Month: September 2013

The heart of a king—but the incredible leadership of a queen

by Dan Oswald When Queen Elizabeth I ascended to the throne in 1558, England was, in a word, a mess. The country was struggling financially with runaway inflation and a debased currency. It was a cultural wasteland that was far behind other countries when comparing achievements in literature and the arts. And it was a […]

Do You Train Your Leaders to Avoid These ‘7 Enemies of Success’?

Forty percent of newly promoted leaders fail within the first 18 months, says Diane Egbers, president of Leadership Excelleration, Inc., (LEI Consulting) (www.lei-consulting.com). “It’s often what leaders don’t know that can harm them,” Egbers warns. In The Ascending Leader: Conquer the Seven Enemies of Success—A Strategic Guide for the Newly Promoted, Egbers and coauthor Karen […]

Sales Compensation Plans: 5 Steps to Ensure Strategic Alignment

Sales compensation can be tackled from a strategic standpoint to ensure it is in alignment with company goals and objectives. This is important when getting started in the process. In fact, to ensure that their sales compensation plan is strategically aligned, here are 5 steps employers can take. Here are 5 steps to ensuring strategic […]

New Jersey domestic violence leave law takes effect October 1

Employers in New Jersey with at least 25 employees must provide up to 20 days of unpaid leave to employees affected by domestic violence as of October 1, when the New Jersey Security and Financial Empowerment (SAFE) Act takes effect. Under the law, employers must allow leave to any employee who is a victim of […]

Time to Self-Evaluate—How Many of the 9 Essential HR Skills Do You Have?

This is the 2013 version of our most popular article ever, written in 2006. In no way is our list authoritative, but it is the opinion of people, including BLR® Founder Bob Brady, who’ve spent decades meeting with HR professionals, supporting their goals, and reporting their achievements. You may agree or not with our assessments, […]

Contracting out union work – comparing cases

By Brian P. Smeenk An interesting series of recent labor tribunal decisions provides lessons about the application of contracting out clauses in union agreements. These cases demonstrate how virtually the same collective agreement requirements can be handled quite differently, with dramatically different outcomes. They also demonstrate that contracting out bargaining unit work in the face […]

Resources available for employers trying to recruit people with disabilities

As October nears, employers may be hearing a lot about how people with disabilities can benefit the workplace. Every year, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) designates October as a time to raise awareness about the value of employing people with disabilities. This year’s theme–“Because We Are EQUAL to the […]

Same-sex couples stand to receive benefits after DOMA provision’s demise

by Scott Evans On June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a pair of decisions favorable to the gay rights movement. In United States v. Windsor, the Court ruled that same-sex married couples are entitled to federal benefits, and by declining to decide a California case, the Court effectively allowed same-sex marriage in the state. […]

Who is GINA, and why should I care about her?

by Mark Jeffries Those of us in HR and the field of employment law sometimes feel like we’re being force-fed a veritable alphabet soup of federal statutes. We have to mind our p’s and q’s under the FLSA, FMLA, ADA, ADAAA, and ADEA, just to name a few. But there’s a relatively young law that […]