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Employee Relations

Hospital’s men are chefs for a day at annual cook-Off

05/02/2008
Every summer, male employees of the Henry Ford Health System get the chance to show off their cooking chops at the organization’s “Men Who Cook” fundraiser. Held at the health system’s flagship hospital in downtown Detroit, the event attracts more employees than any other health system activity …

IT company builds teamwork with rolling desks, fast rewards

05/02/2008
Thirty-six desks at IT firm Dynamic Edge in Ann Arbor, Mich., have wheels on them so employees can sit with whomever they want each day. Nobody has a job title or an assigned cubicle, and even the company’s founder sits out in the open at a portable desk …

Tailor benefits messages to employees’ ages, circumstances

05/02/2008
When it comes to effectively communicating benefits messages, one size does not fit all. Employees have different benefits needs at different stages of their lives. Make sure your print and web-based benefits communications efforts take those differences into account …

Notify employees every time you plan to charge time off to FMLA

05/02/2008
When employees take leave to deal with serious health conditions, inform them that you plan to charge that time against their allotment of unpaid FMLA leave. If you fail to do so, it will be relatively easy for her to sue and show she was harmed by the lack of notice …

Consulting firm keeps young workers with ‘Short’ hours, communication

05/02/2008
Censeo Consulting grooms young employees for long careers with the five-year-old Washington, D.C., company through frequent feedback and flexibility. Managers do their best to tailor the jobs so they suit the talents and career goals of each of the company’s 40 employees.

How to Become a ‘Life Entrepreneur’

05/02/2008
When organizations become stuck in a rut, they typically step back, make adjustments and develop an action plan that takes advantage of their strengths. Now take a look in the mirror: Do you approach your business and your life with the same entrepreneurial mindset?

Consider telework’s impact on in-Office employees

05/02/2008
The more teleworkers you have on staff, the more dissatisfied your nonteleworking employees are likely to be with their jobs. And, compared to employees who only work face to face with colleagues, they’re more likely to change jobs. Those are the findings of a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute management professor …

4 ways to recruit and retain a diverse work force

05/02/2008
DiversityInc magazine’s “Top 50 Companies for Diversity” is a list of employers that recruit and retain women and minority employees with perks just for them. Here are four best practices your organization might be able to adopt …

Sailing builds bonds among employee ‘Crews’

05/01/2008
The owner of document management firm Laserfiche figures the staff that sails together stays together. The Long Beach, Calif., company started a competitive sailing team of employees last summer …

When discrimination charges are possible, investigate thoroughly before firing

05/01/2008
When you fire an employee, you want the decision to stick. You certainly don’t want to use a flimsy reason for discharge and then find out later that other employees regularly ignore your rule. If the former employee is a member of a protected class, that’s a sure recipe for a discrimination lawsuit …