In this day and age of hyper connectivity and changing values, it’s a wonder that many of us still work in an office during a fixed window of hours. Of course, for airports, hospitals, shipping companies, retail stores and many other organizations to run efficiently, they need to have strict schedules and their workforce has to be there or bad things can happen. But what … [More]
The ‘Boys Club’ Needs to Include Girls
Whether it’s Hollywood movie studios and their paucity of female directors, the tech industry and its alarming exodus of frustrated women, or the stifling male fraternity culture that dominates Wall Street, women continue to be marginalized in the business world. The vast majority of CEOs responding to a McKinsey survey noted that hiring females is essential to “getting the … [More]
To Telecommute or Not to Telecommute?
Today’s workforce is changing. More than 80 percent of employees consider telecommuting a job perk, and 36 percent would sacrifice salary for the option of telecommuting at work, according to a survey conducted by Global Workplace Analytics. This begs the question: Should employers provide telecommuting options? The increased demand and employee popularity of telecommuting in … [More]
Business in Real Time
We humans are amazing. It has taken about seven decades of cooperative technological endeavour to bring robots even close to the skill of a human being walking on rough ground — something that tiny babies can master in a month or two. We can achieve this because our senses provide continuous feedback from every movement and adjustment. If that baby had to go through all the … [More]
Humility Is the New Key to Success
Not so long ago, our culture really (really) admired people with big egos. We called them rugged individualists, fearless leaders, MVPs, visionaries and go-getters. We respected these confident and successful folks for (seemingly) having all the answers. They were all too happy to stand their ground and argue their point, and we saw this as a sign of strength and … [More]
What Is Fair Competition in the War for Talent?
In today’s hyper-competitive global economy, talent is often your most valuable weapon. If you’re like most business leaders, you’re not above engaging in a little employee-poaching to improve your position. After all, if you can entice an MVP from another company to enlist in your ranks, you’ll deprive the competition of a key asset while taking immediate advantage of your new … [More]
Luxury Market Trending Flat
In Arizona, real estate is a sector that can both be a barometer to our local economy and react to what is happening on the economic scene nationally. The luxury market has proven to be a tested barometer over time, and the recent statistics demonstrate that economic influence can have an effect. We worked with Walt Danley Realty and The Cromford Report to provide data of the … [More]
Manage Energy, Not Engagement
After 20 years of trying to get it right, few organizations truly understand employee engagement or have failed to see its improvement in their company. And yet, there are organizations that have increased engagement — but find their employees are drained and depleted. What causes this “engagement paradox”? It’s simple. Managing engagement turns out to be just another drain … [More]
Criminals Have a Plan to Steal Your Money. What’s Your Plan to Keep It?
Cyber criminals have become more sophisticated than ever. Thwarting cyber thieves begins with awareness and education — for business owners and everyone in their organization. Common Scams and Ways to Defeat Them “Our bank account was compromised … please wire your payments here, instead.” A trusted vendor sends an email with new wire instructions, claiming that their bank … [More]
Disruptive Innovation: The Quintessential David and Goliath Story
Disruptive innovation can be deliberately engineered, but the term “disruptive” is a relative concept. As we apply it to business, the same product can be disruptive if produced by one vendor, while from another, it can be sustaining. Depending on the alternatives it’s being compared to, it can be either disruptive or sustaining, and sometimes both at the same time. The … [More]
Founding Collaborative Intelligence & Innovation on ‘Purpose’
A new intelligence is required in workplaces today. It’s collaborative intelligence, or, as we prefer to call it, We-Q™. We-Q is not how smart or emotionally developed we are as individuals; rather, it is how intelligent we are mentally, emotionally and socially as a collective — and it is a crucial skill for all kinds of business in the digital age. The reality of this … [More]
Counsel for Business
An attorney is an important asset to a business at every stage, whether it is just beginning or has been running for many years. A lawyer’s expertise can help a business that is starting up with everything from employee agreements to exit strategies; if there is a product involved, a lawyer can help secure a patent or protect intellectual property. No small role is just having … [More]
Got Tech? Got the Right Tech?
What exactly is productivity? In professional terms, productivity often means, well … more. But, more what? In a literal sense, productivity is the rate of output per a unit of input — essentially, the amount of work that can be completed given an amount of time or money. This makes sense in simplified scenarios; for example if one employee is able to send six emails per hour, … [More]
Finance: Employee Wellness Benefit
Financial wellness is increasingly a concern of employers for their employees. “There’s almost universal awareness now that financial problems affect business,” says Mike Sullivan, director of education with Take Charge America, explaining that people do not attend to business as well as they would if they didn’t have financial problems on their mind. “So businesses need to … [More]
Customer Loyalty: Gauge It as a Growth Predictor
Sure, your company has satisfied customers. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be in business (at least not for long). But here’s a question few companies ask: How loyal are they? Will they recommend your products and services to others? Will they stick with you through thick and thin? Or will they run at the first sign of a price increase or some other change that rubs them the wrong … [More]
Are We Busy or Are We Productive?
The “new normal” seems to be that we are overwhelmed and don’t know where our time has gone at the end of the day. We are connected and “on” almost twenty-four hours a day. We are very busy, so much so that “busy” has become a badge of honor in this century. We often feel that if we are not busy, we may be seen as not working hard enough. But the real question is, are we … [More]
Mixing the Perfect Sales Cocktail
Sales can be complicated! Even career sales professionals find being a good salesperson can be frustrating and complex. Different factors contribute to sales complexity: being able to find the right lucrative opportunity, having access to the right resources, selling the right product or service that appeals to businesses and consumers, developing effective lead generating … [More]
Venturing in Today’s Age of the Entrepreneur
Now is the age of the entrepreneur, and today’s entrepreneur operates in a sphere where changes follow each other in rapid succession. In the coming years, the interests of the consumer will once again become a focal point in business. Entrepreneurs are advised to seek a personal relationship with their clients by taking account of their individual needs and desires. Social … [More]
