Another Day in the HR Field

     A year of turbulence, caution, and weariness is how I would describe 2020 so far and its only June!   If you are not dealing with employees coming or going related to COVID-19, your hearing unrest due to violence in the news involving nationwide protests, rallies, looting and social media opinions running rampant.         There is so much out there going on it is difficult to keep your employees engaged, focused on performing their job and safe in today’s environment.   However, all those things are still our top concerns as managers and human resources professionals.              This year has brought safety to the top of that list almost daily.   So instead of talking about safety related to COVID-19 pandemic, I’d like to focus specifically this month on a topic that is in large part a major concern for business in one of our bigger cities in America as I write this article and has...

To continue our focus on Disaster Preparedness this month, I would like to introduce guest author, Kendall Herbert who specializes in Emergency Management and will be in the job market next Spring after graduating with his Bachelors degree in Emergency Management.  Look for other topics along these lines to come. Evacuation and re-entry are important parts of keeping organizations prepared for disasters. It can be the different between a long drawn out process leaving everyone confused, or quicker one which would allow more time to work. Being prepared and taking time in advance can save organizations time and money in the long run. For example, when there is a gas leak within a building what steps are people immediately going to do? ·          Evacuate the building, ·          meet up in the designated location, and ·          wait until told...

The following is from our local SHRM Chapter.  I thought I would share it as a member to help others who are working on Disaster Plans this month: While we thankfully do not have hurricanes in Illinois, the events along the coast reminds us of the importance of emergency preparation.  This is true of our companies as much as for our employees.  Just as businesses have developed disaster plans to limit down time and loss of productivity, we can help our employees be better prepared as well.  By encouraging their preparation, you are reinforcing that they are a valued employee. Listed below are links for you to share with your employees including GO Bag  instructions.      Also listed are links for businesses to begin or evaluate business disaster plans.  Make - Be Ready!  A part of your company discussions.   For employees https://www.ready.gov/ https://www.illinois.gov/ready/plan/Pages/GoBag.aspx https://www.ill...

January is HR Month! It is also a good time to review all company policies and procedures from a proactive management standpoint. I think it's important to determine how prepared your organization and your employees are for natural or unnatural disasters such as what recently happened in Arizona. A few years ago many employers were hit hard by tornadoes here in Springfield and a shooting at our state's capitol and our mall all of which caused many organizations to more urgently considering disaster planning. Just as an example, during the tornadoes in Springfield, some businesses were completely wiped out, some had major damage, and some went without power for several days. One thing they all had in common was what to do with employees who could not perform their regular jobs. Did companies have a plan to pay employees? Did they have a plan in place to assign tasks to be completed? Was there sufficient communication early enough for employees to know what to do, or did they rec...