Workforce Trends
Workforce Trends

Where Art Thou, Leaders? Management Lessons from the Gulf

By Ira Wolfe Thursday Jun 24, 2010

The disaster in the Gulf has been a disaster of leadership. As a result, leadership lessons seem to be gushing from the incident faster than Deepwater Horizon is spewing oil. Where art thou, leaders?

Workforce Trends

4 Social Networking Personalities. Which One's Yours?

By Ira Wolfe Wednesday Jun 23, 2010

It’s been said that if you ask five lawyers for their opinion, you’ll get at least six answers. Well, the same might be said for social networking except that behavioral preferences narrow the list to four likely responses.

Workforce Trends

A Future Without Offices? 6 Things to Consider First

By Ira Wolfe Tuesday Jun 22, 2010

Can you see an office-less company in your future? Estimates of how many people telecommute and how often they do it vary widely, but the result is the same: telework is growing rapidly.

Workforce Trends

Rehiring an Employee Who Quit Can Be Smart Business

By Ira Wolfe Monday Jun 21, 2010

Just a few years ago, using the axiom “time heals all wounds” and boomerang worker in the same sentence seemed so… contradictory. Today, many employees who have left a company to pursue opportunity elsewhere have shed the label “traitor” and have been ordained “alumni.”

Workforce Trends

3 Common Pitfalls of Pre-Employment Tests

By Ira Wolfe Wednesday Jun 16, 2010

Hiring managers, seeking the special ingredients in what makes a top-performing employee tick, are turning to pre-employment testing more and more. But like a promising recipes, the proof is in the pudding. Many employees don’t work out even if they “pass” a pre-employment personality test. How can that be, you ask?

Workforce Trends

Why Rewarding Employee Loyalty Can Be a Mistake

By Ira Wolfe Tuesday Jun 15, 2010

Which is better: employee retention or loyalty? The answer isn’t as obvious as one might think. 

Workforce Trends

Why Your Employment Test May Not Be Legal

By Ira Wolfe Thursday Jun 10, 2010

Every employer wants employees who have a positive attitude and will stay on the job so they often follow the hire-for-attitude, train-for-skills approach to staffing. To identify candidates with the right fit, many employers administer employment tests — including ones they've designed themselves. Unfortunately, the design-it-yourself path is laden with legal landmines.

Workforce Trends

The Pitfalls of Banning Tattoos at the Office

By Ira Wolfe Tuesday Jun 8, 2010

We make hundreds of judgments about people every day, many of them based on personal preferences. Personal prejudices don't stop at the office door either. This poses a particularly compromising situation for employers.

Workforce Trends

Putting Today's Jobs Report in Perspective

By Ira Wolfe Friday Jun 4, 2010

According to a recent report published by the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University, we’ve just lived through ”The Katrina of Recessions.”  While some might argue that we are still living in the recession (as Friday's jobs data on private-sector hiring suggest), few would disagree that American attitudes toward work are forever altered.

Workforce Trends

When Star Performers Quit, It's Rarely About Money

By Ira Wolfe Wednesday Jun 2, 2010

The recession has led to a rather interesting differentiation between employees who change jobs voluntarily and those employees who are poached. It’s the poaching of employees that employers need to fear the most.