Month: February 2013

The price of leadership

As I write this, it’s Super Bowl Sunday, and tens of millions of viewers will be tuning in to watch the big game tonight. In fact, I heard this morning that 177 million people watched last year’s game. For most of us, our team’s season is over. With 32 teams in the NFL, there’s only […]

Flextime Innovations, Impacts, and Challenges

Yesterday’s Advisor offered insights into flextime successes from DOL’s website; today, more about flex in financial organizations, plus an introduction to the all-HR-in-one website, HR.BLR.com. Who Has Access to Flex Options? In the financial services companies questioned, professional-level and non-exempt staff usually have access to the same array of both regular flexible work arrangements (including […]

Flex Report: Innovations, Impacts, and Challenges

Who Has Access to Flex Options? In the financial services companies questioned, professional-level and non-exempt staff usually have access to the same array of both regular flexible work arrangements (including flextime, telework, compressed workweeks, and part time) and occasional flexibility (shifting work hours on a daily basis or just occasionally, occasional work at home, and […]

Don’t Overlook Introverts in Your Training Prospects

Lawyer-turned-author Susan Cain admits she’s an introvert and has encountered some challenges because of it. But she firmly believes that introverts have important contributions to make to U.S. business that employers usually aren’t aware of. That’s because employers have been trained, says Cain, to seek out extroverts. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World […]

You Could Get Sued for Lack of Adequate Training

In the case of Freitick v. SMS Rail Lines, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania had to determine whether the company was negligent and, if so, whether negligence caused the employee’s injuries. In addition, the court had to decide whether the employee knew before the accident that he was required to […]

Could You Get Sued for Not Providing Adequate Training?

A worker, who was not wearing work gloves when he was injured, sued his employer, claiming that the employer did not instruct him that wearing leather gloves was a mandatory safety precaution. The employee started working for SMS Rail Lines in February 2006 as a boom truck operator and railroad track laborer. As required, he […]

Have You Been Trained to Seek Out Extroverts?

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking is Cain’s most recent book (Crown, 2012). In it, she describes the rise of extroverts, in what she calls “the culture of personality.” She refers to earlier examples, like Dale Carnegie, but her most compelling example is the Harvard Business School (HBS), where, […]

Benefit Savings Available—Hold PBMs to a Higher Standard

Haas and his colleagues sought a way to get drug costs down for clients. They peered beneath the surface and didn’t like what they found. From Purely Transactional to Cost Management Pharmacy Benefits Management programs (PBMs) started out in a purely administrative role, Haas says, helping to process retail pharmacy transactions and manage prices of […]

Real-World Flex—DOL’s Report from the Field

You may access the website here: http://www.dol.gov/odep/workplaceflexibility/ How Does Your Organization Rate? Where does your organization sit on the “flex spectrum”? This Corporate Voices for Working Families graphic helps you see where you stand: The Flexibility Spectrum No Current Use of Flexibility No flexible work options currently being used ↓ Individual Accommodations Special arrangements or […]

Social media policies vs NLRB: Where does conflict arise?

Social media policies may seem like an odd choice for investigation by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). However, the two have become increasingly intertwined because the NLRB has become very aggressive with social media policies in recent years. The NLRB is particularly concerned with any policies and disciplinary actions that infringe on employees’ rights […]