The Biggest News In Apple Since iPad2 And What HR Has To Do With It

August 31, 2011 By amyletke 1 Comment

Last week, Apple announced some very big news. No, they weren’t releasing an iPad4 or an iPhone17. Steve Jobs resigned as Apple’s CEO. For those who don’t know much about Jobs, he is the mastermind who brought us the Mac, iPod, iPhone and iPad. Just think where the world would be without him? We would still be using slow-moving virus-prone PCs (oh, wait I’m using one right now), listening to music through portable CD players, making calls through a Zack Morris-sized cell phone and reading hard copies of newspapers and magazines. Blasphemy! Jobs isn’t exactly abandoning the company; he will now serve as the board chairman (a position that didn’t exist before he asked to step into). But with Jobs’ resignation comes emotional unrest and weeks of soul-searching for Apple’s 49,000 employees who’ve stood behind Jobs since the beginning of time (or at … [Read more...]

Filed Under: HR Policies, Human Resources Tagged With: Apple, HR, HR policies, human resources blog, integrity hr, Steve Jobs, succession planning

Beat The Heat: Integrity HR Tips On Keeping Cool

August 1, 2011 By amyletke 2 Comments

Let’s state the obvious: It’s hot. It feels like we’ve been under a heat advisory all summer and we’re tired of it. As HR professionals we know when the temperature rises, so do employees' tempers. At Integrity HR, we are not immune to this epidemic. We are the first to admit that we are suffering from a severe case of heat exhaustion. The symptoms include: snappyremarks to co-workers that you instantly regret, increased Google searches for “cool tropical vacation destinations,” and less productivity due to daydreams that include fruity drinks with pink umbrellas in them. Now, if you’re still reading (we’d understand if you were off Googling your next vacation spot), we’d like to give you tips to help your workplace beat the heat! If you want to keep your employees cooled off, create a more relaxed atmosphere. We’re all on edge due to this heat. So … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Morale, HR Policies, Human Resources Tagged With: beat the heat, control employee behavior, dress code policy, employee morale, employee motivation, summer

Horrible Bosses: Follow These HR Policies To Avoid Workplace Violence

July 6, 2011 By amyletke 1 Comment

Just a couple days ago, the premise of the upcoming movie “Horrible Bosses” seemed pretty funny. Three disgruntled employees seek vengeance on their over-the-top and inappropriate bosses. The movie follows the trio’s attempts at knocking off their bosses. But this dramatized scenario became all too real this week in Louisville. On Tuesday, a LG&E employee walked into LG&E’s South Service Center on Jennings Lane and fatally shot his supervisor before taking his own life. Suddenly, the movie doesn’t seem so funny. Louisville Metro Police have not disclosed information on what may have led to the shooting, but one LG&E employee said there was tension between the two workers. Sgt. Robert Biven, a LMPD spokesman said, “There is nothing rational about this.” He added, “There is an alternative way to work things out without people getting … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, HR Policies, Human Resources, Leadership, Management Tagged With: bad bosses, company policies, control employee behavior, Horrible Bosses, hr consultants, HR policies, human resources blog, human resources consultants, integrity hr, LG&E, workplace preparedness, workplace violence

Hugh Hefner Knows the HR Policies to Follow When Star Employees Leave

June 30, 2011 By amyletke 1 Comment

Employees come and go; it is a part of the business world. Sometimes star employees leave on their own after giving their two weeks notice and sometimes they are asked to leave. Usually the employer and fellow employees have time to adjust to the change. But what happens when the departure is sudden? Let’s say your star employee walks into your office and announces he or she is quitting that day. Maybe your star employee is the amicable secretary, the encouraging floor manager or the beloved company president. Whatever position your star employee held, it is now empty. So now what? This unfortunate situation just happened to one infamous multi-millionaire: Mr. Hugh Hefner. Never thought we would relate Human Resources to Mr. Playboy? Neither did we, but this legendary man is a pro at handling sudden departures. We were a bit surprised when the eternal bachelor Hugh Hefner … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, HR Policies, Human Resources Tagged With: HR policies, Human Resources, human resources blog, star employees

Warning signs: The Bachelorette could learn from behavior assessments

June 27, 2011 By amyletke Leave a Comment

Any reality TV junkie knows about the drama going down on this season of The Bachelorette. In case you don’t devote two hours every Monday to hoping Ashley finds true love, we’ll fill you in. Before the show even started, Bachelorette Ashley Hebert got a message forewarning her that one of her suitors -- Bentley Williams -- was coming on the show for the wrong reasons. Ashley decided to dismiss the advice and welcomed Bentley into her ABC sponsored mansion with open arms. While Ashley fell hard for the divorced father from Salt Lake City, UT, he told the camera crew (and subsequently the millions of viewers at home) that he was just in the game to hurt Ashley and he hoped his hair looked good doing it. To her face, Bentley told her she was beautiful. Behind her back, he called her an ugly duckling. How rude. As we, along with viewers all over, screamed at Ashley through … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Assessments, Blog, Employee Relations, Human Resources Tagged With: Assessments, avoid bad hires, dealing with difficult employees, employee relations, human resources blog, integrity hr

Illegal Immigrants at work…poor management & the HR policies

June 24, 2011 By amyletke 1 Comment

Jose Antonio Vargas lied to his employers for over 10 years. He recently decided to tell the truth in a very public way using New York Magazine as his platform. His secret: Vargas is an undocumented worker. In his article “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” Vargas details the steps he took to cover up his secret. The condensed version of the story goes like this: Vargas’s mother sent him to California from the Philippines in 1993 when he was just 12 years old. Vargas moved in with his grandfather and grandmother who were naturalized citizens. Vargas found out he was undocumented at age 16 when he tried to get his driver’s permit at the DMV. From then on, he worked diligently to cover up his illegal status, convinced if he worked hard enough and achieved enough, he would be granted citizenship. Unfortunately, that never happened. With the help of agents, including the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, HR Issues, HR Policies, Human Resources Tagged With: chicago human resources, company policies, employee relations issues, employee relations louisville, how to deal with poor management, HR consultant, HR policies, I-9 Form, i-9 verification, legal to work in united states

Sexual Harassment Investigations – the pain of knowing sensitive HR

June 8, 2011 By amyletke Leave a Comment

TMI , The Pain of Knowing Things You Wish You Didn’t – Another Reason Why You Should Not Investigate Sexual Harassment Claims Here’s basically how the conversation went a year or two ago. I was coaching a client, an HR Manager, on handling one of her first sexual harassment investigations. She really wanted to do it herself, and upper management wanted everything handled in house, so I coached and counseled from the sidelines. Until it came to the photographs. Yes – the photographs. A manager had a relationship of the naughty variety with a staff employee (not a direct report) and they chose to take some snapshots to memorialize the occasion. The company was a small company with a lot of family employees and long time employees and, at the time, they had chosen not to forbid romantic relationships, so no rules were actually broken with the consensual … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, HR Issues, Human Resources Tagged With: employee relations issues, employee termination, HR consultant, HR Consultant Louisville, HR issues, Human Resources, louisville, sexual harassment

Lady Gaga gives sage Human Resource advice: Top 5 Employer Tips

May 24, 2011 By amyletke Leave a Comment

Ok, so Lady Gaga is the hippest thing that has happened in the last 10 years, she’s got us mesmerized with her music and themes. But what does her music have to do with human resources? Well sit back, read on, and put your paws up because you were “born this way, baby!” Sure thing, Lady Gaga is edgy, gorgeous, and has a message to share. And it’s a popular one at that. So if half our workforce is at the club, jamming out to her tuneage, and engaging in the message, what can we as employers garner from that? A WHOLE LOT. She’s controversial, she’s edgy, she’s not mainstream….but my guess is neither are employees. AND they’re listening to music that gives them strength, uplifts them, gives them internal power, builds themselves. So what does that mean for us? Well, we need to think about what this music says, listen to it, and understand how we … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Relations, Human Resources Tagged With: amy letke, dealing with difficult employees, demotivation, discrimination, employee coaching, employee relations issues, employee relations louisville, Facebook, hiring employees that fit, how to increase employee motivation, hr consultants, Human Resources, interoffice romance

Your Employee Handbook, Do Your Managers Really Know How to Use It?

March 24, 2011 By amyletke Leave a Comment

Not too long ago my family was out shopping at a popular retail chain when I noticed that my usually outgoing first grader was ducking behind the counter hiding. When asked what she was doing she whispered back that the girl, (indicating the young lady ringing up our purchases), was being mean and scary. Not ready to debate while balancing purchases, coupons, debit card, and her baby sister, I nodded gravely as if I understood, shrugged at her dad, and let her maintain her hiding spot while we finished checking out. Long story short, my daughter explained that the young woman had been sticking her tongue out and making faces at her. It took me a moment but then I realized what she had seen. The cashier had a tongue piercing. It was rather large and noticeable and she did keep, well, messing with it. I don’t know if it was recent or if it was irritating her or what, but … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Handbook, Human Resources Tagged With: employee handbook, paula agee, policy development, training

How to Avoid Bad Hires for Your Company Culture – Plain and Simple

February 28, 2011 By amyletke 2 Comments

In the pages of the Integrity HR Human Resources Blog we’ve addressed how to fire employees for poor performance and for bad attitude. We’ve discussed the inept, the toxic, and the impossible to manage, and we’ve even gone down the other side of the road and discussed what to do about those pesky bad bosses that can ruin the experience of an otherwise excellent employee. Now it’s time to address one of the most difficult management situations employers face – the good employee who does their job, comes in every day, generally gets along with everyone else, but just doesn’t fit in to the company culture and, therefore, really has no place to go. Perhaps their shortcoming is due to personal interest, motivation, interpersonal skills, or simply the fact that they have been mismatched to their position. These situations are terribly difficult because it’s not the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Assessments, Blog, Human Resources Tagged With: Assessments, avoid bad hires, company culture, relaxed culture

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK