Archives

Are Your Employee Development Training Programs Award Worthy?

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America has received recognition both for its strong commitment to employee development and to the financial literacy of youths in the Minneapolis area. Employee development “Allianz Life is committed to the well-being and professional development of our employees; they are the key to our success,” president and CEO Walter […]

Can You Forbid Discussions of Salary and Pay?

It’s all part of NLRB’s new expansive view of its role. For insights about the overly aggressive NLRB and the recent court decision concerning the legitimacy of President Obama’s recess appointments, we spoke with Patricia Trainor, BLR’s senior managing editor, HR. “There’s a very interesting situation at the NLRB now: A court has ruled that […]

Play-or-pay factor: Affordability safe harbors

By Martin Simon If an employer covered by the Affordable Care Act play-or-pay requirements decides to play by providing health insurance coverage, it could still be hit with penalties if the coverage is “unaffordable.” Coverage is unaffordable if one or more of the employer’s full-time employees receives a premium tax credit because he or she […]

10 Persuasion-Killing Phrases You Should Never Use

Whether you’re making a formal request, wooing an applicant, or proposing an idea, the wrong phrase can ruin your pitch, says author Darlene Price. She offers 10 phrases that kill any hope of success. Price is the author of recently published Well Said! Presentations and Conversations That Get Results. Of course, you’ve got to know […]

EEOC Takes Aggressive Pill from NLRB

We’ve been writing about a newly aggressive NLRB, and now here comes the EEOC. EEOC.gov’s home page now features lawsuit summaries that close with an appeal for wronged applicants or employees to contact the agency and, presumably, join the class of litigants. Here are three typical pleas from eeoc.gov: Texas Roadhouse Litigation “The EEOC has […]

What’s Your (Workplace) Sign?

Think back to the last project you worked on. Now picture your team members. More than likely, your coworkers had different work styles. The question is: How can teams use different workplace personalities to help, not hurt, the collaboration process? An infographic by Mindjet®, a work management software firm, goes beyond the typical “Type A” […]

Are Chimps Better at Teamwork Than Your Employees?

As your managers ponder how to get often uncooperative employees to form productive teams, new research shows that it’s not their management style that’s to blame. It’s that the workers are humans. Research shows that chimps often show better teamwork! A series of trials by scientists found that chimpanzees not only coordinate actions with each […]

basketball

March Madness ‘Office Pool’ for Laid-Off Workers Lets Them Join in Fun

While laid-off workers really miss their paychecks and benefits, downsized employees are down about something else this time of year—missing the March Madness office pool.. However, outplacement solutions provider RiseSmart® is busy collecting brackets of participants in its second “RiseSmart Challenge,” an alternative program that serves as a fun way to help unemployed workers take […]

Employee depression and work accommodation Q&A

Dealing effectively with employees who have depression and work restrictions can be challenging. This is especially true when the doctor’s note implies that an accommodation is needed that seems unreasonable. What can an employer do? In a recent CER webinar, Patricia Eyres gave us some guidance on how employers can react in these situations. Here […]

SMART Goal-Setting—Key to Pay for Performance

Making Sense of Goals and Objectives Neelman offers the following suggestions for making goals and objectives truly helpful: Make performance management an important aspect of a manager’s evaluation. Limit evaluations to critical goals that employees can impact. Three to five goals is usually most appropriate. No more. Goals should enhance the employee’s performance in his […]