Businesses and brands that are replacing service workers with technology are discovering that this strategy is creating as many problems as it’s solving. Robots (the broad term I’ll use to describe digital kiosks and various other mechanical systems) are diligent, and they don’t call in sick. They won’t cheat you. They won’t ask for a…
Ten years ago, I visited a college campus in Denver, stood in a high traffic area, and held up a sign saying, DO YOU DESERVE A JOB AFTER YOU GRADUATE? WHAT SALARY ARE YOU ENTITLED TO? At that time, employee entitlement was the biggest challenge among the business owners, leaders, and managers with…
Ask most people under 40 to define the America Dream and you’ll likely hear them mention owning their own business and/or being their own boss. If you dig deeper and ask why so many young people want to pursue entrepreneurship, surprisingly, the first response won’t always be about making more money; in fact, it seldom…
I’ve never wanted to own a donkey. My wife pleaded for one. To settle this argument, we reached a ‘compromised’ the way we typically do. In other words, we now have one, … er’ …make that four adorable miniature donkeys: two males and two females. Donkeys are the most misunderstood – and often the most…
Attention parents! If your kid is still parked on the basement couch this late in the summer playing Fortnite and driving you crazy by whining they can’t find a job, it’s time to change the password on the Wi-Fi and kick ‘em to the curb with a tough-love boot. As the U.S. economy continues its remarkable rebound from the…
Everything I ever needed to know about business, I learned in less than 10 minutes at the age of 16. I was a junior in high school when I ‘accidentally’ signed up for a business course titled “D.E.” I thought I was registering for Driver’s Education, but this class was Distributive Education (aka, DECA, now called…
The global health pandemic has completely upended the world of work. With social distancing restrictions and other health measures in place, many companies have either shifted to hybrid workplaces or completely transitioned to remote working models. Covid has forever changed the workplace culture, pushed digital skills to the forefront, and paved a clear path for…
Brooky, my 13-year-old granddaughter, is smack dab in the middle of middle school. Even if there were no such thing as the Coronavirus, my heart would bleed for her. That’s because I remember my 8th grade year as being the very worst of my life. Too old to be a kid. Too young to do…
Back in 2013 I posted a YouTube video explaining why millennials (teen and young adult workers) hated being paid by the hour. With more than 350K views and a lot of controversial comments, it became apparent that I had struck the nerve that often separates employers and employees. But business owners wanted more – they needed…
Using a low price loss leader item and training front line employees to upsell customers to a higher margin product is a practice that’s been around since Moses played goalie for the Egyptian soccer team. It’s also one of many such tactics that millennial and Gen Z-aged employees despise. Unless they’re being closely monitored by…