The HR Professor - The HR Professor

Leadership and Management

Are You Ready for Management?

After so many years of work experience, you might be asking yourself if it’s time to move into a management role. There are generally two paths in a career: individual contributor or manager. Like most people, I’ve had many different managers over the years and only a handful of truly effective ones. Management may look attractive from the outside due to the potential exposure and salary gain, but it certainly isn’t for everyone, as it also comes with much greater responsibility and accountabili

Employee Engagement and Retention, Leadership and Management

Integrity Means Everything

Integrity: the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Dishonesty in the workplace comes in many forms from employee theft, disrespectful social media sharing, submitting incorrect time sheets, abusive behavior, unethical conduct such as harassment, and lying to co-workers and managers. Within the United States, around 120 million people go to work each day. A recent study conducted by the Washington, D.C. – based Ethics Resource Center (ERC), revealed that almost half of t

Employee Engagement and Retention, Leadership and Management

How Companies Treat Exiting Employees Reflects Culture

What was your most memorable on-boarding experience? Maybe you received a personal welcome note from your new manager? Did you receive a package full of company swag in the mail? Was there an immediate in-depth training program? Were you welcomed with encouragement from all levels of the organization? Maybe you received all the tools/software to do your job successfully? Or maybe you were assigned a mentor? You were probably convinced that you made the right decision and you were on the way to

Employee Engagement and Retention, Leadership and Management, Employee Relations

Why Do Some Employees Seem Untouchable?

Most of us have worked with team members who are abrasive, bullies, and condescending. Their mere presence instills fear, and everyone walks on eggshells wondering if they are going to be the next target. So, why do they still have jobs? As an HR Manager, I can tell you most of the time the reason is that they get results. Since their results improve the bottom line, their behaviors get overlooked. But, the problem with that is they single-handedly destroy the morale of everyone around them. T

Employee Engagement and Retention, Training and Development

Why Effective Onboarding is So Important

Onboarding helps new employees adjust to the social and performance parts of their jobs so they can quickly become productive members of the company. Effective onboarding is critical, yet so many organizations get it wrong. The first few days or weeks will leave a lasting impression on new hires and if done inadequately, you risk losing them. These tips will help ensure successful onboarding: 1. Start the onboarding process before the employee even starts. Send all required paperwork to

Excerpts from Foolish Job Ads

While I was recently job searching for a new role, I unfortunately had negative experiences with some abysmal Recruiters. But, I also have read some unreasonable job ads that are potentially discouraging good candidates from even applying in the first place. So, I wanted to follow up on my past article, Why Do We Make the Hiring Process So Difficult [http://thehrprofessor.com/why-do-we-make-the-hiring-process-so-difficult/]? and focus on job ads that I find to be ridiculous and add to my points

Negotiating a Job Offer

A recent survey by Robert Half found that only 39% of all workers negotiated a higher salary during their last job offer. The survey also found that men were more likely than women to negotiate and that employees aged 18 to 34 were also more likely to negotiate (April 2018 HR Magazine). Salary isn’t the only piece of an offer that is negotiable. Bonus percentage, sign-on bonus amount, relocation benefits, time off, work schedule, start date, and telecommuting can also be modified. It’s surpris

Performance Management, Leadership and Management

Are Performance Evaluations a Waste of Time?

“I can’t wait to complete my annual performance evaluation form and have that meeting with my manager. It’s incredibly motivating to rehash events that happened up to twelve months ago and discuss my shortcomings, mistakes, and accomplishments,” said no employee ever. “I am so much looking forward to trying to remember every detail and achievement for each of my many direct reports and fill out a form for human resources. It’s especially rewarding since I am not very good with conflict or givin

Does it Really Matter What You Wear to an Interview?

Over the past decade or so, I’ve noticed candidates becoming increasingly more casual in attire when they arrive for interviews. I would say about 50% of candidates dress in a suit, and this spans across all levels, including professional and non-professional roles. Others wear jeans and a t-shirt and still others wear dress pants and a polo or button-down shirt. I’ve been involved in hundreds of interviews over recent years. I will never forget about five or six years ago when I was job-huntin

What Questions Should I Ask the Interview Team?

An important part of the interview preparation process is developing intelligent questions to ask the interview team. I can’t tell you how many times at the end of an interview, when we ask the candidate if he or she has any questions, the answer is “no.” How is it that you don’t have one question to ask? It could be about the company, the culture, the work environment, etc. It is a major red flag if you don’t ask questions. And this one is so easy to prepare for. You can even use similar quest

Employee Engagement and Retention

Open Vs. Private Work Spaces

Open workspaces are becoming more popular, especially in high technology industries. Robert Half published an article, “Open Debate: Many Companies Move Toward Open Vs. Private Workspaces [http://rh-us.mediaroom.com/2017-08-24-Open-Debate-Many-Companies-Move-Toward-Open-Vs-Private-Workspaces] ” that summarizes the pros and cons of each set up. The majority (56 percent) of human resources managers whose companies have changed their workspaces in recent years said their companies moved to an open

Health and Wellness, Benefits

Is Paid Parental Leave Fair?

A recent survey (https://www.bna.com/survey-38-employers-n73014451081/) found that 38% of U.S. employers offer paid parental leave and that the average amount of time off offered was 4.1 weeks. This benefit is being offered more commonly due to weak federal and state laws supporting working families. But, is the benefit fair to those who are either past child-bearing years or for those who choose to not have children? I think organizations should change the benefit to cover all types of family