The recession turned practically every carrier into a low fare airline; fancy flying was one of the first items chopped from businesses budgets. But the economy is finally turning around. And in an effort to bounce back from billion dollar losses, airlines are offering all kinds of extras to woo corporate fliers. So which perks would persuade you to pick one ...

You think just because you're in HR you shouldn't have to ask for a raise? The system will take care of you just like it does everyone else, right? You of all people should know better. Compensation systems have always been designed to attract,retain and motivate employee, and companies are always doing whatever they can to keep their star performers from ...

Good news: There is more than one path into the field of HR, as evidenced by these stories shared by Monster users. Follow their examples, and you may soon be the one sharing your success story with others. h4. Aimee's Journey from Social Work to Retail HR After a successful, draining, and not to mention underpaid, career in social work, I ...

If leaders feel stretched today, it's only going to get worse in the future, indicates new research by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp). Finding structural efficiencies by expanding spans of control has become a necessity in the current economic climate. However, the i4cp study shows that flattening organizational structure doesn't necessarily result in a competitive advantage. While there are advantages, ...

A little while back, I talked about how transparency seems to have faded from our conversations both on and off social media. One of the reasons for this could be that we don't really know what to look for in terms of transparency. It got me thinking. How do we know if an organization is operating in a transparent manner? So ...

In the human resources world, we sometimes get on this kick about recordkeeping. It's boring, tedious and can translate into being labeled bureaucratic. But I read an article this weekend that reinforces the need for paperwork and proper recordkeeping. The article was titled, "The Fisherman and the Tax Man." It's about British Petroleum (BP) requesting tax records from fisherman seeking compensation ...

Question: What do a minister, a real estate broker and a lawyer all have in common? Answer: They all work in HR now, and each can prove it doesn't take a conventional HR background to work in this field. The Career Changer's Motto: Be Prepared Anne Grove, now a recruiter for Newhouse Consulting, knows a lot about transitions. She began her ...

This post is written for the everyday manager, HR manager, coach, or consultant that doesn’t have the time or interest to learn about validation, reliability, confirmatory factor analysis, correlation coefficients, and adverse impact. However, you’re using assessments, and you know just enough to be dangerous. Oh yeah, that pretty much describes me. Maybe you too. I’ve written about assessments for leadership ...

Many years ago I was quoted in the infamous Fast Company article "Why We Hate HR." Even though the article is 5 years old, I continue to see a chorus of authors and HR naysayers who essentially say the same thing: HR is not strategic. Despite the negativity, all of these articles make note of the fact that organizations today are ...

When asked a traditional question like, "What would you do if you had a customer who wasn't interested in buying the product?" you can make up a story. But when you're asked behavioral questions, the interviewer is listening for specific examples of how you have handled situations or problems in the past. When presented with behavioral questions beginning with phrases like, ...

A reader writes: Our office has a number of staff that travel to our various satellite offices – most of the travel is same day (home to office back to home)(no overnight stays). There are a few staff members that feel like they need to be reimbursed for breakfast and lunch and sometimes even dinner (if they leave after 5pm) from ...

There is more to human resources than recruiting the hottest talent. In fact, this field offers many varied career paths, and the one you choose should depend on your interests. Learn what's available before you settle on a direction. Read HR 101: An Overview, Part II [page] HR Generalist Are you the kind of person who likes to do a little ...

How much time do you spend in meetings? How much of it is necessary? Industry Week reports that the estimated cost of wasted time in unproductive meetings exceeds $37 billion annually. Estimate a meeting’s cost by taking the average hourly rate of the participants - a conservative estimate for managers is $40/hour - and multiplying it by the number of people ...

For HR professionals who suspect that the never-ending quest for the proverbial "seat at the table" is an unattainable objective, there are a growing number of examples of HR executives who have not only gained entry to the inner circle but have leveraged positions of significant influence within their organizations with great success. Such wins give those still wrestling with the ...

If you want to start developing leadership skills in your first job, here’s Lindsey Pollak’s advice: Begin with your eyes and ears. That’s what she did in her first role as a program coordinator for the American Woman’s Economic Development Corp. in Stamford, Connecticut. “My pay was very low, so my terrific boss - the executive director of the organization - ...

There have been some very good posts written on the subject of onboarding. You can check them out here, here, and here. Some people think of orientation and onboarding as the same thing. I view onboarding as a longer process which includes orientation. Unfortunately, in many companies, orientation has become that half-day event where employees sign paperwork and review the employee handbook. That’s ...

When you’ve worked so hard to get that first job after college, the last thing you want is to screw it up. Sadly, new grads do it all the time. The problem rarely stems from lack of knowledge or poor technical skills. It often goes back to something simpler: Your persona in the workplace, particularly during your first few weeks on ...

You've been trying to break into HR for a while now, so a friend suggests you contact a temporary placement agency about an opportunity in an HR department. At first, this sounds like a great idea, but now you're having second thoughts. Will this move help or hurt your career? Before you decide, consider the advantages and disadvantages of temporary work ...

Congratulations! You've picked a career that has so many options we've had to divide our overview into two parts. Part I covered the roles of HR generalists, compensation professionals and information systems (HRIS) specialists. If none of those seem like the right fit for you, don't despair. Consider one of the paths listed on the following pages for your human resources ...

This is a story of four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, ...