Diversity in the Workplace is a current, and growing, topic of conversation for HR departments. Providing training for staff has many potential benefits for your company: Increasing productivity by lowering intra-staff tensions. Potentially increasing the company’s creative ability to solve issues through the increasing variety of employees and their varying backgrounds. Providing documentation of diversity training to help prevent potential discrimination claims. No matter what kinds of training you bring in-house, the follow-up is very important. Trainees of any kind of training typically forget over 80% of the lessons within 30 days. Here are a couple tips for what the follow-up should look like after the training to add diversity in the workplace: Leadership must help to illustrate how important diversity is to the company. When subordinates return from training, leadership should make it a point to ask them about the training and how it could apply to their daily routines. ...

Your new-hire training is a great opportunity to help save time and confusion down the road. It’s a chance to systematically layout all most of the aspects of being an employee at your company. The new hire training is the first important step to retaining your employees and all the experience and skills they will acquire during their time with you. As the marketplace improves, the rates of employee retentions are projected to trend downward. Most new hire training programs will include: Opening remarks from a company leader – This helps to establish that the newly hired employees are seen as a valuable part of the company. Personal introductions by all meeting attendees, to help with making friends at the company. Having friends at the company is one of the most powerful aspects to retention. Pay Policies and Procedures Benefits Overview with lists of resources for more information. Safety Briefing. Instructions on what to do in safety emergencies, like exit ...

A recent court decision adds insight to how Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave requests should be NOT be handled by your company. You know those employees that are falling short on the job? A recent lawsuit brought by an employee illustrates the need for documentation about job performance, before terminating an employee. The Broward County Sheriff’s office, in Florida, fired an employee after her alleged ongoing poor performance. The trouble was, the sheriff’s office didn’t document enough of her performance to back up a termination. The employee requested FMLA leave to get regular treatments for an ongoing infection. The sheriff’s office didn’t give her the FMLA paperwork. After the sheriff’s office fired her a week later, she filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and then immediately sued the sheriff’s office in federal court, claiming interference with her right to FMLA leave. The sheriff’s office contested on two fronts. F ...

A recent study by Bersin & Associates, an HR research and consulting firm, shed light on some global employer trends. Social Networking for recruiting Companies are mining the online social networks to present their brands, spread news about job openings and to target candidates. Candidates are using the social networks to learn about companies and what they are like to work for. They can connect and communicate directly with current, and former, employees to ask questions about your workplace. They see how adept your company is with utilizing social media. They may “follow” your social media news feeds. This effect is dramatically changing the process for recruiting for the best talent. Performance Management will utilize shorter time cycles The way of the annual goal review is going away. The report noted a 30% greater impact derived from performance management processes when company goals were reviewed on a quarterly basis. This goes contrary to the traditional practice of creating an ...

Trying to figure out how to pay your employees for travel time is, unfortunately, a complex issue for many companies. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) travel time pay guidelines have been a popular topic with employers since their inception. Do you know the legal answer the the following?: My hourly employee is attending a business convention out of town this weekend. Do I have to pay her for travel time? What about the weekend time that she’s away from her family? If she were an exempt employee, would the answer be the same? My employee drives from client to client each day. Do I have to pay him for travel time from his home to the first client? What about the time from one client to another? My employee was called in to work over the weekend, do I have to include her travel time to work as part of her overtime pay? I have to ask my employee to attend a tradeshow event on a Saturday night, is this overtime pay? As a business owner, these kinds of questions can be endless. Yo ...