Month: August 2013

Making sure promotion decision isn’t discriminatory is no laughing matter

It’s not easy deciding who is right for a job. Employers have to study a candidate’s qualifications, education, experience, demeanor, and more. But sometimes the decision comes down to the little things—even a person’s laugh. The question an employer must consider is whether such a seemingly small factor poses any legal risk. Current employee wants […]

Health Reform Action to Correct 30-hour week Unlikely Before 2015

Congressional aides from both chambers of Congress and both parties said they do not expect immediate action on changing health care reform’s 30-hour a week definition of a full-time workers, or on banning “skinny” health plans that do not cover major categories of health benefits. The staffers predicted that even if enrollment is lower than […]

OT and Social Media—‘Please Sue Me’

Yesterday’s  Advisor featured Hunter “Please Sue Me” Lott on HR and wage/hour challenges. Today, his tips for a social media policy, one more wage/hour nightmare, and an introduction to the HR audit guide that helps you find problems before the feds do.

5 More Strategies for Succession Planning

“Succession planning is critical for an organization’s long-term success, yet it’s a task that’s often overlooked,” says John Reed, senior executive director of Robert Half Technology. “By taking proactive steps to identify and develop future leaders, a manager’s departure is a workable issue instead of an imminent crisis,” Reed said in a press release. Reed […]

The Build-or-Buy Decision for Talent Managers

One of the most frequent and important questions in talent management is “build or buy,” says consultant Ron Katz. That is, should you build talent (develop an internal candidate) or buy (go outside the organization for the candidate). There will be a cost associated with either choice, says Katz, who made his comments at BLR’s […]

3 Things that Say, ‘Please Sue Me’

Still have exit interviews, probationary periods, and sick leave? asks popular speaker Hunter “Please Sue Me” Lott. If you have those, get rid of them, he says. The exit interview was invented by HR, Lott says, and it suggests that our philosophy is, “Let’s spend our time with the crummy employees.” Stop that, says Lott. […]

social media

The Social Media ‘Spliff’ Up

In yet another case of an employee slipping up on social media, a repair shop worker recently sent out a tweet asking for drugs—a spliff to be specific—while at work. How did his employer find out? The cops! After seeing the tweet, the York Regional Police responded with “Can we come too?” Awesome! Can we […]

When Your Hammer Is Your Screwdriver—Talent Management

To do that, sometimes you have to use a hammer as a screwdriver, he says. Katz made his comments at BLR’s Strategic Leadership HR Summit, held recently in Scottsdale, Arizona. Katz is president of Penguin Human Resource Consulting LLC. When Is a Hammer a Screwdriver? Katz shows a picture of a hammer and asks, “What’s […]