The Healthy Workplace of the 21st Century: The Benefit of Organizational Wellness Programs on Employee Health and Absenteeism

Every year, obesity rates continue to rise and have reached epidemic proportions throughout the United States. The costs associated with obesity are staggering and many researchers feel that the workplace should be the new front line in the battle for a healthier workforce. Employers must take action to address this worsening health crisis and help reduce spiraling medical costs and absenteeism rates. This capstone reviews the current literature on wellness programs and discusses different companies' approaches to wellness programs that have special emphasis on nutrition and physical activity. It also provides strategies and recommendations for companies eager to initiate a comprehensive, dynamic and directed wellness program to improve the current and future health of their workforce.

Is Progressive Discipline Effective?

Progressive discipline has been utilized as a management tool to improve employee behavior since the 1930s. Research throughout the years has failed to determine if progressive discipline is actually successful in modifying employee behavior. This capstone addresses this issue and includes a review of literature on the subject of progressive discipline in the workplace, and a survey of human resources professionals determining the presence and success of progressive discipline in several organizations in Colorado. The results indicate that employee behavior modification may not be as strongly correlated to the type of discipline used, but that other factors related to disciplinary practices have more influence on employee behavior modification.

Consumer Driven Health Care: An Examination of the Disadvantages to Low Income Employees

As health care costs for companies continue to rise, more organizations are considering a consumer driven health plan option with the goal to engage employees so that they make better health care decisions. Although consumer driven health plan options present advantages to the employer and some employee groups, low income employees are negatively impacted by this option. Two major disadvantages include missed care and out of pocket obligations. This capstone reviews the current literature on consumer driven health care and discusses the disadvantages to low income employees. It also provides strategies and recommendations to employers who are considering a consumer driven health option plan to minimize the disadvantages to low income employees.

An Evaluation of Applicant Tracking Systems for Recruiting Efficiency

The very purpose of a recruiting software program is to help the management of organizations, primarily the HR department to keep track of the job applications. An applicant tracking system can reduce an organization's overall recruitment cost, increase productivity, and raise the level of satisfaction due to faster and better completion of transactions and services. This project analyzes four software providers to discover an applicant tracking system which best suits an organization's recruiting needs. The capstone also highlights that great success an organization can be achieved by significantly improving the delivery of its recruiting services to employees, managers and applicants. The adoption of a well managed applicant tracking system can support this goal.

A Quantitative Exploration of Social Networks: Verifying the Legitimacy and Equitability of Social Networks in Recruiting

In this digital age organizations must focus on connecting with candidates and aspire for innovation in recruiting practices to remain competitive. This author investigated social networking to determine whether or not it provides reliable candidate information when recruiting for hire. Online media such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, have become an integrated part of social and professional lives. Analysis of social networking revealed use for recruiting but posed challenges and advantages for organizations. A quantitative cross-sectional survey of social network members (N=136) indicated discrepancy in generational use of social networks and concerns regarding the validity and reliability of candidate information. Social networking promotes innovation in recruiting, however, by itself might not endorse equitability, validity and reliability.

Glue Technology: A Blueprint for Cultural Integration

Despite the gargantuan stakes that mergers and acquisitions represent, global companies' success rate at integrating organizations has been dismal, incurring billions of dollars in lost shareholder value. International human resources' handling of the cultural integration process is the principal differentiator between success and failure. This Capstone project proposes a process for developing cultural integration mechanisms, known as glue technology, and provides a step-by-step process map for execution through four phases. During planning, the need for glue technology is defined. Through analysis, rewards systems are assessed, and a strategy is chosen. In implementation planning, unanimous executive commitment must be secured. Last is measurement based on the integration plan's objectives. Enabling mechanisms such as removing negative influencers, speed, and communication are discussed.

Effective Performance Evaluations For Generation X and Generation Y Employees

This Capstone focuses on the overview of generic performance evaluation process, characteristics of Generation X and Y employees in a workplace, first and second-hand research in the area of Effective Performance Evaluations for Generation X and Y employees, and recommends different approaches to performance evaluations for Generation X and Y employees to increase its effectiveness.

Recession Effects on Employee Retention

An economic recession affects the ability of organizations to retain employees. The downturn in the economy causes employers to evaluate how they conduct business causing lay-offs and unemployment rates to rise during periods of recession. A retention strategy is as important as sales and customer service during an economic recession. The impact of decisions made during the recession and the imminent labor shortage will impact the ability of organizations to retain their high performing employees. The author details the areas organizations must consider in a retention strategy and develops a retention model for her employer that can be used to assist with reducing turnover as the economy and the labor force begins to change.

Alternative Cost-Effective Employee Motivators

Traditionally, the awarding of cash bonuses has been one of the primary tools utilized by organizational leaders to increase employee motivation. Recent research has indicated that cash awards may successfully motivate employees. The same research presents alternative, effective techniques that have been demonstrated to improve employee motivation and performance. Results of the 2010 Society for Human Resource Management survey highlight respondents' opinions regarding alternate employee motivators in the United States. The results strongly suggest that alternate cost-effective employee motivators may be as effective as cash rewards. The results of this Capstone will demonstrate that innovative, cost-effective methods can be used by organizations to retain employees. This paper will address specific areas of research including talent management, leadership, communication, and recognition.

A Sound Investment for Employees and Their Employers: Retirement Planning, Reinvented

Offering competitive health and wellness benefit programs is ever challenging for companies, as industry leaders continually devise ways to innovate and deliver high-value programs to attract and retain employees. Financial stability is a form of wellness, and yet companies offer limited finance-related benefit offerings. Employees are commonly given access to retirement savings plans and college savings plans, and yet employers do not typically incorporate educational components into benefit programs. Research presented in this paper examines the financial issues impacting the lives of young workers in the United States and makes the case for a new recruitment and retention tool: a dynamic, practical benefit program designed to engage employees in their financial planning early and empower them to make informed decisions.

The Role of Succession Planning in Leadership Development

In progressive companies succession planning plays a vital role in leadership development. Some companies have neither succession planning nor ways to fill leadership gaps. On the academic side of research, this Capstone Project focuses on the role of succession planning in leadership development through various approaches and theories. The purpose of this Capstone Project is to provide HR professionals with solid mechanisms for identifying and preparing leaders for leadership roles through proper succession mapping within a company. Through the analysis of case studies and research, recommendations are made on the formulation of a decision tree so that succession planning may take a new place in leadership development in an organization.

Legal, Ethical and Cultural Issues U.S. companies face when moving operations to China.

Beyond free trade agreements governing cross-border commerce, the source of most global economic growth is attributed to business across interconnecting markets. Among the most attractive and complex markets, China stands out. Despite its appeal, American businesses are more likely to fail in China due to an overwhelming desire for an immediate return on investment while neglecting to consider or completely disregarding China's unique legal, ethical and cultural environment. This capstone project will give recommendations to help businesses succeed when entering China and avoid legal, ethical and cultural issues such as the ones that Google, Apple, and Yahoo experienced.

An Investigation of Electronic Recruitment in Germany: Toward Efficacy and Opportunities

Globalization and the spread of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), particularly Internet usage, have changed the practice of recruiting employees. The Internet has become an integral part of Human Resource (HR) talent management, and as a result, a majority of business organizations in Germany have adopted an online recruitment initiative. However, technology alone no longer provides a competitive advantage. To meet their talent requirements, business organizations have turned to recruiting alternatives such as electronic recruitment or e-recruitment, which is a form of recruitment using electronic media tools to attract, hire, and retain job seekers. In this investigation, the author examined the efficacy and opportunities of e-recruitment in medium-sized German business organizations.. The author determined that many medium-sized German companies are using the Internet to recruit online but not effectively enough to create and maintain a sustainable strategic advantage. The author concluded that several areas for improvements exist in e-recruitment processes.

Motivation Employees in Work Organizations

With the onset of global integration and knowledge of economics, the value of human capital is improving and playing a leading role in enterprise. Motivating employees in the workplace becomes an eternal and challenging subject for today's enterprise. This capstone project identifies and illustrates what motivation is, what effectively motivates employees, and how to motivate employees in the workplace. This project not only talks about individuals' motivation but also motivation in groups and specific organizations. The global workforce, as a special group, is also discovered in this project. The project mainly is based on secondary research. The types of sources come from books, journal articles, blogs, periodicals, and other print materials through the Penrose Library and websites (such as Google Scholar). This project is written for the business leaders and human resources professionals, helping them to increase employees' satisfaction and maintaining the valuable employees in their organizations.

Development of a Strengths-Based Model for Insurance Automobile, Property, and Casualty Claims Operations

ABSTRACT \ Employers know that to have a successful organization, they must have the right people in the right jobs. But how will they know whom to place where? The development of a model based upon an individual's personality traits and strengths, and how to best use them, is a good place to start. Employees working in positions in which their traits and strengths are maximized enjoy work more, are more efficient, and are less apt to be absent or to look for work elsewhere. It is a mutually beneficial process of selection for both employers and employees. This model illustrates the process in an automobile and property insurance claims operation through utilization of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicators and the StrengthsFinder Profiles.