Latest Blogs

While HR professionals understand that Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion is more than just a policy statement, getting the entire organization to embrace, not just talk about it, takes thought, planning and training. In face of the “resignation tsunami,” employers who have created initiatives around diversity and inclusion are finding tangible results for attracting and retaining staff. My tips for a successful DEI program include: 1. Engaging senior leaders – train, [...]

While the economy has been hard hit with millions of lost jobs, many organizations are still actively searching for good candidates. One of the most common worries I hear is the challenge of recruiting and hiring good candidates in all business sectors. From food services to manufacturing and health care, the frustration is the same. How do we find and hire qualified candidates during a pandemic? While I don’t have [...]

The Exit Interview – A tool to uncover your employees’ perceptions of your organization’s culture, structure, leadership and more. By Pamela J. Watkins For the past 25 years, I have been conducting employee exit interviews in one fashion or another.  Some of these were formal and structured interviews focused on specific criteria, i.e., how the employee rated our compensation, benefits, and working conditions.  Other interviews were unstructured [...]

“IF IT ISN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT” By Pamela J. Watkins When evaluating an organization for the first time, I was once told, “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”  Sound familiar? Like dysfunctional families, many organizations carry their own burdens of dysfunction and brokenness but fail to identify them as such.  What makes an organization a good place to work will vary with personal experience and [...]

Yada Yada Yada….The Communication Challenge By Pamela J. Watkins “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw As a follow-up to my blog on Exit Interviews, I thought it fitting to share one common denominator that runs through the large majority of exit interviews I have conducted during my career. Lack of communication. When I probe a little [...]

An HR Manager’s Examination of Legalized Marijuana in the US and Canada and its impact on the workplace by Pamela J. Watkins New legislation on the legalization of marijuana has employers in both the US and Canada keeping a close watch on the ever changing political and regulatory landscapes.  In the meantime, employers are in limbo wondering if they need to revise current drug testing policies and [...]