| HR HEADLINES |
The
New Face of Solidarity
The New York Times, 06/16/06
1
In 5 Employers Allow Pets At Work
KSBW, 6/15/06
When
Your Boss Wants You to Be a Loser
Richmond Register,
6/15/06
Fight
Over Unionizing Rules Heats Up
UP International,
6/14/06
EEOC Presents
Best Practices Awards
EEOC, 6/14/06
Get
to Work
ABC News, 6/13/06
As
Gas Prices Rise More Work from Home
Delaware Online,
6/12/06
In
'Family Friendly Workplaces', Singles Feel
Overlooked
Christian Science Monitor, 6/12/06
Learn
to Survive Bad Bosses, Co-Workers
Delaware Online,
6/12/06
Lunch
Break Gets Briefer As 'Hour' Shrinks
USA Today, 6/12/06
Handbooks
Evolve with Work Issues
Detroit Free Press, 6/12/06
Major
Changes Coming for Graying Workforce
MSNBC, 6/11/06
Making
Room for God in the Workplace
Boston Globe, 6/11/06
How
to Deal with Persistently Negative
Employees
Jacksonville Business Journal, 6/9/06
Group
Calls for Universal Health Coverage
Seattlepi.com,
6/7/06
Worker
Records Especially at Risk
USA Today, 5/24/06
Fewer
Companies Are Drug Testing
Courier News, 5/14/06
Convert
or Not to a Roth IRA?
Philadelphia Enquirer, 5/12/06
Support
for Aging Parent Care
AccountingWEB.com, 5/12/06
Private
Companies Reign in Executive Compensation
PR Newswire,
5/12/06
Review
ranks pay, benefits for people with disabilities
The
Olympian, 5/12/06
Long
Shorts, or Short Pants, as Office Wear
New York Times,
5/11/06
Labor's
lukewarm welcome
San Francisco Chronicle, 5/10/06
Workplace
injuries can be complex
Portland Press Herald, 5/9/06
Immigration
and Salary Levels
San Francisco Chronicle, 4/27/06
EEOC
Rooting Out Abuse
The Charlotte Observer, 3/15/06
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Hiring the right person
is unarguably one of the most important factors in
the success of an organization. Replacing a single
bad hire costs roughly twice the salary of the
position. But a recent study by LeadershipIQ says
that 48% of new hires fail within 18 months and
only 19% achieve unequivocal success. The study
included 312 companies and over 5,000 managers.
Its findings revealed that the interview process
used by most managers emphasized the wrong
factors. Managers tend to focus on an applicant’s
skills because they are relatively easy to assess.
However, coachability, emotional intelligence,
motivation and temperament are better predictors
of a candidates likelihood of success. MORE
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Testing
Again Under Fire from the
EEOC
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| The EEOC has again undertaken
an investigation of a charge that a basic
cognitive test has a discriminatory adverse impact
on a protected class of employees. This comes when
about
50% of employers use some sort of testing to
screen applicants for jobs and that number is
growing. Testing for job promotion is also on the
rise. While effective, employers must be aware of
the many ways in which this practice has been seen
as discriminatory or otherwise in violation of
protected employees. The use of the Minnesota
Multiphasic Personality Inventory test has been
held to be in violation of provisions of the ADA
because it can detect depression or paranoia.
Making the wrong hiring or promotion decision can
be very costly so testing has compelling benefits.
To avoid some of the discrimination traps
employers should consider tailoring their tests to
the specific requirements of each position rather
than using general or standardized cognitive
tests. |
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Even the most well
intentioned employer can run
into a minefield when trying to comply with
the sometimes bewildering provisions of the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). More
than 33 million people of working age have
disabilities and over 55% are employed. The
provisions of the Act cover all aspects of the
employment relationship with this significant
portion of the workforce from job applications to
termination with potential trick bags at each
phase. For a comprehensive reference to the
provisions of the Act and help for employers
click MORE
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You are interviewing an
applicant for a job and find that he can’t
pronounce certain words clearly. Or maybe he has
limited use of the English language. Can you
disqualify him based upon one of these language
limitations? Well, the answer is ‘maybe’ if you
are careful. If the person falls into a protected
class such as race or national origin, you might
risk a discrimination charge. The ‘linguistic
characteristics common to a specific group’ cannot
be used to deny someone employment. Obviously,
employers large and small are facing this issue
more each day with the large influx of immigrants
with limited ability to speak the English
language. To avoid problems you must be able to
show that there is a very good business reason for
requiring language proficiency for the job in
question. MORE
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As more and more
companies switch from defined benefit pension
plans to employee contribution plans such as
401k’s, the responsibility for retirement income
shifts to the individual employee. Is the shift to
contribution plans working? Current
studies indicate that 43% of the workforce
will not be able to maintain a comfortable
standard of living in retirement. This percentage
has grown significantly from 31% in 1983 as
individuals fail to respond to the need for
personal savings. Today almost 50% of the
workforce is eligible for a 401k plan and almost
80% of those eligible participate in some way. But
the defining characteristic of these plans is that
they are voluntary and the individual has complete
freedom in the management of these savings and
investments. Unfortunately, individuals seem to be
making bad decisions in their financial management
leading to under funding of their retirement
programs. The most common mistake is made by 45%
of workers who ‘cash out’ rather than ‘roll-over’
their 401k investments when they change jobs,
essentially wiping out their retirement plan. For
a complete analysis of the status of 401k plans
today click MORE
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Are experts born or
made? The ‘Expert Performance Movement’ thinks
they know the answer to this question. In the
"Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert
Performance," a 900-page academic book that will
be published next month, a group of scholars led
by Anders Ericsson, a 58-year-old psychology
professor at Florida State University seek to
answer this question. They make a rather startling
assertion based upon their research: the trait we
commonly call talent is highly overrated. Expert
performers, they say are nearly always made, not
born. Practice does make perfect. This finding
also suggests that people should choose a life
path that is something they love because otherwise
they are unlikely to work hard enough at it to get
very good. MORE
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Now that we have ‘teams’
working in virtually every area of the business
enterprise on issues and operations of all kinds,
are we paying enough attention to the size factor
in team performance? This is not a new question
and experts at Wharton say that size is a factor
but the right size ‘depends on the team task’.
Research has shown that increasing a team size can
lead to ‘loafing’ and ‘free-riding’ by team
members which decreases the marginal contribution
of adding members to the team. An effective size
for business teams is generally in the 5-9 range
with a magic number of 6 members accepted as good
but still task dependent. The Wharton experts also
discuss the effect of diversity on team
performance. They acknowledge that there are two
schools of thought, one saying diversity (as in
race, gender, age) contributes to effectiveness
and another that says that diversity has an
adverse impact. Their general conclusion is that
people function more effectively with persons like
themselves. This is because they tend to share
common cognitive models when approaching problem
solving. For complex, time-dependent outcomes,
this common modeling among team members yields
faster, better results. For the complete
discussion of the factors necessary for effective
teams click MORE
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| Earlier this week the
Chamber announced the sad death of Howard Parker,
the longtime manager of the HelpLine for HR
questions. The HelpLine is still available for
Chamber members operated by Howard’s backup team.
A full-time replacement with expertise in the HR
field will be appointed soon so members may
continue to rely upon this valuable service.
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 For the latest HR
news and analysis, CLICK
HERE or on the "HR Library" link above.
The site is updated daily to keep you informed on
the latest developments and how they might impact
your bottom line.
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Current
HR Economic
Indicators
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 The Chamber urges
all Illinois employers to recognize their Guard
and Reserve employees by signing and displaying
the ESGR Statement of Support. To get yours,
simply complete their online form and you will
receive a personalized certificate that
demonstrates your support. Also visit the SBA
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Click MORE
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