“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” – JFK Last year, you may have heard about the University of Oklahoma’s (OU) former members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity making incredibly bad choices. These former members were filmed chanting a racist tune while on their way to a party. The leader of OU, President David Boren, took a strong stance against their actions and shut down the fraternity. Acting swiftly and taking a strong stance is something that we do not see enough in the world today. Too often, people are afraid to make a statement that might not be [...]

Back in November, our own @ColleenCoco shared a blog post about the dangers of misclassifying employees. From independent contractors to temporary workers to exempt vs. nonexempt, employee classification can be a tricky web to weave. Employers are cautioned to evaluate the role of the employee and make sure that each is labeled correctly, because that classification plays out into different realms of employment law. Lyft, the ride-sharing company (similar to UBER), settled its lawsuit as recently as last month. At the time of publication, UBER’s lawsuit was still pending. An employee misclassification suit was filed in 2013 against Lyft, and [...]

“Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching.” – C.S. Lewis   Doing the right thing. It’s something we teach our children in school, and a lesson we hope is learned by the time young adults enter the business world. But in the world of work, where do people draw the line between right and wrong? How do we build a culture in our own organizations of doing the right thing, setting a positive example, and practicing integrity and ethical behavior?   Professor Chris MacDonald teaches ethics courses at Ryerson University’s School of Management in Toronto, [...]

Job hopping has become the norm, and loyalty to one company for the entirety of your career is rare. So how do CEO’s stay on top of the game and maintain strong relationships with their employees throughout the dynamics of employees coming and going? Ellen Galinsky, co-founder of the Families and Work Institute (FWI) in New York City, contributed to the January 2016 edition of HR Magazine to weigh in on this heavy topic. Here are her four suggestions for how leaders can stay in control of relationship management in the workplace. Flexibility is no longer a perk, it’s something [...]

In order to build high-functioning, efficient, successful teams in the workplace, we must first identify examples of what this looks like and then, to put it simply, copy and paste! According to leadership thought leader @MarcusBuckingham, “HR professionals are in a prime position to assess what the most productive and engaged teams are doing – and to build a culture around them.” Following the lead of those who have already successfully implemented the type of culture and successful team approach that you are seeking is much easier than reinventing the wheel entirely. So, here are four steps to help you [...]

Recently, we discussed the Bersin by Deloitte predictions for human resources trends in 2016 in our PINPOINT Newsletter at www.peoplescapehr.com/blog. To check out the complete list of predictions, make sure you visit that newsletter archive. At Peoplescape, we thrive on challenges, and are looking forward to how people, leaders, and apps will impact human resources functions across the board. Here, let’s take a closer look at these three areas for the future of HR in 2016. People Management Performance management has been a topic of contention for the past year, as companies look to move away from the standard numbers [...]

In December, we blogged about the holidays and religion in the workplace and what holiday decorations and events were acceptable and could be enjoyed by all of your employees. Now what about that infamous holiday coming up on February 14? How do workplaces handle a Hallmark holiday celebrating love, when celebrating can become an unspoken competition amongst employees as to who is receiving the best deliveries that day? And what about those pesky office romances? Here are a few tips from our HR pros @Peoplescape on how to walk the fine line on Love Day this year! 1. Keep it [...]

“Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to!” – Richard Branson Every year, @Glassdoor comes out with a few lists of the best places to work, based on employee feedback. This year, they took those results a step farther to find out what exactly makes these top companies the best. Here are some tips on how to find your company at the top of the list for 2016 (or at least copy the tips from the top places to work!). 1. Provide challenging work. 2. Provide employees with fulfilling rewards and [...]

Workplace distractions are everywhere and come in many shapes, sizes, fonts, and social media outlets. From Instagram likes and Twitter responses to texts from the babysitter, your spouse, the crazy mother-in-law, or your friend from the East Coast, there are countless ways for your employees to get off task. In an attempt to better understand these workplace distractions and the effect that they do or do not have on productivity, @BambooHR took a stab at a survey to calculate results on this topic. Here’s what they found. 1. Traditional workplace distractions such as trips to the “water cooler” or break [...]