent HR stories.

In March, the Associated Press reported on several job seekers being asked their Facebook passwords. Then, it spread like wildfire. New Jersey, among others, introduced a bill to ban the practice.

Relax. You’ll never be asked for your Facebook password when you apply for a job. Here’s why: Read more…

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HR News & Trends, Talent Management

Future of Workplace Flexibility: It’s About Recruiting & Retaining Women

by on May 14, 2012, 12:15 PM  |  No comments yet
WomeninBusiness

To recruit and retain women. A measly 1 percent. That’s it.

When 1,226 employers were asked in a recent survey what their primary reasons were for developing workplace flexibility, caregiving leaves and dependent care initiatives, recruiting and retaining women was last on the list. Dead last.

Granted, retaining employees in general came in at 37 percent, followed by helping employees manage work and family life better at 16 percent, and third was improving morale at 12 percent (neck and neck with “mandated by law” at 12 percent, of course). Read more…

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Talent Management

The Most Important Conversation? It’s Sure Not the Performance Review

by on May 14, 2012, 11:15 AM  |  6 Comments
Performance reviews

It’s a lesson I learned while I was working toward an MBA: the most powerful business lessons aren’t the stories of success, but the stories of failure.

Yes, as good as it is to hear about Herb Kelleher and how he built the great workforce culture at Southwest Airlines, I got a lot more out of studying “Chainsaw” Al Dunlap and all the bad stuff he did while systematically tearing down companies (like Sunbeam) and their culture.

This is also true of business wisdom; I always learn a lot more from the bad advice I see popping up from so many so-called experts who have curious notions about what really matters when it comes to managing people and leading a workforce. Read more…

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Legal Issues

Make Sure You Read This if You’re Hiring Minors This Summer

by on May 14, 2012, 10:30 AM  |  No comments yet
Hiring11

By John E. Thompson

Employers who will be hiring minors under 18 years-old should review in advance the federal Fair Labor Standards Act‘s prohibitions and restrictions applying to those workers.

It is always important to observe these requirements strictly, and the U.S. Department of Labor will not hesitate to impose civil money penalties when it finds violations. In recent months, for example, the DOL has assessed penalties of approximately: Read more…

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Rewards & Recognition

Hiring Wisdom: Simple Things You Can Do to Engage & Motivate Employees

by on May 14, 2012, 9:28 AM  |  Comments Off
wisdom22

Some of these things cost no money at all, just a little time and effort.

  • Open and frequent communications to build trust (never lie or color the truth).
  • On-the-Spot Rewards and Recognition programs – which ANYONE can give to another employee for a special reason (the other employee addresses and solves a problem that is not their responsibility to fix). Read more…
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HR News & Trends, Legal Issues

U.S. Senate Now Has Its Own Facebook Password Protection Bill

by on May 14, 2012, 8:36 AM  |  No comments yet
123RF Stock Photo

By Eric B. Meyer

Well, that didn’t take long.

Late last month, I reported on a bill that had been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, known as the Social Networking Online Protection Act (SNOPA), that would prohibit employers, schools, and universities from requiring someone to provide a user name, password or other access to online content.

Now, it’s the U.S. Senate’s turn to get in on the act with its own password bill. Plus, after the jump, I’ll have an update on similar legislation winding its way to Gov. Chris Christie in New Jersey… Read more…

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HR News & Trends

Weekly Wrap: Survey Shows What is Driving the Internet Generation

by on May 11, 2012, 1:25 PM  |  No comments yet
I

Every generation develops their own sensibilities about work and life, and it is one of the things that makes things interesting. After all, if we all thought the same way, life would be pretty dull, wouldn’t it?

That’s why I enjoy surveys like this one from Adecco, the recruiting and workplace solutions company, that tries to capture “a snapshot of the latest generation of 22-26 year-old recent graduates with a four-year degree who are entering today’s workforce.”

Labeled as Generation I — which seems to be defined as the generation of people born after the advent AND rise of the Internet — these graduates supposedly “have a secure understanding of who they are and what they want – and they aren’t willing to compromise.”

Well, it remains to see how long that lasts, but even if it is somewhat overstated, the survey helps to give us some perspective about where the newest members of our workforce are coming from. Read more…

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