Target fires 7 workers for purchasing special-edition cups | BofA to give gifts of stock to 97% of employees | How to cultivate resilience in the face of adversity
At least seven Target employees were fired this month because they bought special-edition Stanley cups, violating a company policy forbidding employees from using their position to "gain an unfair advantage over guests." Target, which can fire employees at will, has not commented despite protests that the firings were unfair. Full Story: Business Insider (1/24)
BofA to give gifts of stock to 97% of employees Bank of America plans to reward staffers who earn $500,000 or less, which amounts to about 97% of its workforce, with bonuses of stock, according to a memo from CEO Brian Moynihan. The memo notes this will be the seventh successive year that stock has been awarded. Full Story: Reuters (1/26)
Happy Associates Drive Customer Loyalty Disengagement is impacting your customer experience. Prioritizing your frontline team member experience drives revenue and loyalty. Forrester's study shares how leading retailers connect the frontline and achieve double digit revenue growth. Boost your business — access the study.
Weight management alone may not sustain diabetes remission Sustained weight loss may contribute to type 2 diabetes control, but only a few patients with type 2 diabetes can remain in remission through weight management alone for the long term, according to a study in the journal PLOS Medicine. Researchers concluded that patients seek early interventions in weight management to aid in increasing remission likelihood. Full Story: United Press International (1/23)
Benefits & Compensation
Kyte Baby's decision has the law on its side Children’s clothes seller Kyte Baby got caught in a social media storm when it told an employee she couldn’t work remotely while her newly adopted infant was in the neonatal ICU. The woman said she was fired, while the company says she didn’t return to work, but either way, the company has the law on its side, a reflection of the lack of a federal parental leave policy in the US. Full Story: Morning Brew (1/26)
The HR Leader
5 strategies to enhance management teams By working to improve their management teams, business owners can also improve employee retention and profits, writes Deanna Ritchie, managing editor at Due. Ritchie outlines a five-step process that involves identifying the requisite skills, providing appropriate coaching and encouraging use of continuous learning initiatives. Full Story: Due (1/26)
I got a call at work one afternoon when my daughter was five months old. “Kawai just got another tooth!” Mom said, excited. I should have been excited too, but I wasn’t. I missed the first tooth and now I missed the second. I hated it. I wanted to be a present parent. I was already a single parent; I didn’t want to be an absent parent too. I didn’t want to miss milestones -- new teeth, first steps, first words, first day of school and more. I needed to make a change. I decided to resign from my job. I was working for a B2B publisher in the San Fernando Valley. I loved the work (and the salary), but the office was an hour away. If I wanted to be more hands-on with the kids, I needed something closer. I wrote my resignation letter with a heavy heart but a clear mind. I was choosing my children. I thought of that letter when I read today’s Benefits & Compensation story about the Kyte Baby employee, Marissa Hughes, who asked to work from home so she could be with her newborn child who was in the neonatal ICU. The company initially denied her request. The situation set off a firestorm on social media and in the headlines. My heart ached for Hughes. What a tough situation! But as I read the myriad stories about it and thought back to my own early motherhood experiences, I had some thoughts. Employers have expectations for jobs. When I wrote my own letter of resignation, I expected I would have to look for a new job. Company policy was that everyone worked in the office. I knew it and I accepted it. Hughes’ role as an in-house studio coordinator apparently called for her to be present in the office. It looks like this was a job expectation set from the beginning. Hughes wasn’t wrong, of course, to request the role be moved to remote, but Kyte Baby wasn’t (technically) wrong to decline it. Full disclosure. My company did end up letting me work from home part-time (two days a week). They wanted to keep me. But I didn’t know that when I submitted my letter. I anticipated I would need to look for new work. I didn’t expect my employer to bend to me. Kyte Baby is a small business. I did some digging and it looks like Kyte Baby employs fewer than 50 staffers. It’s not Google or Disney, employing thousands of people. It’s not even as big as my former employer, with a staff of 200 to 300, spread out across the country. Larger organizations have more resources and opportunities and can (usually) accommodate requests like Hughes’ to the point where they can create new positions. Small businesses like Kyte Baby don’t always have that type of flexibility. They must be frugal and efficient with their talent and resources. Decisions can have a domino effect on others. We should not assume that businesses of all sizes can (or should) adjust to employee demands. What do you think? This column aims to look at issues from different perspectives and to spark conversation. My opinion is just that -- opinion. I welcome opposing viewpoints (provided they are presented with courtesy and respect). I hope that if you disagree you will reach out. I keep all correspondence confidential, unless you permit me to share. I always welcome your feedback. And if you enjoy this brief, tell others so they can benefit also.
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