Leadership & Career

To room or not to room?

March 11, 2022
When travel becomes safe post-pandemic, one of the most elemental considerations is whether your employees should share lodgings with one another at a training, conference, negotiation or sales call. Do you have a policy on this? If so, do you make exceptions? Is the decision made on a case-by-case basis? There’s a lot to consider. Here are a few arguments for and against.

Do you need a true HR staff?

March 11, 2022
For the most part, companies of a certain size have an onsite HR department. For smaller businesses, it’s less common to have a dedicated one. Here are some arguments for and against having onsite HR.

Managing using the ‘5 Whys’

March 11, 2022
One of the most enduring approaches to problem-solving at work is the 5 Whys. Toyota founder Sakichi Toyoda developed this tool in the 1930s. The method starts with a problem, which is then deconstructed in a series of “why” questions—usually at least five.

Follow 3-part plan for returning to work

March 3, 2022
New CDC guidance maps the way from pandemic to endemic, like influenza. Coronavirus may become something that’s always there—hovering in the background—that we learn to work around. For employers, making that transition will require following a three-part strategy.

Dog meets homework: How to interpret and deal with 6 classic employee excuses

February 25, 2022
While hopefully not as flimsy as the grade-school classic about canine intervention, adults offer a variety of excuses to get out of trouble at work. Some reasons employees provide will make a manager’s blood boil. Others, however, actually offer insight into workplace problems and merit further consideration. Here’s a look at six excuses modern managers often hear and actions that might eliminate them.

Is your staff suffering from FORTO?

February 24, 2022
Make them see the office as an inviting place to come back to.

3 steps toward pay transparency for new hires

February 17, 2022
More employers seeking a recruiting advantage in today’s tight labor market have started advertising exactly how much they’re paying. It might be time for you to try that bold tactic, too.

Scaling civility as your business grows

February 9, 2022
One of the most critical steps is to launch a startup with a recognition of the need for a code of conduct specifying how the startup’s members will interact with each other, with customers, with suppliers. Some startups call it their “rules”; others identify it as their value statement. I call it a framework for civility.

How they do candor at Pixar

February 9, 2022
If you read business stories regularly, it’s hard not to happen upon some rabbit-hole tidbits about Pixar’s Braintrust. This much-discussed creative meeting tool of Pixar leaders is described by founding member Ed Catmull in his book, Creativity, Inc.

Bad advice that sounds great

January 28, 2022
All day long, managers are inundated with buzz-phrases and tropes that can do more harm than good. Heed these popular (and thrown-around, thoughtlessly) business tips at your own risk.