Month: October 2009

Use Star Profile to Avoid Peter Principle Promotions

Author Jathan Janove says he’s had a ringside seat for innumerable employee/employer battles that led down a path of frustrated desires and expectations. To make that relationship work better, he developed the “Star Profile.” Janove developed the “Star Profile” to provide a basis for mutual understanding between direct reports and their supervisors. One of its […]

15 Rules for Writing Tight Job Descriptions

In yesterday’s Advisor, we covered the first 4 common job description mistakes; today we’ll cover number 5, and introduce an elegant solution to your job description challenges Mistake #5: Forgetting Format, Organization, and Grammar (Click here for Mistakes 1 to 4) To achieve the two primary goals of job description writing—accuracy and brevity—you must check […]

Workers’ Comp Throws Its ‘Employer’ Nets Wide

A British Columbia Court of Appeal decision has worrisome implications for companies that control elements of the operations of subcontractors or franchisees. Although it was about a franchise situation in B.C., it could have repercussions in other provinces and other business relationships. What happened In 2005, there was a robbery of a Petro-Canada service station. […]

Hot List: Bestselling “Organizational Behavior” books on Amazon.com

Amazon.com updates its list of the bestselling books every hour. Here is a snapshot of what is hot right now, this Monday morning, October 19, in the “Organizational Behavior” section of the “Business and Investing” category. 1. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni. The author targets group behavior in […]

Celebrating Halloween in a diverse workplace

Allowing your employees to celebrate Halloween can be a fun experience and a great way to promote motivation and engagement. If you don’t plan ahead, however, you could be in for some scary results. Probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Halloween is costumes, and many offices allow employees to […]

Mandatory Diversity Training Counterproductive

According to a study led by University of Arizona sociologist Alexandra Kalev, mandatory diversity training may do more harm than good while voluntary training designed to advance the company’s business goals pays off in increased diversity in management. The study examined 31 years of data from 830 midsize to large U.S. workplaces and found that […]

Bathroom Etiquette Should Not Influence Hiring

By Robert P. Tinnin, Jr. Q: This morning I interviewed an applicant for a clerical position in our company. She appeared to be an attractive, personable young woman and was very engaging during the interview. However, I soon learned that “she” is really a “he,” at least anatomically. She told me she is preparing to […]

Supreme Court Makes Pivotal ADEA Decision

By Natalie Ramsey In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court recently rejected the mixed-motive framework for disparate treatment claims filed under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). In reaching this pivotal decision, the Court made it clear that the analysis for age discrimination isn’t subject to the one-size-fits-all mixed-motive analysis applied in Title […]

Top 5 Job Description Mistakes

Job descriptions—just the thought brings tears to your eyes. Yet job descriptions are central to hiring, compensation, and appraisal (not to mention avoiding lawsuits). Today, BLR editors reveal the top 5 mistakes managers make with job descriptions. One key to getting them done right is to give someone responsibility—and put it in his or her […]

7 Steps to Starting an Investigation in the Workplace

When an employee complains that a supervisor or co-worker is harassing or bullying them, or engaged in discriminatory or other illegal conduct, an investigation is often required to resolve the matter. However, few managers are trained in how to conduct them. Speaking at BLR’s National Employment Law Update this week in Las Vegas, Attorney Rebecca […]