People may procrastinate when they are unsure of what to do next, but leaders can help by prompting staffers to discuss the obstacles they are facing during team meetings, writes Ron Friedman, founder of ignite80. This prompt serves as "an invitation to step back and think deeply about what they are really trying to achieve, as well as the barriers getting in the way."
Focusing on favoritism in the workplace doesn't take into account the other side of the coin, the times when such bias tends to improve results, says college professor Howie Xu, who led a study of 200 work teams. "The key point is that playing favorite has clear positive and negative effects, so leaders need to ensure they're paying attention to how their favoritism is affecting their team," says Xu.
Laying off workers is one of the most painful tasks a leader can ever do, but Denise Lee Yohn says in this video if you do it with "compassion, empathy and integrity" you will pass the leadership "litmus test." "Consider how you might preserve the dignity of those who are laid off by handling affairs with sensitivity and discretion; or how you might show sincere gratitude and respect for their contributions by communicating one-on-one and offering long-term support," Yohn notes.
Absenteeism is a major concern that is estimated to cost American businesses $225.8 billion or $1,685 per employee every year. As an HR leader, you can reduce the cost to your business by engaging with your colleagues and finding out what their needs are for a better work-life balance along the lines of the strategies outlined by these nine HR professionals.
The percentage of women ages 25 to 54 in the workforce has rebounded to 76.9%, almost hitting the 77% pre-pandemic level, according to government data. In addition, data from The Center for American Progress reveals 993,000 more mothers were in the workforce in December, compared with the same month in 2021, although there are fewer female workers today without college degrees than in February 2020.
Penelope Barton, chief of staff at New Zealand eco-packaging company noissue, uses ChatGPT for HR functions, especially to troubleshoot SQL queries as well as draft communications. "Whether it's internal or external comms, it creates a first draft that gives you a starting point and you can easily spot what you like and what you don't like," says Barton.
ChatGPT users will get more out of this AI tool if they write an effective prompt for their questions. Here are some tips on how to write the best prompt, including using Prompts.Chat, which is a collection of prompt templates.
In an unusual development, a man who diagnosed metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer appeared to have developed an "uncontrollable Irish brogue accent. The man had lived in England previously but had never stepped foot in Ireland. He apparently took the newfound accent to his grave. Researchers believe paraneoplastic neurological disorder is behind the man's foreign accent syndrome due to the paralysis in his legs and arms being consistent with a paraneoplastic condition.
