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HR Management

The skills we believe our kids need to succeed

03/23/2015

Will my kid flourish by mastering the concrete details of math and science, or would she be better equipped in decades to come with well-honed intangibles, such as communication and teamwork? Or, more likely, will it be some combination of skills that proves most useful? That’s where respondents came down in a recent Pew Research Center survey.

Wellness: Big benefit or Big Brother?

03/19/2015
For several years, proponents have touted wellness programs’ success in lowering health care costs, decreasing absenteeism and raising employee morale. But those laudable goals haven’t insulated wellness programs from controversy.

Men finally regain jobs lost in Great Recession

03/19/2015
Men have recovered all of the jobs they lost in the recession and now hold more jobs than at their pre-recession peak, according to an Institute for Women’s Policy Research analysis of the December employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Why your wellness program probably isn’t working

03/16/2015

When it comes to workplace wellness programs, the old adage that you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink is true. Only about 24% of those who work for large employers that offer wellness programs actually participate in them.

Use quick process to decide when to delegate

03/13/2015
Use this exercise to help you effectively distribute tasks among you and your staff.

Tenure in the 21st century: Employees are staying put

03/13/2015
Employee tenure—the average length of time someone has spent working continuously for the same employer—has risen steadily since the turn of the century.

Make work safe for older employees–and everybody else

03/12/2015

In a recent study, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that there were no significant differences between overall rates of workplace injury for workers 55 or older and those of other age groups. However, older workers are more prone to specific types of injuries.

Older workers most engaged, youngest not so much

03/12/2015
Your oldest workers are probably the most engaged in their work, according to a new Gallup poll. So-called traditionalists—born before 1946—are most likely to be “involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace,” Gallup’s definition of engagement.

Do we need to accommodate smokers?

03/11/2015
Q. We currently have a designated smoking area outside our building. Recently, an employee who is extremely sensitive to certain odors complained that smoke was drifting through our ventilation system into her work space. May we prohibit smoking in certain areas outside our building? If so, do we need to provide another location for our employees to smoke?

What counts–and doesn’t–as part of a ‘personnel record’

03/11/2015
You probably receive at least occasional requests from current and former employees to view or receive a copy of their personnel file. This sounds like a straightforward request. But must an employer produce all documents in the employee’s “file?” Must information that may not be in an employee’s file be produced?