Employers have a responsibility to be proactive when they become aware of a problem in their workplace. The highest-profile examples center around harassment and sex discrimination, but it applies to disabilities too. When an employer becomes aware that an employee has – or may have – a disability, they need … Read More
One of the more frustrating challenges facing a manger is the employee who just can’t seem to make it in to work, with unpredictable absences and/or regular tardiness. At best, this behavior causes disruption of the workplace while coworkers figure out how to compensate for the missing person; at worst, … Read More
Brand new nonprofits can face challenges avoided by established organizations. One of the strangest occurs when one person has founded the nonprofit to address a problem about which they feel passionately, especially when they are more concerned about solving the problem immediately than about building a team to solve it. … Read More
Once a business has more than 5 employees, or sometimes even before that, an employee manual becomes a good idea. It is tempting to ignore it as simply more paperwork or a restraint on management flexibility, but your employee manual provides a good way to communicate company rules to employees … Read More
As Abercrombie and Fitch is discovering, there are perils associated with making assumptions about a candidate’s religion, just as there are with assumptions about their physical capabilities. “Can you do this job?” applies to religion as well as disabilities. According to Quartz, In some ways, it seems that where Abercrombie … Read More
One of the most tempting steps to skip in hiring is checking references. You go to all the trouble of actually getting ahold of someone and all they say is “Yes, he worked here for those dates.” Still, it is important to do the leg work and, with luck, find … Read More
There are a bewildering number of ways to communicate with people and it is easy to become overwhelmed by all the options. Web, print, or video? Casual or formal? Text, email, or phone? Words or graphics? Social media? And if so, which ones? The best way to sort out these … Read More
Good governance is usually used in conversations about nonprofits and government entities, but many of its characteristics apply to good management as well. Good governance is competent management of an organization’s resources and affairs, in a manner that recognizes the needs of all stakeholders. Mores specifically, good governance is: law-abiding … Read More
When you sit down to write up job descriptions, the first challenge is to figure out what the “essential functions” of the job are. These come in handy for hiring, especially if you have to choose between candidates with differing qualifications, and during discussions about reasonable accommodations with an employee … Read More
When an employee or coworker blows up in anger, frustration, or tears, most people have one of two reactions: run for cover or try to solve the problem. Unfortunately, neither is likely to truly help. The best thing to do is to help the person get it out of their … Read More