How Small Business Owners can be a Catalyst for Employee Success

As a small business owner, you wear many hats. But perhaps one of the most crucial roles you play is that of a catalyst for your […]

How New Overtime and Non-compete Rules may Impact You

Recently I had the opportunity to join Chip Griffin of Small Agency Growth Alliance as we discussed the FTC’s new ruling on non-compete agreements and expected […]

Where is the Risk in Your HR Program?

Check out my guest appearance on the America Back to Work podcast. 

Tips for Hiring Your First Employee

Check out my discussion with Chip Griffin of Small Agency Growth Alliance as we discuss how to hire your first employee. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQxz52QBIKY

How to Retain Your Best Employees

Recently I had the opportunity to join Chip Griffin of Small Agency Growth Alliance and Gini Dietrick of Spin Sucks as we discussed tactics for retaining […]

How to Overcome the Fear of Managing People

Recently I had the opportunity to join Jeff Veyera and Norm Howe on ASQ’s The Fearless Workplace Podcast. We covered a range of topics centered on […]

How Workforce Expectations are Changing

Recently I had the opportunity to join Chip Griffin of Small Agency Growth Alliance as we discussed how workforce expectations are changing.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpYNebaxdZ0

How to be on the Winning End of The Great Reshuffle

What we thought was The Great Resignation now seems to be more of a Great Reshuffle. Yes, last year an average of more than 3.95 million […]

Questions to Guide Employee Performance Conversations

Recently I had the opportunity to join Chip Griffin of Small Agency Growth Alliance and Brad Farris of Anchor Advisors as we discussed tips on effective […]

What’s wrong with not having an Employee Handbook?

The short answer is that while there are many laws that require notifying employees of specific workplace rights, there are no federal, state, or local laws […]

The Value of Values in Your Organization

Organizational values are most noticeable when they are not being followed. They are viewed as the guiding beliefs upon which an organization is based and help […]

Responding to Employee Requests for Raises, Perks, and Promotions

Today I had the opportunity to join Chip Griffin of Small Agency Growth Alliance as we covered these popular topics.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7zGhLILaeI

Should Your Organization have a COVID Policy?

When deciding on when to bring your employees back to the workplace, keep in mind that this does not need to be an all-or-nothing decision. A hybrid model could give you some flexibility.

The Value of Time Tracking in Your Organization

How are you using employee time tracking to best leverage your talent and achieve efficiency. Recently I had the opportunity to join Chip Griffin of Small […]

Are Long-Term Remote Employees a Fit for Your Organization?

When deciding on when to bring your employees back to the workplace, keep in mind that this does not need to be an all-or-nothing decision. A hybrid model could give you some flexibility.

Employees vs Freelancers/Contractors Video Discussion

Recently I had the opportunity to join Chip Griffin of Small Agency Growth Alliance and Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro as we discussed challenges and […]
hr for small business

Post COVID-19: Where Work Will Get Done

Now is an ideal time for organizational leaders to start thinking about where work will get done when the risk of COVID-19 infection is mostly gone.

Let’s Dial it Down a Bit

Tips for Lowering Emotional Pressure in the Workplace

Don’t Let Covid-19 Cancel Your 2020 Holiday Office Party

Go Virtual It has been an extremely tough year for nearly all of us. Now more than ever, we need to celebrate that we have made […]

Employee Compensation Essentials

Getting pay and benefits right is top of mind for most organizations, especially now with the added burden of managing disruptions due to Covid-19.   In the […]

Why Salary History Bans are a Good Thing

For years we have been struggling to close the pay gap for minorities and women. Part of the reason this problem has persisted is because employers […]

Navigating your organization through the next phase of Covid-19

While much still needs to be learned about what our post Covid-19 world will look like, it is important that we prepare for challenges that are […]

3 Ways to Keep Your Employees Engaged During Difficult Times

While we continue to navigate the long path to things getting back to normal from Covid-19, keeping employees engaged remains a top priority with most organizations. […]

Meeting Your Organization’s People Challenges During the Covid-19 Crisis

Recently, I was invited to join Chip Griffin of AgencyLeadership.com on his video podcast, Meeting the HR Challenges of Agencies During the Covid-19 Crisis. We covered […]

Covid-19: Making Your Remote Workforce Successful

With the outbreak of Covid-19, a vast number of organizations are struggling to maintain business continuity. A key component for success is keeping their workforces productive. […]

Is Your Organization Prepared for the Coronavirus?

As Coronavirus continues to spread around the world, U.S. organizations are being advised to prepare for how they will respond if their workforces are impacted. While recent reports […]

How to Mitigate HR Compliance Risk

Successful organizations have a keen focus on mitigating risk.  According to this PR Newsletter article, top areas of concern for 2020 are securing employee data and […]

4 Ways to Retain Your High-Potential Employees

Most business leaders recognize that high-potential employees, or HIPOs, are key drivers for their organizations’ success. This is supported by a Harvard Business Review article that […]

Get Ready for Federal Overtime Regulation Changes

Update 9/24/19 Today the Department of Labor issued New Overtime Rules. As a result, it is estimated that 1.3 million more Americans will be eligible for […]

When Your Organization needs an Employment Attorney

Over the years, I have worked with many employment attorneys. Almost all I have found to be more than competent, and several were exceptional. The line […]

Why You (and Your Staff) need an Employee Handbook

A well-written employee handbook can be a key factor in avoiding or dealing with employee problems in the future. It can also be a very effective […]

Does Performance Management at your Organization Help or Hurt Productivity?

The first step in solving any problem, particularly if it is performance management related, is to NOT MAKE THINGS WORSE. Yet I have seen it happen. […]

Don’t buy a Cow when all You need is a Gallon of Milk

Most small to mid-sized organizations lack HR Leadership. Sure, they may have a junior HR Generalist on staff, but they lack the level of HR Management, […]

Why Not Asking Salary History is a Step in the Right Direction

The fact that 13 states and municipalities now ban salary history questions on their employment applications is encouraging. Organizations like Amazon, Facebook, Google and Cisco have […]

Are You Energized or Drained at the End of the Day?

  Many years ago, when I was in college, I had a part-time job at a photo processing plant (this was before the days of digital […]

The High Cost of Candidate Selection Short Cuts

This is how it usually plays out. A manager has an opening and wants to cut short the selection process. Business needs dictate that a quicker […]

When having a Peacemaker Contributes to Team Dysfunction

I once advised an executive team that operated more like a group of fiefdoms than a cohesive organization. Disagreements were common which permeated the entire organization. […]

Behavioral Fit: The Difference Between Swimming Upstream vs Downstream

Making a good hire takes more than finding someone with right skills and experiences. A new (or existing) employee with a good behavioral fit can be […]

Avoiding Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Paul was widely regarded as a successful project manager. His team had a reputation for top performance. By almost every metric, they exceeded expectations and made […]

What Inspires and Motivates people? Being Understood and Useful

I have always been fascinated with what inspires and motivates people and have been fortunate to make it the basis for my career. Recently, I had […]

Beware of Employee Incentives that Target a Specific Outcome

Executives at Wells Fargo now know how providing employee incentives that target a specific outcome, in their case getting employees to convince customers to open more […]

The Importance of Selling Your Job Opening (and Company) to Candidates

In my 25+ years in Human Resources and Recruiting, I have seen too many versions of the following story. “In the six months that we had […]

Is The Google Culture Right For Your Organization?

It is well known that Google is the dream company to work for in terms of company culture. From free sushi to free massages to free […]

When Parting Ways is Best for the Organization, the Employee and You

For his first three years, Tom was a model employee. You were convinced you had made a perfect hire as you watched him crank out work […]

Rethinking Annual Performance Reviews

Most employees and managers look forward to annual performance reviews as much as they look forward to having a root canal. Next to getting fired, it […]

The Importance of Hiring Your Next Superstar

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is believed to have said, “Nothing is constant but change.” Funny that such an old saying fits so many companies today. In […]

IgnitionHR Launches

The experiences of a 25-year career in Human Resources contributed to the founding of IgnitionHR.  The talent services we provide are the result of having served […]

Where is the Risk in Your HR Program?

Check out my guest appearance on the America Back to Work podcast. 

Tips for Hiring Your First Employee

Check out my discussion with Chip Griffin of Small Agency Growth Alliance as we discuss how to hire your first employee. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQxz52QBIKY

Why Not Asking Salary History is a Step in the Right Direction

The fact that 13 states and municipalities now ban salary history questions on their employment applications is encouraging. Organizations like Amazon, Facebook, Google and Cisco have […]

Are You Energized or Drained at the End of the Day?

  Many years ago, when I was in college, I had a part-time job at a photo processing plant (this was before the days of digital […]