Many larger businesses have professionals who manage the administration, training, and management of employees: the human resources department.

Small businesses, on the other hand, most likely will not even a human resources professional on staff. They’re lucky to even keep their HR files in order. Handling HR tasks can present a challenge for small business owners.

The human resource department of large companies may be generalists, or focus on specialized areas such as employee benefits, payroll, training, and management efforts. They may handle common human resources processes include the staffing, hiring, satisfaction, development, and retention of employees. Human resources departments must also stay abreast of important employment and accounting laws. However, small business owners may have no training in these areas and may be especially vulnerable. Nevertheless, small business owners should try to keep up-to-date with changes in payroll and employment laws, and look to a mentor when questions arise.

The field of human resources continues to evolve with new technology for recruitment and employee screening, personality and skills testing, training and development, ...

(Editor’s Note: Today’s post is brought to you by our friends at SilkRoad, whose passion is creating a world-class employee experience. I just returned from their annual users’ conference – three days of networking, education and fun. I wrote a post about their great event over on the SilkRoad blog. Hope you’ll check it out here!)

According to SilkRoad’s TalentTalk Research Program, the most popular way companies measure employee engagement is via their annual employee survey (59%). Since employee surveys should never be done haphazardly, this puts the development, implementation and communication of an employee survey front and center.

Employee opinion surveys are used for a variety of reasons. I’ve always looked at them as a way to converse with employees about the workplace. They provide a tremendous amount of data. But I believe it’s short-sighted to view them as a report card about how things are going. Because while there’s a lot of data that is gleaned from surveys, it’s never the whole story.

Surveys offer the ability to receive feedback at every level:

Organizationally, a survey can identify company ...

Let’s all face it. Even those in communication and branding know there is nothing faster or more effective, and in many cases nothing more scary, than the rumor mill.

Today with the onslaught and impact of social media, the power of the rumor mill is magnified and multiplied.

This accelerated rumor mill also is a tremendous opportunity for organizations and brands.

Is a rumor always a bad thing?

Is a contagion that spreads like wildfire something you want to put out?

In my experience, there is nothing more effective or more efficacious than the power of an organization’s rumor mill.

However, most people hear the word rumor and think of something that is negative, or something they want to squelch or put out.

What would happen if your rumor mill was a positive rumor mill?

What would happen if the experiences within your organization were so legendary that the rumor mill was filled with positive stories that spread like a contagion unchecked?

Yeah, think about it. A positive contagion. One where people produce good results and thus felt better about themselves.

What are the rumors being told about you and your organization?

What are the rumors being told ...

Why Tone Matters and how to adjust it.

FYI: Tone is essentially the attitude you reflect toward your audience, whether one-on-one, team or even large group. (E.g.: tough/sweet/stuffy, personal/impersonal, authoritative/egalitarian, submissive/demanding, respectful/taken for granted, hopeful/cynical, friendly/distant, understanding/out of touch, etc.)  Furthermore, all these attitudes demonstrate or at least imply emotional content. It is emotion that most successfully drives attention, and tone carries emotion.

                It ain’t what ya do.

               Hit’s the way that ya do it.

               That’s what gets results.

Although many execs take tone seriously in face-to-face conversations, often manipulating it for their own advantage, it’s rarely discussed for business materials other those of public relations. Yet tone is just as valuable for the achieving of objectives in our writing of emails (and similar missives) as in face-to-face delivery.

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