Is your company sabotaging itself?

Without competition, your business can become whatever you dream it to be.

In this ode to my former boss, I detail the nine characterstics that make great leaders great. He embodied every single one of them, and you can, too.

Here's one suggestion that will change your entire 2010 year—for the better: Improve your customer service.

Never underestimate what following up can do for your company.

When it comes to hiring, don't expect the best person for the job to always be a local candidate. Many times, that's not the case.

Here are some costume-free ideas for celebrating Halloween at work.

You know all about harassment in the workplace, but what about harassment that doesn’t necessarily fall under those categories?

In this day and age, technology has made it easier not to have meetings.

On Sept. 14, 2009, GAP Outlet’s corporate office officially completed its transition to a ROWE.

Last week, former NBA player, Walter Bond’s speech blew me away with truth. Truth can hurt or it can be enlightening. It's up to you.

I thought I’d make my own predictions for what the workplace will be like when Generation Y takes over. Here’s what I see for the future.

One thing that you’ll hear a lot of employees complain about is that they don’t make enough money. That’s a given, as most people don’t believe their employer pays them enough.

It’s important to have beliefs. Beliefs help you navigate through life and give you something to put your faith in. Allowing beliefs to cloud your reality, however, is generally a bad idea.

Social media is EVERYWHERE! And for those of you who haven’t yet jumped on the bandwagon—or for those of you who have—here’s a good place to start: Twitter.

Knowledge about the Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE) is spreading like wildfire.

A co-worker sent me an article a couple weeks ago, and I thought it was very useful for businesses, especially right now.

In the current economy, it’s important for companies to take the steps necessary to find ways to add value to their business.

If you’re interested in finding ways to add value to your company’s products and services, here are some steps you can take.

In the current economy, companies are doing all they can to “hunker down” and wait out the passing storm. Doing so, however, is often a HUGE mistake.

Sludge is slowly taking over the workplace, spreading its negativity, causing morale to lower, rumors to abound and employees to start disengaging in their work.

Generation Yers have grown up with “helicopter parents” and teachers who catered to their every need.

Generation Y is a generation that requires engagement in order for them to really get involved in something.

An HRTools survey of college students and recent graduates discovered that students would feel a lot more prepared for the workplace if they were able to find more internship opportunities while they were in school. 

Unlike many previous generations, Generation Yers are lucky enough to get first-hand job experience thanks to internships.

There are plenty of useful reasons to have an internship program at your company.

As discussed in Part One, Keep Your Employees Involved, it’s important for employers to help their employees embrace changes that are being made during a reorganization.

As companies grow, reorganization is inevitable, but how you deal with it says a lot about you and your company.

As summer school sessions come to a close, more Gen Yers are entering the workplace. And employers everywhere who are looking to hire these highly interconnected young adults want to know—what exactly are they looking for?

Believe it or not, jeans and Generation Y are two very hot topics, and Generation Y wearing jeans to work is even hotter. In fact, my blog, Five Reasons You Should Allow Employees to Wear Jeans to Work, has been the most popular out of all my blogs.

As the summer approaches and schools let out, more and more teenagers are going to be looking for part-time jobs to earn some extra money while they’re off. This is a great way for them to get some work experience.

When I first started writing this blog, I didn’t know a whole lot about Generation Y, even though I’m a member of it. But that didn’t deter me from writing about it.

Generation Y is a technology generation. We embrace new technologies as they come out, and we not only learn how to use them, but we master them.

Although carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and repetitive motion injuries (RMI) are usually seen in adults over 30, due to the popularity of cell phone texting, video gaming and home computers, people as young as age 9 are experiencing the pain.

As a Generation Yer, I am a believer in continuous education. In fact, this is not just an idea, but a way of life for me. I’ve been going to school pretty much my entire life.

Last week I attended Administaff’s New Employee Orientation program. When I was a new-hire, none of the dates coincided with my schedule, but I did want to go through the program at some point, if only to learn more about my company and what it’s all about.

Generation Y is the most socially-conscious generation to date. We’re out in the world volunteering our time for causes that matter to us, and trying to make a difference. So one valuable recruiting tool a company could have is an employer-sponsored volunteer program.

Part 1 (Educational Assistance Programs), Part 2 (On-the-Job Training) and Part 3 (Mentors at Work) of the Life-Long Learners series focus on what employers can do to teach Generation Y, but Gen Yers actually have a lot that they can teach their employers, managers, co-workers, etc. Here are 11 lessons you can learn from Generation Y.

If you want to recruit, hire and retain more members of Generation Y, you need to appeal to their love of education, also previously discussed in Part 1 (Educational Assistance Programs) and Part 2 (On-the-Job Training). Another way to do this is to assign each Gen Y employee (or any new employee) a mentor. 

As discussed in Part 1 (Educational Assistance Programs) of the Life-Long Learners series, Generation Yers love to learn. And although they bring certain skill sets with them as they enter the workplace, they are always ready and willing to learn more. This is where on-the-job training opportunities come into play.

Generation Y is one of the most educated generations to date, and we love to learn. In fact, college is no longer reserved for the elite; it is now considered the norm. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 69 percent of high school graduates immediately attend college in the fall following graduation.

Part 1 (Flexible Work Schedules Will Attract More Gen Y Employees To Your Company) and Part 2 (Measure Employee Results Instead of Monitoring Clock Time) of this series on Flexible Work Schedules discuss allowing employees to have more flexibility in when, where and how often they work. Part 3, however, brings to the table an idea that is not totally new, but that hasn’t been widely implemented—Offering employees a “Pet Projects” Program. 

As previously discussed in Part 1 (Flexible Work Schedules Will Attract More Gen Y Employees To Your Company), Generation Y has a work to live, not a live to work attitude.

According to Katherine Lockett, author of “Work-Life Balance for Dummies,” work-life balance is: “The need of all individuals to achieve and maintain a balance between paid work and life outside of work.”

Generation Yers get pinned all the time with inaccurate tags, such as “we’re a lazy generation” or “we don’t want to pay our dues.” 

For years, and especially since denim has become mainstream, there has been a significant debate over whether or not jeans are appropriate everyday wear for the office.

According to Penelope Trunk of TIME magazine, “Generation Y is forcing companies to think more creatively about the work-life balance.” And those employers who do are hiring more and more Gen Y employees everyday.

Welcome to “Generation Y,” a blog you’ll want to read if you’re interested in hiring and retaining members of this important generation of employees entering the workforce.