Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Bosses come in various forms. Some rule with an iron hand, others take instructions from on high and then make sure the orders are carried out by underlings, and others truly inspire everyone on their team. It’s not surprising that an inspiring manager is likely the most effective, but it’s up to the HR department […]
March Madness always brings out our need to sort, rank, and compare. Personnel managers need not be any different and, since I’m nominally in charge of bringing literature to the discussion here and since we trace this blog’s heritage to speculating on Michael Scott’s employment law sins in The Office, let’s begin filling a bracket […]
I have a complicated relationship with thick biographies. Intellectually, I know I should sit there and wade my way through the thick prose devoted to men and women of great consequence. In a way, it’s like broccoli: “Go on, eat it – it’ll be good for you, and what do you mean, ‘I’m not hungry’?” […]
Sometimes it seems as though there are a thousand ways supervisors and managers—with the best of intentions—can practically beg for a lawsuit. We’ve distilled it down into 10 major sins you can talk to your supervisors about (and you might as well include your managers). Sin #1. Making Unlawful Preemployment Inquiries That’s an interesting accent […]
by Daniel C. Stockford What would you do if a senior manager in your company was prone to making the types of controversial and incendiary remarks for which Maine Governor Paul LePage has become famous? In this article, we will examine the governor’s history of controversial statements and explore what can be done when a […]
Few would argue that managers play a large role in attracting the best employees and keeping them engaged and productive. An effective manager keeps the team strong. The trick is learning how to improve managers and figuring out whether, or even if, the human resources department has any control over manager effectiveness. Pete Smith, a […]
by Dan Oswald I recently was reading on the subject of leadership, and one topic that came up was intelligence. So I set out to do some research on the importance of IQ in leadership. I must admit, it’s not easy to find a lot written about the intelligence of leaders. Type “leadership and intelligence” […]
by Dan Oswald I’ve been reading Tell My Sons . . . by Lieutenant Colonel Mark Weber. The book is filled with the life lessons he has learned. After a routine Army physical revealed he had stage IV intestinal cancer, he began a battle for his life that he ultimately will lose. When he realized […]
Over the weekend, an adaptation of The Wizard of Oz was released. If you’re like me, you grew up watching the 1939 classic. The new film got me thinking about those wonderful characters created by L. Frank Baum. There’s the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and of course Dorothy. Each one is etched […]
There’s a very powerful scene from the first episode of the television series The Newsroom, which debuted on HBO last year. In the scene, the news anchor, played by Jeff Daniels, is a member of a panel that sits before a large auditorium filled with adults of various ages. A young woman from the crowd […]