Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Margaret J. Wheatley

"The things we fear most in organizations -- fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances -- are the primary sources of creativity." - Margaret J. Wheatley.
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Sunday, June 27, 2010

Non-literate in English

Five percent of U.S. adults, or about 11 million people, lack literacy in English, according to the Department of Education. People classified as Non-literate in English were not able to communicate with interviewers or were unable to answer a minimum number of questions during a literacy assessment.
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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Newspaper job listings

Nearly 75% of job-seekers still use newspapers to look for employment, according to a report released by the Conference Board. The survey of five-thousand households found nearly sixty percent of job-seekers use the Internet to look for employment. The Western U.S. is the only area of the country where the Internet topped newspapers among those seeking jobs.
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Sunday, June 20, 2010

Part-time work

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, nearly five million people who desire full-time jobs have settled for part-time work, up nearly 30% from five years earlier. Only 17% of part-time workers get health insurance benefits from employers, and only 21% of part-timers are included in employers' pension plans, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
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Tuesday, June 8, 2010

The Adamson Act

The Adamson Act was signed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916. The law established for railroad workers an eight-hour workday with additional pay for overtime work. This was the first federal law that regulated the hours of workers in private companies in the U.S. The 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act made the eight-hour work day a "legal work day" work throughout the nation.
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Sunday, June 6, 2010

Telecommuting

An estimated 15 to 20 million U.S. workers telecommute from home at least part of their work time. The advantages of telecommuting include better recruitment incentive for hiring, higher worker productivity resulting from less commute time, and better office space use efficiency. A disadvantage of telecommuting is the decrease in synergy achieved when workers are physically near one another.
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Saturday, June 5, 2010

Just-in-time training

Just-in-time training (JITT) is employee training immediately prior to its usage in production. The advantage to implementing JITT is the shortened time between learning and application. JITT is usually offered and deployed through automated software training systems. When an employee requires new training, they log in to the appropriate software library and begin learning.
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Friday, June 4, 2010

Right to Work laws

Right to Work laws secure the right of employees to decide for themselves whether or not to join or financially support a union. Before passage of right to work laws as part of the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, an employee opting for non-union status could be fired even if the employee did not violate any of the employer's rules. There are currently twenty-two states with right to work provisions.
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Thursday, June 3, 2010

Stock Options

Stock Options are options to purchase a predetermined number of company stock shares at a future date. The stock option owner gains if the company's stock price rises above the option price thus providing an incentive to improve the company performance and associated stock price. Stock options are usually vested over a period of time in order to compel employees to stay with the company.
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Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Defined contribution plans

A defined contribution plan is a retirement plan wherein a certain amount or percentage of money is set aside each year for the benefit of the employee. The benefits are based on the amount contributed and are also affected by income, expenses, gains and loses. Some examples of defined contribution plans include 401(K) plans, 403(b) plans, employee stock ownership plans and profit sharing plans.
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Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Unfilled jobs

A vacated or unfilled job within an organization results in tangible, measurable costs as well as intangible costs. The intangible costs include the uncompensated increased workloads other employees assume during the vacancy, the added stress and tension during and after the turnover, declining employee morale, and decreased work group synergy.
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