(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
Loading ...Who Do You Have Winning It All?
Its coming up on March Madness time. For all you college basketball fans, the most exciting time of the year is right around the corner. To make it even more exciting, what do you do? Start up the company office pool! A little gambling should help spice it up just enough to make it interesting to even the uninterested.
In the article from the Business Journal is a survey relating to productivity and March Madness. An interesting stat that I couldn't believe was, "Very few employers offer guidance in their policies regarding office pools, even though it may mean taking a hit in terms of productivity, Spherion officials said."
Maybe its time to update the employee handbook and put some guidelines or rules in on office pools, or maybe its just time to enjoy March Madness!
Posted March 7th, 2008 by admin - Posted in Human Resources, Performance Reviews, Productivity | | 1 Comments
(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5) Loading ...Please, Stay Away if You’re Sick
If you are sick, should you go to work anyways? This is a great debate among many. Staying home to watch tv and lounge on the cough is an easy suggestion, right? To some it may be, but to others a day staying home from work is just creating more work to go back to, or some feel they are indespensible and can’t miss a day, while others just don’t have the time to take work off. Whatever the reason is, is it really a good idea to go in to work when you are under the weather?
An article from Business Week that I ran into goes into great detail of the downfalls of having a sick co-worker show up on the job. “Illnesses like the cold and flu can be spread by physical contact. When we're sick, the people with whom we come into physical contact have a significantly increased risk of coming down with the illness, according to virologists, epidemiologists, and other experts. There is a causal relationship between being sick with a cold or the flu and making others sick by touching them directly or handling an object that they soon touch themselves.”
Some other points brought up in the article for staying away from the office were, if we can actually perfrom to the best of our abilities while not feeling well, getting other co-workers sick, getting co-worker’s families sick, and the last one here that caught my attention, “going to work sick is unfair to your employer. According to a report published in The New York Times in 2006, researchers at Cornell University found that ill workers on the job could account for up to 60% of corporate health costs. The recently coined phrase "presenteeism" speaks to the financial downside of overly motivated workers who bring their upper respiratory illnesses to work with them.
All in all, is it fair to yourself to work when you are not feeling well? I guess that is up to you.
Posted February 29th, 2008 by admin - Posted in Benefits, Health, Human Resources, Other, Productivity | | 0 Comments
(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5) Loading ...Get Blogging or Get Out of Business
Has your company tried out social networking or blogging? Better jump on board before your company is left behind.In a article I just read from Business Week, it goes into fine detail on the ins and outs of where businesses are looking to make an advertising splash. Yes, that’s right, social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are and have been the hot topics around companies. Also, another craze has caught on called blogging. "Go ahead and bellyache about blogs. But you cannot afford to close your eyes to them, because they’re simply the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the Internet itself." I find it fascinating that blogging has become such a phenomenon. Who would have thought that hearing other amateur people’s opinions on a particular topic would be something of interest to the masses of people that surf the internet? Its the new generation that you always heard when you were a kid from your grandmother. "Back when I was younger…", you know what I mean.
Some numbers from the article that really caught my attention were, " There are some 9 million blogs out there, Yes, there were 9 million, but how many of them were active? Probably only a fraction. In early 2008, says Technorati Chairman David Sifry, the search company indexes 112 million blogs, with 120,000 new ones popping up each day. But only 11% of these blogs, he says, have posted within the past two months. That means the active universe is closer to 13 million blogs. Kevin Burton, CEO of FeedBlog, argues that the number should be lower, from 2 million to 4 million blogs. with 40,000 new ones popping up each day."
Posted February 22nd, 2008 by admin - Posted in Advertising, Human Resources, Other, Recruiting | | 0 Comments
(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5) Loading ...Is Your Place to Work, Great?
Having open communication is a key to avoiding organizational or interpersonal problems at work. What can you do shen there is silence among some employees? Are your employees just not speaking up or is it just in thier personality not to?
Here are a few ways to create a work environment with a commitment to open communication and how to break the silence. (Creating a Great Place to Work from Business Week)
Spend the day out of the office: Meet with employees in their own departments. Actually take the time to see your workers in their element rather than yours.
Have an employee orientation: New employees should have an extensive training and "getting to know you" period. Have a strict plan in place to make them feel welcomed.
Company wide meetings: This way everyone is in the same place hearing the same thing. Everyone is then on the same page.
Keep open lines of varying communication: Have multiple ways for your employees to communicate to their managers and bosses. Some personality types like face to face conversations while others express themselves better in writing.
Posted February 15th, 2008 by admin - Posted in Customer Service, Human Resources, Other, Performance Reviews, Productivity, Recruiting | | 0 Comments
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...Some like it HOT!
Every change in season seems to bring on new "wars" in the office. The AC War. For the most part, we can laugh at it. But these constant changing of the temperatures in the office could be adding to an influx of colds and other ailments. You know you have seen it. One employee is "freezing" in their office and bumps the control up to warm it up. Two offices down the hall all the sudden wonders why they are sweating and gets up to adjust the thermostat down to "his" comfort level….and the war begins.
Some offices will lock a box around the control box to keep this from happening. That is fine, but what about the person sitting in the office that happens to have poor circulation? You’re wondering if I mean the vents or the blood flow of the employee. Well, I mean both. Are companies obligated to purchase heaters and fans to keep their employees happy? What about the "warmer" employee falling asleep on the job, being lathargic from the heat? Or the "freezing" employee with the sniffles, sneezing all day. How does this affect productivity? Should we be worried?
Really, I am just wondering. Just wondering while I am typing away with my frozen fingers.
Posted February 8th, 2008 by Camille - Posted in Customer Service, Health, Human Resources, Productivity, Safety, Workers' Comp | | 1 Comments
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...Get Familiar with the New Sanctions Law
I'm sure there are still a few more appeals, but the Arizona Employer's Sanctions Law is a go. Get fimiliar with the rules and regulations.
House Bill 2779 (Fair and Legal Employment Act)
Prohibit employers from knowingly or intentionally hiring undocumented workers. - Starting Jan. 1, would require all employers to run their employees through the Basic Pilot Program to determine their legal status. Use of the program would act as a sort of immunity for employers facing prosecution under the law.
1st offense: Businesses caught "knowingly" employing an undocumented worker would lose their license for up to 10 days. Those caught "intentionally" hiring an undocumented worker would lose their license for at least 10 days.
2nd offense (while on probation): Permanent revocation of the business license.
The big question remains on how will the law be enforced? - Investigations would be conducted based on complaints against employers.
If the complaint was shown to be valid, the investigator would be required to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local law enforcement.
From the state's 2007-08 General Fund, the bill would provide $100,000 to the Arizona Attorney General's Office, and $2.4 million to be distributed to county prosecutors.
Posted February 8th, 2008 by admin - Posted in Human Resources, Immigration, Recruiting | | 0 Comments
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5) Loading ...Sanctions Law Clearing Out Illegals in Arizona
If apartments are starting to sit vacant, this must mean that the new Arizona Immigration Sanctions Law is starting to take its toll on the illegal immigrants here in Arizona. What will this mean for your company?
“The sanctions law is pushing immigrants to leave the state. The law is aimed at clamping down on illegal immigration in Arizona, which has the highest share of illegal immigrants of any state, by threatening to yank the business licenses of employers caught knowingly employing such workers.
The law also requires businesses to electronically verify the work eligibility of all new hires as of the first of this year.
To avoid sanctions, employers have been letting go workers who can't prove they have permission to work in the U.S.
As a result, many immigrants are leaving, either to other states where they think it will be easier to get jobs, or back to Mexico, where the majority of illegal immigrants in Arizona are from.”
So far, the law has done what it was intended to do. How has this law affected your company? Businesses that catered to the illegal population have seen drastic sales hits, apartments have seen a large wave of vacancies, what will be next?
Posted January 31st, 2008 by admin - Posted in Human Resources, Immigration, Other, Recruiting | | 0 Comments
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...When you asked them, what did they say?
In meeting with some business owners lately, I started noticing a pattern that could very well be the root of many HR problems…
"I want to increase our benefits offering to our employees…" OR "We need better dental insurance" are phrases we (in the HR industry) have heard many times. Often, these are presented as "THE SOLUTION" - So what is the ACTUAL problem? Turnover, Morale, Productivity, Recruiting, etc.?
So when sitting with these business owners, I find myself asking the same question time and time again:
"So when you [business owner] asked your employees what is the top 5 reasons you (hate, love, would leave, would stay) working here, what did your employees say?
MOST COMMON ANSWER - "Well… I didn't ask"
No matter what the problem - DON'T COME UP WITH THE SOLUTION IN A VACCUMM!!! You might just spend a LOT of money trying to fix a problem on the wrong end…
Just food for thought -
Harry Glazer
Posted January 30th, 2008 by Harry Glazer - Posted in Benefits, Health, Human Resources, Productivity, Recruiting | | 0 Comments
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Why Can’t I Check MySpace?
I'm sure you've heard it around the office. MySpace, Facebook, and all the other social networking sites out there are being blocked at the office, and for good reason. Many employees don't understand that there is more to risk than just a lack of employee production.
This news story goes on to say, "Their chief concern is the potential damage from viruses or spyware, according to Barracuda. They cited the potential drain on employee productivity as a close second. What's more, employers will tell you that bandwidth issues and potential liability exposure are also convincing reasons to restrict certain Internet access by employees."
From an employers view, there are too many potential money eaters in the equation to allow employees to waste away on the internet. If you want to be social at work, get to know a fellow employee while working on a project.
Posted January 25th, 2008 by admin - Posted in Human Resources, Productivity | | 3 Comments
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Watercooler Ethics
There are a few issues that shouldn’t be brought up at work.
When we all gather around the water cooler in the afternoon or the coffee pot in the morning, there are a few topics that should always remain off limits. The more controversial the topic, the stronger the reasoning is to not bring it up. More specific topics that you might want to leave out, such as…
- Should abortion continue to be legal?
- Should same-sex marriage be legalized?
- How relevant to holding public office is a person's religion?
- How much should the wealthy be taxed?
- To what extent should the federal government be involved in social programs?
Keeping the workplace free from controversy will help keep the employees productivity levels up. Maybe this is something to look into for your company.
Posted January 18th, 2008 by admin - Posted in Human Resources, Other, Productivity | | 0 Comments
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