HR U Can Trust Blog

At one point in my career, even before I entered Human Resources, I was taught that for every “constructive criticism” comment you give to someone, it needs to be balanced by 3 positive/encouraging comments. Some experts today believe that ratio is more 5:1 – 5 positive comments for every critical comment.  …read more

And for those of you who celebrate a different holiday at this time of year – I wish you the best as well. I personally believe in Christmas and all that it stands for. As a business owner I have built and am building my business largely based on biblical principles.  …read more

As a business owner, it’s highly likely that you are about to have a holiday party for your staff. This is often a relatively easy way to reward your team for a great year and a job well done. Employees appreciate the recognition. If you don’t have a party, you should start. It doesn’t have to be at holiday time – it could be at another time of the year. Although I think most employees, regardless of their religious beliefs, expect something around this time of year since it is so much a part of the American culture. (You could do something additional during the summer months.)  …read more

My blogs have often focused on more negative aspects of the workplace and how many employees are overly loyal to a job where they are not happy, or where their skills are not being utilized or they are being mistreated.  …read more

Recently I reconnected with a friend I had not seen for a number of years. In the midst of catching each other up on our lives she told me that she’s been at her current job for a year and has never even met her boss. What?! Are you kidding me?! That can’t possibly be true. But it was. Her boss is also the owner of the business.  …read more

Recently I heard about a business owner who asked employees to volunteer their time on a Saturday for Halloween – handing out candy to kids who were trick or treating. Who wouldn’t want to do that?? On your day off? And not get paid for it?  …read more

Probably most people have experienced a situation where their boss or their boss’s boss has lied, or said an untruth, or inferred an untruth. Lying is more common than I want to believe it is. Whether it is a “big” lie or a “little” lie, it’s still a lie. And that affects your credibility. If you lie, even by making a covert only partially true inference, your credibility is shot – people will not completely trust you.  …read more

We were recently asked to put together a template that a client could use for Performance Appraisals. There are a number of business decisions that need to be made when developing such a template – such as: will the Company assess an individual based on their accomplishments of business goals? Will they assess workplace behaviors? If so, what are those behaviors that will be assessed? Will the company tie performance to the employee’s annual merit increase? And finally (though this is not an all-inclusive list), will the Company use performance ratings and if so, what will those ratings be?  …read more

Many people do – both managers and employees alike. Employees dread them because they often have no idea what the manager is going to say about their performance. Managers dread them because they don’t know how to deliver the difficult news when an employee is not performing well. This stems from fear of conflict and not knowing how to manage it.  …read more

This blog is primarily written for business owners and managers, but employees may find it affirming and useful as well.  …read more