The Supreme Court hears arguments today in a case testing how managers may react after an employee complains about harassment or discrimination. But legal specialists say employers can take steps to minimize retaliation complaints through beefed-up training, investigations and follow-up efforts. The touchy issue confronts many companies. Complaints to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that
When should an executive retire? The question is gaining urgency in Europe where, for years, companies and governments have pushed people to retire earlier than their American counterparts. The mindset in Europe was that this cleared room for younger executives and brought in fresh ideas. Now, in a shift, some European companies are pushing to
It is a hot business idea of the moment, a growth formula embraced by General Electric Co., American Express Co., Progressive Corp. and many others. But a growing chorus of skeptics question the value of the “net promoter” concept advocated by consulting firm Bain & Co., market researcher Satmetrix Systems Inc. and author Fred Reichheld.
Psychology professor Richard Griffith is on a mission to stop “fakers.” To Dr. Griffith, of the Florida Institute of Technology, fakers are people who misrepresent themselves on personality tests increasingly used to screen applicants for entry-level jobs at call centers, retail stores and other customer-service positions. The tests typically ask candidates to agree or disagree
Two years ago, Rod Bond, an executive at a U.S. unit of French food-services company Sodexho Alliance SA, accompanied female colleagues to a meeting of the Women’s Food Service Forum, where he was a rare man among roughly 1,500 women. “That’s a profound experience,” says Mr. Bond, 57 years old. It prompted him to wonder
Home Depot Inc. likes computer-based training — most of the time. When the big Atlanta-based retailer hires new cashiers, it marches them through online simulations of making change and processing credit cards. Recruits learn so quickly that training time has shrunk 30% from classroom norms. On the sales floor, however, it’s a different story. After
Give back that bonus! That angry cry has been heard for years from governance consultants and shareholders seething at the way some chief executives grow rich as investors suffer. Usually, such shouting is futile. Bosses defend their pay or simply ignore criticism. Either way, they keep the cash, perhaps agreeing to take leaner pay packages
What’s in a name? Plenty. Just ask people who have to compete against their own names. These entrepreneurs can face uncertain, confused customers, as well as harsh competition from businesses they no longer own that still bear their monikers. Consider what happened to executive recruiter Russell S. Reynolds Jr. at a recent cocktail party in
How’s this for a glimpse of the future? For the next eight years, the labor market will continue to shrink, and your company will increasingly come to resemble a temporary employment agency. Bright, restless recruits who believe they have nothing more to learn from your firm will move on to other employers; your seasoned managers
At the end of its last term, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two rulings that offer insight about employer liability for sexual harassment. The decisions (Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, No. 97-282, and Burlington Industries Inc. v. Ellerth, No. 97-569) were both hailed and condemned-hailed for establishing new rules for such cases, and condemned
Recently the Supreme Court issued two decisions that attracted a great deal of attention. These decisions will make it easier for employees to sue and will provide them with an incentive to do so. However, they also give employers insight into ways to avoid harassment or end it before it becomes an actionable offense.
The chief financial officer (CFO) of a Midwestern insurance company bumps into the HR director in the men’s room and asks how his new benefits administration strategy is shaping up. Before the HR director can respond, the CFO declares his belief that benefits administration should be outsourced to avoid spending money on the new technology
Dressing for an interview can be quite challenging for most people as each job may not have the same dress requirement. For example you would not dress the same for an Auto Mechanic position as you would for a Sales Manager position.
The messages law enforcement personnel sent one another — more than 5,000 — were crude, referring to people as animals, using profane terms as labels — and, worst, containing some horrifying jokes implying violence. They were fired. That was in Camden County, N.J., where 11 white prison guards lost their jobs for racially insulting texts
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Many American workers don’t really leave work. Emails, phone texts, pager alerts and phone calls pepper what once was personal time. And that’s not including on-call shifts or beeper time, which require workers to be ready and able to work at a moment’s notice. When is it time to call
Q: A few months ago, my colleagues and I got a new manager who makes our lives a living hell. “Kristen” has no management experience and nitpicks everything we do. She gets angry about small stuff and talks to us like we’re in third grade. She has also allowed the office to get disgustingly
SEATTLE — Expedia has laid off an undisclosed number of employees in the wake of its acquisition of one-time rival Orbitz. Expedia said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing this week that employees will be cut from Chicago-based Orbitz as part of a restructuring resulting from a merger of the two companies. Expedia, based
SEATTLE — The old heritage Boeing Co. is dead, and Seattle-area employees are struggling to come to terms with the colder corporation in its place, according to candid interviews in a new book. “Emerging from Turbulence: Boeing and Stories of the American Workplace Today” explores the attitudes of Boeing veterans, for whom the merger with
Denim days are ahead for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. employees. The Bentonville, Ark., company told employees Wednesday that they will be allowed to wear khaki or black denim pants to work starting July 1. Workers with more labor-intensive jobs, such as in the gardening department, will be allowed to wear T-shirts and blue denim. The dress
LOS ANGELES — Moving to the forefront of a national campaign to boost the incomes of low-wage workers, Los Angeles lawmakers voted Wednesday to approve an ordinance hiking the citywide minimum wage to at least $15 an hour by 2020. With the Wednesday action, which requires one more procedural vote by the City Council and
