HR Effectiveness
Are Company Dress Codes Beneficial for Peak Performance?
A long time ago (ok, the early 1980’s) the typical dress code for technology sales professionals (my career path) was a 3-piece business suit (the “uniform”) for men (dark blue or gray preferred, plus power tie, please) and blue or black business suite for women. IBM was #1 and their culture set the trend for…
Read MoreSummertime in HR
The lazy days of summer are finally here. Time for that long-deserved vacation from work and the daily grind. Whether you are a shop-floor worker, business manager, or a senior executive, summertime is the most popular time of year to “vacate”. Though most businesses don’t shut down during the summer, business activity often slows down…
Read MorePutting "HR Help" Back in the HR Help Desk
The expectations of HR continue to grow — to be more of a strategic player in the organization as well as to provide increasingly user-friendly services to employees. HR could use a little HR help from some friends. Among those friends is an automated HR case management system, built specifically for HR departments to improve…
Read MoreHow Cloud and Other Technology Trends Are Transforming HR
Marc Solow, Deloitte Consulting LLP’s HR Shared Services Practices Leader, was cited in a recent blog post that really hit home for us. In a nutshell, Solow identified several HR trends occurring as a result of changes in technology. We agree with Solow’s insight and think the benefits of cloud-based automated HR software solutions —…
Read MoreHR Self-Service: Why It Matters for Managers, Too
Usually when you hear the phrase “HR self-service,” it’s in the context of how its features can benefit employees and HR. It’s true that organizations of almost any size that have a robust, user-friendly, and meaningful employee self-service application also have higher employee engagement and more-efficient and data-rich HR departments compared with their counterparts that…
Read MoreNine Great (and Free) Resources for Human Resources
If you’re like most HR leaders, you keep a lot of plates spinning. Your act includes everything from scouring call-tracking data in your case management system (searching for ways to improve employee self-service) to staying abreast of the most recent topics in human resources news and workplace trends (seeking efficiencies, cost savings, and increased productivity).…
Read MoreIs the 360 Degree Employee Review Method a Good Idea?
Are 360 degree employee reviews particularly more or less fair to the employee? Let’s start with defining the 360 degree review process. 360 degree employee performance reviews encompass comments from the employee’s managers and peers, customer feedback, HR statistics such as patterns of absences and late/tardy occurrences, as well as actual performance measures. Additionally, some…
Read MoreStack-Ranking Employees (aka rating on the Bell Curve system)
For many years, large companies such as Microsoft, GE and others have rated their workforce on a bell curve system, which dictates how employees in a review period are ranked within their given group. More importantly, it limits how many can be ranked above average, and requires a certain % to be graded below average.…
Read MoreThe Affordable Care Act and Your Employees – Communication is Critical
With all the hype created in the media for The Affordable Care Act, (aka Obamacare), it is critical for HR departments to communicate openly with their employees regarding any impact (whether positive or negative) on them financially or otherwise. While some components of the law have already been enacted, many key provisions (and some of…
Read MoreGetting Contextual: Beyond Employee Engagement in HR Technology
The use of HR technology to heighten employee engagement is still evolving. In some respects – and despite so much that’s been written about it – applying the features of HR and HCM technology to boost employee engagement is still in its infancy. But in other regards, the trend is already starting to become passé.…
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