With the proliferation of all kinds of ways to research job candidates available through the Internet, the use of these tool is on the rise. But, it’s not always obvious that these tools can expose you to unnecessary risk to lawsuits from rejected candidates. eBossWatch.com has recently received some media attention because of the research tools it has on its website. The site, founded in 2010, is used by both job candidates and employers. The website has two main tools: A tool for employees to rate their supervisors on communication skill and general “niceness”. A look-up screen to a self proclaimed “National Sexual Harassment Registry”. The website owner states all of the information on the site is either submitted by visitors, or attained through public sources. The site software also utilized a news monitoring tool called Google Alerts to cull information from many sources around the internet. From the employee point of view, the site proposes to help ident ...

A recent survey, conducted by Towers Watson, indicates that the majority of companies around the world are becoming savvier with the use of social media tools to communicate with their own employees. Over half of the companies responding to the survey indicated they will use more social media tools over 2012. These tools are being used extensively by both communication and change professionals to meet the demands of the workforce, which is anticipating the use of new media tools as they form a more diverse and globalized workforce. As a business owner, it’s important to understand that the survey notes that the largest communication programs in companies result in improving the ability of leadership and managers to effectively get their ideas across. And, the best communication programs use the same tools to gather feedback from the employees. That kind of feedback is used to monitor the effectiveness of the communications program. Yet, finding the return on the investment (ROI) in these tools can be ...

As the economy recovers, it doesn’t mean business won’t want to keep lean. With companies trying to hold down expenses, in many cases it has become harder to help injured workers get back to work. The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) recently offered the results of a survey that indicated a number of factors affecting injured employees trying to get back to work. Cost associated with creating a position entailing light-duty, transitional or modified duties Many companies used to create special positions with duties customized to help an injured employee return to the workforce. Many times, the positions required some investment to create, and were not designed for the company to get the normal return based on the salary. For an employee with limitations due to a physical injury, companies by have moved the employee’s workspace to a non-optimal location on a lower floor, or in another building. Companies may have installed accessibility hardware, or purchased special office f ...

Whether you hire in-house staff, or utilize outsources to handle your HR needs, having the right resources at your disposal is key to succeeding and hitting your company goals. Business Savvy, well rounded Today’s HR departments, from top to bottom, need to understand the company’s business model and the needs of the hiring managers. They need to be able to work with your leadership staff to draw out the criteria needed in ideal candidates. They should be great communicators Working with hiring supervisors and management can be a communication challenge. The HR employee should be able to listen and ask questions in a way to have a back-and-forth conversation with other staff. This comes as a very valuable asset when a tricky employee situation arises. The HR employee should already have a working relationship with the manager. They need to be educators Working with employees and supervisors usually entails a significant amount of education. The HR personnel should be able to share tactics ab ...

Recent research reports indicate world-wide employee satisfaction remains at a four-year low point. Employees feel the organization hasn’t effectively demonstrated how the individual worker’s effort contributes to the organization goals. There’s a strong correlation between the level of employee engagement and the company’s financial performance. From the employee’s point of view, what have your leadership and HR departments done in the last twelve months to exemplify how their work ties to the bottom line and overall company success in the marketplace? Here are a few ideas you might use at your company: Train your supervisors to engage their direct reports and talk about how the work relates to the “bigger picture”. Arm your supervisors with talking points and handouts to help the conversation. Take the time to develop communication plans that help explain the company strategy. It’s often best to explain the value of an employee’s work wh ...