Roundup: This Week's Popular HR News From Around The Web

HR News Roundup: This week end of year performance reviews, oversharing at work and more.... this week's top human resources news stories from around the web.

Tips For Conducting Painless End of the Year Performance Reviews
As we get close to the end of the year, managers start to sweat. No, they aren’t worried about the Christmas party (that’s what HR is freaking out about) and they probably aren’t obsessing over Christmas bonuses (that’s the CEO’s job to fret about).

Tony Hsieh: 'Hiring Mistakes Cost Zappos $100 Million' (Video)
Tony Hsieh describes exactly how he set up Zappos.com's hiring process to avoid bad hiring

How I Got My Office to Lose Weight
Let's face it: A healthy company is a productive company. And mine needed a boost. Here's how I created a friendly competition to get everyone thinking about fitness.

Oversharing at Work: When Gossip Turns Into Something More
Do you know some of your co-workers deepest, darkest secrets? And did you want to know those secrets in the first place? Odds are, somewhere, sometime, you’ve had a co-worker that has shared a little too much information. Indeed, in this Facebook age, “oversharing” is turning out to be an issue; some employees just seem to lack a “privacy filter.”

10 Companies With Fantastic Career Sites and What You Can Learn From Them
Following up our recent article about the 12 things you could do to improve your careers pages, we’ve listed 10 companies with great looking careers sites and one in particular that we really like. We’ll also give a few details on why we like them so much.

Telework is Good for Business
Superstorm Sandy brought devastation to many East Coast-based organizations. Employers with telework programs, however, weathered the storm better than most.

Make Young Workers Responsible for Keeping Track of Their Own Performance
One of the best approaches I’ve seen to the challenge of monitoring Gen Yers’ and Zers’ performance is making them responsible for keeping track of their own performance.


Looking for more? Check out last week's Roundup: This Week's Top HR Stories From Around The Web, or follow @cmsbrian on Twitter for regular updates.

Roundup: This Week's Top HR Stories From Around The Web

HR News Roundup: Happy Labor Day! This week find out that many Americans don't use their vacation time, 18% of your co-workers don't want to be your BFF, how to conduct effective performance reviews and more.... this week's top human resources news stories from around the web.

Many Americans Don’t Use Their Vacation Time!
Labor Day is fast approaching! Do you have vacation plans? Believe it or not, most working Americans won’t get away for the long weekend. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans gave up an estimated 226 million vacation days in 2011. That’s $34.3 billion worth of vacation time wasted!

HR Technology Spending Forecasted to Rise
According to new research from HR consulting and risk management firm Towers Watson, a significant proportion of companies intend to increase their spending on HR technology over the next year in order to boost growth and improve efficiency.

Tips for Conducting Effective Performance Reviews
Before an HR professional or manager conducts a performance review, they should research correct and effective evaluation methods, as preparedness will help avoid any miscommunication while improving efficiency.

Organizational Values: Live Them and They — the Talent — Will Come
“For us this lawsuit has always been about something much more important than patents or money. It’s about values. We value originality and innovation and pour our lives into making the best products on Earth. And we do this to delight our customers, not for competitors to flagrantly copy.” This was part of the missive that Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, sent his employees after the big jury verdict that Apple won against Samsung.

Criminal background check firm gets slammed by FTC
More reason to think twice about pre-employment criminal background checks: How sure can you be that the info you get is accurate? That question arises on the heels of a $2.6 million settlement agreed to by HireRight Solutions, which had been charged by the federal Fair Trade Commission with failing to take the proper steps to ensure the reports it provided to employer/clients was accurate.

5 things a boss must do before firing someone
As a manager, one of the most difficult things you must do is fire a bad employee. Once you’ve made the decision there are five things you need to do before sitting down with the employee.

Employer-Provided Healthcare: One Size Does Not Fit All
Offering all participants in a healthcare program equal access and opportunity to receive quality care and medical purchasing efficiency should be the goal of any organization. Experts say eliminating structural and language barriers, and respecting the cultural context of each individual employee or their family members, are the keys to success.


8 Steps to Keep Your Workplace Union-Free
Eight steps you can take, plus an introduction to an extraordinary program prepared especially for smaller—or even one-person—HR departments.


The Key to Productivity
HR professionals are expected to carry a certain level of expertise and are held accountable to vital processes including payroll, federal compliance and employee retention strategies, just to name a few. Having a work strategy can prevent these individuals from feeling overwhelmed or doing poorly at assigned tasks.

18% of Your Coworkers Don’t Want to be Friends with You
You know that coworker who’s all business — never comes holiday parties, never discusses last night’s reality TV shows at the water cooler, and never gives you a peek into his or her private life? Or perhaps you are that worker — a recent Monster poll asked, “How important to you is developing friendships with your coworkers?” And a solid 8% said, “Don’t bother me; I’m working!” (Friendlier folks were by far in the majority.)

Looking for more? Check out last week's Roundup: This Week's Top HR Stories From Around The Web, or follow @cmsbrian on Twitter for regular  updates.