training

May 28, 2014

Stop assigning numbers to people!

Performance appraisals may finally be a human resource system of the past. Tons of evidence and our guts tells us they are ineffective measures of performance. Often, the best performers do not get the highest performance scores. The more we try to fix the appraisal process, the more convoluted and difficult to administer it becomes. The appraisal process is threatening for both the evaluator and the person being evaluated. Seldom has the evaluator been trained in judging performance, have a clear understanding of the position’s expectations and have frequent opportunities to observe an individuals’ performance. Recent findings reveal the ratings […]
April 30, 2014

Where’s The White Space?

The work world is smaller and spinning faster than ever. Many of us keep up by moving faster, doing more work with fewer people and modifying processes to minimize cost. That is what makes profits grow. But it may not distinguish us from others. Imagine if you could stop time for an hour. Chances are most of us would use that hour to clean off our desks, reply to emails or perform other tasks that give us a false sense of accomplishment. Since information is coming faster than ever, you would gain little ground with that spent hour. An empty […]
April 8, 2014

Drawing the line on civility

The NLRB requires most private employers to abide by the National Labor Relations Act. Very basically, Section 7 gives employees the right to organize and to engage in concerted activities for mutual aid, and the right to refrain from any such activities for the most part. Section 8 describes unfair labor practices of employers. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) conducts thousands of unfair labor practice investigations each year. A recent finding ruled it unlawful to require employees to refrain from negativity in the workplace. Hills and Dales General Hospital was struggling in 2005. Departments were not cooperating with each other, […]
March 6, 2014

What’s Your Secret?

Thumb drives, cloud computing and personal devices have created easy ways to transport trade secrets, confidential, and proprietary information. The most common cases involve former employees taking information to new employers, your competitor. However, there’s a growing market of end users willing to pay for or trick employees into releasing confidential information. The first step employers should take is to deter- mine what should be protected. Next, refine policies to include those specifics, such as client names and contact information, sources for supplies, proprietary processes or formulas. Non-disclosure agreements benefit by including these specifics, not only because they are more […]