If you have your own business and there is a specific project that you need done, how do you go about finding the right person to do it? In the past there has always been the traditional route of hiring permanent staff but today more and more people are choosing to work with freelancers because of the benefit that freelancers provide. How should yo

With payroll software one cannot not stop and think...'how did large organizations cope without them?' When you think of what's involved in paying your employee, one finds it hard to believe how this can be achieved without a full blown payroll software. There are various applications on the market today, but how do you decide which one is right

When you must take on employees for your business, you will have to go through the hiring process. After preliminary interviews, you should be able to narrow the field to three or four top candidates. And that is the time to do a little detective work to insure you have the right (and honest) employees coming in. It's estimated that up to one-th

Whatever else you are doing - STOP! - whenever you engage with someone in conversation. Ignore pagers. Put off interruptions. At the very least make sure that you 'honour' the space that you have when you are in any sort of one-to-one with someone else. If you have ever been in conversation with someone who was being continually interrupted, how

Most people know what takes up their time at work - but they are not often sure it is what the boss wants or the business needs. The subject of job descriptions often brings up opposing views. Some thinking they are necessary and others seeing them as a liability because people will use them as a defence saying "it's not on my job description".

An assessment center is a methodology (rather than a place) for thoroughly assessing a candidate for a job. A development center follows similar principles, but rather than selection, its primary purpose is to aid in the development of a current job-holder. Owing to the costs associated with assessment and development centers, they are typica

Many companies pay bonuses or incentives and many people look forward to receiving them. What would happen if they weren't paid? In some cases, nothing would change, in others there would be a rush for the door. Definitions Let's firstly try and define the difference between a bonus and an incentive. We use the following. An incentive is a con

The Americans with Disabilities Act has several sections among other things is addresses public accessibility and employment discrimination. The ADA prohibits covered entities from discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities. For purposes of the ADA in employment matters the term disabilities means that the impairment of

The early months of a job are the most important in determining whether the match between employee and organization is going to be successful or not. If the recruitment has been handled well and reasonable expectations have been set by all parties, then it comes down to the relationship between the employee and the manager. Ideally you will have

I was giving a presentation on " the Value of Recognition" to the office workers of a large Canadian City. The City Commissioner ended his welcome to those present with these words, " I have an open door policy so I want to encourage you to come and talk to me when you have a concern." When he left I heard a couple of people in the front row say w

As a retired manager in a multi-country company, I have found that buying the right corporate gift for employee reward programs, customers or for corporate celebrations in general, can become a challenging task. Giving it is worse since you have the intention to gain business ties, connect with clients, and send your message of giving thanks. Altho

Setting up a workable salary system requires a logical approach and the first step is one of the most important. Establishing which jobs are where in the "pecking order" is one of the fundamentals in building an effective salary system. While this is not an exact science, having some form of evaluation in place to achieve it can remove a number

How many times has this happened: The promising new employee makes a good first impression, is enthusiastic but just doesn't get the job done? To maximise our chances of getting this right we need to rely on some basic research which tells us that most people will continue to repeat past behaviours. Some say as much as 88% of the time. If this

Human resource professionals are unlikely to need any convincing that the use of psychometric tests as an aid to employee selection and development is probably at an all time high. The increase in the use of aptitude and personality tests in the workplace is a positive thing provided the tests are chosen and used properly. This article discus

"They know what I want. We don't need to write it down." is often the response when the issue of the dreaded job description comes up. Most of the time, when asked, the poor employee is left guessing as to what the boss wants. A survey showed that the response to the question "Do you know what is expected of you in your job?" 3% didn't know, 12%