Tag: BLR

Obamacare—Love It or Loathe It—Offers Lessons for Every Manager

(Dan Oswald, CEO of BLR, offered his thoughts on Obamacare in a recent edition of The Oswald Letter.) It’s not unusual for a talented, newly appointed executive to announce a bold and innovative course of action for the department or company she was just chosen to lead. And with bold plans come risk and detractors. […]

How Videos Help Training

Hilton Garden Inn (www.hgi.com) has found out just how effective training videos can be. The hotel brand teamed up with Root, Inc. (www.rootinc.com) to create compelling internal training videos to support company initiatives. Two of their videos recently were named winners in the 34th annual Telly Awards. Hilton Garden Inn’s “You Can Count on Us […]

What Can Employers Do to Prevent Workplace Violence?

Workplace violence and homicides are ongoing threats for employers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the 4,547 workplace injuries resulting in death in 2010, 506 were homicides. While there is no federal law that establishes an employer’s duty to prevent workplace violence against employees, companies must comply with the general duty clause of […]

Handling Suspected FMLA Fraud

“Intermittent leave and reduced schedule leaves are sometimes fertile grounds for deception and fraud.” Charlie Plumb told us in a recent BLR webinar. Intermittent leave is one of the toughest parts of the FMLA to administer and it can cause frustration for employers, employees, and their coworkers. This is never more so than when fraud […]

Technology’s Effect on Corporate Training

The training question is: “How is technology changing corporate training, and what do trainers need to keep in mind in light of that?” Here is how an expert responded: The primary way that technology is changing training is that “it’s disaggregating content,” says Karl Kapp (www.karlkapp.com), Assistant Director of Bloomsburg University’s Institute for Interactive Technologies, […]

It’s Time for Time Management Training

The information in today’s Advisor is adapted from BLR’s 10-Minute HR Trainer session, “Time Management for Supervisors.” One big obstacle to efficient time management is dealing with interruptions, which are inevitable and unpreventable. Remind your supervisors and managers that dealing with people and problems is part of their jobs, so they have to expect interruptions—but […]

Fired Chef Takes to Twitter on Company Account

Twitter has been a hot topic in our HR Strange But True! column lately. In most cases, it was about employees—or should we say ex-employees—posting something they shouldn’t. Take, for example, the employee who tried to buy drugs via tweet, or congressional aides who were fired for tweeting about drinking on the job. And how […]

Is It Time for Time Management Training?

The information in today’s Advisor is adapted from BLR’s 10-Minute HR Trainer® session, “Time Management for Supervisors.” The first step to tackling more-effective time management is to understand why supervisors have trouble managing their days. Here are several factors that interfere with a well-planned schedule: Reacting to others’ demands instead of deciding how your time […]

Work with Your Community to Train the Next Generation

Strong partnerships between employers, educational institutions, and local communities are essential for effective workforce training programs, according to a blog from the U.S. Commerce Department. Secretary Penny Pritzker had recently announced a strategic vision for the Department of Commerce, which includes a focus on ensuring that workers are prepared with the skills that employers need. […]

’Tis the Season … to Do Right by Employees and Customers

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 Bottleworks, I figured it must have a pretty satisfied workforce. Here’s the story, from a recent edition of The Oswald Letter. It seems that over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the […]