Archive

Table of Contents April 2003

By Staff Report

Apr. 1, 2003

Features

Diversity’s Business Case Doesn’t Add Up
Employers spend billions on diversity programs, but there’s little evidence of improved business performance, financial results, or accountability. Meanwhile, discrimination cases are on the rise.
By Fay Hansen
Corporate America’s Scariest Opponent
Plaintiffs’ attorney Cyrus Mehri has wrested megabuck settlements from companies including Texaco and Coca-Cola, and put a shiver in the spine of the NFL. Here’s his advice on how to keep him out of your office.
By Janet Wiscombe
Technology Brings Employees the Hartford Experience
Human resources and company success are inextricably linked, says Shelly Bancroft. And the glue that binds them is technology. As the human resources information systems honcho at the Hartford, Bancroft is responsible for a massive tech overhaul at the insurance giant.
By Maryann Hammers
Getting Happy with the Rewards King
Bob Nelson has sold 1.5 million books by telling companies how to make small rewards yield big loyalty and productivity bonuses. Critics scoff at a “baubles and trinkets” approach, but Nelson has plenty of believers.
By Leslie Gross Klaff
Optimas Award Competitive Advantage Babies Deliver a Loyal Workforce
When it couldn’t compete by offering bigger salaries, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners came up with a set of low-cost initiatives designed to retain its employees. The centerpiece: parents can bring babies under 6 months to work. Turnover plummeted.
By Maryann Hammers

Departments
Between the Lines
When You Feel Like Screaming
Mailbox
Smoke Gets in Their Eyes • Playing by the “Rules” 
The Buzz
The War at Work • At last, the Navy Has a Shipshape HR System • A Subtle Reference Trap
On the Contrary
A Black Hole in Corporate Communication: Shari Caudron contemplates the cosmic connections between physics, cryptic messages from management, and the black hole of fear that opens up in the absence of real information.
What Works
A Burning Sense of Mission: In a very literal sense, Tom Terez suggests you light a fire under your organization’s ill-conceived mission statement. From its ashes, you can begin again.
Dear Workforce:
The downside of “secret” profit sharing • Standardized compensation and benefits • Should managers receive fewer rewards that the people they supervise? • 
Case Studies
Putting Job Candidates to the Test: Accurate assessments can reduce interviewing time and ensure that bad candidates don’t slip through. Here’s how three companies made pre-employment tests work.
Legal Insight
Same Race, Same Sex, Same Harassment: Many companies aren’t aware that there is such a thing as same gender or same race harassment. But there is, and the liability issues are the same. Legal Posts: Curious about your temporary workers’ past workers’ comp claims? Don’t even ask.
Think Twice
Waging a Campaign for Political Talent: Sen. John Kerry might not become president, but Todd Raphael finds he’s one heck of a workforce strategist.

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