What made headlines in HR News in November? As we edge into the holiday season, read on for a roundup of the latest in what HR people are talking about.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

...and employers everywhere are wondering how to keep employees engaged while avoiding the pitfalls of the season. What can you do? 

• Answer these common employer questions about the holidays at the office.
• Get tips for gift-giving at work and this simple perk to make life easier for employees during the season and year-round.
• Set up a volunteer benefit instead of gifting - and help your employees make a difference to boot.
• Beat the holiday blues by setting goals, maintaining focus, and carefully arranging vacations.
• And feel relief that none of these Ask A Manager scenarios has happened to you.

Finally, take heart; 1/3 of employees actually report being more productive during the week before a major holiday.

 Employee Engagement, Motivation, and Happiness

Want to know what makes your people tick? China Gorman says this latest research about employee happiness "should be required reading for any leader wondering about the engagement of their employees, humanity in the workplace, or whether or not their workforce is happy." Under the same category: 

• TLNT asked the million-dollar question about whether people can ever be happy at work, while this examined the very interesting question of whether happy workers can be disengaged.
• HR roundtable explored engagement via what we're doing wrong, and what we can do better.

Last but not least, want to know what the flip side looks like? Some enterprising folks approached engagement from the opposite end by helpfully defining exactly what makes for a lousy day at work.

Corporate Culture

 A lot of talk in November focused on the question of what makes a workplace great. No surprise the answer was often corporate culture. What else are people saying about culture? 

• SHRM says some organizations are taking a top-down approach to culture, turning to hiring "culture chiefs." Talent Culture, on the other hand, says organizational change starts from the middle (middle managers that is), a concept with which HR Capitalist agrees.
• Still others say it all comes down to nurturing relationships.
• And yet others are asking how culture can work for the multi-gen workforce, with Recruiter offering a Millennial tutorial for Boomer-centric companies, and Blogging4Jobs giving the lowdown on what it will be like when five generations share the workplace, as they will in 2020.

Finally, if you want a good cry, check out this video that'll remind you how culture plays out for customers and clients in the real world.

Work, Life, and Family

What's today's HR news buzz about the work/life cha-cha?
 

• The folks at the Daily Worth gave us a full week of Balancing Acts including what work/life balance looks like internationally, and how to outsource everything in life using apps.
• Over at Facebook, family support took center stage, with Mark Zuckerberg's announcement that he'll take two months of paternity leave and his HR head explaining why "four month leave" has replaced "maternity and paternity leave" for new parents.
• Speaking of leave, Amazon.com just announced paid parental leave for fathers and extended paid maternity leave for mothers. And a measure proposed by the Washington, D.C., city council would entitle nearly every part-time and full-time employee in the District to 16 weeks of paid leave to care for a new baby, convalesce from an illness, or to look after a sick family member.

And last but not least; yes folks, it's flu season again. In a case of "physician, heal thyself," this report says doctors may be the worst offenders in the spreading-the-germs department. So people...stay warm, eat right, get enough sleep, and remember...we all benefit when we encourage sick employees to stay home.