The importance of HR is easily overlooked in the busy day-to-day operations of the workplace. But without its contributions to the development of people and organizational strategy, the organization would not be successful. A strong HR function is critical to the achievement of organizational goals and objectives by creating employee-oriented, productive workplaces in which employees are energized and engaged to get things done. Here are the reasons why:

• HR owns the overall talent management processes. In conjunction with other managers, HR leads the way in management development, performance management, succession planning, career paths, and other aspects of talent management.
• HR is responsible for the over-all recruiting of a superior workforce. HR needs support from hiring managers who are also responsible for recruiting a superior workforce. HR must provide leadership, training, scheduling assistance, a systematic hiring process, recruitment planning processes, interview expertise, selection monitoring, and more.
• HR recommends market-based salaries and develops an overall strategic compensation plan. HR provides guidance to managers as they determine the salary ranges within their organizations.

Compassion is more than an emotion. It is a felt and enacted desire to alleviate suffering. It can be described as noticing when pain or sorrow is present in an employee, noticing when employee morale is low, feeling concern for people suffering, and taking action to alleviate suffering in some manner. Compassion is central to human well-being, for those who provide it as well as for those who receive it.

Workplaces are a gathering place for people—people who sometimes bring pain, sorrow, suffering, etc. with them to work—whether we know it or not. Organization’s expectations have been that employees come to work and function at a high capacity with no excuses. That can be difficult for some who are consumed by these issues at times. Some common sources of suffering flow from outside work boundaries, when people suffer from illness, injury, loss, divorce, financial pressures, addiction, or other hardships. Forms of suffering that arise from work itself are, downsizing, restructuring, change processes, the stress of heavy workloads, performance pressure, feeling devalued, disrespectful interactions, and other organizational sources. Without compassion, organizations can become powerful amplifiers of human suffering.
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Imagine in a busy, high-pressure workplace where competition is rampant, that an email announcement is sent out about a fire that destroyed an employee’s home. People who open the announcement in their crowded email box feel a fleeting sense of concern—a concern that has to compete with the competing objectives of their jobs. Unfortunately, the feelings of empathy are dismissed as they turn their concern to the next deadline. Compassion is an irreplaceable dimension of excellence for any organization that wants to make the most of its human capabilities.

By now you probably already heard that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a new version of the Form I-9.  Beginning on September 18, 2017, employers are required to start using the revised form with a revision date of 07/17/17 N and continue to follow existing storage and retention rules for any previously completed Form I-9.  While the changes are subtle, failure to comply by the September 18 deadline, or the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) in general, can be costly to your bottom line.  This was recently illustrated in the case DLS Precision Fab LLC v. U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, 2017 WL 3378997.
 
I-9 Changes Overview[1]:
 
Revisions to the Form 1-9 instructions:

• Changed the name of the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices to its new name, Immigrant and Employee Rights Section.
• Removed “the end of” from the phrase “the first day of employment.”     

Revisions related to the List of Acceptable Documents on Form I-9:

• Added the Consular Report of Birth Abroad (Form FS-240) to List C. Employers completing Form I-9 on a computer will be able to select Form FS-240 from the drop-down menus available in List C of Section 2 and Section 3. E-Verify users will also be able to select Form FS-240 when creating a case for an employee who has presented this document for Form I-9.
• Combined all the certifications of report of birth issued by the Department of State (Form FS-545, Form DS-1350 and Form FS-240) into selection C#2 in List C.
• Renumbered all List C documents except the Social Security card. 

Are you happy with your current organizational culture? Does your culture support your employees in producing results for your business or does it impede your business progress? Is your culture yielding the results you desire from your workforce, or is it limiting your success?
 
Culture is the underlying assumptions and norms that determine how things are done in the organization. A coherent culture is based on shared values and beliefs, and the evidence they are shared is that they shape behavior across the organization. The challenge for leadership is knowing how to instill or modify those assumptions and norms in the direction that is needed.
 
The Benefits of Strong Culture
First, there are clear benefits to having a strong, unified company culture:

• Identity. Culture contributes to the identify and values of your company. For example, if your corporate culture is one that prioritizes setting and meeting goals, your individual workers will be more likely to set and meet goals of their own.
• Retention. A strong company culture attracts better talent and, more importantly, retains that talent. When people feel like they belong to an organization, they’re more likely to stick around for the long term. That means lower turnover, fewer new hires to deal with, and better chemistry among your team.
• Image. Corporate culture also adds to your brand identity. If you treat your employees well and have a fun-loving corporate atmosphere, your customers will see you as a fun-loving, generous brand. 

​Most people are familiar with the term job description. It is the document that outlines items such as job responsibilities, experience, education, skills, etc. A dreaded document that most managers hate to prepare or fail to see the overall importance of having such a list. But what most managers do not understand is that a job description is an essential component of a successful people strategy. 

​First, job descriptions provide clarity and outline expectations. They help employees understand the fundamental framework for their job. Without job descriptions employees find themselves interpreting the job as they see fit, bogged down in a quagmire of tasks that may not be job-related or do not add value to the business strategy. Employees don’t have a clear focus on where they should spend their time or what tasks are the most important if it is not provided in a job description.