Another Day in the HR Field

Here is the direct link on the Women Of HR blogsite:  http://linkis.com/womenofhr.com/Aq7NF

Although difficult to write and dedicated to my brother Donald Rogers Jr., this piece is a must read for all managers who have 3-5 day bereavement leave policies in their workplace.  http://womenofhr.com/bereavement-leave-fails-when-it-comes-to-flexibility/

This morning, I was interviewed by WTAX talk radio about the title above.  This coming the morning after Governor Bruce Rauner’s AFSCME arbitration veto failed in the Illinois House and as we approach the Labor Day weekend which was initially started by a union. This was a victory for the governor.  The requests of the governor is not unlike the majority of employers in the US.  He simply want’s a pay freeze and wants workers to pay more for health insurance.  The state is in a budget crises for god’s sake, why you would want to freeze wages until it can get resolved.  We have people leaving this state left and right due to the high costs to live and operate a business in Illinois.  Obamacare has increases health care costs all over the US.  Every single employer who falls under the requirements of the new law to be imposed next year are seriously considering how they are going to survive.  AFSME wants an 11.5% wage increase which I have never heard of during my entire professional

The following is a guest post from Lisa Green. She can be contacted directly at  lisagreenbradyfan@gmail.com . The world of social media grows by the second and with every growing second, there are more and more comments, pictures and videos posted that could potentially hinder an applicant's chances of landing their dream job. Finding a job was once a simple process but now, companies all over are screening their applicants on everything from their criminal history to their driving records, and even their social media presence . Different types of career fields choose different types of screening that apply specifically to their job requirements and many are now using social media as a way of seeing if an applicant’s personality will mesh well with their current staff. Jobs That Require Social Media Checks In 2015, more than 80 percent of companies use social media checks as part of their screening process. For those companies, they say it’s a great way to see

The following is a guest post from a very hard working, dedicated, and friendly man in uniform that I am honored to know and work with: Joe Schweickert As a veteran myself serving from 1985-1993 this is a deeply disturbing HR issue that the military personnel records have been exposed. www.federalnewsradio.com By now, most of us have heard about the OPM (Office of Personnel Management) data breach, in which hackers (allegedly sponsored by China) gained access to personnel records of current and former federal employees. A recent interview with Jason Miller, Executive Editor at Federal News Radio, discussed the two different breaches, and the federal response to improve security for information systems.  www.opm.gov First, it is important to understand that there have been two separate breaches at OPM. The first, and more widely reported, involves personnel records on up to 14 million current and former federal employees, dating back to the 1980s. The second invo

It's been so long (too long) since I blogged. It's mostly due to so much family tragedy in my life and unfortunately it's related unnecessary drama not to mention grief. You see I lost my brother a couple months ago to a hit and run driver and my father last year due to cancer. So I'm sure you can imagine if not empathize due to your own family experiences.  However, it's time to move on and focus on the future and the most exciting work related thing in my future is to speak the the Society for Human Resources Annual conference next week in Las Vegas, Missouri SHRM in August and at ILSHRM conference in September. I hope to see old friends and make new. Thanks to everyone's support during these trying times and I look forward to getting back into blogging again. Look for a post on the Women of Management blog right after SHRM15. 

One of the most fulfilling employer training programs I did last year was Empathy In the Workplace.  Another name for it is Sensitivity Training.  You know, when employee's need to think before they speak and say something that either offends someone or makes them depressed. In my clients case they had an employee who did both to the point that the employee was no longer allowed to go to their clients office until they had proof that he had been through some sensitivity training.  Here are the objectives for the program I developed: Empathy In the Workplace Learning Objectives: Increased understanding, insight and self-awareness about ones’ own behavior and its impact on others, including the ways in which others interpret one’s behavior. Increased understanding and sensitivity about the behavior of others, including better interpretation of both verbal and nonverbal clues, which increases awareness and understanding of what the other person is thinking and feeling. Bett

It's time once again to complete my annual performance review.  This is a time for reflection, documentation, and most importantly improvement.  I have been participating in the annual review process most of my professional career.  Typically it's been a meeting with my supervisor where they go over a checklist type formatted document that all managers use in the organization and basically tell me how I scored.  In the academic arena the tables are turned a bit where it's you telling a committee in written form what you did, how you were evaluated, and what your going to do about it. The latter is the most important aspect, in my humble opinion, because the process requires you to sit down and determine what your next steps are as it relates to improvement in all areas of your professional work.  For me that is teaching, advising, community service, training, speaking, blogging. consulting and branding.  Part of my reflection is to look at what I have been writing over th

I'm about to be interviewed by Drive Through HR friends via the list link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/drivethruhr/2015/02/02/donna-rogers-skowronski-at-lunch-with-drivethruhr Have a listen and join us on the twitter stream via #DTHR