I’m an American who lives in Europe—Switzerland to be exact, and I’m home for a visit. I love Europe and I love America, but both could use a bit of infusion from the other to make things better off. (And when I say Europe, I want to acknowledge
Americans love to telecommute. 34 percent of Americans work at least 4 days a week from home. Only 4 percent of Japanese work from home at least one day per week. The Japanese government wants this to change. Why? Two big reasons: To increase productivity and to prepare for
Does your company have a bunch of “affinity” groups? For instance, a women’s group, a gay group, or an African American group? Lots of companies do. The idea is that if you bring people who share characteristics together they can help each other succeed. Bloomsberg Businessweek reports that Deloitte is moving
Businesses in Maine that operate in the summer tourism industry have a problem: Not enough visas available to hire their summer staffs. So, horror of horrors, they are having to (gasp!) do things like increase salary, and changing schedules to attract local talent. Makes me want to cry
Office designs are often the last thing on a manager’s mind. You want the best people doing the best job, but does wall color or cubical height matter? Can’t you just stick the new guy in the corner? It may be easier to just move into whatever space
In a free market, the company with the most to offer an employee gets the best employees. That’s fair. Idaho just made it one of the hardest places to attract new talent. Why? Non-compete agreements. A non-compete agreement limits what someone can do after they leave a job. Traditionally used
Your employees can only change their health insurance once a year during the open enrollment period, unless they have a qualifying life event, according to The Balance. With this in mind, it’s important that they get it right when they make changes. What can you do to help
Organizations that have busy seasons can have significant seasonal overtime challenges. Those challenges can include time management, filling shifts and compensating employees. When gearing up for a busy season, organizations are wise to anticipate obstacles and address them before they ramp up. Who Is Eligible for Overtime? In
Some people travel to see sights. I travel to eat. And, since there is only a limited amount of meals you can eat on any given trip, if you want to make the most of those, you use online tools to help you find restaurants. TripAdvisor is my favorite but sometimes the
I received the following email from a reader: All of our employees (exempt & non-exempt) receive vacation time. We have an issue with how some of our exempt employees report their vacation hours. If they answer (literally) an email or a phone call while on vacation, they consider