February 2009   Sign up for SHRM's free Organizational & Employee Development e-newsletter. TOP ARTICLES Lessons for Executives on President Obama's Onboarding Whether your leader sits in the Oval Office or in the corner office, he or she has a lot on the agenda with the added pressure of high expectations for quick results. Rash decisions can lead to mistakes in today's compressed time frame, as President Barack Obama has learned with several of his political nominees marred by tax problems. That means executives -- with the help of HR -- need to do their homework before they walk in the door. Read this article How the Best Leaders Build Trust Individuals and organizations that have earned and operate with high trust experience a "dividend" that is like a performance multiplier, enabling them to succeed in their communications, interactions and decisions, and to move with incredible speed. Read this article Women Make Slow Progress Toward Top, Studies Report Women made little progress during 2008 toward an equal share of board director and corporate officer positions, according to a report by a nonprofit organization focused on women in business. And women of color face additional obstacles climbing to the top. Read this article Foreign Firms in China Brace for Worker Unrest On Feb. 1, 2009, China's central government issued a statement warning that 2009 could be "possibly the toughest year" since the Asian financial crisis more than a decade ago. Some of the first people to feel the pinch of the economic slowdown have been China's more than 130 million migrant workers. Read this article SHRM VIDEO Disturbed Teams Lisa Giruzzi, owner of Transformational Conversations, offers tips for helping teams -- especially geographically separated ones -- function effectively. View this video More SHRM videos One Workforce -- Many Languages English classes for immigrants once were the province of public schools, local government and humanitarian agencies. Now, faced with a Babel of languages on shop floors and construction sites, in hotels and restaurants, and in other low-wage workplaces, many employers say providing English language training to their workers has become a strategic imperative. Read this article HR Must Manage Demographics, SHRM Report Warns Managing demographics will take on a higher priority for HR professionals in the years 2010-15, but most organizations don't have staff dedicated to this crucial task, according to new research. Read this article More Pay/Benefits Cuts Reported; Increased Communication, Too The number of U.S. companies implementing cost-cutting measures, including salary freezes and smaller pay raises, rose sharply from October to December 2008, according to a survey by consultancy Watson Wyatt. Read this article Questions for SHRM's Organizational Development Special Expertise Panel You ask, and the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM) Organizational Development Special Expertise Panel answers. This month's topic: Coaching. Coaching Can Help Counter Personality Clashes Q: How can OD interventions address employee relationship problems in the workplace? A: Whether following the systems and values of a large Fortune 500 corporation or a small entrepreneurial endeavor, or working as an independent consultant, interpersonal interventions are rooted in the psychology of human potential, growth and development. Intervention techniques primarily focus on four areas of interaction: ... Read the complete answer now Mission: Recruitment The U.S. Army is joining forces with employers to tackle the job of matching soldiers, skills -- and opportunities. Read this article Related article: Cadets, Reservists Join PaYS Layoffs in Europe: Deal or No Deal? Employers must use all their negotiating skills, not just their checkbooks, when planning layoffs in the European Union. Read this article EXPRESS REQUESTS Training Needs Assessments You've just been tapped to lead your organization's training efforts. So where do you start? The first step to any successful training development program is to conduct a training needs assessment, which is a tool employers can use to identify what training courses or activities should be provided to employees to increase their skills and maximize work productivity. Taking this critical step allows an organization to focus its efforts on areas of training that are necessary for employees to successfully carry out the company's goals as well as to make optimum use of its training dollars. To receive a collection of resources on this topic, please visit our Express Request Service and select key term TRAINING NEEDS ASSESSMENTS. Featured in SHRMStore Leadership in the Era of Economic Uncertainty Economic turbulence has arrived with a vengeance, and only companies that face it head-on at the beginning of this worldwide crisis will be the ones left standing once the dust clears. Renowned consultant Ram Charan traces the causes of this crisis, identifies the essential priorities managers need to focus on now, and offers clear guidelines for top executives and managers. More about this product More Ram Charan titles More Organizational Development titles SHRM RESEARCH Cross-Cultural Negotiation: When Science and Art Work Together As the economy becomes increasingly global, knowledge-based, diverse and interconnected, the ability to effectively negotiate in a cross-cultural environment may help HR practitioners become more resilient and better team players. This research article aims to raise awareness of the role that culture plays in negotiation and presents insights for action, comparing American, Indian, Chinese and Mexican negotiation styles. Read this article Innovative Work Teams in a Challenging Business Environment Over the past decade, organizations have responded to a more competitive business environment by using work teams to solve problems and generate innovation. As the range of business challenges has grown, new concepts around team-based working have also evolved. Though building strong teams in a difficult economic environment may be challenging, it may also lead to new opportunities for effective work teams. Read this article Global Leadership: The Next Human Resources Frontier This research article presents three studies that contribute to the business case of global leadership, providing lessons learned from an extensive research study titled the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) project. It also presents a framework that can help HR practitioners think and act in terms of global leadership development, as well as examines the effects of national cultures and individual personalities on leadership styles and organizational outcomes. Read this article FREE SHRM WEBCASTS Flexible Work Arrangements: A Strategic Business Imperative in a Down Economy Feb. 26, 2009, 2 p.m. EST Presenters: Judi Casey, director, Alfred P. Sloan Work and Family Research Network Judi Casey will outline the business benefits of implementing flexible work arrangements in organizations. Discover how to create a culture of flexibility that will grow the business with more efficient practices, reduce stress and health care costs -- and even reduce the company's carbon footprint. Register for this webcast QUICK LINKS SHRM Online Organizational and Employee Development Discipline home page SHRM Resources for HR Educators -- Cases and Learning Modules Edited by Theresa Minton-Eversole The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world's largest professional association devoted to human resource management. Our mission is to serve the needs of HR professionals by providing the most current and comprehensive resources, and to advance the profession by promoting HR's essential, strategic role. Founded in 1948, SHRM represents more than 250,000 individual members in over 140 countries, and has a network of more than 575 affiliated chapters in the United States, as well as offices in China and India. Visit SHRM at www.shrm.org. This e-mail newsletter is sent to SHRM members and to non-members who have subscribed. Privacy statement: SHRM does not furnish e-mail addresses from this list to third parties. Click here to view the Society's privacy statement. Questions: If you have questions regarding this newsletter, please contact SHRM at 1-800-283-7476 or by e-mail at shrm@shrm.org. (Do not reply to the address from which this email was sent -- it will not be seen. For information about advertising opportunities, click here. Copyright: All contents copyright 2009 Society for Human Resource Management, 1800 Duke Street, Alexandria, Va., 22314. (Many SHRM articles are available for reprint or republication. For more information, click here.) This e-newsletter contains advertisements.

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