To remain relevant organizations of all sizes must stay agile in order to respond to market changes. Planning is essential to keeping competitive edges sharp with knowledge leaders, the talent, in the right place at the right time.

By now, I am sure you are aware of the changes made to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 by the Obama Administration. Designed to address the barriers associated with employment of individuals with disabilities, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act outlines the compliance requirements for federal contractors.

As a manager, I’m sure you have brought on quite a few new hire employees. Some of these employees, when beginning employment, can “jump right in” and become a part of the team. However, others may take some time to adjust to the new culture. To assist in culture assimilation and the learning of company policies and procedures, I always recommend creating a mentor or buddy program for my client's new hires. They've already invested a lot of time and resources in finding the best candidates, so by instituting this as part of their onboarding program, they are ensuring a smooth transition and investing in their future success.

Last updated: May 2019 Under the new EEO-1 requirements, employers with more than 100 employees (both private industry and Federal contractor) are required to report salaries by gender, race and ethnicity. By contrast, contractors that are subject to the EEO-1 reporting requirement and that have between 50 and 99 employees, will continue to submit the same information that is collected by the current EEO-1 report.

Deciding whether to hire internally for your HR function or outsource HR is a critical decision, especially for organizations experiencing fast growth. If you are currently outsourcing HR functions to a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) and are considering bringing your HR in-house, there are several considerations you need to take into account before pulling the trigger.

As an HR Consultant, I have worked in a number of organizations varying in size, industry, structure, mission and culture. While each organization may be unique, every organization I have worked with has one thing in common – the problem employee. The problem employee can show up in a variety of forms and it isn’t always immediately clear that a small underlying problem has a larger impact to your organization. This article will help you understand some of the ways in which a “problem” may exist in your organization. In each of these scenarios the employee I am describing may bring a unique background or skill set that is incredibly valuable to your organization; however, the problems they bring may offset the value you were hoping to receive when you hired the employee.