HR Blog

My Number 1 Rule for Managers: Don’t be a Jerk

07/01/2019 | Dee Yingst

If you can’t be a decent human being, then management probably isn’t for you.

06/01/2019 | Dee Yingst

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the universe sets out to prove that you haven’t.

05/01/2019 | Dee Yingst

Ah, summer. The time of increases in temperature and decreases in fabric that can lead a person to wonder whether some people have mirrors at home. Goodness.

04/01/2019 | Dee Yingst

I have a pretty good sense of humor and I like a good laugh. (This month’s blog title is actually a line from one of my favorite movies – “The Court Jester” with Danny Kaye. Very silly movie.) I have a big laugh – no sweet little giggles here - it’s not at all unusual to hear my great big belly laugh emanating from my office on any given day.

03/01/2019 | Dee Yingst

Many years ago, a gentleman applied for a lead sales/consulting position in the agency in which I worked. Because I was familiar with this individual, my manager asked me for my thoughts on his suitability for the role. I commented that his technical skills were quite good but I was concerned about his interpersonal skills. When asked for more detail, the only way I could articulate my comment was to say he’s the type that would be nice to you, but rude to the waiter. He didn’t get the job.

02/01/2019 | Dee Yingst

Have you ever had an entire conversation with someone and you suspect they didn’t really hear a word you said? Oh, they nodded in all the right places and you maybe even got an affirmative grunt or two, but you know they weren’t really listening. Or maybe you were the grunter because your mind was someplace else.

01/01/2019 | Dee Yingst

Last week was just not my week. I was really sick, my heat pump at home went out, my office looks like a tornado went through it, I was not at the top of my game and I just felt like I was letting everyone down. It sucked in ways I cannot even explain. Add to that, all around me are the New Year’s Resolutions lists. Whether it’s a personal resolution list or a career-focused list, so many of those lists focus on ‘fixing’ what’s ‘wrong’ with us. You know the ones; they start with New Year! New You! and implore you to start the newest diet, exercise every day, change the way you work, blah blah blah and essentially remind you of just how ‘broken’ you are. I didn’t need the reminder.

12/01/2018 | Dee Yingst

Isn’t that a great quote? For the life of me I can’t remember where I heard it or who said it – but it’s still a great quote and very appropriate at this time of year.

11/01/2018 | Dee Yingst

So I was shopping at my local Costco a few weeks ago and happened to bump into one of my first supervisors from my days with Capital BlueCross. Roseanne was a task master for sure. Although at the time I never doubted that she cared, I’m certain I didn’t fully appreciate the wisdom in her words. These 30(!) or so years later, I see her at Costco and practically burst telling her how much I learned from her and that I still go back to those lessons and still quote her to this very day. We must have been quite a site hugging and crying in the snack food aisle.

10/01/2018 | Dee Yingst

I’m a big proponent of cross-training and contingency planning.

08/01/2018 | Dee Yingst

Last month we talked about resumes so it seems fitting to talk about the next step: interviews. I’ve had occasion to do a fairly substantial number of interviews lately and it’s been…..interesting. As I look back over interviews I’ve done over the years, I’d like to give you my top five do’s and don’ts for folks going on interviews.

07/01/2018 | Dee Yingst

I've been reading a lot of resumes lately; some are really good, others are ok, and still others are…well…they could use a little re-tooling. If you've been following my blog for a while, you know I like to cook and I like to eat (not necessarily in that order). I also really like sharing recipes. In that spirit, I'd like to share my recipe for a well-written resume; I use this for my own resume as well as those I compose for others.

06/01/2018 | Dee Yingst

If you see your HR person sweating more than usual right now, it’s not because temperatures are going up but because they’re starting to see arms, shoulders, and even toes in their workplaces. Yikes!

05/01/2018 | Dee Yingst

Do we measure our success in HR by the number of times we're able to say "no" or the number of times we're able to make the workplace a better place to be?

04/01/2018 | Dee Yingst

True Confession: I am a nerd. A policy wonk. An insurance geek. An HR dork.

03/01/2018 | Dee Yingst

Children's stories aren't just for children: they have great wisdom for business as well.

02/01/2018 | Dee Yingst

You'd have to be living under a rock not to have heard about #metoo and #timesup and the revelations of sexual harassment and misconduct being leveled at many public figures. Something that I've found troubling is some of the stories where sexual harassment and workplace romance are discussed together as though one has some sort of connection to the other. So before we talk about sexual harassment, let's be clear that it's not the same as a workplace romance and why.

12/01/2017 | Dee Yingst

Practical Advice for Enjoying this Holiday Season

11/01/2017 | Dee Yingst

When you look back on your career, who are you thankful to have met?

10/01/2017 | Dee Yingst

Can "grounds" for termination be "just because?" Under the doctrine of at-will employment: Yes (well, maybe).

09/01/2017 | Dee Yingst

If you don't know or you're not sure what ERISA is or why it's important you're not alone. ERISA is a massive piece of legislation. Think of it as kind of the Godfather of employee benefit plan regulation.

08/01/2017 | Dee Yingst

Back to Basics: Two Regulations Every Supervisor and HR Person Should Know

07/01/2017 | Dee Yingst

Your company isn't just like every other company, so why should your employee handbook be just like every other employee handbook?

06/01/2017 | Dee Yingst

Performance Improvement Plans: Using Carrots Instead of Sticks

05/01/2017 | Dee Yingst

Is it possible to craft a dress code without becoming the fashion police? Absolutely!

04/01/2017 | Dee Yingst

Reasonable accommodation under the ADA: When does it stop being reasonable?

03/01/2017 | Dee Yingst

Quick – what celebration do you think of when you think of March?? I'd be willing to bet you said St. Patrick's Day: the day of shamrocks, leprechauns, green beer, and the luck o' the Irish.

02/01/2017 | Dee Yingst

Ah, Valentine's Day: the time of love and joy, flowers and chocolate, romance and sexual harassment.

01/01/2017 | Dee Yingst

With the coming of the New Year come the New Year's Lists…..you know the ones – those resolutions put together with the hope that the calendar change will bring new life to old goals.

12/01/2016 | Dee Yingst

Ah, the sounds of the holiday season….laughter at gatherings, sleigh bells, songs of joy, the wheezing of HR folks hyperventilating at their desks….wait…what???

11/01/2016 | Dee Yingst

I mentioned in last month's blog that I really like caramel. I mean I REALLY LIKE caramel. I like it so much you might call it a….weakness.

10/01/2016 | Dee Yingst

Neil Sedaka is right, breaking up is hard to do. Whether it's the breakup of a personal relationship or an employment relationship it's rarely ever an easy conversation. The recipient of the news inevitably wants to know why and what could have been done differently. I'm going to leave the personal relationship stuff to experts like Dear Abby and stick to employment. We're not going to talk about employer terminations but rather the conversations that sometimes happen around employee resignations – specifically the exit interview.

09/01/2016 | Dee Yingst

A few months ago we talked about a regulatory body whose rules apply more broadly than many employers think¹; this month we're going to talk about another one of those regulatory bodies: OSHA.

08/01/2016 | Dee Yingst

I have a simple math problem for you. If you have 2 apples and I give you 2 more, how many apples do you have? You don't have to watch Sesame Street to know that you now have 4 apples, right? Straightforward and simple.

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