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Productivity / Performance

Boosting productivity makes you a true strategic player

04/01/2007

Execs in your organization constantly look for ways to reduce labor costs and improve work force productivity to keep up with competition. Most likely, those bosses don’t ask your advice … and you don’t give it. To start playing a role in improving productivity, take the following steps …

Giving and receiving feedback: 8 important do’s & don’ts

04/01/2007

For some bosses, “Good work” or “That stunk” is all the feedback they offer employees in a day. But the employees crave a whole lot more …

ADA: Hiring Practices

03/27/2007

HR Law 101: The ADA prohibits employers from asking job applicants questions that may reveal a disability. You should ask only about the person’s ability to perform a job’s essential functions …

Performance Reviews

03/07/2007

HR Law 101: There are two important reasons why you should conduct regular appraisals of your employees’ performance. First, periodic and competent appraisals reduce the opportunity for a discharged employee to claim unfair treatment. The appraisal process alerts employees to what you expect of them, areas in which they’re deficient and how they can improve their performance. Second, appraisals constitute documented proof of unsatisfactory performance that will help you justify employment decisions …

Off-Duty Behavior/Moonlighting

03/06/2007

HR Law 101: In recent years, employer attempts to regulate what employees may do on their own time have become contentious. Many employers fear that their employees’ off-duty actions, including moonlighting, may reflect badly on them, lower productivity or, even worse, create liability …

Results, not hours, are focus of Best Buy clock-Smashing plan

03/01/2007

At Best Buy headquarters in Richfield, Minn., leaving work early doesn’t trigger a guilt trip for employees, as long as their work is finished. The Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE) initiative makes it possible …

You can suggest FMLA leave without triggering ADA liability

03/01/2007

What do you do if you think an employee, especially one whose performance is declining, could benefit from taking FMLA leave? Do you plant the suggestion or wait until the employee approaches you? The fact is, you can suggest FMLA leave for a serious health condition and not run afoul of the ADA …


Study: Workaholics hurt employers, family, self

03/01/2007

Workaholics, or people who work in “extreme jobs,” cost themselves, their families and their employers dearly, according to a new Center for Work-Life Policy study …

Rethink your career development initiatives

03/01/2007

According to a new survey by consulting firm BlessingWhite, 41 percent of executives and managers say their employers’ approach to career development fails to meet their personal needs …

When are overweight employees considered ‘Disabled’?

03/01/2007

Is obesity a disability? Until recently, the answer has been “Fat chance!” But that may be changing. A recent ADA court ruling opens the door to some types of obesity being defined as disabilities …