One of the most surprising aftereffects of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic is that while unemployment is high, it’s still tough to get open positions full. In part, that’s because the crisis revealed weaknesses in systems we rely on, including healthcare, schools, employment, infrastructure. As a result, employees are questioning several aspects of their work lives…. Read more »
By Jodi Wellhoefer It’s that time of year again: time for companies to examine their current employee benefits and consider their options for increasing value – preferably without increasing cost. This year, such decisions are further complicated (and made more challenging) by a global pandemic. Unsurprisingly, many companies are focusing on tools to help employees… Read more »
This is a guest post by Linda Brenner, managing director and founder at Talent Growth Advisors. In the last few years, McKinsey, Corporate Executive Board, PwC and others have concluded that HR still has “far to go” until it reaches the status of a true business enabler. While the tone of these studies might be… Read more »
This is a guest post by Richard Fagerlin. My wife and I have four boys: Christian, Preston, Jackson, and Lincoln. When they were little, the street in front of our house was completely off-limits. The risk was too great. But if they were still afraid to cross the street as thirteen-year-olds, or twenty-year-olds, we’d have… Read more »
By Kevin Eikenberry The events of the past few days have been emotional for everyone. A glance at the news will leave you horrified, hurt, angry, sad, or one of many other emotions. I am not qualified to offer solutions to the anger, protests, and violence. Rather, I write to you as a fellow leader… Read more »
By Kevin Eikenberry You are living a long-proven principle: you learn much about your team or organizational culture in times of crisis. The move to remote work may have exposed some cracks in your culture and may have highlighted some strengths, too. This new time of crisis and the remote work that goes with it… Read more »
By Davidson French and Lymari Martinez Cromwell As the U.S. economy reopens in the coming weeks and months, employers are faced with the challenge of bringing employees back to work to a workplace that is drastically different from the one that existed just weeks ago. While states and cities will have unique requirements and conditions… Read more »
By Steven Alvarado Webster’s defines xenophobia as “fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign.” The history of pandemic infectious disease outbreaks usually leads to unwarranted attacks on a certain group of people for its origin. Two recent pandemics highlight this issue: H1N1 (or the “Swine Flu”) and… Read more »
By Claire Hastell How do you keep remote employees engaged? It’s a question on the minds of many leaders as COVID-19 forces companies to adapt to new ways of working. While it’s absolutely possible for companies to learn how to telecommute effectively, it doesn’t happen automatically. Shifting from a physical shared workspace to a collection… Read more »
On March 27, 2020, President Donald Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) into law. The CARES Act is the most expansive economic stimulus package in American history. The Act follows the passage of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) and acts as its counterpart in many ways. This… Read more »