With Christmas already a distant memory, many employees are probably ready for another holiday.  Well, you are in luck if you work for 31% of the employers who observe Martin Luther King Day, which is Monday, January 16.  Organizations with a union presence are more likely to observe the holiday, along with federal employers.

In case you are wondering when Martin Luther King Day became an official holiday, keep reading for a little history refresher.  Martin Luther King is best known for his nonviolent activism in the civil rights movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law.   Following his assassination in 1968, a campaign began for a federal holiday in King’s honor.  It wasn’t until 1983, however, when it was signed into law by Ronald Reagan, and first observed on January 20, 1996.  At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such and even used alternate names or combined it with other holidays.  In 2000, it was officially observed in all 50 states on the 3^rd Monday in January.

It may be said that Martin Luther King brought to light many issues which resulted in changes in HR laws regarding discrimination and diversity.  Whether or not your company observes the day as a paid holiday, it’s a great time to reflect and remember some of the quotes from Martin Luther King.

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

From the “I Have a Dream” speech, Aug. 28, 1963

“We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”

From “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” April 16, 1963

“From the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire, let freedom ring. From the mighty mountains of New York, let freedom ring. From the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania, let freedom ring. But not only that: Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.”

From the “I Have a Dream” speech, Aug. 28, 1963

“Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.”

From “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” April 16, 1963

 Source:  Bloomberg BNA’s Survey of Holiday Practices

To start off with, today is Monday morning and for many of us it is the first full work week of 2012.  If that’s not enough to get you motivated, it is also National Clean Off Your Desk Day.  Yep, not only do you have to clean up after the holidays at home, but “clean up” also applies to the workplace. 

Personally, I work best when my desk is organized.  A clean desk helps me prioritize and focus on the task at hand.  Experts say that the average person uses just 20 percent of the stuff on their desk to accomplish 80 percent of their work.  Looking at my desk, I would have to agree.

When purveying your desk, one item you can’t ignore is the computer.  Although your desk may look neat and tidy, what about all those files and folders on your computer desktop, and that pesky message that keeps reminding you your in-box is full?  Well, good news because it is National Clean Up Your Computer Month (which gives us a few more days to procrastinate).  In one of my past places of employment, any emails over 30 days were automatically deleted.  Although that sounds pretty harsh, it kept me organized.  In the world of HR, there are certain items we need to save so it was essential from a compliance standpoint that I remain organized.

You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.

Here we go again.  Just around the corner is the beginning of another year – 2012.  I have completed my long list of personal resolutions for next year (narrowed down to a more manageable number of items to tackle.)  I’ve also been thinking about my work resolutions for next year and have come up with a few.  Some of these continue to carry over from one year, where others are new items.  So here they are:

• Only have a meeting if it is necessary to have a meeting – How many times have you been in the meeting trap to have regularly scheduled meetings week after week without any particular agenda?  There are times when it is critical to have a meeting with all vested parties involved in the conversation, but there are times when an email will also serve the same purpose without interrupting the work flow of others in the office.
• Learn to say “no” – I’m a pleaser, always have been a pleaser, and continue to be a pleaser.  So it is difficult for me to say no when asked to take on an additional task.  At the very least, I am vowing to say “no, not now” but I am also committing to say “no” in an effort to be honest to myself and my colleagues about what I can accomplish timely and professionally.
• Delegate when it makes sense – I know I am not the only person that can complete tasks assigned to me.  By letting others take charge or participate in projects, I am helping the company by allowing other colleagues to gain new experiences.  It is critical that we provide more knowledge sharing opportunities proactively.  Additionally, oftentimes a new perspective may shed light on a more efficient process.

These are a few items I have on my list for next year.  What are yours?  I’d like to hear so please share!!

We all know that salary surveys are a key part of the process for making salary decisions.  But do we really know how to determine if salary survey data is reliable?  With the fairly recent access to salary data on the internet, there are even more reasons to question reliability of salary information which may be end up on your desk from coworkers.

You may have discovered that different salary surveys often provide conflicting or widely varying data. This is one of the main reasons a market based compensation system (one that is developed strictly from salary surveys) is difficult to maintain or administer. The conflict comes from three factors associated with collecting the data:

1)      the size of the sample;

2)      the closeness of match in the jobs being surveyed; and

3)      the selection of the organizations responding to the survey.

These factors are going to be discussed further in our December whitepaper, which will be published soon.  If you aren’t signed up for our whitepapers, please go to www.hrnonline.com.  You’ll receive monthly whitepapers referencing topics of importance to you and your organization.  And best of all, they are FREE!