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.

A Recap of the Top HR Resources of 2014

As an HR professional, what talent acquisition and management challenges will you face in 2015?Among the most prominent issues will be retention, as indicated by recent research that shows that 52.3 percent of close to 1,700 Americans surveyed are unhappy in their work. Compensation is also center on the radar screen. The Society for Human [...] Read More

Important Company Policies to Implement Before the New Year

As the new year approaches, you want to approach it with everything in place in terms of policies for your employees. And this is the perfect time to implement any new policies or changes to current ones--set everything up so that when 2015 comes around, employees will know your expectations right away.Computer SecurityUnfortunately, in an [...] Read More

Six Interview Questions You Should be Asking EVERY Candidate

As you prepare to interview prospective candidates, you probably have a list of things you want to tell them and ideas of how best to get the measure of each person before making a decision to hire. But no matter what industry you work in, you should ask every candidate these six questions that will [...] Read More

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