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Do You Encourage Employees to Use Up Vacation Time?

While it is not legally mandated for companies in the United States to provide vacation time for employees, many organizations still choose to do so. Yet, the statistics seem to show that U.S. employees rarely take all of the vacation time employers have promised, despite the fact that the average number of days provided is […]

You Saw What? At Work?

Some of our best HR Strange But True! articles didn’t come from the newspapers, but from our readers. Do you have a tale to tell? As an HR professional, we suspect that you have seen your fair share of odd events in the workplace, whether it’s a boss behaving badly, an awkward interview, or a […]

Supreme Court Ruling Raises Questions About Workplace DEI Efforts

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision against using race as a factor in college admissions doesn’t directly affect employers, but it’s sparking worries about a backlash aimed at efforts to increase diversity in the workplace. In a June 29 decision, the Court ruled 6-3 that admissions procedures at Harvard and the University of North Carolina violate […]

Performance Appraisals—10 Most Common Sins

Sin #1. Failure to set meaningful goals “Well, Sandy, I think we did fairly well this year, eh?” “Tracy, I was sort of hoping you’d make more progress this year.” Evaluation is difficult when there aren’t clear, measurable goals. Many experts recommend the S-M-A-R-T approach to setting goals. That means goals should be: Specific Measurable […]

wellness

Wellness Requires Communication, Feedback, and Incentives

In yesterday’s Advisor we looked at two tips for creating a culture of wellness at your organization by answering what employees want and what they need. Today we’ll look at three more tips including incentives, communication, and feedback.

Mental Health Days

You’ve probably heard the phrase “I’m taking a mental health day” and assumed it was employee slang for just needing to get away. While that is essentially what it means, it’s also a very legitimate use of paid time off and one employers should support and embrace. The Importance of Mental Health Breaks Mental health […]

EEOC’s Final Enforcement Guidance on Workplace Harassment Is Here

On April 29, 2024, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its final version of the Enforcement Guidance on Workplace Harassment to include developments “answering the call” of the #MeToo movement; the landmark Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia (which held the protections of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of […]

Does the ‘Praise in Public, Correct in Private’ Logic Apply to E-Mail?

Public shaming was once a legitimate means of sharing examples of undesirable behavior to the broader group. Whether it was branding an adulterer with a scarlet letter in puritanical times or the more recent practice of hardline managers who dress down underperforming employees in front of the team, the idea is that public correction or […]

Faces of HR: How Jennifer Martinez Champions DEI at Hanson Bridgett

Jennifer Martinez, Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer (CDEIO) at Hanson Bridgett LLP, is a driving force in the legal industry’s push for diversity, equity, inclusion, and opportunity. With a passion for both legal advocacy and social justice, she has dedicated her career to creating a more equitable workplace. As CDEIO, Martinez spearheads the firm’s […]

College Graduate? Now Start Learning

Oswald, CEO of BLR, offered his advice to his son in a recent edition of The Oswald Letter: My first thought was that I had the order of those two things reversed—that I should be providing him advice on life first and career second. The most precious things in life aren’t “things” at all—they’re people. […]