Training

Back-to-basics manager: Good for the bottom line

05/26/2010

If you want your organization’s employees to work more productively, pay more attention to them. During the economic crisis of 2009, the most effective business strategy turned out to be increased supervision and management of employees. Research by RainmakerThinking shows that organizations that combined three effective strategies during the recession had better financial results than others:

Checklist: 15 questions to ask employees in their first 60 days

05/18/2010

How’s that new hire fitting in? To find out, have managers meet with their new employees within the first 60 days. The goal: Discover what new hires like and dislike about the job and environment, see if the job meets their expectations and nip potential problems in the bud. These 15 questions can steer the conversation.

Offer training to those who aren’t promoted

05/11/2010

Your best employees are probably eager for promotions. But when only one slot is open, promotions often leave several well-qualified candidates disappointed. To keep disappointment from leading to lawsuits, consider offering career coaching for those employees who didn’t make the cut.

Schwan’s must hand over demographic data in EEOC case

04/19/2010

Schwan’s, the Marshall-based frozen food company, must turn over data requested by the EEOC in a long-running sex discrimination case. Judge Janie Myeron ruled in favor of the EEOC’s subpoena requesting demographic data on employees who have entered the company’s management trainee program.

To pay or not to pay interns? The feds are cracking down

04/13/2010

With fewer real, paying jobs available to young people, the number of unpaid internships is on the rise. Now the U.S. Department of Labor and many state labor departments (including California) are stepping up enforcement against employers who illegally use internships for free labor. Here’s how to stay on the right side of the law.

Another mortgage bailout, this time for Florida workers

02/09/2010

The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced it will spend $1.6 million to help retrain 600 mortgage industry workers who lost their jobs at the Taylor, Bean, and Whitaker mortgage company in Northern and Central Florida. The money will provide training assistance to workers so they can qualify for jobs in the health care and IT.

Communication is top benefit at Arizona American Water

01/25/2010

At Arizona American Water, HR goes “overboard” with employee communication, says Senior HR Manager Linda Stillman, sending electronic newsletters around the office, paper newsletters to employees’ homes and setting up teleconferences to share information.

When technological change means jobs are changing too, document the training you offer

01/22/2010

For years, one of the biggest drivers of improved worker productivity has been better technology in the workplace. But all that technological innovation means that employees who want to keep up must be open to training. How you handle that training can make a big difference when the time comes to lay off employees you no longer need because your company has become more efficient or whose skills have become obsolete.

Reprimand, mandate training to cut bias liability

01/19/2010

All employees, regardless of which protected class they belong to, have the right to work in an environment free from hostility. That doesn’t mean, however, that you have to fire every co-worker who does something that might be interpreted as hostile. Sometimes the appropriate response is to reprimand the co-worker and educate her so she’ll change her ways.

Training, recognition keep turnover under control

01/14/2010

In an industry that suffers from 100% annual turnover, Universal Protection Service in Santa Ana, Calif., boasts a much lower rate: 65%. “Anyone in HR will be aghast at that rate because it sounds horrendous,” admits HR VP Paula Malone, “but compared with the industry average, it’s actually good.” The reasons for the relatively low turnover: continuous training and on-the-spot recognition.