Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
by Dan Oswald A football coach in Utah recently went to great lengths to make sure his players understand the importance of high-school athletics—that is, he suspended almost the entire team because they were skipping class, had poor grades, and were even participating in bullying a fellow student. The coach, Matt Labrum, had his priorities […]
by Dan Oswald Penn State University found itself at the center of another controversy when it told faculty and employees they must participate in the school’s new wellness program or have $100 withheld from their paychecks every month. The wellness program, which required employees to fill out an online wellness profile and visit a doctor […]
by Dan Oswald If you read the Harvard Business Review, you might have noticed a recent article proclaiming “The New Employer-Employee Compact.” The article, like all the other articles and books written on the subject, reminds us that the days of lifelong employment with a single company are over. (Thanks for that news flash!) Then […]
by Dan Oswald As a manager, you’re tasked with finding and evaluating talent. You need to know which people will fit on your team. You must determine who has the right skill set to make the necessary contributions. And you must decide what blend of talent and personalities will allow the team to achieve its […]
by Dan Oswald I was traveling last week and had tossed a couple of recent copies of Harvard Business Review (HBR) into my briefcase before leaving home. So on the plane, I dutifully grabbed the April issue and was greeted by a cover that said, “We Studied 25,453 Companies over 44 Years to Find the […]
When I was 12 years old, my family moved from Milwaukee to a small town in Iowa. How small? Well, we didn’t have a McDonald’s or even a single traffic light. On our first day in town, my brother, who was and continues to be a year younger than I, walked four blocks with me […]
Over the weekend, an adaptation of The Wizard of Oz was released. If you’re like me, you grew up watching the 1939 classic. The new film got me thinking about those wonderful characters created by L. Frank Baum. There’s the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and of course Dorothy. Each one is etched […]
It’s always good to remember that people are people. In our society, we tend to put people on a pedestal. Athletes, actors, musicians, and even business executives are revered and idolized. Consider how Michael Jordan, George Clooney, Elvis Presley, and Steve Jobs are perceived. Elvis—only his first name is necessary—is still the second best-selling artist […]
There is a lot written about the advantages of chemistry and great company culture, but what really are those things? A company is a social organization with rules that govern the relationships between people and among groups. There is a division of activity, and there is agreement regarding certain obligations of the various parties. This […]
There’s a very powerful scene from the first episode of the television series The Newsroom, which debuted on HBO last year. In the scene, the news anchor, played by Jeff Daniels, is a member of a panel that sits before a large auditorium filled with adults of various ages. A young woman from the crowd […]