Randy Knaflic,  Director of Staffing and Programmes @  EMEA, Google, while speaking at the Marcus Evans HR & Talent Summit  in Switzerland on June 14, 2010, shared his thoughts on what inspires people go the extra mile.

 Most HR people would probably agree that financial incentives motivate employees to be successful. That said, while financial rewards are very important, the leading forces that drive my team is our trust and confidence in their abilities and openness about our joint objectives. When employees are given a clear set of goals, they get a sense of accomplishment once targets are achieved. Creative freedom is also very inspiring. At Google, we are known for giving individuals the freedom to expand on and grow their ideas, spending 20 per cent of their time on pet projects, for instance. In fact, some of Google’s most interesting and successful products have resulted from ‘20% time’. I think these types of initiatives, more so than money, encourage employees to try different, bigger and better things.

Source: PRLog (Press Release)

 When your team is all over the world instead of in one building, different rules apply.

Today’s financial woes have forced many companies to pick members of project teams from across various global locations and have them communicate virtually–by phone, e-mail and videoconference–thereby saving both time and money.

There are more global virtual teams today than ever before. And their numbers are increasing rapidly. INSEAD, the international business school where I teach, has been bombarded with requests to set up a program showing executives the skills they’ll need to meet this new management challenge. The latest research shows that those skills are not simply different from those needed for running co-located teams; they are often the exact opposite. Here are four principal ways they’re very different. (more…)

You’ve said it before as you’ve contemplated a tough move on the people front within your company…

“What will this look like to our employees and customers if we take this action?”

“What will this look like to the same groups if we don’t take action?”

Like Spike Lee, you always want to do the right thing.  However, it’s a tough world, and you have to think about how the move (or lack of a move, depending on the situation) is going to be perceived.

Face the facts – part of the job of good HR is good PR.  Want proof from the big leagues?  HP fires Mark Hurd, and one of the outcomes that came out after the fact was that a DC-based PR firm, named APCO Worldwide, was with the Board at HP every step of the way as they moved to the decision to separate Hurd from the company.  Here’s more from Fortune: (more…)

The events of the last two years have been dizzying.  Arguably, the Human Resource function has been impacted as much as any other corporate function.  Whether it is planning and executing layoffs or just keeping up with the insane amount of legislative change, the demands on HR have certainly increased.  At the same time, with companies facing intense economic pressure, HR departments increasingly find themselves being asked to do more, with less.

So how does a department caught in the middle of an economic tug of war survive and thrive in this environment?  Here are some tips:

(more…)

JetBlue’s slogan of “Happy Jetting” apparently didn’t make it into the employee handbook.

According to authorities, a JetBlue flight attendant got into an argument with a passenger on a jetliner arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Monday, cursed the passenger, grabbed a beer from the galley and then deployed an emergency exit slide and fled the plane.

That’ll be $7 for the beer, and oh by the way, we only take credit cards.

Read the full article here

Source: NPR

In City of Ontario v. Jeff Quon (June 17, 2010) the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the City didn’t violate Fourth  Amendment protections against unreasonable searches when it reviewed an employee’s text messages sent on a city provided pager.  While this decision applies to public sector employers the case provides useful guidance to all employers.

The City of Ontario Police Department had issued pagers to SWAT team members and paid a monthly fee for their use, which included a 25,000 character limit.  City policy provided that it reserved the right to monitor communication activity, warned that employees should have no expectations of privacy in these communications, that all communications using city equipment are city property, that such resources should not be used for personal reasons, and also banned obscene, harassing, or inappropriate communications.   Quon exceeded the limit multiple times (chatting with his wife and mistress using sexually explicit language) and paid the over limit charges.  When an increasing number of officers were regularly exceeding their pager limits, an audit of messages sent during work hours was undertaken.  Quon was disciplined and he sued.

The Court found that even if Quon had a reasonable expectation of privacy, the City didn’t violate the Fourth Amendment.  It found that the search was reasonable as the City had undertaken the audit to determine if the pager program was sufficient and if the overages resulted from personal or job related messages during work time. Additionally, the search wasn’t excessively intrusive as only several months of work time messages were reviewed.

The Bottom Line:   The case underscores the need for solid and well-communicated policies regarding emails, texting, cell phones, and other electronic communications.  Additionally, it’s important to be able to demonstrate that any searches be work related and limited in scope.

The recently enacted Arizona immigration law makes it a state crime for someone to be in Arizona illegally and requires the police to arrest those who can’t provide evidence of citizenship or the right to be in the U.S.

But the impact of the law reaches far beyond Arizona, as massive media coverage, and strong feelings on the issue are likely to affect many workplaces.

Employers should be on alert for racial harassment jokes and slurs targeted against Hispanics as well as other forms of discrimination based on race or national origin. Some employers or their managers may seek to create more “English only” workplaces, which is appropriate only in limited circumstances.  Organizations should also ensure that Hispanics are not required to meet higher standards than others, whether that’s requiring more documentation for I-9s, stronger skills, or different criteria for promotions or raises.   Immigration is a controversial and sensitive issue which isn’t going away any time soon.   In fact, other states are discussing similar actions to those taken in Arizona.  With this in mind it’s a good time to roll out those good HR practices of EEO and harassment training for managers and staff, diversity initiatives, regular dissemination of policies, and an ongoing review of practices and procedures.  Finally, it’s important to ensure that non native English speakers understand nondiscrimination policies, complaint procedures, and safety information.