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Halloween at the Office: More Treats, Less Tricks

We may not be kids anymore, but many of us still love Halloween. And workplace celebrations offer more than a sugar rush and the chance to wear something silly — they can be a simple yet effective way to boost morale. As such a widely celebrated holiday, Halloween is unlikely to raise issues of discrimination or offense, so it’s a …

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Free Speech: Is It Really Free at the Office?

We Americans love to tout our First Amendment rights, particularly the freedom to express our opinions. But do those freedoms apply around the water cooler? Sure, federal law prohibits employers from firing people over things like gender, race or religion.  And union members may be shielded by contracts that say terminations must be performance-based. But once the scope broadens, many …

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Preparing for Emergencies: Part 2 – Assisting People with Disabilities

We discussed the importance of thinking through potential emergencies and coming up with a plan to handle them, but an effective plan also must account for the needs of employees with various types of disabilities. During the planning process, there are opportunities for clear and acceptable communication between employees and employers, and usually people with disabilities will be best able …

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Preparing for Emergencies: Part 1 – The Plan

The recent hurricanes that have ravaged coastal parts of the United States can prompt introspection here in the central part of the country, where that particular situation is unlikely, but businesses may want to take a serious look at how they would face the unexpected. The best protection for businesses is to establish an emergency plan in advance so employees …

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Cell Phones in your Workplace

More than 80 percent of workers keep a smartphone in their view throughout the workday – and our collective phone addiction costs employers two or more hours each day, according to a CareerBuilder survey. More than half of employers said phones and texting were the No. 1 distraction for their employees, beating smoke breaks and socializing. That’s vexing, to be …

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Nagging Questions: Religion in the Workplace

Next week is a sacred time for the country’s two largest religions. More than 231 million Americans will commemorate Passover or Easter. That’s more than 100 million employees, and more than 100 million opportunities for manager missteps. It’s imperative to understand how to address religion in a respectful, compliant way. Sensitivities can exist even with day-to-day issues like PTO and …

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Listening – A Social Experiment

Recently, People People placed ads for numerous C-Level positions.  These included the roles of COO, CFO, CMO, VP of Sales and VP of HR.  We were way upfront with what we were doing, and left some very simple instructions for candidates to follow, namely: We were clear that we were relationship builders, and that in response to several upcoming C …

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Thinking about getting your people programs whipped into shape in 2017?

We are so excited for 2017- with name changes and all of 2016 behind us, we’re giving back to the community by offering discounts on our most popular people programs between now and the end of the year. People Toolkit This gives you everything you need to start your people programs with a custom written and legally reviewed employee handbook, …

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Why we Changed the Name

About 7 years ago, I was completely filled with corporate disgust at the way people were managed; including myself. Turns out I was never supposed to be an employee….who knew? But the truth is, entrepreneurs do things differently, so when I decided to start a company I believed that there simply had to be a better way. I set about …

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Performance Appraisals – Open Letters From A Manager and Employee

There are many companies that have found a wonderful performance appraisal system while others continue to review systems to match their corporate culture. To all those companies that found a great fit, I say bravo. To those who are still looking, take a deep breath. Imagine for a moment if you could say what you truly feel about performance appraisals …