You remember the game; everyone sits in a circle and passes the "hot" potato around as quickly as possible while music plays. The person holding the potato when the music stops is out of the game. Often times in our organization, we revisit our childhood by playing hot potato with our underperforming staff. The question is, when the music stops, who loses? I've witnessed this event twice recently and it reminded me of the seemingly difficult decision that business leaders sometimes face. In each scenario there was an employee who, for one reason or another, was not a good fit. Employee A, wh ..read more

Among the vast list of HR responsibilities, crafting a positive employee experience takes center stage. An easy and effective tool to monitor this experience is an employee survey. Surveys do not need to be an overly complex tool with numerous correlating scorecards and calculus-level analyses. The aim of a survey is to identify areas of improvement in the workplace, bolster retention, and foster a positive environment. Instead of scraping your survey plans because you've gotten bogged done in a complex maze of metrics and objectives, roll out a simple and useful tool by utilizing these emplo ..read more

The field of Human Resources has witnessed several rebrands in the last century, from Personnel to HR, to a myriad of combos including Talent, Culture, and People. Is a mere rebrand, though, really the impactful change we need? Our reliance on interviews since the early 1900s, a century of performance management, and persistent disparities in pay and advancement reveal that PeopleOps programs require more than a superficial makeover. The demand of the modern workplace necessitates genuine HR innovation. If a rebrand is all you are considering at this time, read up on alternative names for HR ..read more

Imagine a workplace where innovation and problem-solving reign supreme, team objectives are celebrated over egos, colleagues engage in professional, direct dialogue to address issues. While no work culture will ever achieve utopia, most can progress positively with a healthy dose of conflict competence. The ability of a workforce to identify, discuss, and resolve conflict in a productive, constructive manner can differentiate a good company from a great company. The path to achieving this greatness is fairly simple. Read on to learn the 3 keys to leading a team of competent conflict managers ..read more

The Human Resources department has many responsibilities: benefits administration, onboarding & offboarding, performance management, legal compliance, and recruitment. I don't need to tell you that this list goes on and on. Responsibilities, though, should not be confused with purpose; they are activities that support the team's vision. An HR mission statement is critical to understanding the reason the department exists, or to borrow from Simon Sinek, the "why". Without an overarching vision, the team doesn't have direction or clear target. A purpose statement can provide this guidance ..read more

Recruiting is competitive. The way to win top, qualified, diverse talent win is to create and execute the best hiring strategy. In this multi-part series, we will examine specific tactics to complement your recruiting strategy. This article examines how a simple question about gender pronouns improves the candidate experience. (check out our first article on diversity job boards). Gender pronouns play a significant role in promoting inclusivity in the hiring process. By acknowledging and respecting an individual's gender pronouns, organizations can enhance the candidate experience and demonst ..read more

If you were to ask me the primary areas that Human Resources teams get into legal trouble, recruiting assessments would be in second position. (FLSA misclassification would be in the top spot, but that is another article for another day).  Hiring top talent is not only extremely competitive but critical to an organization's success. Utilizing pre-employment tests as one part of your recruitment practice can help with efficient and effective hiring. However, if done improperly (and in my experience, 90% of recruiting leaders handle hiring assessments improperly) they can hinder your candi ..read more

Creating an inclusive workplace is more than celebrating Black History Month or designing a Pride logo in June. It is about sustainable, substantive practices that are conducted year round. One easy practice to implement immediately is posting open jobs to diversity sites. These specialized platforms offer unique features and benefits, connecting employers with a rich pool of diverse candidates. In this article, we will explore 7 leading diversity and LGBTQ+ job boards and highlight how they can be leveraged to enhance workplace inclusion. Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash 1) LGBT.net LGBT.ne ..read more

Let's get real: HR can be a thankless job. An intrinsically rewarding job, yet a role often taken for granted by employees and leaders alike. People Ops partners are integral to addressing the root cause of all company problems...process issues and people issues. (Ponder that for a second. Can you come up with a workplace problem that doesn't boil down to process or people?) As an HR rep, you work to solve problems for and improve the environment of everyone around you. This opens up the door for stress to come a'callin. Get real #2: Ignoring that work-related weight on your shoulders is goin ..read more

The employee offboarding process should be as polished as any other program throughout the employee lifecycle. Many of your departing employees may become "boomerangs." And, all of your departing employees can become referrals, positive or negative, for your organization. Sending employees off on the best note possible is a smart course of action. Plus, a well-oiled offboarding practice will protect your company against security breaches, lost equipment, and the like. To assist in this endeavor, Talent Alchemists is providing a free, downloadable employee offboarding checklist, organized by c ..read more