Winning workplaces
What makes an organization a great place to work? The Wall Street Journal spotlights fifteen companies in its report on the Top Small Workplaces 2007. It’s a great list, because often awards of this type focus on really large organizations, but these profiles feature companies that range from 12 to 492 employees. In selecting the companies, the article notes some commonalities:
These small businesses tend to let employees at all levels make key decisions, and they groom their future leaders from within. They offer generous traditional and untraditional benefits (how about a six-week sabbatical?). And they constantly hunt for new ways to improve the employee experience or engage employees.
And many share a sizable slice of their profits with employees, teaching them to read company financial statements so they grasp how their job is connected to the success of the organization.
Domestic violence in the workplace
In June, we posted about the role that employers play in curbing domestic violence. This week, Michael Fox at Jottings by an Employer’s Lawyer asks why this issue hasn’t received more attention, and points to an article an article on the role that employers play in preventing domestic violence that appeared in the Birmingham Business Journal. Here are two good reasons the article cites as to why many employers are taking an active role in prevention:
- Studies estimate that 40 percent of violent events at the workplace result from domestic violence, and according to the National Workplace Safety Institute, 94 percent of corporate security directors rank domestic violence as a high security problem at their company.
- According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, domestic violence costs approximately $727.8 million in lost productivity annually and more than $4.1 billion annually in health care costs.
Overtime litigation
George Lenard at George’s Employment Blawg has a must-read post on the increasing trend of litigation related to overtime issues. He offers this good advice: “More than ever, employers are well advised to engage in systematically reviewing, or “auditing,” the classification of employees for overtime purposes.”
The wisdom of crowds
Ask Metafilter is a very popular site where members pose practical questions and other members offer answers. Questions span an endless range of topics, and often include questions about work or job-related issues. Here are a few work-related questions and threads with responses. (work warning: responses are “vernacular” occasionally including profanities.)
- My Boss Has Anger Issues
- I have reason to believe that my boss may have caught word that I smelled of alcohol today at work. What should I do?
- My company just instituted a no-headphones policy – how can I deal?
- How do I track and display team projects like airports track flights?
Really short takes …
- How to write an effective job posting ad for the Internet
- ADA question – Evil HR Lady fields a query on the ADA
- Stop Long Meeting – Susan Sabo at Productivity Cafe offers some great advice on keeping meetings short and to the point.
- Fighting Workplace Bullying
- Why we hate HR – this is an older article from Fast Company, but a pretty interesting read.