Dickens may have penned A Christmas Carol back in 1843, but the ghost of bad management is still haunting workplaces in 2013. Nowhere is this more prevalent and on display than in industries that boom in Q4 (i.e. retailing, food service, hospitality, transportation, entertainment, etc.) The make-or-break pressures of managing a business during the holidays can…
The unemployment/underemployment problem facing millennials predates the great recession. It goes back to the early programming they received from their parents when the economy was booming in the early 2000’s. And parents haven’t let up. “Follow your dreams.” “Find your passion.” “You’ve got to love what you do.” Dreams? Passion? Love? Sounds more like the…
With roots steeped rich in Celtic, Roman Catholic, and Protestant tradition, the annual Trick‑or‑Treat ritual that takes place this week can be traced back centuries. Originally, children would adorn hand‑made ceremonial costumes and go door‑to‑door singing out “a trick for a treat!” Then they’d entertain their neighbors with carefully rehearsed songs, skits, and dances. If…
You invested a lot of time, energy, and money bringing on that new employee. They show up on that first day ready for your orientation doing their best to disguise their nervous anxiety. Feeling a bit anxious yourself, you want to get them up and running as quickly as possible so as to maximize your…
DISCLOSURE: This isn’t a commercial endorsement, although it may sound like one. Consider me a raving fan. I hold great respect for my speaker/author colleagues who are academics by trade. Those who have gone to great lengths to research current trends, have unearthed actionable methodologies and strategies, and who provide compelling statistics to make valid…
My daughter and her husband have a handsome 2 yr. old Boxer. Titus is 70 pounds of energy, love, and affection. And man, he is a handful! He chews, digs, barks…and when she’s walking him, Titus pulls my 105-pound daughter like an eighteen wheeler with an empty load. Whitney did a lot of research to…
My last day of teaching high school and coaching football was June 3, 1986. Due to declining enrollment of the school district where I was employed, my position was being eliminated. I didn’t know it at the time, but looking back, I think I escaped just before the Apocalypse. Back then, I never feared parental…
Ever have a job where you felt picked-on, intimidated, harassed, and micro-managed by a tyrant boss? Most of us can recall working for a real jerk at some point in our job history, most likely when we were just entering the workplace and at the bottom of the totem pole. And maybe the way you…
Q. What’s the simplest way to pay an employee? A. Wage per hour. Simply multiply the number of hours worked by the agreed upon hourly wage, subtract taxes, and presto – a paycheck! Hourly compensation has been a staple of the free enterprise system since Rosie fastened her first rivet. And like they always say,…
A close friend of my wife invited us to a celebration of her daughter’s high school graduation. Jenna’s a great kid who did very well in school and was involved in several extra-curricular activities. But at 18, she’s never had a real job. She applied at several boutiques in the mall but never made it…