News & Tips
Why Requiring a Resume is Ruining Your Chance at Finding a Good Hire During the Pandemic
Your most savvy job hunters may not include newly developed soft skills or evidence of “micro-learning” on the typical one-pager of work experience. By September this year, 1 in 3 Americans no longer worked for the same employer they started with at the beginning of 2020. Job markets are shifting...
Leaders: Here’s Where You Should Tap the Brakes to Move Faster
Few argue over the need for speed when responding and adapting to crisis and rapidly changing circumstances. For a few decades now, adapting to the rate of change has been the mantra in business writing and strategic thinking. McKinsey's landmark research, captured in the book "Beyond...
Less is More: Communication Tips for Maximum Impact
In this era of communication at our fingertips, social media with limited characters, and short, 80,000-word books, it’s imperative to make a point quickly, succinctly and with maximum impact. Our “lizard” brains are impatient: if we don’t capture another’s attention within a short period of time,...
Three Classic Negotiating Mistakes
Recently I was teaching a class on negotiation for salespeople. I set up a buyer–seller role play scenario and I asked two participants to work through the scenario in front of the rest of the class. Both were provided with the pertinent information they needed to secure a good deal; all they had...
Wave of Federal Lawsuits Slam Furnishers for “Inaccurate” Credit Reporting of Accounts in Bankruptcy
Consumer attorneys are manufacturing the recent surge of Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) lawsuits nationwide against creditors and debt collectors that credit report on accounts included in a consumer’s bankruptcy. Cases in this latest wave of consumer lawsuits typically assert that prior...
Virtual Background Do’s and Don’ts
With typically in-person meetings largely online these days, it can be difficult to set the stage for a successful meeting. While you can create an ambiance with lighting, music, staging, etc. in person, can that be replicated online? Is a virtual background tacky or useful? We believe that, if...
Divides Over Training, Support Lead to ‘Trust Gap’, IBM Report Says
Dive Brief: Executives recognize the pressures employees face as companies move through digital transformations, but many overestimate their offerings to employees in areas such as training, support and job expectations, according to a Sept. 30 IBM Institute for Business Value report. In data...
What’s Wrong With Filler Words, Exactly?
Are, like, filler or weasel words, you know, on the rise? What do the following words have in common: basically, really, actually, totally, exactly, very, highly, just, like, you know, uh, um, I mean, like I said, OK, so, well, right?, and stuff, literally? They’re all filler or weasel words –...
4 Ways to Improve Virtual Onboarding for New Hires
Deprioritizing the onboarding process can have serious long-term effects on employee retention and engagement, so you have to get it right. Onboarding has always been a critical part of the hiring process. Yet it’s also a part of the hiring process that all too often falls to the wayside once new...