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Faces of HR: How One HR Pro Navigates the Muddy Waters of HR to Create Positive Possibilities

Although Cassandra Margolin has worked in the HR industry for nearly a decade, she didn’t find her true passion for the field until five years ago. At the time, she was working for high growth, quickly scaling, start-up tech companies. According to Margolin, her growth was slow and steady until she segued into the tech […]

Key Employee: If I Take FMLA, I’m Fired???

Special from the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, Las Vegas If you are a designated key employee, you may not be able to return to work after FMLA leave, but your leave can’t be denied, says attorney Stacie Caraway, who covered key FMLA topics atBLR’s Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, held recently in Las Vegas. While you […]

Take control of your time in five minutes or less

by Dan Oswald We live in a world where everything moves fast and is interconnected. There was a time when 20 miles may have represented an entire day’s journey. Now we can travel that distance in less than 20 minutes. And information moves even faster. We learn about things that are occurring halfway around the […]

appreciate

Revisiting Your Recognition System? 5 Psychological Pitfalls to Avoid

If you’re reevaluating your employee recognition system, you’re not alone. Many HR leaders are confronting a hard truth: the traditional models of praise and reward aren’t landing the way they used to—or worse, they’re demotivating the very people they were meant to inspire. As a social psychologist, I’ve spent my career studying emotional needs, motivation, […]

Head-in-the-Sand Management, Dead-in-the-Water Defense

A Cautionary Tale—How Many Zeros? One juror explained the simple system his jury had used to determine the amount of punitive damages they would award: they started with one dollar, and added a zero for each thing they thought the employer had done wrong. The total added up pretty fast. How do employers get into […]

Is Your Check Culture Light On?

There is a lot of talk surrounding company culture, which is important. A company’s culture is the revving engine behind any successful organization. Keeping with the motor metaphor, companies like to discuss what type of “engine” they want powering their car. They carefully craft and tinker these “engines,” and once they’re done, they shut the […]

The Return

LITIGATION VALUE: $300,000+ Thank god for damage caps. No matter how well intentioned, throwing a “welcome back” party for your Mexican-American employee by decorating the break room with piñatas, paper sombreros and streamers in the colors of the Mexican flag is not a good idea. Ever. Under no set of circumstances. Sure, Michael (and the […]

emoji

Don’t Make That Face at Me!

Are you guilty of using emoji in work communications? I must confess, being a Millennial, I’ve used the smiley face in plenty of work-related e-mails and plenty of work e-mails that go out to other professionals not in this company. My rule of thumb is if someone else uses it first, that person won’t think […]

expectations

How to Maximize the Impact of Performance Appraisals

Many companies struggle with performance reviews. Modern performance appraisal methods typically consist of scheduled interviews, compensation discussions, and self-evaluation. When necessary, reviewers also offer ways for underperforming employees to improve.

What HR Pros Must Know About the Newest Healthcare Crisis: Postpartum Depression

As many as 20% of employees experiencing pregnancy and childbirth will also endure the debilitating—and potentially life-threatening—impact of postpartum depression (PPD). Even more concerning is that the 2020 pandemic is amplifying the challenges of PPD as new parents try to cope with the stress of isolation from family and friends, the fear of contracting COVID-19 and […]