WHAT HUMAN RESOURCES CAN LEARN FROM THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Election Day is fast approaching, and the campaign for the presidency is really heating up. As I write this, the third and final debate between Hillary and the Donald is an hour away, and everybody knows it’s going to be a doozy. Why? Is it because so much is at stake – Supreme Court appointments, […]

DON’T LET FALL HIRING BE YOUR NIGHTMARE

For many people (me included), autumn is the best season. There’s a pleasant nip in the air and the landscape is ablaze with color. The harvest is in, offering a cornucopia of fresh produce from our very own communities. Not surprisingly, early fall is a big season for hiring temporary employees. The work ranges from […]

HIRING A TEACHER? LEARN THIS FIRST.

The dog days of summer are upon us. Here in New England, the mid-August weather is hot and the beach-and-barbecue season is still in full swing. Yet thoughts are starting to drift to the coming school year, too. In a matter of weeks, we’ll be shipping our kids off in school buses and dropping them […]

PROFILES OF BAD HIRES: Some Amusingly Disturbing Stories, and How To Avoid Them

I was in the mood to write something a little lighter than the usual, so I decided to check around the ‘net. It turns out there are a million posts on a million different sites where amusing “bad manager” stories abound. But guess what? There seem to be even more posts about hilarious, jaw-dropping examples […]

THE WHYS AND HOWS OF REFERENCE CHECKS

It’s a brave new world in the realm of hiring. Just like everything else, Human Relations has become computerized, digitalized, and ultimately, impersonalized. Don’t get me wrong: instant access to information via the Internet, and computer records in general, is a wonderful thing. Not only are we able to find facts about a prospect that […]

THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY VS. THE FREEDOM TO HIRE

By Michael Cormier Privacy is one of those nebulous things we all think we understand, but really don’t. Ask someone on the street, for instance, whether privacy is guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution, and the answer is likely to be a resounding, “Of course!” After all, this is the United States, land of the free. […]

How Did I Get Blamed? The Heartbreak Doctrine of Respondeat Superior

By Michael Cormier Summer’s fast approaching, and for many businesses that means seasonal hiring. In the good ol’ summertime, certain industries and individuals are looking to hire: landscapers, pools, pool maintenance companies, amusement parks, babysitters and nanny services, summer camp personnel, just to name a few. This time of year, the legal doctrine of “respondeat […]

Seasonal Hiring: Not a Good Time to Be Lax

Seasonal Hiring: Not a Good Time to Be Lax By Michael Cormier Spring is finally here. The season when thoughts turn to warm weather, baseball, and blooming plant life. And if you’re in HR, seasonal hiring. For a lot of industry, especially retail, spring is a busy time. Obvious examples are nurseries and the big […]

HAPPY WORK ENVIRONMENT = HAPPY NEW YEAR

HAPPY WORK ENVIRONMENT = HAPPY NEW YEAR By Michael Cormier Here we go again. Another year, another opportunity. Another opportunity to grow our businesses, to increase our bottom lines, to set and exceed goals. It’s the time of year that we think in terms of New Year’s resolutions—promises we make to better ourselves. So why […]