Podcast: Company Culture and the Soul & Spirit of Business
Ellen West, Associate Professor of Management at Portland State University, joins the Human Resources for Small Business podcast to discuss the...
Governor Signs House Bill 2950 – OFLA Bereavement Leave Law
On June 13, 2013, the Governor signed House Bill 2950, which requires OFLA-covered employers of 25 or more employees in the state of Oregon to...
HR & Innovation | Embrace and Sustain an Innovative Culture
The world is changing, and as the business environment becomes more competitive, consumers are counting on companies to deliver new and innovative...
5 Ways to Destroy Employee Morale and 5 Ways to Boost It
Employees are the most important asset to a company; without them the company wouldn’t have the resources to operate effectively and serve its...
Book Review – Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard
Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard is the latest reading material for the Xenium Book Club. We were pleasantly surprised to find this...
HR Spring Cleaning | Top 10 Employee Benefit Plan Actions
With Summer quickly approaching, now is a great time to prepare for the upcoming employee benefit changes. An article from Barran Liebman outlines...
More Important than Money | Recognition & Engagement
An infographic from Salesforce found that employees are motivated by much more than money. Despite the fear of the unstable economy, employees who...
Interviewing Etiquette for Employers
With nearly 100,000 workplace discrimination charges reported by the EEOC in 2012, it is important for employers to be mindful of federal and state...
Ergonomics 101: What This Latest Office Trend is All About
Ergonomics has taken over the office world today as ergonomic chairs, desks, keyboards, mouse pads, monitor arms, reading boards, lighting, and...
Recruiting by Video – From Job Descriptions to Interviews
In 2012, Aberdeen Group found that 54% of organizations that have adopted video as a part of the recruiting process have done so in support of their...
How to Build a 'Culture of Excellence'
Many top leaders know that it takes a great culture to obtain and sustain high results in customer retention, staff retention, growth and...
Open Culture or Taboo?
A people centric culture is often fundamental to the success of an organization. Establishing a diverse and open environment where employees feel...
Veterans Day Off – New Oregon Law Effective Immediately
As reported by Barran Liebman, a new law signed by Governor Kitzhaber requires that Oregon employers must provide employees who are veterans with...
Training for Talent — Manage, Motivate and Measure
A 2012 Global CEO Survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that 47% of company leaders expect growth in upcoming years, yet only 30% believe that they...
Recruiting for Talent – The Right Way
HireRight explores two different recruiting paths employers can take to attract talent—the right way and the wrong way. Check out each recruiting...
Q & A with Xenium President Anne Donovan at the 2013 HR Leadership Awards
On March 21st, Xenium's President, Anne Donovan, participated in an HR panel discussion following the awards ceremony. Below are the questions and...
Workplace Distractions- Can They Really Increase Productivity?
With so much time spent in the office, it is inevitable that workplace irritations will develop over time. While these distractions are most often...
Increase in I-9 Audits | Avoid Violation Fees
In recent years, the number of I-9 audits has increased drastically. In 2004, an insignificant three audits were reported, compared to an...
Xenium Wins the 'Organizational Excellence in HR' Award at the 2013 HR Leadership Awards
On March 21, 2013, Xenium was honored with the Organizational Excellence in HR Award—the only company-wide award given out at the Portland Business...
7 HR & Leadership Books Entrepreneurs Should Read
This bestselling novel, with over 20 million copies sold in 38 different languages, is a must for any aspiring entrepreneur. Author Stephen Covey,...
Portland City Council votes in favor of Mandatory Sick Leave
On Wednesday, March 13, 2013, Mayor Charlie Hales and the remaining members of the Portland City Council voted in favor of mandatory sick leave....
USCIS Releases New Form I-9
Announcement from USCIS on March 8, 2013: "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today published a new Form I-9, Employment Eligibility...
Support Xenium at the 2013 HR Leadership Awards
On March 21st, at the Governor Hotel, the Portland Business Journal will host the annual HR Leadership Awards. During the event, guests can expect...
How Becoming an Early Riser Can Impact Your Wellness
According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults should aim for 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night, yet a CDC study found that 40 million workers...
'Difficult Conversations' Recap
On February 21, 2013, Valerie and Roger Pease visited Xenium for the second consecutive year to speak on emotional intelligence. This time, however,...
PODCAST: 'The Five Dysfunctions of a Team' Book Review and Discussion
Molly Kelley and Lacey Halpern of Xenium HR, join the Human Resources for Small Business podcast to discuss The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, a novel...
2013 Compensation Best Practices [Infographic]
Each year, Xenium's partner, PayScale surveys thousands of HR and business leaders on the workforce and compensation trends they've experienced in...
Lunch Breaks Should Actually be a Break
A survey by Right Management in October 2012 found that no more than 19% of employees take an actual lunch break, a significant decrease from 35% in...
Sneak Peek: 2013 Compensation Best Practices Report
Over 4,300 executives and HR professionals from all company sizes and industries completed the survey for the PayScale and Inc. Magazine's 2013...
Telecommuting – The Way of the Future?
Telecommuting is an emerging trend, with 24% of organizations already offering mobile workstyles and 83% planning to by 2014 as predicted by the...
Valentine's Day Behavior in the Workplace
Love may be in the air during Valentine's day, but this day can also be a reminder of what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior in the...
The Importance of Employee Recognition & Engagement [Whitepaper]
Globoforce and the Society of Human Resource Management team up twice a year to conduct a survey with the goal of assessing workforce challenges,...
Managing Your Employees from Miserable to Motivated
How many people wake up in the morning and look forward to coming to work? Do you? Do your employees? It seems like a basic question, but employee...
Podcast: Managing Employee Performance & Conducting Reviews
Suzi Alligood, the Director of Training and Development at Xenium HR, joins the Human Resources for Small Business podcast to discuss Performance...
Utilizing Social Networks for Hiring
As the social media trend continues to rise, an increasing number or organizations are using social networks throughout the entire hiring...
Enhance Employee Training for a Competitive Edge
Dedicating the necessary time and resources to provide employees with continuous training will not only enhance their skill set, but it will add a...
Was the Lilly Ledbetter Act Enough?
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, enacted just over four years ago, intended to take on the issue of the gender gap in pay. Leleh Hassibi, of...
4 Ways to Culturally Engage your Employees
A strong company culture has the ability to enhance employee engagement, reduce turnover, improve customer satisfaction and increase revenue growth....
Tax Withholding Guidance for 2013
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) provided this update on January 8, 2013: The IRS released the updated income tax withholding tables...
Life Balance Tips from a Recovering Control Freak
Do you have a hard time leaving work at work? Do you feel overwhelmed by your personal and professional responsibilities? Do you feel like you have...
5 Ways to Avoid the Flu in the Workplace
Do your best to avoid the flu this season by following these tips from President Obama's family physician, Dr. David Scheiner, in this article...
Podcast: Health Care Reform – What it Means for Employers
Iris Tilley, an attorney at Barran Liebman who specializes in employment law advice & litigation, ERISA compliance and affirmative action...
Top 5 Xenium Posts of 2012
As we move on to a new year, we, at Xenium, want to thank our clients and friends for following our HR news and updates on our blog. According to...
EEOC's Strategic Enforcement Plan for 2013
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released their strategic plan for fiscal years 2012-2016, which "establishes priorities and...
Happy Holidays from Xenium!
From all of us at Xenium, we wish our clients, family and friends a safe and happy holiday season! (Pictured above from left to right: back row-...
Time Off During the Holiday Season
The holiday season is typically when employees prefer to take time off to be with their families. From an employer's perspective, however, too many...
3 Ways to Minimize Your Employees' Financial Stress
The time around the holidays—and in the weeks that follow— financial stress often becomes a pressing weight in our employees' lives. Perhaps it is...
Podcast: Paid Time Off (PTO) vs. Vacation and Sick Time Policies
Lacey Halpern of Xenium HR joins the Human Resources for Small Business podcast to discuss the difference between paid time off (PTO) and vacation...
'Physical Activity for a Healthy Weight' from the CDC [Whitepaper]
Maintaining weight can be difficult during the holiday season with all the sweets everywhere within our reach, either at home or at the office. To...
![Happy Employees vs. Sad Employees [Infographic]](https://i0.wp.com/xeniumhr.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/IMG_1203.jpg?resize=400%2C250&ssl=1)
Happy Employees vs. Sad Employees [Infographic]
In a recent infographic by complianceandsafety.com, happy workers and sad workers are compared. One of the most enlightening statistics in the...
Podcast: 'Fierce Conversations' Book Discussion & Review
Mathew Simonton joins the Human Resources for Small Business podcast to discuss the book Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life...