Thursday, October 20, 2016
Feds Seized 50TB Of Data And Arsenal Of Guns From Accused NSA Thief
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Zenefits Woos Human Resources With App Store Approach
Zenefits wants to be the iPhone of human resources.
At its Z2 user conference in San Francisco, the HR and benefits technology startup announced Oct. 18 that it will launch a revamped user interface and offer the first online “app store” for HR services including recruiting, expenses and productivity.
While continuing to offer its core solutions in-house, the new Zenefits platform will allow users to download additional applications that can access employee information directly through Zenefits.
“We've made integration as simple as installing an app on your iPhone,” said CEO David Sacks.
The platform will initially include apps from 17 partners including Salesforce, Intuit and Google, but Zenefits anticipates more third-party companies using its developer platform to create hundreds of new offerings.
Other new features include a new online benefits shopping experience that allows employers to choose from over 10,000 preloaded plans and compare provider maps. Zenefits will also release a new payroll feature in California, with other states to follow.
Zenefits' Hard Times Mean Good Times for Rivals
Also new is the HR adviser app, a paid service that provides small businesses with a content library and access to expert advice to help guide decision-making.
Zenefits also will release an updated iOS mobile app and introduce its first Android one.
These improvements take place as the company nears the end of a turbulent year. After experiencing staggering growth in just three years - Zenefits has raised $584 million in funding - reports surfaced in February that the cloud-based health insurance and HR software provider failed to abide by licensing requirements for its brokers.
Zenefits to Employees: No Sex at Work
Zenefits recently settled with Washington state and Tennessee over these claims, paying $100,000 in fines to continue operating in those states. Since taking the top post from ousted founder Parker Conrad in February, Sacks has also laid off over 350 employees and changed the company's ownership structure.
Competitors are also closing in on the all-in-one HR market. Gusto, among others, provides similar cloud-based solutions and just reached 40,000 customers, twice as many as Zenefits.
Nidhi Madhavan is a Workforce intern. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com.
Tags: David Sacks, Gusto, Z2, Zenefits
The post Zenefits Woos Human Resources With App Store Approach appeared first on Workforce Magazine.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Yahoo Beats on Earnings But Critics Don't Seem to Care
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Monday, October 17, 2016
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Corporate Wellness: Get Your Namaste On
After a brief flirtation with yoga in college (I mostly stuck with child's pose and joked with my friends in the corner of the studio), I finally went to another yoga class this weekend. My yoga-teaching older sister bought me a few classes at a local studio as a birthday present. “Get your namaste on!” she wrote. It was very sweet.
It was also very sweaty. Hot yoga takes a lot out of you. A 150-degree room (all right, fine, I'm definitely exaggerating), and a limited amount of space to fit all these mats and people. I learned a few things: 1) put a bath towel on your mat, and your hands won't slip on the mat when you're trying to do downward facing dog; 2) child's pose is still my best friend; and 3) it's a lovely way to relax. And simple.
I'm not quite sure when the yoga trend started in the United States, but it's pretty stellar that so many people are interested in working on things like meditation, focus, balance and strength. As an amateur, I personally found value as a stress reliever. I've also read a lot in the past few months about the impact stress has on the workplace and the rise of corporate wellness programs to manage that stress.
The other day I spoke with Lyndsey Morash, founder of Chasing Nirvana Yoga in Boston. Her story is a good example of marrying the corporate and the wellness worlds. Back in 2012, she was working at a long-hour, high-stress job in Boston. Meanwhile, she also took classes to become a certified yoga instructor.
In 2014, she started Chasing Nirvana, a mobile yoga studio that brings wellness to corporate offices, along with meditation and health coaching. It has a staff of instructors who have been properly trained, certified and insured so that an organization doesn't have to do the background work themselves.
Her most recent venture is a product of Chasing Nirvana: MOGI, a yoga mat pannier that attaches to a bike. She found that - biking being her main mode of transportation to and from work, class and yoga - finding the right bag to carry her yoga mat was impossible. The bag will probably appeal to people who like travel, biking and yoga - especially commuters, said Morash, and its primary market will be people living in big cities like Boston.
After raising money on Kickstarter, Morash is now in the research phase with the bag. She's getting feedback from people who bike and do yoga to finalize the design. She expects it'll hit the market early next year.
Morash, in both of her ventures, is a good example of somebody who saw an opportunity in the growing wellness space and went with it. She saw a market and an opening in that market to make a dent. She and her team work with interested companies in the limited space they have to host classes, and they also are willing to get creative with pricing options. For example, the company might pay for the whole class, or the interested employees share the cost, or the employer and employees share the cost.
“Larger companies have the ability or the funds to put in a gym or use a management company to manage these things,” said Morash. “[But] Chasing Nirvana is there for the company that wants to give their employees wellness options but doesn't have the funds to install a full-on gym.”
Going back to my sister briefly: She works full-time plus overtime many weeks and also teaches yoga classes throughout the week. On a recent phone call, she brought up a certain frustration I'm sure a lot of people are familiar with: being perceived as lazy for wanting time to take care of yourself.
Yoga isn't everyone's idea of “taking care of yourself,” obviously, but it's an option. And taking the time to de-stress is important in a time when stress and burnout are increasing. Whatever the reason for that stress - money, personal problems, health issues, whatever - everyone deserves some time to decompress and mentally prepare themselves for whatever's next.
Tags: burnout, Chasing Nirvana Yoga, corporate wellness, destressing, MOGI, yoga
The post Corporate Wellness: Get Your Namaste On appeared first on Workforce Magazine.
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Sunday, October 16, 2016
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Saturday, October 15, 2016
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Friday, October 14, 2016
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Guys, Do Not Listen to Donald
So this week everyone's talking about pussy grabbing.
I'm not being vulgar; that is what everyone's talking about thanks to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. By now you've probably heard snippets from the recording released Oct. 7 of Trump boasting to now suspended Today Show host Billy Bush how fame meant he could do anything he liked to women.
It's an interesting conversation. Classy and quite matter-of-fact in delivery. I'm not at all serious – about the classy part. Though I must say its release is well timed considering we're only a few weeks out from the November election.
But I'm not here to talk politics. Instead, I'd like to tell you a story. I was on the train speculating on whether the Donald had finally cooked his goose – you're always on the train, girl! Well, yeah. I gotta get to work – and an older woman who works in HR in health care who I see now and then shared this tale with me. This is paraphrased because I didn't record our conversation:
“When I was young I had a boss who was a grabber. He was a pig all the way around, actually. Always leering and wiggling his eyebrows and leaning way too close, you know the type. He developed a special tendre for me. I don't know what I did to spark his attention, but for a while he made my work life miserable. I mean, I had two emotions for months, crying or pissed the hell off.
“I wanted to complain, but my mother told me to just deal with it. That if I told anyone about it, it would backfire on me. I'd get a bad reputation, and any chances I'd have for advancement would be gone because I'd be labeled a troublemaker. So, I bit my tongue and endured, but it turned me into a nervous wreck. After a few months of trying and failing to dodge this jerk, I was a mess.
“I couldn't sleep so my face was a mess, and I was trying not to attract his attention, so I started dressing down. I even tried not to do my hair, and then, get this, I was called into HR about my appearance!
“This stupid woman sat there and chastised me about letting myself go, and how I shouldn't look any different than I did when I first started.
“Your attire then was appropriate,” she told me.
I burst out laughing. “Appropriate?” I asked her. “What the hell would this company know about appropriate? You wanna know why I look like hell, lady? Because I'm trying not to attract the attention of this f- pervert you have as my boss!”
She was appalled, of course, and she apologized. “Why didn't you say something sooner? We've been monitoring his behavior. You're not the first woman who's complained. He's already on a performance plan. Now we can let him go.”
And not a week later, I had a new supervisor. A lady who was tough, but fair, and didn't give too craps about my fabulous tits or the fit of my skirts.”
“Man,” I said, shaking my head. “That is crazy.”
“I'm not done,” this lady told me.
My brows met my hairline, and I waited with bated breath.
“Many, many years later that fool crossed my path again. He was looking for a job, and as a senior manager I was in on the interview process. I thought the name looked familiar, but I didn't want to make any assumptions. But when I came into the room, there he was, fatter, grosser and much worse for wear. Looking at his patchy resume I deduced he hadn't had much luck in his career after he was let go for being a lecher.”
“Did he recognize you?” I asked, laughing.
“Not at first. I played it cool, but I caught him looking at me a few times. Then after the interview, he stopped me and asked if we'd met before. I said, 'Why yes. I used to work for you. I'm surprised you don't remember, blah, blah, blah.' The look on his face, girl!”
“Revenge is sweet,” I breathed, shaking my head in awe.
“Yup.”
Not quite. A better revenge would have been if she could have cussed his rude butt out all those years ago, for making her life hell on the job and forcing her to endure his pathetic Casanova bullcrap. But you know, they say it is a dish best served cold.
Anyway, I asked her about the actual interview.
“You kept quiet about your prior relationship. There was some implicit bias there, no? He could have tried to cause trouble later.”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “But for all I knew he could have changed. I interviewed him as thoroughly as I would have any other potential team member. He wasn't qualified. He was as big a windbag now as he was then. And I was smart because I let the peer with whom I did the joint interview offer her feedback first in front of my own supervisor. Then I added my two cents, which I kept factual and professional.”
“CYA for today.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I guess so. But the bottom line is he wasn't qualified. Nor would I have felt comfortable having him around the predominantly female staff I manage.”
So, how's that for a cautionary tale?
I've had to check myself a time or two about putting a hand on a male coworkers' arm or hand. Not because anyone's ever complained, or because I'm trying anything sexual, but because it's just not appropriate. It's natural to touch someone casually with whom you enjoy spending time. But that's a big no-no on the job. A no-no-no-no-no.
I remember one time I spilled wine down the front of a male coworkers' shirt at a company gathering. I did my thing with club soda, and he was good humored about it. But when I recounted the tale later to a friend, she was like, “whoah. You should not have tried to scrub out the stain yourself, fool! You can't be touching all up on your coworker's chest.”
And she was right! I wasn't leering or commenting on his pecs, but it was still out of line.
So, the moral of these tales? Be careful whose bits and bobs you're grabbing without permission. If you wanna pet something, get a dog.
Kellye Whitney is the associate editorial director for Workforce. To comment, email editor@workforce.com.
Tags: Billy Bush, Donald Trump, human resources
The post Guys, Do Not Listen to Donald appeared first on Workforce Magazine.