Tag: workplace

toothpaste

The Toothpaste Can’t Go Back in the Tube: 6 Tips for Workplace Communication

I recently watched a preschool teacher deliver a message on “Words that Hurt.” The teacher creatively used a tube of toothpaste and a paper plate per student for this hands-on activity. I watched 12 small children eagerly squeeze the entire contents of a tube of toothpaste onto a paper plate, giggling as their plates filled […]

Employees Want These Three Things Most

HR pros are no doubt tired of hearing about the tight job market. But the hard truth is, it is tight. At roughly 4% unemployment, it’s a seller’s market when it comes to labor, and employers are rightly looking to do whatever they can to attract, hire, and retain the top talent—or, in some cases, […]

pot

New Vermont Pot Law: What Employers Need to Know

Soon, it will be legal in Vermont for people who are 21 or older to possess limited quantities of marijuana and marijuana plants. You may be wondering whether the new law affects your ability to enforce rules on smoking or the use of drugs in your workplace.

compensation

Bespoke Benefits: The Future of Employee Engagement

If you’ve ever lived in a small town or are over the age of 30, you’ll likely remember a time when your options for entertainment or products at the grocery store were limited. In today’s world, it’s all about bespoke, or personalization. No two people are alike and customizable preferences have become a way of […]

Opioid Crisis: What Is Needed Most from HR?

When it comes to dealing with opioid addiction in the workplace, it’s not always immediately clear what’s needed most from HR: Is it compassion? A dose of tough love? A strategic focus on the hard facts?

cybersecurity

Unpermitted Internet Use at Work Can Be Catastrophic for Both Employees and Employers

In Texas, impersonating another person online is a crime under Tex. Penal Code § 33.07. A plethora of legal implications have developed in the labor and employment law context with the rise of social media and advertising sites such as Craigslist. Employers may not yet realize the impact such sites can have on their organizations, but the […]

dog

Who Let the Dogs in? Handling Requests for Service Animals at Work

It seems like I’m seeing more and more people with service animals—particularly “comfort animals” meant to ease anxiety or similar problems. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employers must provide “reasonable accommodations” to employees with disabilities. Does that mean you must allow disabled employees to bring their pets to work? Well, it depends.

How to Handle 5 Generations in the Workplace

The economic downturn that hit the nation in 2008 as well as the tendency for people to live longer and healthier lives than ever before have both contributed to a tendency for employees to choose to stay in the workplace longer, delaying their retirement.

What Is Positive Discipline?

Facing the prospect of disciplining an employee, many managers would rather … not. Having difficult conversations like this is one of the more frustrating and cumbersome (and, let’s face it, sometimes awkward) tasks a manager faces. And for HR managers, who may be tasked with employee discipline (directly or by assisting) or with training managers […]