Laughter is the Best Gift You Can Give

Returning home from the HR Tech Conference proved to be a challenge when it came to weighing our bags. One bag weighed too much.  How did this happen?  It wasn’t that way coming. It was all the swag from vendors! I was impressed by the vendors’ creativity in designing their gifts. I didn’t even have to buy a souvenir for my kids. I snagged a backpack for my son, nail polish (bright purple and pink, no less) for my daughter and a coloring book and colored pencils for them both. I got a monogrammed luggage tag for me, a personalized

7 Ways to Supercharge Your Employee Engagement

Written by guest blogger: Steve Graham In most businesses, an “Employee Engagement Survey” goes out once per year to determine how engaged employees are with their jobs. The survey seeks to determine whether a person finds their job rewarding, feels like they have a real stake and interest in the company and cares about the overall success of the company. And while these surveys are certainly a step in the right direction, they fail to create a holistic culture of engagement within a company. After all, if the subject of engagement is only broached once per year, it’s not going

Harnessing the Entrepreneurial Spirit of the Millennial Generation

I’ve heard millennials called many things. Lazy. Entitled. Spoiled. Then I came across an article on Today.com that reminded me millennials aren’t the first generation to be labeled negatively. Writer Tom Wolfe dubbed the Baby Boomers as the “Me Decade” in his article The “Me” Decade and the Third Great Awakening. Paul Begala referred to Boomers in Esquire magazine as “the most self-centered, self-seeking, self-interested, self-absorbed, self-indulgent, self-aggrandizing generation in American history.” Gen Xers were also the targets of such negative monikers. I still have a letter to the editor that graced my local paper my senior year of high

A Culture Where Nothing Is Ever Good Enough and How to Fix It: An Interview with Rajeev Behera CEO of Reflektive

1 in 4 people say their jobs are the most stressful part of their lives. What is creating stress in the workplace and how can it be resolved? Rajeev Behera, CEO of Reflektive, says that a fear-based work culture where nothing is ever good enough is a main cause of stress in the workplace. This occurs when managers use intimidation tactics, putting more value on the employees that put in the most hours, instead of those who are team players. Rajeev saw this first-hand in his work life before founding Reflektive, a performance management and talent development software company, where

3 Steps to Keep a Bad Employee from Suing You

As the mom of three boys who are full of mischief, I often hear the phrase “I didn’t know” or “you never told me.” And usually it’s in response to something that I had addressed with them at least once. Sometimes I wish I could approach disciplinary issues in parenting the same way I approach disciplinary issues in my career, with a formal sit down discussion and written documentation. One of my favorite aspects of Human Resources is employee relations. I love the opportunity to speak with managers about the performance management process and the importance of documentation. Having kept