No one wants to think about layoffs right around the holidays, but for some companies, it's just reality. Take Novartis for example. After a decade of phenomenal growth, the company is now "battling with delays in product launches, a lack of innovation in its pipeline and increasing competition from generics."...
Federal labor inspectors found 43 CVS stores changed employee timecards and violated child labor laws. It's not quite a Gap in India scenario, but still, policy was clearly ignored. The department found that CVS violated the law governing how many hours and how late minors can work, and also allowed 78 minors, aged...
It can be frustrating for an English-speaking customer to deal with an employee who struggles with the language. However, companies generally see the value in having bilingual employees on-staff to address the many consumers who haven't mastered English. But what does any of that have to do with conversations between...
Considering only 25 percent of employees are truly engaged by their work -- and if you believe 80 percent of the work is done by 20 percent of people -- that leaves a lot of employees either going through the motions or otherwise underachieving. Managers are no exception. ...
Since we just posted a blog on innovation management and the organizational changes digitalization and globalization require, it seems appropriate to link to a series of myths about change management. Viral Change TM first listed 15 myths, and has been responding to each myth, one by one, in a series of posts dating...
Gary Hamel and Lowell Bryan offer similar perspectives on the future role of management in their respective books, "The Future of Management" and "Mobilizing Minds" (co-authored by Claudia Joyce). Each calls for organizational change so managers an direct employees with the same innovative energy that is devoted to product development -- minimizing complexity and harnessing every...
A high turnover rate can be devastating for a company; it's expensive, draining for those left behind who have to pick up the slack, and frustrating for customers and clients who've developed relationships with the fallen soldiers on your staff. The Wall Street Journal online offers the key to employee retention...
A while back, we cited research that suggests companies should adopt a less rigid approach to handling absenteeism since juggling work and life responsibilities can be challenging. General Motors agrees work/life balance programs are important -- for salaried employees, that is -- but thinks harsh measures are necessary to combat the industry-wide absenteeism issue...
Bad deals happen to good people. Perhaps your company responded to industry changes with a good-on-paper strategy that failed to be transformational. Maybe some of the big guns made decisions based on high-up relationships but failed to foster the integration of corporate cultures. Or maybe conducting due diligence became more about...
According to Training Magazine's Annual Salary Survey, average trainer salaries reached $81,940 this year; not a huge increase from last year's $81,489 , but still an increase. Executive-level pay, hit $131,704, an 18.2 percent increase from 2006. Salaries for IT training managers -- if you're not one you...
It's not yet Friday, but the weekend's almost here. That makes it a perfect time for just a little levity, courtesy of Forbes. Remember: even if your job gets tough, you never have to clean up blood, wax a man's back, or "stimulate" a bull. (If you do, you may...
How do you know where to draw the line when it comes to accommodating religion in the workplace? If clients are offended by a pentagram-wearing Pagan employee, can you ask her to keep the symbol hidden? If a worker objects to working on the weekends because of the Sabbath (as...
Wal-Mart's struggling to grow market share and increase stock value, and according to Business Week and retail consultant Patricia Pao, poor customer service is to blame. The obvious explanation is that employees just don't care because they're not compensated enough to do so (which creates a vicious cycle; weakened employee morale...
Chevron's new global corporate image campaign, "The Power of Energy" may aggravate people with its overarching heart-string pulling. (Shot documentary-style with "an earnest voice-over" by indie actor Campbell Scott, the commercials should be dramatic. One of the spots even features a double amputee as a symbol of "the greatest source of energy in the...
When the Bush administration first amended FLSA laws, employers reconsidered how to classify workers to ensure compliance with "white collar" exemption regulations (who gets overtime and who doesn't). Apparently, all that classifying didn't do a lot of good because an alarming number of workers are suing for overtime pay at the...
How often do you give out atta-boys throughout the work day? Most likely, you don't get enough of them yourself. Research from the US Department of Labor indicates 64 percent of working Americans leave their jobs because they don't feel appreciated. According to global research firm The Gallup Organization, 70...
Would you hire a candidate who handed you a beer in an interview? That's exactly what one new-to-Second Life avatar did intending to hand over his resume during a TMP Worldwide virtual job fair. There's a lot of hype about virtual recruiting; it allows candidates to release physical insecurities, create appealing and...
Would you say that seeking, getting, and adapting to a job promotion is more challenging than grieving? How about raising a teenager or getting divorced? According to a Development Dimensions International study, although excited by the prospect of moving up, many managers feel underprepared for the increased responsibility and afraid of failure. Only...
Gartner Dataquest estimates that 12 million US employees currently telecommute more than 8 hours per week, up from 6 million in 2000, and that number's expected to reach 14 million within two years. For employees, teleworking more apropos since it implies actual work being done offers a sense of freedom and...
You're taking off a week to go to Hawaii or Paris -- or maybe you're just schlepping it over to small town, Missouri to visit family -- and you tell your employees you'll be unreachable for the week. Come Wednesday you start wondering if that important report got processed. So you...
