More than ever, top execs are seeking HR professionals with business skills to help shape organizational strategy. Here are the top business skills that experts and surveys say executives want in HR professionals ...

If your organization isn’t already planning or implementing measures to cut labor costs, it may soon have to. News that the United States has been in a recession since December 2007 suggests that HR professionals should prepare to reduce the labor burden—if only as a contingency plan.

The global financial meltdown has workers fearful and downright angry. If you plan on surviving the recession, your managers must acknowledge the fear and anger employees may feel. Don't let these seven gripes pollute your workplace.

Employee absences are costing your business more than twice as much as health care, two recent surveys reveal. Cutting even a fraction of absences can have a potent impact on your organization’s bottom line—an attractive possibility in a tight economy when employers need workers to be as productive as possible.

Work/life benefits can help take the edge off employee stress during a time when people fear their jobs aren’t secure and managers are pressing workers to produce more with less. Still, it’s especially important during an economic downturn for organizations to limit benefits to those that will help them meet their bottom-line goals. Here are five ways to assess the need for work/life benefits ...

As the impact of the global economic crisis takes hold, a quarter of U.S. employers expect to make layoffs in the next 12 months. Find out how employers nationwide are hunkering down—and the HR lessons you can apply to your organization. Your goal: Do what needs to be done ... without killing productivity.

When Barack Obama takes office in January, get ready for the most sweeping employment-law changes the HR world has seen in years. Attorney Mike Fox walks you through the legislation likely to reshape HR, possibly even in the first 100 days of the Obama administration. Here’s how to prepare.

When Barack Obama takes office in January, it may signal a time of enormous change for the world of labor and employment law. Depending on how many Senate seats Democrats control, here are two potential scenarios for change, the eight key legislative issues in the hopper and what you can do right now to prepare ...

HR pros should look at more than price when they’re shopping for a workers’ compensation insurance carrier. Here's a checklist to cover with your insurance broker before selecting a carrier ...

Employers are dragging their feet when it comes to capturing the knowledge of soon-to-retire baby boomers ...

HR pros have an important role to play in helping their companies weather the economic downturn. Whether sitting in on C-Suite meetings, offering one-on-one counsel to decision-makers or training employees, you need to know about the strategies successful companies use to survive and thrive in tough economic times.

Health care costs are expected to increase on average 10.6% in the next 12 months, the lowest percentage increase since 2001. That’s what Aon Consulting Worldwide found when it surveyed more than 70 health care insurers, representing more than 100 million insured individuals ...

As your organization shifts more responsibility to employees to manage their own health and retirement expenses, you risk alienating your work force. But it doesn’t have to be that way ...