A new workplace survey by CIGNA Behavioral Health points to mounting economic and world tensions that have led many American workers to contemplate significant changes in their lives. With retirement nest eggs cracking, job security waning, and terrorist threats still on the radar screen, employees are facing stresses that are...
A reduction-in-force RIF is one area in which companies commonly make a bad situation worse. In fact, effectively conducting RIFs is an area for which a significant "knowing-doing gap" exists. In other words, there is an abundance of available information to help us effectively conduct and RIF, but many companies...
The slowdown in our economy has lulled employers into complacency, Too Many Jobs, Too Few People. As the economy heats up, many employers will not be able to hire enough people to get the work done as their current employees leave for greener pastures—and take the expertise and knowledge with...
The article describes that by taking the lead to leverage HR technology and build a higher-performing workforce, HR can create and sustain a competitive advantage for any organization. Using this approach will also enable HR to take its rightful place at the corporate strategic table. This transformational imperative cannot, however,...
The article describes that a basic rule of thumb in interviewing is to focus on job requirements,” says Josh Black, an attorney with law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn and Ferris, and he advised that interviewers “use caution” around questions that elicit information about protected classes. Black spoke at the second...
The article says that many HR managers know that employee referral programs—systems in which employees are rewarded for recommending their friends and neighbors as candidates for employment—are very cost-effective recruiting methods. They may also know new hires referred from in house stay on the job longer than the average recruit....
Even employers that have had to go through mass layoffs during the economic slump find that they still have hiring needs because the demands of their business situations are ever changing. Yesterday’s business criteria are likely to be obsolete as an organization strives to remain competitive and meet tomorrow’s business...
In this economy, people are forced to accept jobs that are not the best fit for them. Once the economy turns around, these people may quit and go elsewhere. What can companies do to keep good employees? Retention begins on the first day on the job. The key is to...
Making physical modifications within the existing work environment is a healthy start on making the workplace more accommodating for future employees who may have disabilities. Even though employers are not required to make workplace changes until an accommodation is actually necessary, they do have an obligation under Title I of...
Making physical modifications within the existing work environment is a healthy start on making the workplace more accommodating for future employees who may have disabilities. Even though employers are not required to make workplace changes until an accommodation is actually necessary, they do have an obligation under Title I of...
Crafting lasting solutions to workers' comp problems will require a return to the core reason compensation is provided to injured workers: as a bridge to make ends meet until they are able to return to work. Workers' compensation problems are making headlines. Behind those headlines are real problems: injured men...
No amount of training can “change” our personalities. Why, then, are personalities tests a part of many executive assessments and developmental programs these days? No amount of training can “change” our personalities. The answer may lie in the power of self-awareness—a commodity that some would-be fast trackers have in short...
Employers prefer to receive resumes from job hunters electronically rather than in hard copy format, according to the respondents of a new survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers NACE. Employers are always searching for ways to become more efficient Accepting resumes through electronic means allows them...
The article says that Faking" is probably the biggest apprehension that employers have about using personality tests during the hiring process. These concerns are well founded. Job applicants are confronted by more tests all the time. They are motivated to “pass the test” and come closer to a job offer....
Legal experts predict another tough year for employers and employees, with increases in employment-related lawsuits in the wake of continued layoffs. Hundreds of the world’s leading employment and labor law experts think continued workforce cuts, accompanied by a flood of wrongful practice allegations, will be the hottest workplace-related legal issues....
If they are mathematically sound, legally defensible, and predictive of a person’s job performance—is it any surprise that personality tests are more and more a part of hiring? No one knows for sure how many employers use tests, but the number is growing, according to professionals in the field of...
At a recent Society for Human Resource Management SHRM conference, California consultant Mike Deblieux gave a talk called “HR for New and Solo Practitioners.” Suggesting that the individual is probably charged with HR responsibilities for a firm with between 50 and 150 employees, he listed the top 10 areas of...
An employee who was the subject of a workplace prank that was sexual in nature could not show that a subsequent adverse employment action—a poor performance review that resulted in denial of an expected raise—was in retaliation for her complaint about the harassing episode. That was the decision of the...
Increasing workplace safety and security during a time of crisis is the purpose of The American Society of Safety Engineers' ASSE crisis checklist. ASSE emphasizes that it is not a one-size-fits-all solution, but believes the checklist can provide useful guidance. ASSE says that in addition to communicating to employees that...
This case study by the employee benefits consulting firm Watson Wyatt World finds that large employers that typically pay more than half their retirees’ medical expenses will be paying less than 10 percent by 2031. Read the article to know why the retiree health benefits are said to be at...
