Barbara Flynn

I have lost count of how many times I called companies and their auto-attendant answered. And after I followed all the prompts to get through to speak with a live person, the auto-attendant says in this phony-friendly tone, “Please hold. Your call is very important to us. We will be with you momentarily.” And then...

If you are up with current affairs, you can see that it has become more and more complicated when it comes to compliance with federal and state employment laws.  The best way to ensure you can sleep at night, knowing that you will not have “Uncle Sam” come knocking at your door is to audit...

At this time of year many people are asked “What Are You Thankful For”. I’d like to share my thoughts on this. First and foremost, I am thankful for my faith. Without my faith, I would not have anything. My faith in God and knowing that He is in control of my life gives me...

What is the employer’s obligation to show its employees their personnel files? This is a concern because the files contain confidential information such as performance reviews, applications, and salary details. They also may include the results of any complaints, misconduct reviews, performance improvement plans, and termination notices. This information is typically kept in a secure...

I recently attended the HR Florida Conference in Orlando.  While attending, I visited the SHRM Bookstore and found a series of card decks.  Each deck covered a particular topic; one on recruiting, one on leadership, one on team building and one on managing people.  In each deck were 52 cards with questions on the topic. ...

When we first were hired and throughout our employment, we are assigned tasks or have goals set for us that should give us a sense of accomplishment when completed.  While it’s nice to get paid, we are being paid to complete the duties assigned to us by management. There should be constant communication between management...

Regardless of our position or tenure with Our Company, we are always faced with new situations, new procedures, new tools, new products. New things come automatically with the constant and inevitable changes surrounding us. How do we best approach something that’s new to us?   The point I want to make is that when you...

There are different ways of learning, and we all have our individual preferences when it comes to learning styles. Some of us like to learn through reading and following step-by step instructions from a manual whereas others prefer to learn hands-on by doing the task. Others prefer face-to-face learning. And many enjoy learning via online...

Customized and personalized service can make all the difference when it comes to acquiring new and retaining current clients. Clients who are looking for customized and personalized service appreciate the VIP treatment and prefer it over the cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all approach that is offered by some other organizations. People First offers VIP service to its clients...

Last week I encountered a situation that could have been avoided if everyone had communicated properly, including me. I was tasked with the assignment three weeks ago.  When I received the assignment, I had communicated that I needed the information but did not give a deadline.  First communication error, always give a specific due date. ...