Tag: Best Practices

Best Practices for Employee Handbook Revisions

With the turn of the new year and various state employment laws taking effect on January 1, 2025, many employers are revising their employee handbooks. In drafting and revising employee handbooks, they’re often faced with an important decision: Should they offer a minimalistic, bare-bones handbook; a lengthy and nearly exhaustive handbook; or something in the […]

‘Coffee Badgers’ Thwarting RTO Plans? Here Are Some Tips

Remote work saved the day during the COVID-19 pandemic, but now many employers—even those that initially embraced fully remote or hybrid work—are calling their people back to the office, triggering a cleverly named fad: “coffee badging.” What Is Coffee Badging? Some high-profile employers are getting pushback from employees who are unhappy with return-to-office (RTO) policies […]

Know Your Rights When ICE Arrives at Your Workplace

During the first Trump administration, employers saw increased activity by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the workplace, and it looks like employers will see similar action over the next four years. The president resumed and intensified deportation efforts in his return to office. That announcement has sparked a wide range of reactions from […]

Make Your Feedback Concrete

We all either give or receive feedback on work performance. While we say it’s important, we don’t always treat it as important. It often devolves into barroom generalities, personality-based observations, or negative stereotypes. My eyes were opened by a very actionable article published on November 1, 2024, in the Harvard Business Review titled “High Performers […]

Take Steps to Mitigate AI Risks in HR

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), nearly 8% of employers use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to make employment decisions. The prevalence of AI technology in the employment arena shouldn’t surprise HR professionals with long to-do lists. AI can assist with résumé reviews, training, and employee evaluations. While AI can be a powerful tool, it can […]

Beware of Union-Organizing Pitfalls

On October 14, 2024, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced that the number of union organizing petitions filed from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024, increased nearly 30% from the same period the year before and more than doubled from the same period in 2021. Why Have Union Certification Petitions Increased? A significant […]

‘Rethinking’ Training: Consider a Cognitive Spin

I just finished reading Magic Words: What to Say to Get Your Way, by Jonah Berger, a marketing professor at the Wharton School of Business. It’s especially useful to HR professionals, who are often tasked with training duties and helping improve employee performance. Here are three training gems Berger offers. Gem #1: Leverage the Power […]

Good Job Interview? Here’s How to Help Seal the Deal!

Great interview! This is the job for you! Now what? Be strategic and thoughtful, as Art Markman suggests in his insightful article “4 Ways to Follow Up After a Job Interview,” published on November 5, 2020, in the Harvard Business Review. Four Options Always remember that your focus must be on the person who interviewed […]

Tackle This Simpler HR Checklist in the New Year

New Year’s resolutions: Be they professional or personal, simplistic or life-altering, the beginning of the year affords a fantastic—albeit arbitrary—opportunity to effectuate change. Whatever. I’m not great about keeping New Year’s resolutions. I make them. Usually. Sort of. Sometimes I even pick them back up mid-year, but usually they go dormant long before it warms […]

Best of Learning & Development 2024

At the end of the day, employees are a company’s biggest asset. Learning & Development initiatives are just one of many ways to help bring out your workers’ potential. LinkedIn found that 83% of organizations want to build a people-first culture, and 81% of L&D departments are helping to make that happen. In the first days of […]