A crisis is any situation that threatens the integrity or reputation of your company, usually brought on by adverse or negative media attention. These situations can be any kind of legal dispute, theft, accident, fire, flood or manmade disaster that could be attributed to your company. It can also be a situation where in the eyes of the media or general public your company did not react to one of the above situations in the appropriate manner. This definition is not all encompassing but rather is designed to give you an idea for the types of situations where you may need to follow this plan. If handled correctly the damage can be minimized.One thing to remember that is crucial in a crisis is tell it all, tell it fast and tell the truth. If you do this you have done all you can to minimize the situation.When a situation arises that may be a crisis the first thing you should do is contact your CEO and the chief of your public relations department. The sooner you get those two organizations involved the sooner you can implement this plan.
Tag: risk management
The Generation Gap – How To Motivate Generation X
Generation X
- Roughly born between the 1960’s and 1980’s
- General Attitude: “Whatever…” Enigmatic
- Characteristics: Pragmatic, Individualistic, Arrogant, Risk Taking
- Likes: Sharing, Chilling, Being individualistic, Being with friends, Change
- Dislikes: Bossiness, Corporate culture.
Famous Xers include Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, Mark Shuttleworth, Jerry Yang, Jeff Bezos and Michael Dell.
The biggest generation gap exists between the Xers and the Baby Boomers. Unlike the Baby Boomers, they arrived almost unnoticed.
The Xers are defined more by what they are not, than by what they are. They arrived on the scene just as the economic boom was flattening.
For a generation who invented the term “Whatever…” it is no wonder that some people often described them as the cynical generation.
They grew up in a time when broken families were common. By the 1970’s, 40 percent of all couples living in major cities were divorced. So many of these kids spend every second weekend with a different set of parents.
A lot of them find comfort in close friends and peers, who they chose for their closeness, loyalty and dependable relationships
They also saw their parents being retrenched by the big corporations. So in general, they are sceptical about company loyalty. Like I have mentioned, the biggest generation gap exists between this generation and the previous ones
Xers feel that the promises made by the visionary Boomers about a brave new working world have fallen apart. Economies and organizations have shrunk, leaving them struggling to find work.
They feel caught in the middle of transition. They know that most companies need to make changes, but it is going way to slow for the naturally impatient Xers.
This generation like change. No, they don’t just like it; they thrive on it.
Tips for Motivating the Xers
- You need to earn their respect, yet they will take a while to demonstrate that respect for you. Act with integrity and you will close the generation gap.
- Give surprise rewards for unusual achievements.
- Fun is serious business! A little humor, something silly, practical jokes, even a little bit of irrelevance will help to create a stimulating, and productive workplace.
- Try a reverse mentoring programme in which younger employees are assigned to older executives, to help them get up to speed with technology and to close the generation gap.
- Don’t look over their shoulders all the time…it irritates them.
via The Generation Gap. How To Motivate Different Generations.
Don’t Ignore the Signs of Substance Abuse
Some of the most common signs of substance abuse are things that aren’t there -– namely, the employee and the employee’s work ethic.
Unexplained absences and a decline in productivity might indicate an employee has a problem with substance abuse, noted Gordon Hughes, director of the employee assistance program at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “The employee is probably missing Mondays or Fridays,” Hughes said. “There’s also a change in productivity. They were a good producer, they worked well, then there’s a sudden change. It may or may not be alcohol, but something is going on, and that’s a warning sign.”
via Don’t Ignore the Signs of Substance Abuse — Occupational Health & Safety.
Save Your Back – Practice Safe Lifting
Practice safe lifting
- Try not to lift more weight than you’re used to carrying. How much you can handle safely depends in part on your level of conditioning. Technique also makes a difference.
- To help avoid back injury, remember to lift with your legs. Here’s how:
- Bend your knees.
- Keep your back straight, even when you’re putting down the load.
- Hold the load close to your body and use a slow, steady lifting motion.
- Don’t twist while carrying something. Instead, turn your feet and your body in the direction you want to go.
- If you need to move something that’s too heavy for you to lift, ask someone to help you. Or, if you’re authorized to use a forklift or other device, use it to move the object.
Injured and Addicted
Worksites can present many types of hazards. Although some people may believe an injury occurring from those hazards is the worst-case situation, a worker recovering from that injury could be in just as much danger – if not more. From 1999 to 2008, the number of drug poisoning deaths involving opioid analgesics, or painkillers, more than tripled – to about 148,000 from 4,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Also, for every unintentional opioid analgesics overdose death, there are nine people admitted for substance abuse treatment, 35 emergency department visits and 161 reports of drug abuse or dependence, CDC said. Although it is unclear how many involve employees who were injured on the job and are in the workers’ compensation system, experts contend that the national trend of painkiller abuse extends to recovering workers.
via Injured and addicted.
The Importance of Job Descriptions
While there is no federal or Michigan statute that requires them, a good job description is an important tool in the effective and legal management of any organization. A well-written job description provides many essential benefits to human resource administration. On the other hand, a poorly written or out-dated job description can be a barrier to effective personnel management.
What Do Job Descriptions Do?
- Set clear job expectations.
- Give managers guidelines to hire, promote and supervise employees.
- Help support hiring, disciplinary, promotion, compensation and termination decisions.
- Help an employer comply with numerous legal requirements.
via The Importance of Job Descriptions | The National Law Review.
Tips to Prevent Identity Theft
Tips:
- To guard against identity theft, never give out your Social Security number. Treat it as confidential information.
- Commit all passwords to memory. Never write them down or carry them with you.
- When using an ATM machine, make sure no one is hovering over you and can see you enter your password.
- When participating in an online auction, try to pay the seller directly with a credit card so you can dispute the charges if the merchandise does not arrive or was misrepresented. If possible, avoid paying by check or money order.
- Adopt an attitude of healthy skepticism toward websites that offer prizes or giveaways. Chances are, all that’s been “won” is the opportunity to buy something you didn’t want in the first place.
- Choose a commercial online service that offers parental control features.
- Tell your children never to give out their address telephone number password school name or any other personal information.
- Make sure your children know to never agree to meet face-to-face with someone they’ve met online without discussing it with you. Only if you decide that it’s okay to meet their “cyber-friend” should they arrange to meet this person, and then the meeting should be in a familiar public place in the presence of a trusted adult.
- Tell your children never to respond to messages that have bad words, are scary, or just seem weird.
- Tell your children never to enter an area that charges for services without asking you first.
- Tell children never send a picture of themselves to anyone without your permission.
- Make sure that access to the Internet at your children’s school is monitored by adults.
via Tips to Prevent Identity Theft — National Crime Prevention Council.
Tips to Control High Blood Pressure
High Blood Pressure Risk Factors
It is important to keep your blood pressure under 140/90 mm Hg. Blood pressure higher than that is considered dangerous. Below is a list of high blood pressure risk factors. People with any of these risk factors should have their blood pressure checked every time they visit their doctor. For those who fall into several risk categories, experts recommend purchasing a blood pressure cuff and a stethoscope and taking your own pressure reading every week.
- Cigarette smoking or being exposed to secondhand smoke on a daily basis
- Diabetes (a fasting glucose higher than 125 mg/dL)
- Kidney disease
- Family history of hypertension
- Being obese or overweight
- Leading a physically inactive, sedentary lifestyle
- Men over the age of 45
- Women over the age of 55
- Taking oral contraceptives
- Elevated cholesterol levels
- Frequently consuming alcoholic beverages
- Being African American
Managing Human Capital Risk
Human resource risk is the chance that bad outcomes will occur in some aspect of HR. Those risks get attention when the bad outcomes threaten the overall organization and its goals. Then it becomes a business risk.
Employee turnover, an example of one type of HR risk, becomes a business risk when it could threaten the viability of the business. Business risk matters because it has the attention of everyone at the top of the organization.
Among important human resource risks that affect business outcomes are class-action litigation and other compliance and regulatory issues, the loss of key employees and critical knowledge, talent-management gaps that make it difficult to get employees with needed skills, and individual employee behaviors that create liability issues (e.g., imprudent investment decisions or ethical scandals that damage brand value).
Interestingly, the most important risk associated with human capital in a survey of HR and risk managers that was conducted as part of the study was a “shortage of critical skills within your company’s workforce.”
via Human Resource Executive Online | Managing Human Capital Risk.
Why is fall protection important?
Falls are among the most common causes of serious work related injuries and deaths. Employers must set up the work place to prevent employees from falling off of overhead platforms, elevated work stations or into holes in the floor and walls.