Employee Issues

Your employees are a valuable resource and contribute mightily to your bottom line. There always are some employees, however, and some issues that can cause problems that might disrupt your business and adversely affect the bottom line. This week’s articles focus on how to deal with those employees and how to avoid situations that could compromise your business.

Problem employees comprise a very small portion of the workforce yet manage to consume a disproportionate amount of HR and management’s time and attention. (Item #1)   Here are some examples of employee relations issues that could lead to problems. (Item #2)   How can small businesses and HR professionals deal with employee personal issues? (Item #3)

These undesirable employees- and their antics - can hurt your small business… there are ways of dealing with these difficult employees. (Item #4)   Here are 10 surefire ways to mess with your CISO and put your company’s important information at risk! (Item #5)   There are some mistakes employers make that increase the odds of being subjected to employment-related lawsuits. (Item #6)


For the full issue, click here.

National Preparedness Month

The theme of this September’s National Preparedness Month is once again “Don’t Wait, Communicate. Make Your Emergency Plan Today.” NPM reminds us to prepare for emergencies that could affect us at work, at home, and on travel or vacation. This week’s articles focus on how you can plan for and deal with disasters and other disruptions to your business.

Disaster recovery begins before a disaster is on the radar. (Item #1)   Emergency preparedness involves more than crossing your fingers. (Item #2)   It is vital that to consider the needs of all employees, including those with disabilities, in preparedness plans. (Item #3)

The challenge is for public sector organizations, private sector businesses and nonprofit groups to plan ahead for operational and employee resilience. (Item #4)   Smaller companies often struggle, not knowing where to turn or having the budget to develop a robust business continuity plan. (Item #5)   This toolkit will help you prepare your business for the unexpected. (Item #6)

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Online Reputation Management

Think BP, Toyota, Tylenol, Red Cross -- all brands that suffered serious damage to their brands and reputation yet have survived. While your business or organization may not be on that scale, you could suffer reputation damage from which it could take years to recover. What’s your online reputation management plan? The articles below offer some tips on how to manage your reputation online and how to assess reputation risks.

This article describes a process that will help managers do a better job of assessing existing and potential threats to their companies’ reputations and deciding whether to accept a given risk or to take actions to avoid or mitigate it. (Item #1)   Online reputation can have much broader impact than your reviews in Yelp and Google. (Item #2)   When UCDavis hired two ORM firms, the results were unexpected. (Item #3)

Here’s what a small business needs to know about how to assess, build, track and monitor its online reputation. (Item #4)   Which reputation management tool(s) do you need? (Item #5)   Patrick Ambron of BrandYourself.com shares his thoughts on how the reputation management industry is changing and what you need to know about the changes. (Item #6)


For the full issue, click here.

Business Continuity Planning

It's important that you review and update your business continuity plan in order to cover all the possible risks -- everything from acts of terrorism to the zika virus. What's particularly important is ensuring that your current plan addresses all the risks that could affect your organization; readiness to respond is the goal. This week's articles cover what your plan should include, how to help your employees plan at home and what you should know about the zika virus.

Creating, updating, and testing your plan are all critical to responding successfully to a natural disaster or other business disruption. (Item #1)   You need to ensure that your business continuity plan completely documents all facets of the recovery process, and then (of course) regularly exercise it in practice.  (Item #2)   Here are 10 things a good BCP includes. (Item #3)

Institute a prep-at-home program at work to ensure your employees are personally prepared at home for a crisis. (Item #4)   If business continuity planning has taken a back seat in your business and you need some motivation for digging out, dusting off and updating your plan, let's not forget that it comes with a number of advantages. (Item #5)   Although predicting exactly how the outbreak may impact your business is difficult, you can better prepare for Zika's impact on your company with these five tips. (Item #6)


For the full issue, click here.

Cyber Issues

Cyber hacking is always in the news. The recent hacking of the emails of the Democratic National Committee once again reminds us that cyber security should be a major concern for all of us. We have to continually update our security plans and processes – and our employee education -- so we can keep up with the advances made by hackers and other cyber criminals. This week’s articles may shed some light on how you can continue to protect your organization.

To close the gaps in their security, CEOs can take a cue from the U.S. military. (Item #1)   Former National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith Alexander speaks about cyber-security and the new threats posed to the U.S. economy and military. (Item #2)   Digital thieves’ most crucial adaptation in recent years has little to do with their technical tools and everything to do with their business model. (Item #3)

Is it conceivable to convey to machines a responsibility as complicated as cyber-security? (Item #4)   Here’s how company leaders can protect—and strengthen—the business with the right approach to information security. (Item #5)   IT and security experts discuss the leading causes of security breaches and what your organization can do to reduce them.  (Item #6)


For the full issue, click here.