Productivity / Performance

Time to pay attention: the next work/life benefit?

10/03/2008

The average worker spends about two hours every day dealing with unnecessary interruptions, which cost businesses $590 billion a year in lost productivity. HR professionals can help solve this problem. In fact, it could be the latest work/life benefit: time to pay attention.

Prayer breaks may be reasonable accommodation

10/01/2008

Gone are the days when employers could accommodate employees’ religious practices by being flexible about who worked Saturdays and Sundays. Today, employers may have to offer additional prayer breaks in the middle of the workday, too …

Critical evaluation isn’t an adverse employment action

10/01/2008

Employees who claim they have been discriminated against because of a protected characteristic such as age or disability have to show that they suffered an adverse employment action. They can’t simply point to a poor performance evaluation.

Self-Audit: Decision Quiz

09/26/2008

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Start new accommodations process if disability worsens

09/26/2008

Some disabilities get worse with time. An accommodation that allows an employee to perform the essential functions of her job today may not work as well in six months or a year. That’s why it’s important for HR to stay on top of the employee’s disabling medical conditions …

How to manage (and explain) pay-for-performance plans

09/25/2008

Difficult times call for compensation professionals to make difficult decisions. If your average raise is 3.8% and you give it to everyone, your stars are going to look for a bigger bite somewhere else. In fact, they already are. To retain your top talent, you’re going to have to give them bigger-than-average raises …

How do we accommodate an employee’s obvious disability tactfully and legally?

09/23/2008

Q. We have an employee who is clearly disabled. The employee has a very difficult time walking and is unable to stand for extended periods of time. While the employee has never complained or asked for any form of accommodation, it is clearly affecting both him and his performance. We want to help him, but we are afraid to approach him and suggest he needs help. What can we do? …

You can fire high performers just because of poor attitude

09/17/2008

We’ve all encountered the type: employees who are smart—and know it. They work hard and produce results. But they are so arrogant, so abrasive and so insistent that their way is the right way that they kill morale. You don’t have to keep them on just because they meet or even exceed business goals …

What’s Working: 6 Hot Compensation & Benefits Best Practices

09/16/2008

On-site scuba lessons, desks on wheels, employee shopping sprees and unlimited time off are just a few of the ways innovative employers recruit, reward, retain and refresh workers. See if any of these best practices—some simple, some extravagant—inspire you to take a fresh look at your company’s perks.

Document poor work to make sure firing sticks

09/15/2008

Jerilyn Lucas, a bank branch manager, seemed to be in over her head. She struggled with basic operational matters. Her staff began complaining that she frequently missed work. Lucas’ supervisors repeatedly warned her about her performance. When the bank eventually fired her , she sued …