HR Coffee Corner

What happened to eye contact ?

babaHR — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:40:44 GMT

Yesterday I took a walk around to take questions about flu shots and was mortified that several of the employees never took their eyes off their computer screens when I spoke with them.

This is an office, not an operating room or airport control tower. Employees can take a second to look at someone when talking to them.

I also noticed in our company meetings, employees are staring down into their phones texting instead of looking at the speaker.

Is eye contact passe? Are simple good manners gone, too?

"Biggest Loser"

MVSarine — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:29:55 GMT

Has your company hosted a competition like this? Any suggestions on how it was handled?

Pirates of the Workplace Fridge

BLR_Sdean — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 15:02:20 GMT

In this week's HR Strange but True!, we are running a story about employees who take other people's food from the workplace refridgerator. Has this been a problem at your workplace? How did your company address it? Share your stories, especially the funny ones. If we get enough good ones, we'll include them in a future issue of HR Strange but True!

You can read the weekly column here: http://hr.blr.com/hrstrangebuttrue.aspx

Holiday party after layoffs?

kyliefan — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:39:13 GMT

Hi -- As many other employers did, we had to conduct some layoffs this year. This is the time of year we generally start planning our company's holiday party. The topic of whether we should have a party at all has been raised-- that basically we shouldn't be spending money on a party if we couldn't "afford" to keep the individuals we laid off. We're still undecided.

Is anyone else having a similar internal debate when it comes to holiday party planning?

Office Party

MVSarine — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:52:14 GMT

If an office party is being held on site but after work hours, do you need to pay the non-exempt employees?

Forced Blogging

StatsDaz — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:57:49 GMT

The Marketing Associate came to visit with news that it was week 6 and my turn in the rotation to complete a blog for the organization. There were a lot of things I wished to say at that point but held back as this was simply a messenger with an edict from management. From the point of announcement that all staff must blog on behalf of the organization per a roster regardless of other projects or desire to do so, I had deliberated the value of the move. From a sales & marketing standpoint it’s a purported goldmine, an organization where the breadth of knowledge is diverse the promotion of these ideas from within benefits an organizations profile. Staff who blog also benefit in the process with the recognition of individual thought leadership in the industry.

But is the goldmine wrought with fools gold? Another view to take on this would be that by forcing the blogging this can devalue the blog content overall lowering quality from two aspects. Firstly, staff are writing not on desire or burning issue but trying to fit in a few words given the schedule. Secondly, the true pieces of valuable information can get lost in the quagmire of “filler” articles.

It is not as though there are not a number of valuable topics that I should be discussing in some format, top of mind is some of the analytic and reporting work that my team is currently undertaking however the results are clear when correlating survey data with turnover and performance. The greatest gap is in associate engagement and to no surprise simply handing high performers more money doesn’t guarantee anything, well except a pay raise for myself now.

I seem to have digressed however this topic does bring me back to the point that if a high performing employee has alternative preferences to blogging does this effect the engagement of said employee?

Business card "resumes"

fisHRman — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:22:59 GMT

Hey, just read that OfficeMax is producing mini-resumes on business card stock for jobseekers to hand out.

Don't know if I want to keep track of these little things, especially if I put them in my pocket at a trade show or job fair. Easy to lose before I can photocopy onto regular size paper or retype so I have a soft copy.

What do you all think of this?

Julie and Julia-Workplace Issues

bevhunt — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:34:51 GMT

Loved the movie and Meryl Streep's and Amy Adams' performances. Got a few chuckles when she called in sick and her husband told her to blog that she slept half the day and then felt better--been through this with several employees here who were active online during sick days.

What did you think of the way her manager handled her when he called her into his office? I didn't read the book Julie and Julia, so I don't know if she got a bad performance review.

Patient Bill of Rights

hbarnes — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:43:45 GMT

Can anyone help me find a Patient Bill of Rights? Or guide me in the right direction I work for a medical clinic and the Dr. refused service on a patient that is deaf what do I need to do to make sure this was done correctly?

Payroll system

hbarnes — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:45:42 GMT

Does anyone have a good payroll system they can tell me about? We currently use Mangrove and we are looking for a different program.

Coffee-1 bag or 2?

ninanewbie — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:20:16 GMT

This is a real HR Coffee Corner question --on coffee!

As the new person in HR, I was just given the responsibility for supplying and monitoring the coffeemakers.

A few caffeine-addicted people here have been using 2 and 3 bags of coffee in the filters instead of one. Pretty potent. Now I am getting complaint e-mails about this from people who want their coffee 1-bag normal. I have sent out an email and put signs over the machines that only 1 bag should be used, but the problem continues. Any suggestions about what I can do short of installing a Nanny-cam or switching everyone to tea?

As a newbie, I do want to keep within the budget assigned to the beverages, and these extra bags will push me over!

I also have the problem of people drinking glasses of the milk designated for the coffee, but that's another problem.

The Boogey Man

SubGrapHR — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:55:36 GMT

Here is a situation that I would love some feedback on--

I have an employee, no one knows who he is, who insists on placing boogers on the wall above the urinal in the men's room. Yep, that's right. We are a professional organization full of highly intelligent individuals yet I have this yahoo doing this. Obviously I can't place a camera in there nor do I want to. I have sent notices requesting cleanliness in ALL activities (trying to not let everyone know I have a childish SOB placing boogers on the wall). Any advice on how I can go about deterring this behavior? As odd as it is, I need to resolve this issue as the cleaning crew refuses to clean them off the wall so that leaves some poor soul to do it for the company--yep--that poor soul who volunteered was me. So, guidance please, before I DNA sample all my employees against the boogey man. Thanks!

Car Stolen - Employer Pay?

SubGrapHR — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:18:22 GMT

Here is the situation - I have an employee that has had his car stolen from a client's parking lot while performing services for the company. He has stated that he believes the company liable for placing him at an "unsecured" client site. He has expensed his deductible to the company. As you can imagine, this employee is quite the adolescent when it comes to things with a negative impact, but what are your thoughts? I am looking at the expense as we speak and questioning whether or not it should be overridden (Supervisor approved). I would love to know your take on it.

Office Morale

gi_janearng — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:19:39 GMT

As HR professionals, what are some things you do to boost your employees' morale? Once in awhile we have a potluck here and (I'm still fairly new to my company) I guess they do a Halloween party and Secret Santa exchange. Do you also do anything to recongize things like Black History month or Women's History month?

Office ideas to keep your mind entertained...

SPDSKTR — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:17:03 GMT

We're a little slow, so I thought I'd get the creative juices flowing. Let's see what comes to YOUR minds.

I keep a NERF gun pen at my desk and pop project managers who invade my desk while I work. Also used for popping co-workers in my immediate vicinity. After sneak attacks, I simply switch it to pen mode and act like nothing happened (although it's rather obvious due to the bright, bulky orange tool).

Cambridge Who's Who lists

gi_janearng — Tue, 26 May 2009 21:11:47 GMT

What are your thoughts when you see a resume listing the candidate as being on the Cambridge Who's Who list of executives, professionals, and entrepreneurs? Is it as prestigious as they claim to be?

Celebrity Apprentice-Rewarding Bad Workplace Behavior?

babaHR — Mon, 11 May 2009 14:22:01 GMT

I know it's just a TV show, but I was shocked that Donald Trump would select Joan Rivers as the winner of his show after the personal insults she said to Annie Duke, which were way over the line. Maybe it was just to generate ratings and "buzz." However if Joan said the same things to one of the employees at her jewelry company, I think we would be reading about a court case on this website.

Also, her daughter didn't behave much better. Melissa Rivers yelled and swore [bleeped out] at the receptionist after she was fired.

Wonder if The Donald would have accepted this behavior from the non-celebrities on the regular Apprentice or from his own employees?

Testing

IT HR — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:14:22 GMT

Confirming Forum Post

Spreading Gossip and Venon

bsmith@acceleroninc — Fri, 01 May 2009 13:58:27 GMT

What have you done about this problem when management is the main culprit?

Arizona Unemployment

Peggy Twinn — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:34:09 GMT

Not sure where I should post this...so here it is!

If an employee's hours are reduced can they collect unemployment in Arizona. Say they work 16 hours one week, don't work for 3 weeks, work 8 hours the next, etc...can they still collect their weekly benefits without being totally laid off/terminated? Been trying to talk to someone at the UI office to no avail...can't get through the phone line. Thank you!

Snuggys in the workplace?

IrisD — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:14:50 GMT

Our facility manager lowered the thermostat to save money. We don't allow space heaters, so some of the women are wearing those "snuggy" blankets and even going outside with them for their smoking breaks.

This has caused kind of a rift between men and women in the office because the men are wearing sweaters and jackets to keep warm, not blankets. One male supervisor told the snuggy wearers to "wear more clothes, not blankets." Emails are flying.

Can we ban snuggys? Or should we? They really don't come under dress codes.

What's legal and illegal to ask while interviewing a reservist/ National Guard for a new job.

BSkalos — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:18:08 GMT

When you are conducting an interview with someone who is in the National Guard or is a reservist what questions are legal and what is not legal to ask while interviewing. Would like to know because if the person does not get hired, don't want the person to get the impression that time needed off to fulfill duty would be the reason they were not hired.

Is eating goodies in another dept OK?

bevhunt — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:34:21 GMT

We have had a slight arguement going on here since the holidays. If people in one department put goodies out, is it ethical for someone from another department to take some? I say it's permissible because it's out to share, but my coworker says its only for the people in the department and she never would take any.

And does it matter if you are in the other dept on legit business or merely trolling for snacks? What do you all think?

Fundraiser Ideas - Help needed!

jkaplow — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:16:22 GMT

Hello fellow HR colleagues - I am a new Chairperson for my local SHRM chapter and am trying to drum up some fundraising ideas. I was considering a 'Spring Clean-Up' garage sale and possibly a Casino Night later in the year. Would anyone care to share what they've done in the past? What worked, what was a total disaster? Any ideas or insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Travel requirement in job description

VirginHR — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:40:50 GMT

We've embarked on a project to update all of our job descriptions. A great many of our jobs require that the employee be able to travel both domestically and internationally. Of course, we want to include that requirement in the JD. My boss insists that specific, obligatory ADA language exists to address the requirement but I cannot find anything. Can anyone advise / point me in a direction?