The holidays can be a stressful time, full of family demands and financial obligations. This year, more people -- who have survived company downsizing or closures -- might benefit from employee assistance programs to help them through tough times. Employee assistance programs can range in scope, but generally focus on helping with issues that might affect job performance. The Employee Assistance ...

OK…now that I’ve recovered from my rant about the human resources profession, let’s discuss the people part… I’ll start by pointing out the 800 lb elephant in the room. Are there crappy HR people in organizations? Yes. There – I said it. And, there may actually be a lot of them out there. Which is why magazines like Fast Company publish ...

So you are Mr. or Ms. Big Shot. Okay, more than likely you are Mr. or Ms. Thinks They Are A Big Shot. Maybe you have a book or a TV show or a podcast or a popular blog or a big company or a big position or a fancy car. Maybe you are known. Maybe you are actually a big ...

Listen up. To maintain a competitive advantage, most companies are paying attention to the development of professional "soft skills" to boost performance, according to i4cp's latest study. Members can now download the results in PDF, PowerPoint and Interactive Data formats. The study found that, overall, 76% of study respondents have identified soft skills such as listening skills, persuasion and teamwork that ...

A reader writes: Yesterday I found out through coworkers that one of our managers left/was fired (closer to the latter, I think... I have heard he was in a "you need to show improvement in three months" situation which ended this week). His name is still on his office, and his things are still here, but he is definitely gone--after confirming ...

Broward County, my hometown, has made the national headlines again. First, it was hanging chads (remember them?), then Anna Nicole Smith, now a Ponzi scheme. The local news has been crazy lately. It started a month or so ago with the indictment of three local politicians on federal corruption charges. Shortly thereafter, another local politician was cited for ethics infractions. Then, ...

Even though the nation's unemployment rate has soared past 10%, there are still companies hiring – especially in Human Resources. So if you're out of a job or looking for something new, check out HRPeople's list of 10 companies who are hiring in Human Resources. Whether you're just getting into the industry or are an experienced professional, HRPeople has you ...

I had a colleague give me a referral last week. A referral is when you give (or in this case receive) a business lead from someone else. It’s a little different from a recommendation, which is a positive affirmation of someone’s work. Recommendations can sometimes lead to referrals. When you give a referral it’s a big deal. Typically the business you ...

Nov. 13--City officials yesterday said that they expected to save $6.3 million annually by making some changes to health-benefit plans offered to non-unionized city workers -- including upping some out-of-pocket costs and shifting the way the city pays insurance bills. Those changes will affect 6,900 non-unionized workers and retirees. But Managing Director Camille Barnett also said that the city would like ...

A cook at an Indiana restaurant suffered a job-related back injury, and a workers' compensation board said the employer must pay for a medical procedure. What makes this news? The procedure was weight-loss surgery. Also this summer, the Oregon Supreme Court said an employer must pay for surgery for an employee who suffered a workplace knee injury, not for knee replacement, ...

Jack Sullivan couldn't have been happier after landing his dream job. The position, salary and perks were exactly what he was looking for. But after the initial euphoria wore off, he discovered that going to work was becoming the same daily grind all over again. Although he couldn't put his finger on exactly what was wrong, he knew one thing for ...

I was looking at a post by Paul Hebert’s i2i about service anniversary awards and it got me thinking about the inherent ridiculousness of the whole concept. Why are we giving awards for people sticking it out? “Oh hey Jimmy, you made it through another year. Here’s your bronze pin. After that, you can get your silver, gold and then platinum ...

If your bead on the future is looking blurry these days, you're not alone. The global recession has thrown off a lot of organizations' expectations and predictions. So, it's little wonder that many are now striving to do a much better job of strategic planning for the future, especially in the area of talent. Workforce planning, or WFP, is not a ...

While economists are declaring the worst is over, there’s no doubt businesses are still operating conservatively. The forecasts indicate we will continue to see unemployment in the double digits for awhile. For businesses, this means it could be necessary to consider contractors and/or outsourcing to help with projects. It only seems obvious that instead of hiring, companies might turn to consultants. ...

In the toil of everyday working and just staying abreast with the needs of a business, it is easy to lose track of the constantly evolving organism that an organization is. If you don’t stop to check what state your organization is in and where it is headed, the shape it takes on it’s own might surprise you, to say the ...

Appearances can be perilously deceiving, especially if Americans do not look any further than Nidal Malik Hasan's Palestinian descent, his Muslim affiliation, his Middle Eastern-style clothing, and reports of his having shouted out "Allahu Akbar," an expression of praise to God, before allegedly gunning down dozens of soldiers. Superficially, the Fort Hood rampage looks like terrorism. Hasan's murder spree appears, however, ...

Who are you, not as a leader but as a person? Where are you in your life, what do you value and how does this impact or inform your leadership? It's not a question of "if" this impacts or informs your leadership, it is a question of "how." Really, it is. In her post, Be Who You Are, writer Becky Robinson ...

Ah, the holidays -- a time to rejoice, be merry and enjoy a well-earned break until the new year. But if you're job searching, it's also a great time to kick your job search into high gear. Believe it or not, the holiday season can be a promising time to secure a new position. "Companies...want to start the new year with ...

In these uncertain economic times, it is little surprise that HR professionals everywhere have major compensation-related concerns. Most specifically, the problem is money - the sheer lack of it. For too many businesses, profits are down, making it ever more difficult to meet payroll needs - never mind about raises for next year. lOMA's Setting & Managing 2070 Compensation Survey uncovers ...

Providing the same benefits at a lower cost can simply be a case of making changes behind the scenes, says Tom Washington In the theater world, a good stagehand should not be seen. Dressed in black, their task is to work in the background, shifting props and scenery to ensure maximum enjoyment for the audience. A similar role must be performed ...