Loose lips sink ships. Less is more in professional communication. Being clear and concise is the key. There is no need to fill the air with words that might get you in trouble. What is said cannot be taken back once it is out, either in conversation or in writing, including on social media. I […]

Deep Dive: People are your most expensive line item. How do you save money? Pay attention to turnover rates. This month we address critical issues to keep in mind when hiring and firing staff. Is anyone an At-Will employee? Can you fire an employee just because? Is it the right thing to do to provide […]

Remember, Common Sense by Thomas Paine, 1776: “Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.” March 2022: The past is the past. Let it go, for now. Be prepared for the rest of the year and what […]

How do employers find employees during an extreme labor shortage? This month we examine quality hiring and best practices as the Great Resignation continues. Workers in the shortest supply are service workers, educators, and healthcare workers. A recent visit to the emergency room at a hospital near you was beyond shocking. There were four times […]

Remember the term, Paradigm Shift? It is defined as a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumption. Remember Jack Nicholson’s famous quote from A Few Good Men? “You Can’t Handle the Truth!” Well, as employers, we need to be able to handle the truth. It is time to figure out the barriers to retaining and […]

Where will employees want to live and work? Time to drop a pin: Work-life balance has changed, and workers are in the driver’s seat. High wages in the Permian are commonplace, but the work-life saga is coming to a town near you, even in Timbuktu.  Those companies and locations that are forward-thinking may be the […]

How will businesses survive this pandemic? How will businesses stay healthy, wealthy, and wise? There seem to be many different schools of thought concerning how best to keep employees well enough to work during this pandemic. Americans enjoy a degree of freedom of choice, but some limits and opportunities tip the scales and allow employers […]

Dear HR Lady:  Why should I encourage my organization’s leadership to model ethical and professional behavior? Foul language and a lousy temperament have become accepted behavior in most walks of life. Many staff members exhibit inappropriate behaviors and language that have nothing to do with getting the job done. Is it essential to change their […]

Oh, what a tangled web we weave / When first we practice to deceive. Thanks, Shakespeare, for making Sir Walter Scott’s idiom so famous. When an applicant lies or acts dishonestly, they initiate problems and a domino structure of complications that run out of control, and they get caught. Karma. Here are tips for looking […]

DEAR HR LADY: We are back in our office, and I have an exempt/salaried manager I hired during Covid who is chronically late, takes way too long on personal appointments, talks—not texts—on their cell phone in meetings, does not use spellcheck, and is just plain oblivious to appropriate office behavior. What can I do? Did […]