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Here at the Astron Solutions World of HR blog, you may think that we're obsessed with napping. In January of 2009 we quoted a study that we found on ESPN.com that says that people ought to take afternoon naps, in March of 2009 Jennifer wrote about National Nap Day, Labor Day last year we posted that Bloomberg and Yahoo! gave a nod to napping, and a month ago Astronology said that 50 million Americans suffer from sleep problems. Well napping has moved past the traditional workplace and is now prevalent among basketball players in the NBA according to the New York Times:

In the United States, napping is often stigmatized, seen as evidence of laziness or a lack of purpose. But in the world of sports, and certainly in the N.B.A., the attitude is entirely different.

“You’re nocturnal in terms of what you do, playing at night, so your body adjusts to the rhythm of being up late, getting in early in the morning,” said Grant Hill, [Steve] Nash’s teammate with the Phoenix Suns. “You’re tired around midday. Naps are important. It refreshes you. It gets you ready for competition.”

The key now is to figure out a way to get rid of that stigma in the rest of society. A 20-30 minute "power nap" at work can be the way to keep your employee base fresh and to keep them from burning out or making mistakes. While others may be okay shunning naps, here at Astron's World of HR, we're trying to make it an accepted practice in the workplace.

Speaking of basketball...if you are interested in getting involved in a NCAA tournament pool, you can check out my sports blog, NYaT, where we have a pool open to all Astron Solutions World of HR readers. Go over there and test your mettle for a chance to win bragging rights as the best of the blog. Good luck!

Once in a while we get a guest post submitted to this blog, but I don't think any of them have been as timely for us New Yorkers as this post on gloomy weather. So when you wake up this morning and see all the snow out there, you'll want to read through this post. This guest post is contributed by Alisa Gilbert, who writes on the topics of bachelors degree. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: alisagilbert599@gmail.com. Thanks to Alisa for this great post!
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Sometimes the dead of winter can make for some terribly gloomy weather when we leave for work. Nothing makes a commute more frustrating than having to drive through heavy rain and cold weather knowing that all you'll do is sit at work in a grumpy mood. Even worse is when you get caught in the rain walking to the office and you don't have a change of clothes! In any case, bad weather can often ruin the mood at the workplace, affecting both productivity and people's spirits. For those bad weather days, you have to try to come up with some ways to stay cheery. Hopefully these five tips can help you.

Shake it Out

If you find yourself sitting at work stewing in a foul mood, then maybe you should consider getting up and moving around. You may not be able to take a walk outside, so instead do walk through the office, maybe stop for coffee or a soda, and recharge you energy. Moving around gets blood flowing throughout your body, and as a result, it can be enough to shift you into a better mood.

Surround Yourself with Positivity

On your walk around the office, consider trying to have some chats with your co-workers and friends, especially those who are characteristically cheery people. The social interaction will help distract you from your inner frustration; hopefully, some of their cheer can rub off on you. The energy of the social interaction will help prime your pump to be productive and get your next project done.

Add Color to Your Cubicle

If you know the weather is going to be terrible, then you should consider trying to brighten up your workspace. A freshly cut flower, a bowl of candy, even a photo of yourself on a beach far away can help lighten the mood in your office. Just a little splash of color can be enough to rest your eyes.

Do Some Busy Work

At some point, your gloom will really affect productivity. If this is the case and you find yourself having trouble getting your main work accomplished, then you should consider trying to switch gears and work on something that has lower stakes for you. Consider de-cluttering your workspace or organizing your files. If you have another project that has some rote, mindless task that goes with it, try to get that out of the way. These kinds of activities can actually be very calming and ease your frustrations.

Look at the Bigger Picture

Finally, if you feel your mood dropping, then you should take a moment to sit back and think about the bigger picture here. One day of bad weather is a drop in the proverbial bucket when it comes to your projects and what you need to accomplish for your job. Don't let one day get in your way. Take control of your attitude.

Last week we talked about Steven Slater here at the Welcome to the World of HR blog, but obviously he's not the only disgruntled worker out there. Let's take a look at a few other articles:

First we have the other "famous quitter" of this past week, "Jenny" who quit her job via job erase board "leaked" to The Chive. The whole thing ended up being a farce, but Jenny became as big of a cult hero as Slater for a few hours. What does it show when Slater and "Jenny" become "working class heroes"? People are frustrated at their current jobs.

With that in mind, Slate tells us that employers should be glad that candidates won't take their crummy, low-wage jobs, even in a bad economy: "Hiring is a negotiation between employers and employees over the terms at which they'll agree to come to work—wages, benefits, working conditions, length of commute, relocation requirements. Maybe some of these employers just aren't offering terms that are good enough."

TLNT follows by telling us that even people who have jobs aren't ready to settle for those crummy, low-wage jobs and that 40% of workers are going to be ready to find a new job this fall.

Lastly, we have a Wall Street Journal Careers Q&A where someone asks about quitting a job...before they've even started.

The lesson of all this: make sure that your current co-workers and you candidates are, well, "gruntled"

By now most of us have heard the story of Steven Slater, a 38-year-old flight attendant who got fed up with an annoying passenger, cursed out the whole flight, and made a grand exit by grabbing some beers and sliding down the emergency chute. But given a week to think about the consequences of such an action (and the debate goes from "he's an idiot" to "he's a hero"), let's take a look at some lessons Human Resources can take away from this:

Be First Class in Your Response

"No news is bad news," is sometimes the moniker of advertising,  but this type of news can't be good news if you're in Human Resources of JetBlue. But as HR Hero blogged earlier this week, Jet Blue responded in the best way possible in their blog post "Sometimes the news is about us." While most of us would a) not have the sense of humor to write a blog title like that, b) want to go on the defensive and start shoving accusations at Slater, and/or c) focus on the bad, JetBlue did none of that. They took the high road and acknowledged the great crewmembers they do have. And they referenced one of my favorite movies, Office Space, in the process. Bravo, Jet Blue!

Make Sure This Is Not Something People Feel Is OK

While it's OK to joke around about a story that has become funny news, it's important to let your other employees know this behavior is not tolerated and this is not the way to handle being disgruntled. Vault looks at it from the worker's side (and references a famous Half Baked quitting scene--which was in itself a parody on the Jerry Maguire quitting scene) and says things like "never quit out of anger", "don't burn bridges", and "give ample notice". This is something that your employees should take as regular behavior and not the way Slater (or Scarface or Jerry) quit their jobs.

Manage Your Employees' Workplace Stress

Barbara Safani wrote this post for AOL Jobs probably without Slater in mind, but the timing couldn't have been more prefect. The article is titled "Work Stress: What Are Companies Doing About It?" and should be a legitamite concern in the wake of Slater's seemingly stress-induced outburst (or maybe it was to land a reality TV show as TheWrap reports). This part is especially timely: "Managing stress in the workplace is a business issue, not fluff," says Rania Sedhom, principal at Buck Consulting. She notes, "Companies that make the investment to reduce stress in the workplace can improve employee loyalty and retention."

Those are three pieces of advice to give in the wake of the Slater incident. Many are hailing Slater as "a working class hero", but your company does not need Slaters of their own. Make sure that employees know the rules, that they are not stressed enough to quit like that, and that if something bad happens, that you are first class in your response. I'm sure the JetBlue employees who remain are happy to know that they are still appreciated.

We've all seen it at one point or another: a bully in the workplace. This person can be a boss, an owner, someone in power or someone just on a power trip. They can work in any department and they come in many shapes and sizes. But Human Resources needs to be aware of these people and take care of them before they dominate and intimidate the workplace. Like a school bully, it can be intimidating to stand up to these workplace bullies, but someone needs to do it. And that someone needs to be from either management or human resources.

A few articles on the subject:

Bloomberg Businessweek starts us out with ten signs of a fear-based workplace so you know what to look out for (H/T Wendy). Some of them are more obvious than others but #10 seems to sum it up: "When senior leaders make virtually all decisions in secret, dole out information in unhelpful drips, and base hiring on sheeplike compliance rather than energy and talent, and the PA system all but blares "Be glad to have a job, stop whining, and get back to work," your company's fear problem is off the charts."

TIME via Yahoo! News is next with an article saying that New York just passed a bill which may make workplace bullying explicitly illegal: "If New York's Healthy Workplace Bill becomes law, workers who can show that they were subjected to hostile conduct - including verbal abuse, threats or work sabotage - could be awarded lost wages, medical expenses, compensation for emotional distress and punitive damages"

This would seem to be good news for the group of workers who have filed a class action lawsuit against New York chain Pio Pio according to Grub Street New York.

Lastly, the Employment Law Blog cautions against terminating in haste and says that you need to have a total command of the facts before you decide to let someone go, even for what seems like a misdeed.

George Steinbrenner was known as "The Boss" in his time owning the Yankees. When he passed away last week, Steinbrenner took with him a complicated legacy as an owner who produced championships but a boss who could torment his employees. He was at the same time charitable (he had a saying that if more than one person knows about a good deed you've done, you've done it for the wrong reasons) and a criminal (made illegal contributions to Richard Nixon) but always interesting. Today the New York Post went through how to succeed the Steinbrenner way, but while they have praised the man and the team's success, it's also helpful to note that "The Boss" was not always the ideal boss:

BE FOCUSED From the day George Steinbrenner bought the Yankees for $10 million until he permanently stepped down last week, the former shipping executive had one all-consuming goal: to win. And he seems to have spent pretty close to every waking minute thinking about how to make it happen — just ask the minions who fielded his constant phone calls, endured his tirades and his meddling, and spoke of his obsessive attention to every corner of the organization. And his focus never let up, even in the off-season.

“Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing,” he famously said.

That was just one of the pieces of advice put forth by the post article. The others included "work tirelessly", "don't be afraid to shift gears--even if you swore you wouldn't", "fire when ready", "be a boss, not a friend", "hire top talent, and pay them well", "demand results", "set clear goals", "never always criticize your employees in public", "pay attention to the little things", "don't give your stars preferential treatment", "build your brand", "have a heart OK", and "don't rest on your laurels". All of these are good advice for someone running a business and while George M. Steinbrenner III was very good at accomplishing some of these in a way that helps an organization, some of his actions certainly hurt his organization and his employees. A good balance is certainly needed for an organization to have successful leadership.

That's the theme of our Friday links as we get you ready for the weekend on the day a decade-old age discrimination suit was settled by the TV networks and studios according to The Wrap

Fortune and CNNMoney have the 100 best companies to work for--which may be an even more important list than the Fortune 500.

Glassdoor.com has their list of the best 50 places to work for (I wonder how many of those overlap...?)

Media Bistro (the website where I actually found this job and why I'm blogging to you right now) has a list of the most desired media jobs of 2009

Complain about your job? FoundValue Blog has 10 jobs they promise are worse than yours (though I know a LOT of people who would want #10).

The Springfield News-Leader has 10 steps to workplace happiness from some great professionals in the field.

Have a great weekend!

This morning on the radio I heard about a new study out of Britain. According to the research, someone who listens to their iPod or other music device for 1 hour a day for five years will go deaf.

Scary.

The study got me thinking. If someone listens for longer periods each day – like many of our Gen X and Gen Y colleagues in our offices – will he or she go deaf sooner?

Free will is an important part of life here in America. If someone wants to risk their hearing to listen to music, that’s his / her choice. However, as HR Professionals, what can we do to help our employees make informed choices? What should we do? I’m thinking about going beyond traditional policies that restrict the use of musical devices in the workplace. We currently provide opportunities to educate employees about wellness, financial planning, and other topics. Perhaps preserving one’s hearing should be included in that mix. If we don’t – and this study’s results turn out to be true – our workplaces and ways of doing business will radically change in the next 10 or so years. Being bilingual in American Sign Language is one aspect that comes to mind. What are your thoughts?

Riding the train this morning I happened to peek at a fellow passenger's Wall Street Journal and spied upon some great articles...

First, a front page article on layoffs...if you hear rumors they may be coming, here's some advice on what to do: click here

And with this advice, some thoughts should emerge for HR professionals on how to handle those types of situations. One of my friends worked for a large fashion company that had been rumored to be on the brink of bankruptcy. One of the actions taken by the company's management--that shocked him and others--was to fire one employee whose only misstep was talking about the rumors going around about the company. They said he was a poison to the company and got rid of him. A few days later, the company filed for bankruptcy and a lot more employees went. But if the company had not filed, that sole decision would have been viewed as a warning (whether right or wrong) to other employees who would think about discussing the rumors among themselves at work...

The Career Journal then gives some advice for those pushed to part-time work--make the most of it: click here

Next, a topic we've talked about in the past on this blog, workplace bullying takes center stage again as they reference a recent United States court case: click here

Lastly, an interesting article about summer jobs--selling knives--positioned with a great title: click here


Enjoy!