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elastic

What Is an Elastic Workforce?

The need for staff flexibility has always been prevalent, as demand is rarely static year-round. But the pandemic has brought this idea to the forefront. How can organizations cope when demand suddenly falls off a cliff and then surges again a few months later?

The ‘You’ve-Been-Accused-of-Harassment’ Talk

When harassment accusations arise in the workplace, what you say or—sometimes even more importantly—what you don’t say can make the difference between problem resolution and a lawsuit, says attorney Julie A. Moore. Oftentimes, the initial reaction of the manager is to ignore the situation, hoping it will improve on its own. That’s not going to […]

employee

The Dangers of Becoming Too Close to Your Employees

There’s an old expression that says, “It’s lonely at the top.” If we picture a company’s management structure as a pyramid, with the seniority of the staff increasing as one moves up the pyramid, we can see how this makes sense.

communication

What’s Breaking Communication in Your Workplace?

How much does poor communication cost organizations? A 2011 study that surveyed nearly 400 companies with over 100,000 employees each pegged this figure at $62.4 million per organization per year. The annual productivity losses owing to poor communication were estimated to be $26,041 for each worker in the organizations.

Dave Ulrich: Teaching HR the Language of the C-Suite

BLR’s popular podcast, HR Works, recently featured an interview with Dave Ulrich, the man some call the “father of modern HR.” He and his colleagues have a new book out that can help HR leaders in a practical and research-based way. The book is Victory through Organization, Why the War for Talent is failing Your […]

Attrition

Identifying Attrition Risk

Finding, recruiting, and keeping top talent are how the country’s best companies stay ahead of the competition. Observers talk a lot about the time, effort, and thought companies put into finding and recruiting top talent, but there usually isn’t enough focus on keeping top talent.

Disgruntled employees: What are the risks, what are the remedies?

HR professionals know the tips and tricks to keep from making bad hires. There’s never any certainty, but smart professionals armed with strong interviewing skills and solid job descriptions stand a better than good chance of weeding out bad hires on the front end. But what does the savvy HR pro do about “bad quits” […]

training

Why Now Is the Time to Invest in People

You could say that many companies failed to focus on the right things during the Great Recession of 2008–09, as the unemployment rolls swelled and the jobs market seemed to favor employers, not jobseekers. Employers mistakenly took for granted their position of strength during the economic downturn and struggled to deploy strategies to retain certain […]

hole

If You Have ‘Actively Disengaged’ Employees, It’s Costing You Dearly

When it comes to employee engagement, there’s no shortage of information online about how to measure and improve engagement levels. But perhaps less talked about is the fact that an employee who is not a fully engaged employee may not simply be indifferent. There are different types of disengagement, ranging from mere indifference to active […]

Get involved or steer clear? What’s HR to do when complaints roll in?

Ahh, the human resources department. The place where compassionate, friendly people solve problems in the workplace. A place filled with intelligent professionals uniquely qualified to turn conflict into comfort. Or maybe that’s not what the HR department should be at all. Maybe HR should empower others to handle certain workplace issues on their own rather […]