Articles tagged 'HR management'

Great Things Result When You Refuse to Accept Excuses

by Mel Kleiman on Jun 17, 2013, 9:12 AM | No comments yet

Excuses can seem like perfectly plausible reasons for not doing something you said you’d do, but over time, if no one calls you on them, they can be habit-forming.

And accepting excuses from employees is a surefire way to encourage repetition of the behavior as well as to demoralize staffers who do meet their commitments.

Do you think it matters to a customer that you have “a good excuse” for the rude behavior of the customer service rep? Does it make it okay with your client that you have “a good excuse” for missing the delivery date? Read more…

HR Insights

Your Team Will Thank Your Contribution When You Find Your Authentic Voice

by Ron Thomas on Jun 17, 2013, 8:08 AM | No comments yet

“I just sat in the room in awe. All these senior writers, and here I was. I did not speak because I had not found my voice.”

That statement was from Mitchell Hurwitz, the creator of Arrested Development, speaking about his first big break into the TV business as a writer. He had joined the TV series The Golden Girls, working with a writing team of grizzled veterans. It was his first big break into comedy writing.

I was intrigued by his quote. Everyone struggles to find that voice where we speak from a platform of knowledge and authority. How many times have you sat in a meeting and just did not feel comfortable putting your two cents into the discussion? But over a period of time we usually feel that, yes, we do have something to say. Read more…

Talent Management

Are Your Talent Management Programs Simply Popularity Contests?

by Carol Anderson on Jun 17, 2013, 7:00 AM | No comments yet

Leafing through a recent HR Magazine, I noticed (well, couldn’t miss) a full page advertisement for employee recognition programs.

Nothing unusual about that, right? It is a compelling ad, in that there is 25 percent of a face – an amalgamation of the Terminator and Men in Black – next to the words “employee recognition helps your team feel like Hollywood Heavyweights … whether to get a 24-hour personal bodyguard will be up to them.”

The premise is that these are your star performers that you are recognizing. Quite an innovative ad. Perhaps an outstanding program; I don’t know. Read more…

HR News & Trends

SHRM Chicago 1: Here’s What I Didn’t Get to Hear From Hillary Clinton

by John Hollon on Jun 16, 2013, 5:12 PM | 4 Comments

As someone who has been to a number of SHRM national conferences, take it from me that the opening general session of the Society for Human Resource Management’s 65th annual Conference & Exhibition here in Chicago on Sunday was probably the oddest of them all.

And how odd was it, you might ask? Let me count the ways.

The media was banned from the opening session for the first time in my 10 years attending these SHRM events. I’m told it was a demand of Hillary Clinton, and that she does this all the time when speaking to groups like SHRM. It makes me wonder: does banning the media work when you’re talking to, oh, a small, intimate crowd in the neighborhood of 12,000 people? As one person tweeted, “Everyone in this room has a camera phone and Facebook. You can’t stop the free and unfiltered press at #shrm13.” Read more…

HR News & Trends

Weekly Wrap: Survey Finds 1/4 of Bosses Just Want Workers to Go – Now

by John Hollon on Jun 14, 2013, 12:10 PM | No comments yet

It should be no big surprise that there are employees in this world who fall out of favor with their boss.

It should also come as no great surprise that frequently, the boss would like such employees to take a hike and go ply their trade somewhere else — usually as soon as possible.

So, that’s why the only really surprising thing about this latest CareerBuilder survey about boss-employee relationships is that it found that only “27 percent of bosses have a current direct report that they would like to see leave their company.”

What? Only 27 percent? That’s it? Geez, I’ve worked for people who seemingly would have liked to see 90 percent of the people working for them take a hike. Read more…

HR News & Trends, HR Technology

Pre-SHRM Outlook: How the Future of HCM Is Being Shaped

by Lance Haun on Jun 14, 2013, 11:00 AM | No comments yet

For those in HR heading to the big SHRM annual conference in Chicago next week, there’s a lot going on in just a few days.

Having been to a few of these shows (as a speaker, practitioner, and press), there are informational sessions and networking opportunities galore. And while I may share my former colleague’s affinity for having the conference somewhere other than Chicago, one thing is certain: The Windy City is a great place to have a good time after hours.

Of course, these days I’m a bit more focused on what’s happening on the trade show floor. And SHRM has a big one. Even a casual stroll through the entire exhibit hall can take a few hours. Read more…

Talent Management

How NOT to Do 360 Degree Feedback, From a Train Wreck of a TV Show

by Charles Rogel on Jun 14, 2013, 10:15 AM | No comments yet

I (regrettably) saw a clip the other night of the new FOX reality TV show called Does Somebody Have to Go?

It’s essentially an office-based reality show that “empowers” employees to weed out the bad workers in the company.

In part of the episode, all of the employees were interviewed individually on camera, and asked to share their thoughts on other employees and their performance. Later, all of the employees in the office gathered to watch selected clips from the interviews.

Not surprisingly, these clips show each of them saying negative things about each other. Then the drama begins … Read more…

HR News & Trends, Rewards & Recognition

Top Employee Recognition Goals: How Many Does Your Company Embrace?

by Derek Irvine on Jun 14, 2013, 8:00 AM | No comments yet

WorldatWork just released its 2013 Trends in Employee Recognition report.

The timing is ideal, as earlier this week I blogged about the importance of behavior-based recognition and WorldatWork’s press release about the new report proclaims: “For the first time in the survey’s 11-year history, programs to motivate specific behavior jumped to a top-tier goal, cited by 41 percent of organizations in 2013 vs. 25 percent in 2008.”

Indeed, four of the top five recognition goals for organizations across industries are the focus of strategic, social employee recognition programs. Read more…

Benefits, Talent Management

The Challenges You Face When Giving a Job Title Instead of Pay

by E. James (Jim) Brennan on Jun 14, 2013, 7:00 AM | No comments yet

Job titles are frequently seen as cheap alternatives to real compensation.

Every HR executive knows that many a challenge can be prevented with the proper timely endowment of a fancier title. The reality, of course, is that awarding a new job title as a form of compensation in lieu of cash can create new and different problems:

A promotional increase is demanded;
The wrong messages are sent
Discrimination claims result; Read more…

HR News & Trends, Recruiting and Staffing

Survey Shows 4-Year High in Employer Hiring Confidence

by Mark Toth on Jun 13, 2013, 12:25 PM | No comments yet

U.S. employers report a boost in confidence as the percentage of employers planning to add staff reaches a four-year high, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.

Here’s a handy info graphic titled Where the Jobs Are. It offers a snapshot of data and trends from the survey, including key state and metro-specific outlooks, along with an industry forecast.

Highlights

The seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook for Q2 2013 is +12 percent, up a point from Q2 and slightly up from + 11 percent during the same period last year. Read more…