• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

Communication

Simple rules to post in your break room

05/22/2014
In most workplaces, the break room is nothing more than a shared kitchen. That doesn’t mean it has to be gross. Tack these five simple rules on the break room bulletin board.

Choose words carefully when criticizing

05/16/2014
If you have good but temperamental people working for you, you know the problem: Your constructive criticism is often taken as a personal attack. Here’s how to offer suggestions to keep your workplace running smoothly.

To ‘friend’ or not: Social media etiquette or liability issue?

05/01/2014
There are personal, business and legal reasons why a boss friending an employee can lead to trouble.

Unplugged: French say Non! to after-hours work calls

04/30/2014
Work cellphones won’t be ringing in the middle of the night for more than a million workers in France’s consulting and tech industries, thanks to a pact negotiated by two of the country’s largest white-collar trade unions.

Help create a more transparent workplace

04/29/2014

One upside of the turbulent, post-recession world of work: More employers have committed to operating transparently, sharing business metrics and strategic plans with employees. Knowing how the company is doing and where it’s going helps build worker engagement. Here’s how HR can help keep staff informed.

Teach bosses to support staff at crunch time

03/24/2014

Every organization runs into time crunches—sometimes predictable, sometimes sudden emergencies. Whenever your crazy time is, you could lose some of your best employees if they feel taken for granted. Encourage supervisors to follow these four steps to support employees during those times.

Adapt ‘management by walking around’ for the HR world

03/10/2014
As Yogi Berra noted, “You can observe a lot by watching.” The time-honored management-by-walking-around concept is based on this theory. It’s an effective way to discover employment problems no one would normally tell you about.

Win by losing: 7 bad communication habits to shed

03/05/2014
The quickest way for managers to improve their professional image is to improve their communication skills. And the simplest way to improve those skills is to stop doing things that repeatedly get you in trouble.

Foster friendship to achieve results at work

02/25/2014
While vigilant HR pros might bristle at the notion of “work friends” and office romances, cubicle camaraderie can be awfully good for morale—and, it turns out, the bottom line.

Discrimination hotline won’t protect against lawsuit

02/20/2014
Merely creating a hotline for reporting discrimination isn’t enough to protect an employer against harassment and discrimination claims.