When Your Practices Don't Make Perfect

Three articles of cautionary tale on this Friday of what not to do in your company:

First from Reuters, an article about Tyson foods who settled a hiring practice dispute with women and minorities who it didn't give an equal advantage to: click here

Moving on in the food industry to Denny's who has been accused of discrimination according to the Washington Post: click here

And lastly, from Washington a tale of the Attorney General of Washington, D.C. stepping down after firing 10 veteran union workers, a move that rubbed many the wrong way: click here

Recruiting, Hiring and All That Jazz

This will blow away any other form of new-age recruiting if it really picks up, but supposedly some firms are recruiting potential employees on YouTube...no kidding: click here

Late in this article on the economy from the Washington Post, you can see a reference that hiring is, indeed up due to certain economic factors: click here

And lastly, an article about how finding part time help in one town is a full time problem: click here

Taking it back

Well we usually give you only two for Tuesdays...but we gave you three...so this Wednesday, you only get two...but we picked two great ones for you:

Reported by Yahoo! from SHRM, New-Hire Compensation jumped this past month...a good sign for those seeking jobs and a sign for those in HR to watch out for when recruiting new employees: click here

And an article from GlobeAndMail in Canada which says that companies are working with colleges to help out Canada's labor problems...an interesting partnership: click here

Taking it back

Well we usually give you only two for Tuesdays...but we gave you three...so this Wednesday, you only get two...but we picked two great ones for you:

Reported by Yahoo! from SHRM, New-Hire Compensation jumped this past month...a good sign for those seeking jobs and a sign for those in HR to watch out for when recruiting new employees: click here

And an article from GlobeAndMail in Canada which says that companies are working with colleges to help out Canada's labor problems...an interesting partnership: click here

Happy Astronology Day!

We have three great articles for you on Astronology Day!

Following up on an earlier post on our blog, we look in as Amy Joyce talks about how gay workers have more doors open to them now than they had 10 years ago: click here

Another interesting article from the Washington Post about how certain employees just run up their mileage to meet minimum requirements. Requirements can be good for employees to make sure they make a certain amount, but if it just has them driving around in circles, it can really backfire for the company: click here

And lastly, from the Florida Sun-Sentinel, an article reminding us that Human Resources is about, well, human beings: click here

Just Another Manic Monday

If you wish it was Sunday, because that's your Funday, then we have some articles from yesterday for you...

From the Washington Post, students demanding better wages organize a sit-in. If you work in a University or College in the United States, remember that college students unhappy with wages can be a very lethal force: click here

Speaking of school...it's about that time of year when some adults go back to school, and it could be a nice holiday present to get yourself according to this New York Times article: click here

And lastly, also from the New York Times, an article about how a family with someone out of work takes on daycare by themselves: click here

It's Friday!!!

Friday articles for the HR Professional before the weekend:

First, from the Roanoke Times, an article about a group of unsung heroes who are experiencing high turnover rates: click here

From the New York Times, an article about the rebirth of Venture Capitalism and what that means for the job market: click here

And lastly, from the Washington Post, a very important article about how retiree's health care may overwhelm the United States' government...a very big issue for HR professionals to consider with a new generation of retirement packages being set up: click here

To those celebrating, a Happy New Year (L'Shana Tova) and a good fast for Ramadan...and to those not celebrating, celebrate it's the weekend :)

Ask And Ye Shall Receive

Supposedly this is not an easy thing for some workers in the workplace which has a two-pronged effect: it could be very good for employers because they don't have to give extra benefits to employees because they won't ask for it, but it may lead to silently disliking their jobs. The New York Post explores: click here

From the New York Times, new strategies for police recruiters in New York to get the number of NYPD boosted...an interesting case study for HR professionals to ponder: click here

And lastly, from CBSNews, an article about labor unions trying to heal their differences after a bitter divorce: click here

Image Isn't Everything

Let's get right into the aritcles on this hump day as we wind down September...

First from Amy Joyce and the Washington Post which says that kid-friendly policies don't help singles...something to think about before instituting those policies: click here

Next, from the New York Times, an article about image help...but not only for the famous...maybe you need your own publicist: click here

And lastly, from MSNBC and Reuters, a study that shows that gay-friendly businesses are on the rise, a good way to boost a company's image to potential clients: click here

New York, New York

Today is going to be a New York day...it has to be. The Mets clinched their first division in 18 years last night, the Yankees reduced their magic number to 3, the Giants came back to win a huge game this weekend, and we have two big articles from the New York Times for you on this Two for Tuesday:

Sometimes you have to be cautious with certain employees and how you treat them...

The first group is cancer survivors who after surviving cancer face the next big task of going back to find a job: click here

Another group are people who have spent time in jail and go back and look for work...not an easy task as shown by this article: click here

Doubling Up

We apologize for missing you this past Friday...but we're making up for it with 5 articles on this Monday morning.

First, from the New York Times, an interesting article about a website in New York City that feeds workers tied to their desk all day: click here

Next, the Portland Business Journal reports that a recent survey shows that it pays most for you to work in San Francisco...the real San Francisco treat! click here

An interesting article from a very odd source about Human Resource Management and the law and how they interact on a daily basis, especially in today's world: click here

Next from the Washington Post, an article about the firms vying to be the in charge of the US border security. Although this comes with a lot of political charge, it also comes with a lot of human resources issues as one company wants to patrol with drones, while another wants humans on the ground...an interesting dilemma to play out: click here

And lastly, going back to the NYT, and continuing with a blog theme over the past couple of months, an article that say that some bosses see the virtues of a long vacation...do you feel the same in your company? click here

Hope that catches you up on the HR news of the weekend!

Jobs, Jobs and more Jobs

It's almost Friday but that doesn't mean we're slowing down at Astron Solutions:

Certain cities in New Jersey are being hurt by the lack of jobs, though some are better off now than they were in the past: click here

Bizjournals.com says that laid-off workers this year are back in action faster...a good sign for the United States economy. It's not always about a flat unemployment number, but how long people stay unemployed. It also is important for employers to know that even though a candidate is unemployed, they may not be for long, so act fast: click here

And to end the posts, a recent survey has shown that multinationals are going towards a centralized compensation system...we talked in the past about how this could backfire due to cross-cultural boundaries, but the survey proves that many are moving towards that structure: click here

Getting Over the Hump

The Mets and Yankees seem to be heading to the playoffs, the kids are heading back to school, and Astron Solutions is heading to the vault to find you some great HR articles!

First from Amy Joyce of the Washington Post talks about people who have been fired in really poor ways (including by e-mail)...definitely a cautionary tale for employers who are looking to save a PR nightmare: click here

From Careerbuilder.com, advice for small businesses takes on the mythbuster role as they bust the top 10 myths of recruiting: click here

And lastly, continuing a theme from the summer, it is not just workers taking less vacation time, but now managers who don't want to be forgotten about once promotion time comes: click here

Moving On

If Septemeber 11th is the day we remember, September 12th is the day we learned how we would move on and live in our new world. The debate of whether we're better off now than we were 5 years ago will rage on for a long time, but the fact is that our lives have certainly changed...how we move on in our new world is the greatest measure of how strong we are...(Just a little food for thought...)

On to our two for Tuesdays (on an Astronology day no less):

One from the New York Times jobs section which talks about employers who are going to new names and educating their workforce about what that brand should mean to them...and how this will help to attract potential employees: click here

The next is a Q&A from Yahoo Finance about how to save enough to retire on...good for both employees and employers to take into account with aging baby boomers and shrinking social security: click here

Happy Astronology Day!

Remembering 9/11

Five years after the fact, we look back at the events of September 11th and how they still effect our lives:

From the New York Times job section, an article about how our lives have changed in the last 1,825 days since that awful morning: click here

The other part of the country effected by the damage, Washington DC, reflects via the Washington Post: click here

While not mentioned in this article, Ground Zero has become a health hazard for workers. This article points out other black lung "hot spots" including those in West Virginia: click here

Monday is a tough day, but we know that this one is tougher than all the others...

Best of Both Worlds

We go domestic and abroad on this Friday morning for some great HR articles.

From China, Mercer has just published a study which says that companies in China are having employee retention problems, definitely an issue since many companies are highly divested in China, and those that were thinking of doing so are now looking elsewhere as the prices begin to even out. It brings up an interesting HR problem...how to make HR programs cross-culturally valid: click here

Forced with low recruitment numbers, the army has gone to private pitches to get recruits. Some think no HR pitch will help the army (as long as signing up probably means going to Iraq, the recruitment numbers will be pretty low), but maybe a change in approach will help the army in its recruitment efforts: click here

Lastly, clearing out an old article (which is still quite relevent), we blog about a blog on Ken Lay's death in which Monster.com takes a closer look on ethics. This is such an important issue for HR and the companies leadership to continue to tackle because the problem hasn't totally gone away: click here

Where Does It All Come From?

An interesting article on one "expert's" view on the history of Human Resource Management: click here

This Washington Post columnist thinks that the best way to tackle inequality is not through wages, but through tax reform: click here

And lastly, from the New York Times, an article about how some people are getting their start in show business...with a little help from NYC: click here

Get excited for Friday!!!

Your Life Is Worse...But You're MORE Content?

This interesting paradox was scratched at its surface in yesterday's blog and we'll go into it again today with interesting research from the Pew Research Center (thanks to a loyal reader for this submission): click here

This graphic is a very interesting one for HR Professionals to review:















In other news, one reason why workers may be more content is that sexual harassment claims are down from their record level in 1997 according to the US Equal Opportunity Commission: click here

And on a different topic, an interesting pay plan by Dana Corporation is ruled illegal...read here why: click here

It's Tuesday So That Must Mean We're Playing Two

Two for Tuesdays continue with two interesting articles from two very different sources.

The first is from the Washington Post is an interesting development as the most overworked are winning in today's economy: click here

For an economics student such as myself this is really a dilemma because it contradicts (or becomes a paradox...whichever way you want to look at it) all that we learn. As the article says:

"For years, economists have taught their students a simple maxim: As employers hunt for workers, they want to get the best talent at the lowest price. According to this theory, whether employees want to work long hours or short hours, employers have an incentive to accommodate them, because asking people to do something they don't want to do raises the price of labor -- workers demand more compensation."

There's an old proverb about helping a man get a job being the best charity you can give someone and the Marin Independent Journal has an interesting story about how some are doing that: click here

It's Labor Day but We're Still Laboring Away

Just because it's Labor Day does not mean the blog has to take a day off...actually, we feel it is our duty to post today:

Well this Washington Post headline will disagree with me as they ask do we really have to talk about work on labor day: click here

Another Washington Post article disagrees as Amy Joyce looks into a bunch of surveys recently released that delve into employees complaints: click here

And lastly, from Reuters, a study that shows cutting staff incentives hurts the company on the bottom line...something definitely to keep in mind on this labor day: click here

It's the Weekend!

But before you enjoy some of the last sun of the summer of '06, check out these great HR articles:

Horizon Magazine gives the advice in this article that it helps HR Managers to help their employees fit in within the work environment: click here

And from overseas:

Forbes is seeing China's turnover rise as the price of retention of employees is going up: click here

And lastly, an interesting article from Vietnam that says that schools should join hands with companies in promoting and furthering educational opportunities: click here

Have a great weekend!