Strategic Planning

5 ways to get your execs and managers to love HR!

08/05/2011

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard an executive complain about HR. Why the bad rap? Is it deserved? What’s more, how does HR change it? HR professionals can build positive relationships with the C-Suite and management by following these five steps.

Build a bonus plan for an economy on the mend

06/14/2011

After two years of painful payroll reductions, some employers are considering pay raises. In many organizations, pay hikes will come in the form of variable compensation plans. Experts say these two tactics can help HR pros create variable pay plans that strike a balance between risk, reward and fiscal stability.

If you needed legal advice on an employment law issue, what would you do?

06/14/2011

When HR Weekly readers and users of www.theHRSpecialist.com need employment law advice, they don’t look for just any old lawyer.

Set salaries with help from most reputable web sites

05/12/2011

As hiring picks up due to the firming economy, organizations want to offer competitive salaries that aren’t inordinately lower or higher than those available from competitors. Here are the most reputable web sites that track pay for hundreds of professions and specialties.

4 ways to make telework work

05/03/2011

More than 33 million Americans now work remotely at least one day per month, according to the nonprofit WorldatWork. Here’s how work-from-home arrangements operate in organizations nationwide, according to a recent survey. Plus, learn what managers must do to make the most of their teleworking staff members.

Training budgets bounce back: Where to spend

03/22/2011

The recession taught many employers to save on training by experimenting with video, teleconference and online learning—cost-effective alternatives to traditional stand-up courses. Follow these 10 steps to develop your organization’s training. Tip: Invest in your own online learning with the HR Specialist LEAP Symposium interactive webcast.

Tap employee affinity groups to build bottom-line results

02/23/2011

An old employee-relations idea has found new purpose in today’s tumultuous business environment: Employee resource groups (ERGs)—also known as affinity groups or employee networks—are on the rise in companies large and small.

What keeps HR awake at night?

02/22/2011

Rising health care costs, implementing the new health care reforms, rapidly changing business and labor markets, growing regulatory complexity and managing the aging workforce top the list of challenges HR pros face. That’s what the Society for Human Resource Management found when it surveyed more than 9,000 practitioners.

Shift recruiting, retention priorities to beat ‘talent paradox’

02/17/2011

The challenges facing HR pros who specialize in talent, compensation and benefits are dramatically different today than they were just a year ago. At Deloitte Consulting, we call it “the talent paradox”—the apparent contradiction that occurs when unemployment is still relatively high, yet companies still are seeing significant shortages in critical talent areas.

How to push ideas past naysayers

02/14/2011

Nearly every office has a person who shoots down ideas before they even get off the ground: the naysayer who always pinpoints the reason your idea won’t work. The only way to defeat a naysayer is to be ready for her. Know how to respond to every one of the blockades she puts in your way.