Employee Relations

For employees to get ahead, learning beats burning the midnight oil

09/05/2016

Are those employees who come in early, stay late and work superhuman hours charting the quickest path to an illustrious career?

Can a manager ask, ‘Is everything OK at home?’

09/02/2016

Q. If an employee makes four mistakes in a short period of time, can the employer ask, ‘Is everything OK at home?’ This person does office work, not factory, so it’s not a safety issue.

3 online tools for grabbing instant feedback

08/29/2016

Don’t just guess at which benefits your employees want or where they’d like to hold the holiday party this year. Several free web-based survey tools let HR instantly take the pulse of their employees.

Consistent discipline stands up in court

08/24/2016

Employers that consistently enforce their rules fare best when they are sued over alleged discriminatory discipline.

What to do when older workers start to coast

08/23/2016

When employees approach retirement, they sometimes go on autopilot. They may think there’s no way their employer will fire them at their age, assuming management will fear an age discrimination lawsuit. Such sudden drops in productivity can frustrate everyone involved, including co-workers and supervisors.

4 questions to ask before you issue a write-up

08/21/2016

They’re potential lightning rods for employee anger and potential legal landmines. Before you discipline an employee in writing, ask yourself these questions.

Spot warning signs of chronic absenteeism

08/21/2016

Chronic absenteeism is a chronic drain on the bottom line. Typically, the direct and indirect costs associated with absenteeism eat up 5% to 17% of an organization’s total payroll. Top brass is probably looking at HR for solutions.

Build a foundation of trust

08/19/2016

Building trust is a lot like building a house of cards: It takes a long time to create, but doesn’t take long for it to come tumbling down. A broken promise or betrayed confidence can erode trust very quickly.

Pokémon Go away! Get gamers back to work

08/16/2016

If you don’t have a policy that governs workplace gaming, now is a good time to establish one.

Rosy reviews: 99% of bureaucrats are good at their jobs!

08/12/2016

A new U.S. Government Accountability Office study of performance reviews found that 99% of federal government employees were rated as being good at their jobs, and almost two-thirds do “outstanding” work.