Companies across America are undergoing structural and strategic upheaval. From deciding whether it is wise to mandate vaccines or rolling out distributive workforce plans, business leaders have a lot of ‘splainin’ to do! And it’s hard. Today, many of our decisions hinge on changing variables, some we cannot predict, like viral spread, employees quitting,...
FEMA, the Red Cross, and state agencies across the country have not had a moment’s rest this summer. From forest fires raging up against city boundaries out West to Hurricane Ida’s destructive winds and damaging rains in the East, these groups have worked hard to help individuals and communities survive. But for businesses who made the […]
Imagine arriving in New York as a young man from small-town U.S.A. with dreams of becoming the next Wall Street superstar. What happened next was not an instant leap to success but a slow slog toward achieving a vision. In this age of “instant” everything – instant data, instant entertainment, instant friends – we learn […]
The pandemic’s good news is we have learned a lot about how to keep ourselves healthy. The bad news is we are not doing a very good job at it! Over the past year, dodging the virus was the only priority for most of us. As a result, many of us became too stressed, tired, and overwhelmed […]
A small medical equipment manufacturer had a great deal riding on the completion of their next-gen medical device. Engineers, technicians, and marketers were stressed and exhausted from setbacks and long hours. Yet, no one dropped offline or stopped showing up for work. Why? Because this company had worked hard to develop a culture that resembled a family...
What do the new drug testing rules and long-term marijuana users have in common? Confusion, paranoia, and poor judgments! [i] [ii] Remember when drug and alcohol policies in the workplace used to be cut and dried? A candidate or employee’s positive test meant refusal, dismissal, or a last-chance rehab at the employer’s discretion. Now, with newly legal...
President Joe Biden signed more executive orders (EO) on his first day than the previous three presidents combined, the most ever by his third week. While 15 of 42 actions are aimed at fighting the coronavirus, the remaining orders, proclamations, and memos (see the difference here) affect labor, HR policy, employment, immigration, resources like power […]
Let’s face it; 2020 will go down as one of the most challenging years in business history. But for many companies, it was also a year of self-discovery. Perhaps no other time in the past century has the economy faced such turmoil, with the need for businesses to respond so expeditiously to wide-spread disruption. Are […]
Finally – the long-awaited fix for the devastating COVID-19 is here! Businesses large and small are breathing a collective sigh of relief with the hope that when all their employees are inoculated, everyone can get back to congregating and collaborating in person. You might be writing that company-wide memo even now, telling people how, […]
This season reminds us to do the things that make our world a kinder and more beautiful place, including expressing our thanks and appreciation to employees, suppliers, contractors, and customers. But 2020 has really been a struggle for many American companies and workers. The pandemic is demanding that we rethink traditions like the annual holiday […]
If there were a ‘Word of the Year’ for 2020, it would likely be “anxiety.” For over nine months now, Americans have been grieving the loss of their everyday lifestyle – birthday parties with friends, meetings in person, business and personal travel, and lunch with colleagues. They have struggled with learning new technologies and work-at-home routines, […]
It hasn’t been a good year for Goodyear. COVID concerns disrupted operations, second-quarter sales were down 41% from a year ago, and to add insult to injury, last week, company officials found themselves in crisis management mode. A slide from a Topeka diversity training session, labeled “Zero Tolerance,” itemized two columns of permitted and banned...
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