Workforce Management

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The Last Word

Work is such a negative-sounding word," Josh Linkner said at a presentation the author attended last month about innovation. The founder and CEO of the promotions company ePrize, Linkner also writes a blog about creativity on his Web site, www.thecreativitygeneration.com. Linkner thinks it would be much nicer to say you are "running off to play" and to hear your spouse respond: "Have a nice day at the playground." Consider "playing" out a conflict, he suggests, or "playing" through your next ...

Who'll Have Last Laugh?

In the new NBC sitcom Outsourced, a rookie manager returns from training, only to learn that his call center has been offshored. Threatened with unemployment, Todd Dempsy (played by Ben Rappaport) agrees to leave Kansas City and manage the novelty company's call center in India. NBC hopes viewers will embrace the workplace personalities and laugh as Dempsy explains Americans' appetite for fake vomit and cheese-head hats, and as he samples "yellow and green stuff" in the cafeteria in India. Mi...

Taking Control of Anger Management

When Chris Havrilla recruits employees for Hitachi Consulting Corp in Atlanta, she asks questions about interpersonal relationships to help eliminate candidates who may be prone to violence. HR professionals received several wake-up calls this summer about the potential for workplace rage and violence. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that last year about 16% of fatal occupational injuries resulted from workplace violence. Of those, 10% were homicides. Companies could head off behavio...

A Need for Speed As 'Fast Hr' Catches On

Bill Cushard has lost patience with training programs created the right way. Cushard, chief learning officer, Knowland Group, says the traditional approach of defining requirements, developing a comprehensive instructional module and then proofreading course materials takes too long in today's fast-paced business climate. Cushard is part of a budding movement to speed up people management to match the pace of the global business world. Among the strongest advocates of the push is Theresa Welb...

H(App)Y Days

This year's Seattle International Film Festival showcased new films from as far away as Iceland and Sri Lanka. But the films weren't the only debut events. To provide some 700 volunteers with their work schedules and request last-minute help when more people than expected came to a screening, festival organizers pushed notices through an iPhone application. In addition to the Seattle festivals, such companies as AT&T Inc and National Instruments Corp are using mobile apps to recruit, hire...

From Conflict to 'Cohorts'-When Young, Older Workers Mix

Managing generations in the workplace may be especially daunting today as the millennials butt heads with Generation X and the baby boomers. But generational conflict has been a challenge, well, for generations. Establishing intergenerational relationships requires employers to understand the differences between age-based and cohort-based identities. Most people share a set of attitudes with those who had similar "coming of age" experiences. A cohort-based identity, in contrast, develops from...

Contingency Plan

Lilla Horvath, a recruiter who specializes in helping technology companies land talent, found a position at a San Francisco firm doing exactly what she wanted -- but as a temp hired through the Philadelphia-based staffing firm Yoh Services. She works alongside permanent employees in her new office, but, as a Yoh temp, she doesn't get access to company health care coverage and other benefits. Horvath's situation reflects the booming growth in demand for contingent workers, even as permanent hi...

Software Firms Riding Contingent Staffing Wave

The rapid growth in contingent staffing has benefited not only the companies that provide the labor but also the firms that help manage the vendors and offer high-tech solutions for automating the process. Indeed, many of the software companies that provide vendor management systems for tracking contingent labor are reporting record sales. In addition to vendor management systems, companies are increasingly using managed service providers for their temporary workers. One of the newest twists ...