Recruiting and hiring the right people for the right position is an essential piece of an organization's success. Employee selection is much more complex than an impressive resume and a feeling that they're a cultural fit. When your employee selection is approached incorrectly, it may result in high turnover, low morale, increased stress, and decreased productivity.

With everchanging political and legislative landscapes, it's important for employers to know and understand the trends that have the potential to impact their business. At ERC, we like to keep informed on legislation and rulings from around the country that may influence how you approach your handbooks, strategies, and even company culture.

Employee engagement is generally defined as a positive, fulfilled state of the employee regarding their work and their organization. Employee engagement is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption in work-related activities. Unsurprisingly, employee engagement connects with many desirable outcomes, including high performance, overall positive attitudes, better mental health, and increased innovation. If employees are not engaged, they tend to burn out and disconnect from their work.

After years of conflict amongst lower level courts, the United States Supreme Court has weighed in and settled the uncertainty of whether arbitration agreements and class action waivers are lawful.

As the “War for Talent” intensifies, now more than ever, it is critical that employers continue to look for new and unique ways to set themselves apart as an employer of choice for the best and the brightest. While a ping-pong table in the break room at work might sound fun on the surface, when it comes down to making a decision about where to work, the reality is, employees are looking for something with a bit more substance.

With the war for talent in full-effect, it’s important to look more deeply into how compensation factors play in an organization’s ability to attract, engage, and retain top talent. Support your people strategy and stay competitive by keeping up with compensation trends.

Research has highlighted three key non-performance factors that can distort the performance ratings managers give to their employees.¹ While rating subordinates, managers consider the negative consequences that can occur when providing accurate ratings, the organizational norms surrounding how they are supposed to rate, and the potential of fulfilling self-interests. These three factors add to the complexity of how managers are motivated to rate, and they lend support to the idea that managers are not always motivated to rate their subordinates accurately.

As for most departments within an organization, measuring effectiveness is an essential part of continuous improvement. Sales departments analyze previous deals to determine their average buy-cycle and use that information to improve their performance, finance departments measure their accounts payable and accounts receivable timelines and use that information to improve cash flow, and so on. However, oftentimes HR metrics are misused. When HR metrics are simply calculated and reported on, the true value of the metrics is lost.

Despite the chilly temperatures outside, summer is just around the corner. To help employers prepare for the summer months ahead, we asked organizations to share any special “summer hours” benefits that they offer to their employees.

Voluntary benefits can be a great addition to add to your benefits package for employees, many at no cost to the employer. Voluntary benefits give employers the ability to balance employee needs with bottom line costs, spotlight the value of your benefits package, and increase employee engagement while protecting employees from life’s unforeseen circumstances.