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Every Employee and Applicant Is a Talent Scout

Even with a 24-person recruiting team, VistaPrint is always looking for other sources to recruit top talent, so the company views each of its 900 employees—and each job applicant—as a talent scout. “The recruitment team is not the only team that is responsible for gathering talent here. Every person in this organization is asked to […]

Affinity groups: good for employees, good for business

When Tanuj Gupta joined AstraZeneca in 2006, he didn’t know many of his coworkers. “When I found out there were Employee Network Groups, I thought it was a great way to meet more people within the company,” says the executive director of external medical relations. And it was: “I met a fantastic group of people […]

Six Keys for Making Employee Network Groups Work

Margaret Rivera, AstraZeneca’s senior manager of diversity, helps oversee 16 successful employee network groups. Here are her tips for making such affinity groups work: 1. Don’t force it. “Companies . . . should understand that the most successful employee groups often start out as grassroots organizations — they are volunteer organizations,” she counsels. 2. Make […]

December Dilemna: Do’s and Don’ts

The December Dilemma: practicing inclusion during the winter holidays. The top religious accommodation companies have made in the past 12 months? Considering different religious beliefs of employees when planning holiday-related events, according to the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) “Religion and Corporate Culture Accommodating Religious Diversity Survey.” Taking differing beliefs into account is never […]

Four Employees Win $19 Million in Race Case

A federal jury in Portland recently awarded $19 million to four African-American former employees of Asbury Automotive Group, LLC ? the former corporate owner of Thomason Toyota in Gladstone. The workers alleged they were forced to endure a hostile, racially charged work environment. Four salesmen, Carlos Barfield, Marcus Arnold, Jahaeel Hardy, and Kent Paul, sued […]

Which Religious Holidays Are Recognized the Most?

Christmas Day — 99% Christmas Eve —  44% Good Friday —  29% Easter — 19% Yom Kippur —  2% Ash Wednesday —  1% Passover —  1% Hanukkah — 1% Rosh Hashanah —  1% Other —  4% Source: Religion and Corporate Culture Survey Report (SHRM, 2008)

Booze, Porn Addiction, and Interventions: What a Holiday Party

Litigation Value: $1,000,000 The folks at Dunder Mifflin must have felt like giving because they were essentially writing checks on the “Moroccan Christmas” episode of The Office. As always, there was plenty of inappropriate conduct going on this week, but rarely does it rise to this level. Michael served excessive amounts of alcohol to Meredith, […]

New Law Addresses Mental Health Coverage Parity

Among the add-ons to the $700 billion financial rescue package that Congress recently passed was a measure that will affect many employers whose health plans offer mental health benefits. The Paul Wellstone-Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 builds on and closes employer-friendly loopholes in the limited mental health parity measure […]

Update on FCRA: New Court Decision, New FACTA Regs

by Sam Fulkerson A new decision from the Tenth Circuit makes an important distinction about what constitutes a “consumer report” under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). In addition, new amendments under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) designed to prevent identity theft amended the FCRA effective November 1, 2008. Let’s look at […]

Give Feedback—Good or Bad—to Get Peak Performance

By Jay ForteJust My E-pinion We have all seen the Olympic gymnasts and American Idol contestants anxiously wait for scores from the judges. That’s feedback, and whether it is good or bad, we always want information about how we are doing. Employees are no different. They need to know if they are making good decisions […]