Gina Abudi » Human Resource

Preparing to Meet Professional Development Needs in the New Year

Gina — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:30:33 +0000

Determining Employee Needs

As a Human Resource Professional, are you prepared to meet employee professional development needs in the upcoming need? Do you know what is needed in skill development?

Here are some suggestions on ways to gather information (in a short time) as to what may be needed/desired in professional development:

Meet with [...]

Strategy in Human Resources

Tracey — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 13:30:28 +0000

Strategy in Human Resources? Is that possible?

As time has passed, more and more departments inside organizations have become strategic and data-driven. When we think of departments like Finance and Operations, we can easily visualize those being strategic and highly analytical, but we don’t often think that way about HR.

Human Resources is one [...]

Why should you care about staff morale?

Michael — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:30:25 +0000

How many times have you been treated poorly by an employee at your favourite coffee house, or shop? Clearly that employee does not embody the company spirit, and most likely has low morale. Considering that staff morale and customer satisfaction are directly linked. Connect with your employees on an emotional level and they [...]

You say your employees are not engaged and not performing well…

Gina — Tue, 24 May 2011 13:30:48 +0000

You just might be the problem!

As a manager you have responsibility for engaging your employees. Yes, of course they have responsibilities too; but engaging them is the responsibility of the company and the management. Disengaged employees are just not interested in their role and often do not perform well on the job. They [...]

Avoiding Difficult Performance Discussions is Not Nice

Jamie — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:30:17 +0000

One of the excuses we commonly hear as a reason for not actively engaging in dialogue with employees regarding their performance is "We’re really nice at XYZ organization" or "We’re non-confrontational." Translation, "We have people who are underperforming, but we’d rather not have those conversations." Or, "It’s just easier to let the underperformance [...]

Is it in personal/professional/organizational interest for an employee to have friends in the workplace?

Suprio — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 13:30:51 +0000

Long-term relationships are often formed at work. The evolution of quality relationships is very normal and an important part of a healthy workplace. In the best workplaces, employers recognize that people want to forge quality relationships with their coworkers, and that company allegiance can be built from such relationships. The development of trusting relationships [...]

Assess What Needs Assessing

Paul — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:30:24 +0000

Assessment centers are used in many large organizations for recruitment and promotion but do they really assess what needs to be accomplished by individuals once they pass? It’s often quoted that assessment centers are the best indicators of future performance and this may well be true but only if what is assessed is [...]

Human Resources Concern

Gina — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:30:04 +0000

The Importance of Work/Life Balance and What To Do About It

A major concern for many Human Resource (HR) professionals today is helping to ensure a work/life balance for employees. Certainly trying to balance work and life can be difficult regardless of your position, but frequently you see the most issues occurring for [...]

Two Important Questions to Ask During Your Performance Review

Jamie — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:30:17 +0000

I continually hear from employees who have just had their performance evaluation that it wasn’t a valuable developmental experience. I then ask, “Did you learn what you do well and should continue doing and find out at least one thing you could be doing that would help you be more effective?” About 10% [...]

Stop Sweeping Performance Issues Under the Rug

Jamie — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:30:09 +0000

Most motivated employees can manage and improve an area of weakness, but only if they are made aware of the issue and are coached.

Case in Point

Steve has been with a technology company for more than eight years going back to when they were a start-up. He is a talented, [...]

Don’t Make Employees Mad with a Poorly Delivered Message

Jamie — Wed, 26 May 2010 13:30:58 +0000

Many managers are adept at the objective parts of performance discussion performance, but nearly all of them dread initiating conversations about personal issues such as behaviors and attitudes. The traditional method by which they are taught to provide performance feedback to employees, sometimes referred to as "constructive criticism," is often the very reason [...]

Performance Issues: Addressing Office Gossip

Jamie — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:30:03 +0000

A performance issue we’ve all come across is the office gossip. The person who takes on the role of behaving like CNN to make sure everyone else hears the "news." We all have the person or people in the office who spread gossip and thrive on talking about others. This has the effect [...]

HR’s Challenge for the Recovery

Henry — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:30:38 +0000

2009’s economic downturn was twice as deep as previously forecasted however Deloitte’s recent survey shows:

"More surveyed executives believe the worst of the economic downturn is behind us, by a decisive 31% to 7% margin"

Despite indications of economic recovery, many companies have only marginally planned for it. Plus many lack the Human Capital [...]

Interview Questions to Determine a Good Fit With the Organization

Gina — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:30:20 +0000

With so many individuals looking for new opportunities, it is important to select new hires that are a good fit for the organization. Finding the right individuals – those who can be motivated by what the organization has to offer them – is not always easy; but once you find them, these are individuals [...]

Conducting Employee Engagement Surveys

Gina — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:30:44 +0000

In a previous post we talked about the importance of engaging employees and provided some suggestions to engage employees in the workplace. To understand how well your employees are engaged, if at all, an employee engagement survey might be used to gather some data on employee engagement at your organization.

Employee engagement issues do [...]

Do You Know How to Engage Your Employees?

Gina — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:30:53 +0000

Have you thought about “engaging your employees?” What does it mean to you to engage employees? If you are not engaging your employees, you are losing out on quite a bit and risking the loss of employees who can help your organization reach its goals. When you don’t engage your employees – you lose [...]

Quick Tips to Get a New Hire Acclimated and Comfortable in Their New Role

Gina — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:30:58 +0000

It’s essential to ensure that new hires can begin to feel productive and part of the company as quickly as possible. In this way, you can ensure that new hires are effective within the organization. Additionally, new hires who feel a part of the company from day one are happier, more productive employees overall. [...]

Pre-Employment Screening Part II

Sandy — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:30:55 +0000

Part I of this post discussed some of the reasons why an organization would conduct pre-screening of potential employee candidates and talked about the pros and cons of conducting the screen using in-house resources or outsourcing to a specialist. This post will continue discussion around hiring the best Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) to help [...]

Pre-Employment Screening Part I

Sandy — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:30:55 +0000

Employers are acutely aware that hiring an applicant with an undesirable background, criminal and/or civil record, or falsified credentials can carry enormous economic and legal consequences. Pre-employment screening has proven to be a cost effective way to protect the business, the owners, and employees from the disaster a “bad hire” can bring. That said, [...]