More businesses are recognizing that they have to use social media in their business strategies and operations, according to numerous commentators. This week’s Feature from CCH reports on recent survey findings by the Society for Human Resource Management analyzing how social media is becoming embedded in business policies and actions.
Policies
Feature of the Week
Holiday parties, bonuses, and other forms of acknowledgement, including gifts, for employees’ work has symbolic value beyond the cash value that may be attached--research on employee recognition demonstrates that sincere, credible recognition is appreciated by employees and can enhance their motivation and performance. This week’s Feature from CCH HR Compliance Library looks at the long term benefits of providing such recognition during the holiday season and beyond.
Feature of the Week
Employers tempted to query social media networks for job candidate background information can obtain a great deal of information about potential candidates not generally provided during the traditional application process, but this also produces a great deal of information that makes it advisable for employers to adopt “best practices” procedures to protect against legal liability. This week’s Feature from CCH reports on a presentation on “Internet Security, Privacy & Social Media Policies” at the National Employment Law Institute’s Chicago conference held earlier in November.
Feature of the Week
Coaching and development as part of the performance management process is frequently given lip service in management literature, but new research finds that senior leaders who coach, develop and hold others accountable for coaching and development are three times more effective at producing improved business and talent results than those who do not. The research also found that while 70 percent of organizations claim they coach their employees, many managers lack coaching skills, and only 11 percent of senior leaders actively coach regularly. This week’s Feature from CCH News reports on the recent research conducted by management consultants Bersin & Associates on the top challenges to effective performance management.
Feature of the Week
The use of social media in the workplace is one of the hotter topics for employers in not only trying to keep up with the rapidly evolving technology and software for business purposes, but also regarding the policies in monitoring employee behavior. This week’s Feature from CCH News examines the business ethics of using monitoring software available through companies like Social Intelligence, which provides businesses with archived data from social media sites for use in preventing online damage to their reputations, but which also can be used to screen potential employees and to monitor the social media activities of current employees.
Feature of the Week
Exit interviews can be a valuable source of information to a business. HR managers frequently use exit interviews as a way to identify and articulate why employees are leaving to help reduce employee turnover, but may not be identifying areas that are working in the organization. This week’s Feature from CCH News examines the latest trends in exit interviews, which includes focusing on the bright side, and working to replicate “the good” across the company.
Feature of the Week
Many employers take the natural opportunity at the start of a new year to implement changes to their human resources policies and procedures designed to make their business more competitive in this challenging economy. This week’s CCH News offers some changes employers may want to consider to remain a productive operation and limit any legal liabilities.
Feature of the Week
As the economy picks up, one of the challenges for employers is to find the right person for the job, and care should be taken in avoiding a bad hire. HR should remind managers that making a bad choice can be costly: two-in-three companies reported last year that a bad hire has adversely affected their business; four-in-ten said that one bad hire cost them more than $25,000, and 24 percent said one bad hire cost their business more than $50,000. This week’s Feature from CCH News reports on a recent nationwide CareerBuilder.com survey on the specific impacts of a bad hire and what underlies making a bad choice.
Feature of the Week
Management should always be looking for ways to boost productivity, especially in a highly competitive environment where maximizing every dollar spent adds to the organization’s bottom line. This week’s Feature is a timely article on a Top 10 list highlighting cost-effective ways companies can encourage productivity and minimize inefficiency in 2011 in order to not only increase job satisfaction overall but to save money.
Feature of the Week
Bed bugs have been reported in retail stores, hospitals, and major office buildings in New York and other areas across the country, and a bed bug infestation can have a significant impact on a business, whether or not it is visitor-based. This week’s Feature from CCH News examines the role of human resources in battling bed bugs in the work place.
Employers’ Retiree Medical to Fall Sharply Due to Health Reform, Survey Says
Most employers in a May 2010 Towers Watson survey believe that the recently enacted health reform legislation will reduce the number of large employers offering employer-sponsored retiree health benefits, and 43 percent of employers that currently offer retiree benefits plan to reduce or eliminate them.
Read more Only One in Five Employees Trusts Manager Says Right Management Survey
Just one in five employees “always” trust their managers to make the best decisions; 19 percent of employees “rarely” trust their managers to make the best decisions, and as many as many as 57 percent say they only “occasionally” trust their managers according to a survey by Right Management.
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Read more More Employers Requiring Workers to Take Their Medicine, Survey Says
More employers are taking steps to improve their employees’ health by making sure they take their medicines as prescribed, a move that could stave off more serious and costly health consequences, according to a new report sponsored by the National Pharmaceutical Council.
Read more Small Business Holiday Gifts to Employees, Bonuses and Raises Down, AMEX Reports
Fewer small business owners plan to give their employees holiday gifts or bonuses this year, although the percentage who plan on gifts to customers are roughly equivalent to last year, says American Express.
Retain Key Talent with Effective Communication, Watson Wyatt Says
Companies with highly effective internal communication programs are better placed to keep employees engaged and retain key talent, according to a new Watson Wyatt survey of companies around the world.
The survey finds that 61 percent of companies that are highly effective communicators report that their managers are effective
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