Younger Workers and Retirement

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A recent survey has shown that there has been a big shift among younger workers in their attitude about preparing for retirement. Many are now saying they would prefer giving up salary now to get more in retirement and health benefits in the future. This sea change in younger worker attitudes could have a significant… Read more »

Managing (Tackling?) Email

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If you work in human resources, you are dealing with email, often a lot of it. Like everyone else in business, you are probably trying to figure out how to get control over it. In fact, email has become such a big issue at some places that they have threatened to ban it entirely. But… Read more »

Helping Employees Save Enough for Retirement

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As just about everyone in today’s workforce knows, pension plans are going the way of the dinosaur, being replaced by employee contribution plans such as 401(k)s and Individual Retirement Accounts. But with the recent severe downturn in the economy, it has become evident that these retirement accounts leave a lot to be desired. Moreover, an… Read more »

Was it a Compliment or a Jab? How New Technologies Can Muddle Messages

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In business, the situation with technology sometimes resembles a person stranded on a deserted island, surrounded by water, but none to drink. We have more ways to communicate than ever before, according to Stephen Paskoff, a human resources specialist, but despite that, all the advances in communication technology have done little to help us understand… Read more »

Signs of Sagging Corporate Culture

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The concept of corporate culture can be a somewhat nebulous thing. It is not something where you can look at facts and figures. It has to do with the attitude and morale of workers, their engagement with their work and their productivity. But, although culture is not easy to quantify, human resources specialist Andy Porter… Read more »

Streamlining a Lengthy Orientation Process

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Bringing new people onboard is an important process, and should be done with care and planning. New workers should be brought up to speed, given the tools they need to be successful, and made to feel welcomed by the company. What you should avoid, however, if you are in human resources, is a very long… Read more »

Are You HIPAA Compliant? Are You SURE?

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When the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) went into effect in 2003, most employers that had self-insured health plans took steps to make sure they were in compliance. But with the passage of time, compliance standards at a number of organizations have fallen off some, and human resource departments need to take another… Read more »

A Company’s Process Improvement Efforts and Human Resources

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A representative from human resources needs to be on any performance improvement team that is worth the name, according to business analyst Brad Power. In addition to people who know how things work, and people who know how to make them work better, Power says that there also should be on the team people who… Read more »

Improve Coaching for a Better Bottom Line

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Recent signs are showing that companies that develop a culture where coaching is encouraged and practiced well by everyone have better bottom lines. This may be something for human resources departments to think about and to get involved in creating such an atmosphere. A recent study by the California-based advisory firm Bersin and Associates showed… Read more »

Obesity and Lost Productivity

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A recent Gallup poll has revealed that workers who are overweight or obese miss 450 million more work hours each year than workers who are normal weight. This absentee rate has lead to about $153 billion in lost productivity each year. Less than 15 percent of the workforce is not overweight and does not have… Read more »