The Watercooler

The Watercooler Blog is full of workplace tips and trends related to employee retention, engagement, interviewing and more. The Watercooler is frequently refilled, so gather ‘round often.

Team Building During the Holiday Season

The holidays are here – and it’s time for fun, relaxation and joyous celebration. But all the fa la la-ing, hall decking, shopping and reconnecting with loved ones also can cause added stress and anxiety, especially if work turns hectic on top of it all.Emotions run high during the holiday season and the crunch is [...] Read More

Top Managers offer this Advice to Motivate Employees

What’s the best advice you can give your team as you continue to motivate them, especially as another calendar year winds down? Finish 2014 strong by keeping your workforce inspired, engaged and truly looking forward to coming to work each day.“My door is always open. Talk to me and I’ll listen.”Communicate with your employees regularly, [...] Read More

Exhibiting True Thankfulness in the Workplace

A national survey conducted by the John Templeton Foundation of over 2,000 individuals found that the workplace is the least likely place where people will show gratitude. Additionally, over 70 percent of employees admit that they rarely express gratitude to their boss; however, those same employees would like their supervisors to show their gratitude to [...] Read More

Have You Built a Talent Pipeline?

While you may have all of your current hiring needs filled at the moment, there may come a time when, planned or unplanned, you need another quality employee. Someone may leave for a new position, another person may not work out the way you planned, someone else gets sick, business makes it so you need [...] Read More

Hiring Based on Overall Value to Your Organization

When you hire a new employee, you not only want to avoid a bad hire, you want to make a good one – the first time around. This means selecting the candidate who will add the most overall value, starting just as soon as they become acclimated to your company and its culture.And therein lies [...] Read More

Protecting Temporary Employees from Hazards at Your Facility

As you consider whether or not to hire temporary employees, certain necessary considerations factor in – which affect temps as well as full-time employees. In the realm of liability, you have a duty to make sure every employee, no matter how long or short their duration with your company, has certain safety measures afforded to [...] Read More

Are Background Checks Really Necessary? In a Word: Yes.

The hiring process can take a lot of time, effort, and energy – it brings stress to just about everyone involved. So after the resume reviews and interviews, do you really need to do a background check as well? Absolutely – it’s a part of due diligence that you cannot afford to overlook. What looks [...] Read More