Employer Articles

Do you find employees texting or reading their emails during meetings?  Is your office filled with the sounds of chirping, singing, and chimes as employee cell phones ring throughout the day? With over 90% of Americans owning cell phones, we’ve all come to rely on them to not only keep us in touch, but to [...]

The fact that Yahoo recently fired its CEO, Carol Bartz, didn’t surprise people who were familiar with the many criticisms of her management and style.  The fact that she was fired over the phone, however, did surprise many in the corporate world. Her tale of termination-by-telephone joins stories of employees being fired via email messages, [...]

Fall is officially here, and with it will soon come the cold and flu season!  These days, most businesses are already running leaner.  With fewer employees on hand to do the work, keeping our employees healthy and on the job is a priority. What measures will you take in your business to help your employees [...]

The stores are filled with Back to School supplies.  Summer is almost over, and before we know it, the kids will be hitting the books. Many high school students would like to have a job while they’re going to school.  Businesses often are interested in hiring teens, in order to have access to an eager, [...]

How do you know if you’re a micromanaging boss? Do you give detailed directions to your employees on how to do their jobs, leaving them with little room for creativity? Are you afraid to delegate responsibility because those around you may not carry out the work as you would? Do you require your employees to [...]

Each day, as we kiss our loved ones good-bye and wish them a good day at work, we assume they will return unharmed to us at 5:00.  It doesn’t occur to us that a co-worker or a stranger might harm them during the day.  Similarly, most of us probably don’t think that we’re working in [...]

A friend asked me the other day, “How is it that Hooters can discriminate based on looks?” This question sparked an entire conversation about businesses, such as bikini barista stands, and professions, such as NFL cheerleaders, that obviously discriminate based on looks, and why and when that is permitted under the law. Do good looking [...]

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me! This childhood saying comes to mind as I prepare to write this article.  Our parents used it to teach us that no matter what people said, we didn’t need to retaliate in anger. But, as children, we had another sentence we’d say [...]

Have you ever heard of the Peter Principle?  The odds are good that even if you haven’t heard of the Peter Principle, you’ve encountered the effects of it in your professional life at some time or another! The concept of the Peter Principle is that employees tend to be promoted until they reach a position [...]

“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!” Michael Corleone famously laments in The Godfather: Part III. While the “family” he was working with had a bit more sinister and, well, let us say organized quality than traditional families, there’s no doubt that hiring and working with relatives can cause even [...]