It’s an inevitable and sometimes uncomfortable situation.  You’re in a meeting or on a conference call and not everyone has arrived, requiring you to banter with the client/boss/partner mano y mano.  How do you engage in small talk and build rapport?  If you get nervous and start to stammer, what do you do?  Do people [...]

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Why there’sa software support and maintenance revolution underway ZDNet - 3 hours ago Dennis Howlett has captured an emerging backlash among SAP customers over an enhanced support and its costs. Oracle is doing the same drill. ... A fresh model for software maintenance ZDNet Blogs all 2 news articles

If you haven't found him yet, Tom Fishburne has a blog called "This One Time at Brand Camp" using cartoons and commentary to highlight issues in the marketing realm. I highly recommend you subscribe. I direct you to this little ditty on product promotions - specifically, price-driven product promotions. In his post Tom highlights the fact that price-driven promotions are the crack of marketing - both for the marketer and the consumer. Once you start...

Stuck in a Photocopy Jam   by David Zinger What will you do? Read the following 50 word case study involving sex in the office and determine what you would do if you were the manager in this situation. Rajeesh Setty advocated writing 50-word mini sagas. I believe mini sagas offer an effective and fast format for case vignette discussions. [...]

Michael Specht linked over to some survey results presented by Microsoft and Insurity.  There were a couple of interesting findings and in my opinion they certainly do point to our need to change how the workplace operates, not only for Gen Y, but also for the sake of business growth and overall collaboration.  To simply [...]

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Title courtesy of William Buckley. Just what exactly do employees around the world think about their organizations, its management, products, markets and their odds of employment survival in these uncertain times? ...

(8/19) If an employer doesn't hire an applicant who wears a religious veil to her job interview, what legal effect does the veil bear on the employer's decision? A federal court sitting in Florida recently faced that issue.

Because this blog is 2, and isn't that what 2 year olds do?

Greetings from Richmond, VA... Livemint.com (from the Wall Street Journal) tells us what Facebook has to do with Human Resources: click here HR Marketer Blog has some information on how Google rocks and the rolling of HR professionals and suppliers into one community: click here Lastly, this Human Resources blog says that no matter what media is out there, Human Resources is about the people: click here

(THIS IS ONLY A PREVIEW. PLEASE CLICK THE LINK ABOVE OR CHECK OUT ASTRON'S BLOG AT http://astronsolutionsworldofhr.blogspot.com/ FOR THE FULL ARTICLE)

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The Zone is a beautiful thing. Time doesn't matter. Your senses are heightened. Everything you do feels effortless and good. Often called Flow, the Zone is where you are at your peak productivity. The only drawback is the zone can be elusive. It can be difficult to reproduce. That is why it's a good idea to document how we get into the zone. The more tips we can collect, we can get into the zone more often. Here are a few of my tips for getting in the zone and an invitation for you to share your tips as well. 1. Put in 5 minutes - I like to call this the 5 minute productivity breakthrough. It works thusly... If you are putting off a task, or not feeling like getting to work on it, that is the time to put in 5 solid minutes on it. This is one of my best Zone inspiring tips. For some reason, just putting in that 5 minutes when you don't feel like it is enough to start the flow process. It's great for self ...

A reader writes:

How do you express concerns about a slacking co-worker to your boss without coming out sounding like a jerk? There is a co-worker in our office who can work hard when they want to, but also likes to spend quite a bit of time visiting with other employees. This same person expects others on the team to "offer" to help with work not finished. In trying to gently point out that if less time was spent visiting and more time working, then maybe help wouldn't need to be offered, the silent treatment is given and makes for an uncomfortable work environment. This person is also extremely critical of what is perceived as others' mistakes or not following through on an issue, and is almost always guilty of the same thing. Now this person wants to re-arrange some of the work assignments so their work load will be lightened, but I have a problem with that when if more time was spent working and less time visiting ...

  Nice work Frankie!  Definitely should add that one to your talent profile… Technorati Tags: Michael phelps, frankie delisle, facebook

A blog by Jason Corsello about HR technology, services and outsourcing trends

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I remember 10 years ago when the VC money washed ashore along Silicon Beach (Santa Cruz, CA) and incubating startups prospered from Scotts Valley to Aptos.

Then the tide went out and didn't come back – and it took with it a lot of local talent and tax base.

That's why it was refreshing to read about local startup here in Santa Cruz called

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Thomas and I just finished the first round of vendor briefings for the upcoming Magic Quadrant for Employee Performance Management (EPM) Software. As Thomas bicycles his way through the Alps for the next two weeks (you can keep track of...

I sat down with Jason, the SMB Marketing intern, recently and got his thoughts on his internship experience thus far, and his perspective on SuccessFactors after being here for just two months. Fresh insight! ...

I just read some of the best advice ever, for someone in this situation. Hop on over to US News and read Ask A Manager's Alison Green's advice. For example:

2. Next, drop your ego some more, and go to your manager with your guard down. Tell her that you know she hasn't been happy with your performance and that you'd like her advice on how to improve. This conversation is not about defending yourself, even if you ultimately become convinced she's wrong. This step is simply about hearing what she's saying, correct or not, because even if she's objectively wrong, you need to fully grasp her answer in order to figure out the best step for yourself.

It does not matter if you are an entrepreneur man or a wage-earner, (VP, Sales-yes, you are a wage earner since someone else is paying your salary) you have a "lifestyle" business.

What does your "lifestyle" business say about your current choices?

The Dual Role of Recruiting and Engagement Workforce Management, Ca - 4 hours ago At thousands of companies like AlliedBarton, local managers shoulder the responsibility for recruiting, onboarding, training and engaging new hires.

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Brian Fantana: They’ve done studies, you know. 60% of the time, it works every time. Ron Burgundy: That doesn’t make sense. Anchorman (2004) Last week, I was lucky enough to sit in on a conference call with Penelope Trunk. She was putting it on for members of Brazen Careerist (Gen Y career-ish oriented blogs) and I was extremely [...]

Realize that the swiftest competitor, not necessarily the smartest, is often the winner in today's marketplace. Speed is increasingly of the essence, no matter what business you are in. Consider incorporating the following suggestions into your operations: Respond to sales...

Three SAP Vice Presidents Sue Company For Disguised Dismissal ChinaTechNews.com, China - 1 hour ago Zhang Xuesong, Wang Wen and Cai Jianming, three vice presidents of SAP China, have issued a statement through a lawyer that the parties will seek labor ...

Many organisations become trapped in the status quo long after the quo has lost its status. As such, it is becoming increasingly important to invest time and effort into sustaining the relevance of our organisations, writes Roger Collins

I am a senior HR manager about to relocate with my partner from Auckland to. I have an undergraduate degree in human resources management and more than 10 years’ experience within three large NZ professional services firms