Archive for HR Strategy

The Essential Ingredient Now for Employers: Compassion

Many Bay Area counties have now extended the COVID-19 shelter-in-place order through May 31st.  This new order affects employers and employees in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties, as well as those in the city of Berkeley.  The extension of the stay-at-home…

“Remote Control”: Management Techniques for Virtual Work

The vast majority of companies are not accustomed to 100% remote work. But this is the indefinite reality many companies now face, due to the ongoing global COVID-19 health emergency. This new reality is posing abundant challenges to leaders who aim to continue supporting their teams as best…

How Well Does “Workplace Wellness” Really Work?

Employee burnout—which we previously blogged about here—is an “occupational phenomenon” characterized by prolonged workplace stress that affects, according to a Gallup survey, about two thirds of full-time employees. Because it is so commonly experienced by the workforce, and because the World Health Organization (WHO) has now exclusively dubbed…

Employers Take Note – To Make Employees Feel Appreciated, Please Don’t Throw a Pizza Party

Sometimes, major life events—the death of a relative, a natural disaster, a global health crisis—help people stop and realize that the little things in life are, in fact, the big things. Perhaps you’ll be more inclined to notice the sweet-smelling roses on your walk; maybe you’ll appreciate the…

Extreme Makeover 2020, HR Edition

While 2020 isn’t quite as futuristic as is often portrayed in cinema—flying cars, robots aplenty—it has brought dramatic change to best practices in HR. Author and podcaster Lars Schmidt of Fast Company summarizes HR’s new look in a recent article. Inclusion First, inclusion—which we previously blogged about here—is…

WHO Classifies Burnout as an Occupational Syndrome

When it comes to wellness in the workplace, responsibility seems to be shifting across the board from the employee to the employer. Similar to workplace stress—which we recently blogged about here—employee burnout is yet another issue that is increasingly being viewed as an issue that employers should be…

Five Ways to Be a Great Boss

A recent study conducted by LinkedIn asked participants—over 2,000 working professionals—what skills they desired most in their bosses. The results yielded a clear “top 5” list of qualities that people most want to see their bosses exhibit. Problem solving: what your employees most want to see is a…

In the Workplace, Stress is the Enemy

If you’re concerned with employee retention at your company, minimizing stress levels amongst your team should be a top priority. According to a recent Harvard Business Review article, when employees are stressed, their critical and creative thinking is diminished, and the odds of them leaving their jobs are…

EPLI Insurance May Cover Some Wage-and-Hour Claims

Employment practices liability insurance (“EPLI”) policies often contain explicit language that excludes from coverage or defense claims that are based on any federal or state wage-and-hour laws.  Recently, the California Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal gave employers a glimmer of hope – and an incentive to push back…

Most Interviewers Ask the Wrong Questions

Many people find themselves in the position to be interviewing prospective employees, without really having much training in how to conduct an interview.  This often results in the interviewer asking boilerplate questions that the candidate has already been asked many, many times before.  The result is a “canned”…