Want to keep employees satisfied in their jobs without one foot out the door? Give them a little credit, a new OfficeTeam survey suggests. More than half (54 per cent) of workers interviewed said they would be somewhat or very likely to leave their current position if they didn't feel appreciated by their manager. [go]

Employers commonly give department managers the authority to make employment-related decisions for their own staff. Even when a company has an in-house human resources expert, decisions with legal implications may be made at the department level. But department managers typically will not be fully trained in employment law. So, are there some basic concepts they can learn which will give their company the prospect of avoiding legal complaints? [Read More]

Would you hire someone from Gen Y (someone born after 1980) if you had the option to hire someone older? Is your preference about experience or preconceptions? Here are some generalizations about the generations that came before: [Read More]

If you've ever lost a star employee, you know it can come as a huge blow. You invested time to review resumes, interview candidates, train the new recruit, and now you're wondering how you'll manage without them. Hiring and training a new employee is a massive expense, as well as risk—what is the likelihood you'll find one as good as the one you lost? And why did you lose them in the first place? Some of the most common reasons for a star employee to jump ship include: [Read More]

If you’ve had trouble hiring the right person for the job, you’re not alone. The best recruiting firms in the world know the cycle. They call it “hiring on skill, firing on fit”. Why do we so often hire the wrong person for the job? Obviously any candidate is going to need the necessary skills to do the job, so it’s easy to understand why many hiring managers prioritize skills to the exclusion of the candidate’s other qualities. Another reason is that skills are measurable and more objective, and therefore easier to base an important hiring decision on. Some candidate’s skills include selling themselves very effectively -- and they end up an imperfect fit. One final reason hiring managers hire on skill even when they know the fit is less than ideal is that their staffing needs are urgent or their applicant response has been less than stellar. But if you’ve experienced hiring someone who looked great on paper and fit poorly in your organization, you know this practice is costing you money and resources. Here are some ways to break free from the cycle. [Read More]

When employers and their former employees are trying to settle disputed issues arising out of a termination of employment, there are many monetary factors to address. Perhaps surprisingly, it isn’t always the money which is the stumbling block to reaching a settlement. A very important aspect to any part of a settlement for a departing employee is receiving a reference letter. Often, the employee will insist on getting a reference letter and the employer will be reluctant to provide it. [Read More]

Last year, we saw a powerful shift in the communications industry, particularly in human resources and recruitment. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn continued to grow and benefit the HR communications industry by reaching passive and active candidates. Job seekers, already active on these sites, were drawn to branded employer pages that advertised open positions and content broadcasted through blogs, microblogs and status updates. [Read More]

We need to hire employees, but we’re so busy working in the business to replace the employee(s) who just left that we don’t have time to recruit. Sound familiar? For many businesses having to recruit means that they are or soon will be short-staffed. In this situation, many small business owners find themselves struggling as they are suddenly drawn back or further into the daily operations of the business while simultaneously trying to run the business and of course, recruit quality candidates for the job. [Read More]

If you are a recruiting leader or recruiter who is constantly on the lookout for new recruiting trends, practices, and tools, you have surely already heard of QR codes. QR codes are a second-generation barcode that allows potential candidates to quickly and directly access supporting materials and websites using only a camera equipped smartphone. QR codes have many uses, but are most often used to direct target audiences to online content that cannot be easily conveyed in print. You can of course provide a printed URL, but if you have ever tried to enter a long URL into a mobile browser, chances are you wouldn’t do it again. [Read More]

Many years ago, I had the good fortune of working for a manager in an organization that took the whole new employee orientation and integration process very seriously. I stayed with the organization for 18 years. Of course, I didn’t appreciate what kind of an impact this type of employee integration and solid leadership would have on me throughout my working career until I went on to work with others. Let me explain . . . [Read More]

The range of policies which might be contained in an employee handbook is really unlimited. There are, however, certain core policies every employer should implement. The list starts with a harassment policy. This policy sets out the employer’s stance forbidding workplace harassment (including sexual harassment and other forms, such as bullying). It should also provide a complaint resolution process and define the range of disciplinary measures which may be imposed on the offender. [Read More]

Companies are increasingly using social media in recruiting, a trend known as social recruiting. The 3 main platforms to leverage for sourcing candidates are LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Finding candidates won’t happen overnight, though. You must set up your profiles and work to build a community before you broadcast job openings. Start early, build your network and then leverage that network. [Read More]

Employers who grasp the connection between marketing techniques and talent attraction stand to gain the upper hand. Strong brands know who they are and engender consumer loyalty by living a life of alignment. This helps consumers know what they stand for and understand how to interact with them. To illustrate the point, let’s use the McDonald’s brand. No one would walk into a McDonald’s restaurant in search of a spaghetti dinner. Nor would we sit down at one of their molded plastic tables and expect wait staff to arrive with an order pad. We know McDonald’s for what their brand is: speed, a fairly consistent menu across geographies, and a standard ordering process that begins at the cash register. [Read More]

I recently provided a workshop for a client on workplace accommodation and a couple of the participants came to me afterward to talk about specific situations they were having in their respective worksites. Both of them were working with employees who had been off sick for an extended period of time and they seemed fearful to seek information from the returning employees. I thought that it might be worth providing some information on how to manage a return to work or workplace accommodation so that some of that fear could be removed – if these two had concerns – there may be others. [Read More]

It’s that time of year when good boys and girls start looking ahead to receiving gifts and their parents anticipate the seasonal office party. Controlling alcohol consumption at those parties substantially increases the odds of parents, and their employer, having a happy and healthy holiday season. [Read More]

I know that there are some folks who don’t believe a job description is necessary anymore and of course, that is the decision of the organization to make. I do believe in job descriptions – and let me tell you why. A job description helps a business in understanding what the needs are of a particular position. What are the functional responsibilities and skills required in the position? How will you know what a reasonable amount of pay should be if you don’t have some sort of understanding of the duties? How would you classify the role? Who would the person report to and who would be responsible to manage the incumbent? For that matter, how will you hire someone into a position that has no description? How would you construct a set of interview questions that would be relevant to the role? [Read More]

The workplace is always evolving. The recession, in particular, has hastened and highlighted many of these changes, including the growing age gap among the current workforce. According to a study from the Pew Research Center, over the past 20 years the number of older workers has steadily risen, while younger adults are waiting longer to enter the labor force. This means that the workplace is becoming even more diverse in the age groups it contains, and leaders are now dealing with the added strain of catering their retention and recruitment efforts to this varied palette of employees. [Read More]

If you’re a person who wants to find information about another person, where better to start your search than online locations such as Facebook, Twitter, or any of two hundred or so other social media sites? And if you’re an employer who wants to find out about a candidate’s background, why wouldn’t you take advantage of the same online sources? [Read More]

Can’t find the time to travel to a conference? Interested in connecting online with other HR professionals? We've compiled a list of free webinars being offered over the next week. [Read More]

Facebook has 500 million, Twitter 190 million, LinkedIn 70 million. It’s undeniable that social media has changed the way the world communicates. The business community has embraced new media, with marketing and sales leveraging a variety of platforms to connect with and engage their customer. In many cases companies have also worked on perfecting their employer brand, attempting to appeal to potential recruits through Facebook and LinkedIn. But what have companies been doing for their current employee base? [Read More]

Total wellness recognizes that all thoughts, words, and actions affect one’s overall health and well-being. Wellness is an integration of the mind, body, and spirit, permeating all areas of a person’s life—including work. This idea is further supported by Sorrentino’s definition of wellness: the achievement of the best health possible in the physical, emotional, social, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions of one’s life. Many theorists describe wellness as a holistic and comprehensive concept that involves interdependent balance of five dimensions: physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and social health. [Read More]

To attract your future skilled and productive employees, make your first impression count. No matter who you hire, you’ll be investing resources, training, time, and money, so sourcing skilled candidates is the first step to getting a solid employee ROI. Solid candidates looking for a progressive organization, and meaningful work experiences, will overlook opportunities if you’ve failed to provide them with important information-qualitative information about who you are as an organization, your culture, values, offerings, and how you treat employees. People are looking for more than ‘just a job’. [Read More]

More and more small businesses are popping up due to the economic downturn. People are realizing that they need to become more reliant on themselves to be gainfully employed. As these startup businesses increase, there will be some challenges that must be considered. One of many challenges will possibly be in hiring a strong and stable group of employees. The reality is that you will probably not be able to compete with larger employers that offer higher salaries; benefit packages; stock options; flexible work-weeks, etc. For a while, folks are going to try to hold out for these positions and may very well turn you down. [Read More]