Month: December 2013

Worksite Privacy from Social Networking to Social Security

Happy Holidays to all our readers from the Advisor Team: Amanda, Chelsea, Kate, Rafael, and Steve! [Go here for privacy issues 1 to 4.] 5. Social Networking Sites Employees have increasingly been utilizing social networking sites for a variety of uses, both personal and professional. Although these sites can be beneficial, their use can also […]

Be Careful When Training Older Generations

Today’s Advisor contains answers from our “Ask the Expert” feature on HR.BLR.com.. The question is, “Is it permissible to exclude employees from training if they are expected to retire soon?” Here is how our expert responded: Especially in light of the economy, it is understandable that an employer would want to invest its training dollars […]

Where to Start with Your Job Descriptions? Use Our Questionnaire

In Yesterday’s Advisor, we covered the basic pitfalls in job description writing. Today, a handy job analysis questionnaire you can use, plus good news—there’s a checklist-based audit system for you to use to evaluate all your HR practices. Here’s a basic questionnaire that you can use to write new job descriptions (or to review existing […]

‘Tis the season to do right by your employees and customers

by Dan Oswald Have you ever thought about what employees really want from a company and a manager? What is it that really makes employees feel satisfied in their work? Among other things, having a manager who cares about them as people is part of being happy at work. So when I heard about Liberty […]

10 Questions for Aligning HR Metrics with Business Goals

HR metrics are only helpful if they're measuring the things that matter. The HR metrics need to be aligned with the big picture: they need to help the company achieve its strategic goals. To do that, the HR team must fully understand the strategic goals and direction of the business. Next, the data must be […]

Does Your Training Engage Generation Y Employees?

The question is, “What can trainers do to engage Generation Y workers in training?” Here is how our experts responded: As Generation Y employees enter the workforce and advance within a company, HR professionals need to keep in mind that the expectations and needs of these 20-somethings differ from those of their older colleagues. Generation […]

11 Common Workplace Privacy Issues (and 4 Common-Law Claims)

Only a Reasonable Expectation It is important to remember that employees have only a reasonable expectation of privacy. Employers can lower the threshold of what is considered reasonable by developing a clear policy addressing workplace privacy issues and communicating the policy to their employees. Private Employees Enjoy Relatively Little Freedom Several states have enacted statutory […]

“I meant, are you in here for drugs?”

Drugs are no laughing matter, except of course when it comes to the referenced exchange between Charlie Sheen’s character and Jeannie Bueller in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Yet, when it comes to our celebrity news cycle, drug use is as prevalent as steroid use has become in baseball. The latest scandal involves Nigella Lawson, most […]

Where Job Descriptions Fail and How to Fix Yours

Even when they are accurate to begin with (not always the case), it’s all too easy for job descriptions to get out of date, and that causes all sorts of problems, practical and legal, for employers. The most typical problems have to do with job specifications that are inaccurate. They either require something that isn’t […]