CFOs make all kinds of investments, but how about investing in more down time for employees? That may sound like a recipe for creating a bunch of slackers, but in fact the idea of optimal slack in a system is as fundamental to talent optimization as it is to engineering. Planned and mindful slacking off may help optimize talent performance.
A think tank report warns IT managers and CIOs about complacency with new IT practices like BYOD, or "bring your own device", mobile IT and social media.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. lost a bid to dismiss an 11-year-old gender discrimination lawsuit brought on behalf of workers in California after the U.S. Supreme Court barred a lawsuit representing Wal-Mart employees nationwide.
Although often overlooked, middle-market companies are making positive impacts on the economy and the global supply chain.
They are the middle children of the business world, tucked between billion-dollar companies that attract great attention because of their size, and small businesses that grab headlines for their entrepreneurial spirit.
To celebrate National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, the C.H. Robinson Worldwide Foundation has created the C.H. Robinson Worldwide Foundation Scholarship Program for Truckload Contract Carriers.
Job seekers should see varying degrees of positive hiring activity across 31 of 42 countries and territories, with employers in 22 labor markets reporting improved or relatively stable hiring intentions compared to the third quarter. However, according to ManpowerGroup's fourth-quarter 2012 Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, the pace of hiring is expected to weaken in 26 markets compared to one year ago.
A labor rights group has accused Samsung of "illegal and inhumane violations" at its factories in China, reporting cases of excessive overtime and exhausting working conditions, with employees being made to stand for up to 12 hours for a single shift.
Measuring the performance of people, especially managers and senior executives, presents a perennial conundrum. Without quantifiable goals, it's difficult to measure progress objectively. At the same time, companies that rely too much on financial or other "hard" performance targets risk putting short-term success ahead of long-term health-for example, by tolerating flawed "stars" who drive top performance but intimidate others, ignore staff development, or fail to collaborate with colleagues.