Why many employers need to go back to basics

posted by www.hrpcenter.com – February 1, 2012 Last year had its human resources (HR) and industrial relations (IR) challenges, many due to an economic climate which is going to continue playing a major role in 2012. However, most challenges result from employers’ mistakes and foolhardy approaches, inadequate IR/labour law knowledge and skills, inadequate policies/rules and so on. This is the time of the year when...

Avoid the Feedback Sandwich to Promote Employee Pe...

posted by www.hrpcenter.com – February 1, 2012 Interested in knowing whether to use the feedback sandwich approach when you provide feedback about performance to employees? I wouldn’t go there. The feedback sandwich is insulting, ineffective, and misleading. It muddies the waters when you want to make performance problems transparent. Long touted as a way to minimize defensiveness and unhappiness about feedback...

Onboarding: the fast track to staff productivity? ...

posted by www.hrpcenter.com - January 17th, 2012 The pressure on HR teams and line managers during busy and difficult times can mean elements of the onboarding process are inadvertently overlooked or forgotten. But it can be a mistake to cut the time and money spent engaging with new recruits before and after they start. read more...

Common HR nightmares employers can avoid – p...

posted by www.hrpcenter.com - January 17th, 2012 Melina Mara/THE WASHINGTON POST – Human resources can seem rather simple on the surface, but errors like misclassifying workers and mishandling overtime wages can lead to a host of legal nightmares. Text Size Print E-mail Reprints By J.D. Harrison, Published: January 12 Hirings and firings, classifications and investigations — while they may not be the most...

Employers frequently give annual evaluations, but ...

posted by www.hrpcenter.com By Jaime Adame Abilene Reporter-News Posted January 10, 2012 at 11 p.m. Employee evaluation tips No surprises: “If a person is not performing, that should be addressed as that occurs,” said Judy Elmore, the City of Abilene’s human resources manager. Listen and speak: “The feedback during the evaluation should be a shared two-way communication between the...

For 2012, IRS Raises Retirement Plan Contribution ...

updated 11/4/2011 The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Oct. 20, 2011, announced cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) affecting dollar limits for defined contribution and defined benefit retirement plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2012. Many plan limits on contributions and benefits will rise because increases in the cost-of-living index met the statutory thresholds that trigger their...