Author: Dan Oswald

Dan Oswald's mom

10 Management Rules I Learned from Mom

Everything I need to know about management, I learned from my mother. No, she wasn’t the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. In fact, she didn’t work outside the home for more than 30 years while she raised me and my three siblings. Yet every management lesson I’ve learned in my 25 years in business, […]

EEOC Claims Record Year in 2011

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is touting fiscal year 2011 as a record year for obtaining monetary settlements and taking in discrimination charges. Also, the agency said it finished the fiscal year on September 30 with a 10 percent decrease in its pending charge inventory, the first such reduction since 2002. The agency released […]

Job Available But No One Cares? Alabama Utility Got the Message (Video)

Rob McElroy stresses that employers shouldn’t blindly follow a job description or list of required qualifications or experience when filling positions. In fact, he is proof of what he speaks. The general manager of Daphne (Alabama) Utilities had no experience in the field when he signed on with the then-flailing utility in 2005. One particularly […]

Secret of Great Places to Work? Two Words: Culture Fit (Video)

Michael Burchell shares some of the best practices for attracting employees he’s encountered during his work as VP of global business development and a senior consultant with The Great Place to Work Institute. He maintains that it’s important to determine if an applicant would be a “good culture fit” for your company. Beyond the interview […]

Coffee-Picking Expedition Changes Employees ‘Forever’ (Video)

Kathy Brooks explains how Green Mountain Coffee Roasters achieves a 94% retention rate. It could have something to do with the coffee-picking expedition that top employees get to go on each year. Some 30-50 employees — all nominated by their peers or supervisors — are chosen to visit coffee-growing countries like Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Mexico, […]

Best Place to Work Builds in Fun, Face-to-Face Time (Video)

Liz Wilson McKee maintains that having fun is a key element of engaging employees. She is the internal communications manager for national law firm Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkwitz, one of Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For in America.” McKee says HR managers should look for opportunities to celebrate. Events can be […]

Bagel, Anyone? HR Pro’s Tips to Improve Employee Engagement (Video)

Andrew Botwin explains that “engagement” at Rothstein Kass means employees getting involved. The national accounting firm uses feedback from employee focus groups to make changes that employees can see. He also recommends adding a social element to official functions to keep employees engaged. That can be something as simple as bagels at a morning meeting […]

Supreme Court to Decide Fate of Health Care Reform in 2012

Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would hear a challenge to the massive health care reform law (also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or PPACA) enacted in March 2010. The Court revealed how important it considers this case by scheduling five and a half hours of oral […]

Power Corrupts

by Mark I. Schickman At its heart, the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) football scandal is a criminal matter. But it’s also the ultimate example of sexual harassment being permitted to recur openly, continuously, and notoriously in a workplace. It’s a sober reminder of what can happen if any person or group believes they are bigger […]

Employers Urged to Take Safety Precautions on Black Friday

The Thanksgiving turkey isn’t even in the oven, but retailers (and shoppers) are already looking ahead to Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when stores traditionally promote once-a-year, enticing — some would say irresistible — prices to shoppers. But Black Friday can be more than a profitable day for retail employers. It also can be […]