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Customers vs. Employees: The Customer Isn’t Always Right
Long ago and far away, I had my first job at a McDonald’s for $1.60 an hour.
I had fun, worked hard, and learned a lot about the workworld, including memorable phrases like “If you’ve got time to lean, you’ve got time to clean.” And this one:
“The customer is always right.”
Customer service and satisfaction are [...]
Pros and Cons of 360 Degree Feedback
Susan M. Heathfield, the About.com Guide to Human Resources, takes on the subject of 360-degree feedback, providing a balanced overview of the topic and clear and concise bullet points on the pros and cons.
Susan’s definition of the term “360-degree feedback”:
“A method and a tool that provides each employee the opportunity to receive performance feedback from [...]
Proving the Obvious? Good HR is Good Business, Study Finds
This from Tampa Bay Business Journal via the ManagersRealm blog:
According to a recent Gevity Institute study, certain HR practices result in measurable business results.
The study found that small businesses that follow a set of “workforce alignment” employee management strategies achieve 22.1 % higher revenue growth, 23.3 % higher profit growth and 66.8 % less employee [...]
New Blog to Cover Telework Issues
I’ve periodically returned to the subject of telecommuting, or telework, because I see it as a major opportunity — and hopefully a major trend — changing the way we work.
My last post on the topic, “The Telecommuting Imperative,” points to a couple of earlier related posts.
I’m excited about the possibilities of telework because it [...]
The Telecommuting Imperative
We’ve written about telecommuting before:
How productive are telecommuters? It depends.
Fascinating Facts About Telecommuters
Discussion of the benefits of telecommuting has often focused on its impact on employee morale and the cost savings to the employer in terms of reduced space needs.
Now, rising gas costs and concerns about contingency planning for natural disasters such as [...]
Three Cheers for Vacations!
Yes, I’m finally back from my vacation trip to Hungary, Austria, Italy, and France.
I was struggling a bit with how much of my experience to share here, and how to do so in a way that would be of some interest to our readers, who presumably care more about HR and employment law than [...]
Does Your State Let You Look At Your Personnel File?
If you are a Federal employee, the Privacy Act of 1974 gives you various rights to your personnel records. If you are a private-sector employee, you have limited rights to view your personnel records. Most of your rights, to the extent they exist, vary depending on the state in which you live.
AHI [...]
To Proctor or Not to Proctor: That is the Question for Some Internet Tests
Nope, “proctoring” has nothing to do with anything medical. Rather, it relates here to whether or not a company assigns someone to watch over test-takers as they take an examination of the psychological type.
In his latest posting, Jamie of selectionmatters.com discusses a symposium he attended on proctoring in the context of internet testing.
The specific [...]
Still Curious About That Employee-Spanking Case? Of Course You Are!
Highlighting why it is a leading HR publication, Workforce Management presents the story of the employee “spanking” case, providing more details and analysis on this “major corporate black eye” case than the sources we cited in these earlier posts on this Blawg :
“How NOT To Do Employee Training: Spanking Trainees”
“Get Spanked by your Employer, Win [...]
Managing the Poor Interviewer: Tips for Interviewees
Some of my favorite stories involve my own experiences with bad interviewers.
Like the one who had no idea what to ask me or what to tell me — until he discovered we grew up in the same neighborhood. Then, we talked about the schools we went to, the stores we shopped at, and so forth. [...]
How NOT To Do Employee Training: Spanking Trainees
An employee is suing her previous employer for discrimination, assault, battery, and infliction of emotional distress for her experiences during a highly unorthodox training session.
It seems really obvious to me that these training practices probably would cause more problems than they would solve.
Alarm One, a company based in California (!), used a “motivational training” program [...]
The Next Big Wal-Mart Controversy: Rotating Shifts
In what may become the next major employee relations fiasco at Wal-mart, a CNN story reports some unhappyWal-mart employees complaining about what appears to be a “trial balloon” regarding rotating shifts.
As reported in this Cnnmoney.com story:
Sphere: Related Content
New Roles for HR Managers
Erexchange.com presents a nicely written article by John Sullivan on three new roles for HR managers.
While not earth-shattering, given many recent discussions about the changing face of HR, the article does an excellent job of describing the three new roles, and some of the responsibilities of each role.
The three new roles are:
Sphere: Related [...]
Wal-Mart Releases Diversity Information: But Is There Enough Information There?
One employment discrimination lawsuit that we have followed quite carefully in this blawg is Dukes v. Wal-Mart, with entries ranging from an analysis of the judge’s decision to grant class certification to a posting regarding an apparent attempt at settling the Dukes v. Wal-Mart sex discrimination class action case out of court.
Now, we note [...]
Dear John: Some Potential Suggestions for Writing Applicant Rejection Letters
It is always interesting to discuss how to craft a candidate rejection letter. Indeed, some might wonder whether such letters should even be written! I found a recent article discussing some characteristics of a successful rejection letter.
Most interestingly, the author mentioned a practice that Circuit City used years ago, in which the rejection letter [...]
