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Workplace Dress Code Policies: What Issues Must They Address?

There’s nothing casual about drafting a dress code policy. An August 22 BLR audio conference will tell you how to create one that’s both legal and workable. More than a decade ago, business began to implement the dress code policy of “Casual Friday.” Employers back then felt that loosening the rigid standards of past years […]

Performance Appraisals: Do’s and Don’ts from the Real World

Makris, senior counsel at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, and Rhoma Young of the HR consulting firm Rhoma Young & Associates offered tips for ensuring that performance appraisals are used legally and effectively. Their suggestions came in a recent BLR®/HR Hero® audio conference. From a legal perspective, performance appraisals are important because they can help defend […]

gamification

Up Your Productivity with Gamification

According to a 2015 Gallup poll, only 31.5% of U.S. workers are engaged in their jobs—less than one-half. The good news is, gamification has gone mainstream, and the trend is moving upward as Millennials are becoming a more dominant force in the workplace. In 2030, they will count for 75% of the workforce.

EEOC sharing employers’ position statements with charging parties

by Leslie Silverman Employers should be aware that the position statements they submit to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) are now far more likely to end up in the hands of the employees who filed those charges and their attorneys. The agency has instructed all of its 53 field offices to release respondents’ position […]

Improve Your Reference Checking and Break Through the “Stone Wall of Silence”

Reference checking an applicant’s past can make today’s hiring decision easier … but to get past a former employer’s rendition of “name, rank, and serial number,” you need some “breakthrough” strategies. Here they are: It’s been said that “the answers to all questions of today reside in the past.” While not true about everything, this […]

Leadership Lessons from the Great Communicator

If you are like me and are interested in politics, you know Ronald Reagan was considered the “Great Communicator.” His effectiveness as a communicator was often credited to his career in radio, television, and movies. His detractors often said of his oratory skills, “He’s just up there acting.” But to me, Reagan’s effectiveness as a […]

Boss

Rooting out bullying a necessary step in promoting diversity

Employers looking to advance diversity in the workplace often focus on recruiting diverse groups of potential employees, but recruiting is just one part of the process. Those recruiting efforts won’t be effective if management is blind to a culture that condones workplace bullying.  October is a time when attention turns to bullying in a variety […]

12 Tips to Engage Employees in Safety Training

Hold formal safety meetings on a regular basis. Supplement those meetings with brief, informal sessions. Keep meetings to a reasonable length. Plan well in advance and have an agenda for each meeting. Make sure you have full management support for training efforts. Bring in managers from other parts of the facility and outside experts to […]