March Madness

As mid-March hits, productivity starts to go down in the office. The weather gets nice outside, fun holidays like St. Patrick's Day is celebrated and baseball Opening Day and Summer are both right around the corner. But March is also bad for productivity because of March Madness. For a few weeks, afternoons are spent bracket-watching as hopes and dreams are beaten as the buzzer is. Well what happened if you had the coolest boss ever? someecards.com and Sports Pickle took a look and the result is pretty funny and pretty awesome.

Also, you have a few minutes left to still join the bracket that is being co-hosted by my two blog passions: Astron Solutions World of HR and NYaT: http://www.nyat.net/2011/03/join-nyats-tournament-pickem-and-win.html

Make sure to join quickly so you are in the running to win and enjoy March Madness!

Another Plug for Napping at Work

Here at the Astron Solutions World of HR blog, you may think that we're obsessed with napping. In January of 2009 we quoted a study that we found on ESPN.com that says that people ought to take afternoon naps, in March of 2009 Jennifer wrote about National Nap Day, Labor Day last year we posted that Bloomberg and Yahoo! gave a nod to napping, and a month ago Astronology said that 50 million Americans suffer from sleep problems. Well napping has moved past the traditional workplace and is now prevalent among basketball players in the NBA according to the New York Times:

In the United States, napping is often stigmatized, seen as evidence of laziness or a lack of purpose. But in the world of sports, and certainly in the N.B.A., the attitude is entirely different.

“You’re nocturnal in terms of what you do, playing at night, so your body adjusts to the rhythm of being up late, getting in early in the morning,” said Grant Hill, [Steve] Nash’s teammate with the Phoenix Suns. “You’re tired around midday. Naps are important. It refreshes you. It gets you ready for competition.”

The key now is to figure out a way to get rid of that stigma in the rest of society. A 20-30 minute "power nap" at work can be the way to keep your employee base fresh and to keep them from burning out or making mistakes. While others may be okay shunning naps, here at Astron's World of HR, we're trying to make it an accepted practice in the workplace.

Speaking of basketball...if you are interested in getting involved in a NCAA tournament pool, you can check out my sports blog, NYaT, where we have a pool open to all Astron Solutions World of HR readers. Go over there and test your mettle for a chance to win bragging rights as the best of the blog. Good luck!

Blow That Whistle

We're in the middle of the NBA and NHL playoffs...but the most important whistleblower story may be in Human Resources...

The Washington Post starts us off this an article about the whisteblower's unending story: click here

Next, from Michigan Live, some news about a lost whistleblower case in Detroit and a document on a computer: click here

And lastly, from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, word about a hospital's large payout following whistleblower's kickbacks: click here

Of Bad News and B-ball Pools

We start you out this week with an article from CondeNast Portfolio and the Harvard Business School which talks about a better way to deliver bad news to your employees: click here

Next, an issue you will have to deal with this week is talked about in this New York Times article about dipping into the betting pool and the NCAA basketball tournament brackets in your company: click here

I agree with the idea that this helps people meet and brings them together, but it also has to be for a small amount and done in a way that makes people all feel welcome and comfortable. You never know if someone is getting over a gambling issue, has a financial issue, or is feeling left out by not being asked to be in the pool (among other issues) so as a Human Resource Professional, this could be a tough issue to deal with.

Lastly, from the Boston Globe BostonWorks Hiring Hub, advice on the best way to terminate high level employees: click here