Astronology - The Electronic Workplace

Astronology Volume X Issue 26   February 23, 2009 Dear Andrew, Astron Solutions provides high-quality, low-cost, innovative human resources consulting services to organizations like yours. Call us for advice, innovative program design, and user-friendly Web/PC based software.   The Astron Road Show The weather's been frightful here in the Northeast, but that won't slow down the Astron Road Show! March 11th finds National Director Jennifer Loftus presenting to the Mid-Hudson Valley (New York) Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (MHVSHRM). Jennifer will speak on A + B + C = Wow! Using Total Rewards to Your Strategic Advantage. For more information or to register, please contact Katie Sens, MHVSHRM's VP of Programming. We hope to see you on the road!   Fact or Fiction The acid found in the stomach for digestion is strong enough to dissolve razor blades. FACT! Hydrochloric acid is the type of acid found in the stomach. This acid has the ability to not only dissolve the yummy food we eat, but also certain types of metals! We hope that your workplace is a positive one, not generating too much Hydrochloric acid for you!   The Electronic Workplace BlackBerries, Iphones, laptop computers, Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter. These are just a handful of the everyday technology advances impacting most every avenue of life, including the workplace. Along with technological advances in hardware systems, the social networking boom is changing the productivity of the workplace. In today's issue, Astronology reviews some of the many advantages and disadvantages of a more electronic workplace....more   Have a Question? If you have a topic you would like addressed in Astronology, or some feedback on a past article, don't hesitate to tell us!  Simply reply to this e-mail.  See your question answered, or comments addressed, in an upcoming issue of Astronology. Looking for a top-notch presenter for your human resource organization's meeting?  Both Jennifer Loftus and Michael Maciekowich present highly-rated sessions on a variety of compensation and employee retention issues.  For more information, send an e-mail to info@astronsolutions.com.   The Fine Print We hold your e-mail address in trust.  Astron Solutions promises never to share or rent your personal information.  We also promise never to send you frivolous e-mails and will allow you to leave our list, at your option, at any time. To remove yourself from this list, please follow your personalized subscriber link at the bottom of your Astronology alert e-mail. Copyright 2010, Astron Solutions, LLC ISSN Number 1549-0467 Quick Links Client List Meet the Astron Team Contact Us   World of HR Blog Bringing you Human Resource news from around the globe...compliments of Astron Solutions. More

 

Valentine's Day in The Office and in "The Office"

I'm just catching up on my DVR from last week after a fun trip down to New Orleans and one of the shows that I recently watched was "The Office" from last Thursday. It had a Valentine's Day theme which reminded me a lot of the Astronology from last week titled "Valentine's Day: Friend or Foe of the Workplace". Andy Bernard, a guy in Dunder Mifflin, likes Erin, a girl, but he doesn't want to make it that obvious by just giving her a Valentine's Day card and gives one to everyone in the office. Except he doesn't actually read the cards and confusion (and hilarity) ensues when some of his cards are a bit too "loving". In the fictional Dunder Mifflin, no one ever seems to get in trouble for violating Codes of Conduct, but in your real-life office, this could become a real problem:

While we look to the positive side of the holiday, there is always the concern about sexual harassment claims. The romantic nature of the holiday may encourage some employees to express their feelings for co-workers. Each year Vault.com runs an eye-opening study on office romance. Vault.com should be releasing the 2010 results shortly. Barbara Safani of Career Solvers also recently blogged on the prevalence of workplace romances and why people get involved with co-workers. While we can’t control everyone’s actions, as HR professionals, we need to ensure our employees know our organization’s policies regarding sexual harassment and hostile work environment to prevent legal claims.

I think the key is to revert to elementary school politics to prevent problems from occurring. As Astronology suggests, after what we all went through in 2009, Valentine's Day just gives workplaces another "excuse" to bring a "small injection of fun" into the office--but it needs to be fully inclusive of everyone. Games, candy, and even cheap gift cards all seem to work. Since it's Mardi Gras time, bringing in a King Cake for your group is a fun, sweet way to celebrate. The tradition is that whoever finds the tiny plastic baby has to buy the next King Cake. This allows some fun competition between office members and allows everyone to participate in a cheap fun way.

The Astronology concludes with some great advice: "Whatever options you implement, utilize this opportunity to reach out to your employees and let them know how much they mean to your organization!"

Photograph courtesy of NBC, Byron Cohen via Poptimal.

Greetings From New Orleans

Greetings from New Orleans and Bourbon St., home of the Super Bowl champion Saints! I was on one of two flights to escape Newark in this direction yesterday and miracuously made it down here.

I am amazed at how well the city looks. After Hurricaine Katrina, I expected the city to still be in a state of reconstruction, but other than the infrastructure improvements in the roads, the place looks great. Actually, it looks better than ever.

It's a good lesson to companies recovering from the recession. Although things may look bleak and no company wants to go through such tough times, it does give you a chance to rebuild certain things and start from scratch.

And when money starts coming back to the the balance sheet, invest in improving the infrastructure to make sure it's in place the next time bad times come.

If you can take one lesson from down on lively Bourbon St, that is a really good one.

-Andrew