Productivity / Performance

Absence from boss doesn’t make employees fonder

05/22/2008

Telecommuting isn’t for everybody … or every job. Contrary to popular belief, employees don’t relish time away from bosses as much as you might think …

17 Questions to Determine if Workers are Fully Engaged

05/22/2008

Don’t think you can pick out disengaged workers from a lineup. Employees usually check out mentally long before you spot the obvious signs—poor productivity, absenteeism, lousy customer service. Find out whether your employees are fully engaged in their work by asking them these 17 questions.

5 survival tips: Seek employee help to weather the recession

05/20/2008

It’s not easy for employees to hear that economic tough times mean they’re not getting a pay raise or that their jobs are in jeopardy. Having to deliver the bad news may be almost as hard. Here are five ways to make the most of a difficult situation—and invite employees to be part of the solution.

If accommodation can’t enable essential functions, termination may be only option

05/14/2008

Being qualified for a job doesn’t mean the person can do it well. And the inability to really execute an essential job function can warrant dismissal, even if the employee claims a disability. Take, for example, a newly hired professor who turns out to have psychological problems that prevent her from teaching class …

HR & the Slump: The 3 Big Trends Affecting Employee Relations

05/13/2008

While all economic cycles share certain features, they also have unique effects. What’s different for HR in the 2008 downturn versus the last one? Here are three distinctive characteristics of the current economic slump that are affecting your employees—and potentially reshaping your HR programs:

Handle disabled worker’s poor performance like any other

05/13/2008

Employees who have disabilities sometimes pose special challenges. Accommodating their work restrictions requires diligence and flexibility. That doesn’t mean, however, that you should ignore declining performance …

Discharging ill employee for performance? Better make sure you can prove it

05/05/2008

Courts often suspect the worst when employers fire severely ill employees. A judge may bend over backward trying to find a way to help the employee. An employer that can’t offer concrete, solid and compelling reasons for the termination may very well find itself trying to defend a “regarded as disabled” lawsuit …

How to Become a ‘Life Entrepreneur’

05/02/2008

When organizations become stuck in a rut, they typically step back, make adjustments and develop an action plan that takes advantage of their strengths. Now take a look in the mirror: Do you approach your business and your life with the same entrepreneurial mindset?

Consider telework’s impact on in-Office employees

05/02/2008

The more teleworkers you have on staff, the more dissatisfied your nonteleworking employees are likely to be with their jobs. And, compared to employees who only work face to face with colleagues, they’re more likely to change jobs. Those are the findings of a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute management professor …

Tell supervisors: No pregnancy comments allowed

05/01/2008

It seems simple enough: No one should make cracks or comments about an employee’s pregnancy. Still, supervisors and managers often say things they shouldn’t, which can come together to form the basis for a Pregnancy Discrimination Act lawsuit …