Category: Employee Relations

I’ve read lots of articles about HR professionals and their activities, but I’ve yet to find something that really gets at what it means to be good at this job, so I thought I’d give it a try and write something about it myself. I don’t know whether I’m right or wrong, it is solely […]

Part of our job as HR professionals is to make sure that employees feel they are part of an organization that’s interested in more than just the bottom line: an organization that gives back. They want to feel that together they’re doing something good for their communities, their cities, and the world. Keeping them engaged […]

Like with most things in life, competition can be great — in moderation. But the workplace has turned more competitive of late, with employees working longer hours, pursuing clients and projects more aggressively while vying for more limited positions. Although some competition can be healthy and can act as a good motivator, too much can […]

Most recruiters are professional networkers with masterful intuition and expert knowledge of legal matters. These are all praise-worthy skills, but what’s often missing is a background in numbers and statistics. This is not unique to recruiters — many professions require workers to be really good at certain skills while others languish. For instance, musicians are […]

You want your employees to get along, but what about when they really get along? Personal relationships at work create issues for HR departments everywhere. Whether it’s friendships or romantic entanglements, the interactions between employees can affect their productivity and the company dynamic as a whole. It’s important to realize and acknowledge how workplace relationships […]

Our whole lives we’ve been taught to “just show up”. Inspirational quotes like “Life is about showing up” have been instilled in us as children and teenagers. Throughout school, we are rewarded for attendance and penalized for absenteeism. That trend continues in college and in the workplace.  We understand absenteeism, but have you heard of […]

Gossip is all around us. If you watch American television, it seems that half of the popular shows are founded on the principle of gossip. TMZ is probably the biggest offender, but many other shows are also gossip-fueled. As humorist Erma Bombeck said, “Some say our national pastime is baseball. Not me. It’s gossip.” It […]

These days, it’s unlikely for people to make a career out of their first job, or even their second, third, or possibly a fourth job. In fact, as we’ve all seen first-hand, most people stay at a company for two to five years before moving on to the next opportunity. We know that this happens […]

In 2011, a CareerBuilder study of more than 5,600 workers found that 12 percent had no plans to take a vacation that year. The study also found that another 12 percent felt guilty about being on vacation and not at work, which explains why about 30 percent of workers who did go on vacation stayed […]

Ever take a job and later realize that your boss is a lousy communicator? Or, have you ever had an employee come to your office and complain about the lack of communication they are experiencing with their supervisor or manager? I bet you answered yes to at least one of those questions. And I can […]

Originally designed in the 1950s by a team in Hamburg, Germany, the open office layout was meant to facilitate communication between workers and foster the flow of new ideas. Since then, it has become so popular that reportedly nearly 70 percent of all offices in the U.S. now have an open layout. Companies redesigned their […]

The changes in U.S. Healthcare soon coming into effect are complex, and compliance is shaping up to be a huge job HR departments. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), signed into law by President Barack Obama in March 2010 and going into effect on January 1, 2015, is designed to expand access to […]