HR

When did the term “management” change from a corporate organizational level to be achieved to a leadership model that must be mastered?

Do you communicate to manipulate or to change behavior?

The power industry has not done a good job grooming and mentoring the next generation of leaders and, as a result, is facing a leadership gap as the current generation approaches retirement, two executive search professionals told MANAGING POWER. While prospects for entry-level recruitment have improved, it will be five to 20 years before this cohort is ready to lead. In the near term, a renewed focus on grooming future leaders is critical.

Eliminating the negative and accentuating the positive in the workplace. Here’s the roadmap.

There is a fine line between personnel management and intruding into the personal lives of employees. Staying on the right side of that line is challenging, particularly when prior legal decision are mixed.

Welcome to "Workplace Drama," a new, regular MANAGING POWER column by noted communications and human resources expert Marlene Chism. Her column will appear in each issue, and as the column progresses, we hope to hear from you with real-world situations and questions, to which Marlene will respond.

Social media are transforming the world around us, and not just the world of our family and friends. Understanding how the new tools of social interaction impact the job is part of the role of today’s effective manager.

Have you seen too many eyes-glazed-over expressions betraying a lack of interest at your employee meetings? Getting folks to pay attention at meetings is important, and there are ways to make it happen.

What’s on the agenda for the utility industry today and into the future? Platts and Capgemini asked the industry leadership in their latest survey. The answers revolve around regulation, finance, and human resources.

The process of handling employee complaints of workplace discrimination or harassment is filled with potentially disastrous pitfalls. Here are some things to avoid.

Employee training is one of the most important human resource functions, and one of the most difficult to manage. But there are some proven ideas to help guide training programs in the work environment.

It’s the middle managers, not the charismatic strategists in the executive suite or the creative propeller-heads in R&D, who really make organizations run, according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

In the last issue of MANAGING POWER we looked at some of the important points to keep in mind when writing an employee handbook to ensure that employees will actually will read it and adhere to its policies. This concluding article covers 10 of the most important policies that should be included.

U.S. Supreme Court rulings in two recent cases further advance the rights of employees in disputes with employers, continuing a long-term trend in federal law on employment discrimination.

Not complying with current law can be expensive in today’s legal climate. Employers should review their employee handbooks and employment-related policies to make sure they are up to date. More importantly, employers should draft their handbooks so that employees actually read them and follow their policies.

National Labor Relations Board Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon is continuing his focus on remedies in unfair labor practice cases involving union organizing campaigns. On September 30, 2010, he issued a memorandum on Section 10(j) injunctions for discriminatory discharges during such campaigns. Now he has released another memorandum, this one targeting remedies regional offices should seek when they issue complaints in ULP cases involving campaign activity.

Whatever happened to the venerable military institution of KP? It’s been outsourced, along with a lot of other tasks in the work environment. Outsourcing often makes sense, but it isn’t a panacea.

As mergers and acquisitions in the power sector heat up again, questions arise about how employee benefits are affected by these complex business deals.

Business planning that doesn’t carefully consider workforce issues can result in economic and management headaches.

Letting loose on Facebook, Twitter, and email, no matter how tempting and satisfying, can be a prescription for big trouble for you and your organization. Watch out for the dangers of social media on the job.

Dealing with whistleblowers can be human relations quicksand, where unseen errors that could cost a company millions lay in the path to resolution of employee complaints. Recent legislation makes dealing with whistleblowers an even bigger challenge.

Does wasted work time equal job dissatisfaction? Two studies point in that direction.

Clipper Windpower didn’t have the luxury of a decade or more of product development. Instead, it started big—with a 2.5-MW wind turbine. Here’s the story of how they did it.

Employee communications is one of the hardest management jobs. It puts the burden of truthfulness on both management and its employees.

Do your employees really know what’s going on with your company? Don’t be worried that they can’t handle the truth. Here’s why it works to create a culture of corporate transparency—starting now.

The cost of poor company knowledge management is high and getting higher. Managing knowledge in an era of compartmentalization and specialization is more difficult when organizations face layoffs, looming retirements, and the scarcity of trained, qualified workers.

Just one person behaving badly at work can send company morale into a downward spiral. It’s time to call out those morale-and-productivity-busting personalities so managers can spot them and steer clear of the mess they make.

Wind generating capacity hit new highs in 2009, but that didn’t mean much for the wind power manufacturing sector, meaning fewer “green” jobs than the Obama administration hoped to see.

The U.S. isn’t producing the workforce it needs for the future of energy generation. And forget about “green jobs,” an undefined concept.

“Cloud” computing has become the latest buzz in the information technology world. What does it mean? Is it real? And how can it affect your business world?