Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
For everyone who interviews applicants, there is a long list of pitfalls, but surely some of the most challenging and confusing to avoid are those relating to interviewing applicants with disabilities. Determining just what is a disability has always been a challenge, but recent court rulings indicate that the focus should be on the accommodation […]
Many of us have worked in a workplace that didn’t talk openly about pay. Employees didn’t want to disclose their salaries for fear their peers would think they were over- or underpaid, and employers were more than happy to keep quiet. (Some even issued gag orders.) All that is changing—fast. New laws from bellwether states […]
If you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ve undoubtedly heard about what is now being called “Bridgegate.” (I, for one, am tired of “gate” getting added to every controversy and scandal, but I’ll leave that rant for another day.) ‘Time for Traffic Problems’ It seems that one of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s top […]
The virtues and values of an organization are tested during key events—for example, how new hires are onboarded, how they are treated when they need time off, and how they are supported when they are let go. These moments express the true spirit of an organization, and one HR professional refers to them as “moments […]
Soft skills are related to how individuals act, interact, react, and more and are often considered components of one’s personality. However, they can be learned or improved upon, though doing so isn’t as simple as with hard skills, and include things like resilience, communication, emotional intelligence, and more. Employers have always looked for soft skills […]
At one point, very early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, the assumption of many was that traditional work life would essentially return to normal once the pandemic had subsided. In other words, there would essentially be a blip in the persistent normal way of doing things: a pre-COVID “normal”; a temporary COVID-era remote period; and […]
A focus on individual experience as a primary means of determining the right candidate might just be a big mistake.
Employee training is a major activity in many organizations—and for good reason. Regardless of new hires’ credentials upon joining an organization, training helps ensure their work meets company standards and expectations.
When I ask direct supervisors who their employees go to for assistance about a health condition in the workplace, they’re quick to say, “Me! My employees know they can come to me with anything.” While it may be true that direct supervisors have a good relationship with their employees, it can often be challenging or […]
Trying to avoid cold and flu in the workplace has reached desperate levels, as nearly half of people surveyed would give up a vacation day to a sick worker to ensure they don’t bring illness to the workplace, according to the seventh annual cold and flu season survey from Staples.