Q: Two of my employees seem to have absolutely no interest in doing a good job. They arrive late, ignore deadlines, and drag out every task to avoid additional work. If I bring this up, they threaten to call in sick and stay out for several days. Because we work for a large retail chain,
This is mainly a guy thing, but it affects women too. They retire, perhaps earlier than expected, and haven’t a clue about how to go about living the rest of their lives. Mickie Schroeder and Jeff Jans took early retirements in April 2008, got married in May 2008 and by September 2008 were sitting
Workers’ constitutionally protected right to free speech is generally checked at the doors of private enterprises. However, when it comes to social media discussions about inflexible schedules, ice-cold break rooms or obscenity-laden rants about mandatory overtime, employees have the right to post, share and like to their hearts content. “According to the National Labor Relations
SEATTLE — Inside a former Northern Trust bank vault in downtown Seattle, there now stand several rows of posh, wooden lockers. Just outside the heavy vault door is a series of curtained booths, a sleek, fully stocked bar and rows of small desks set up to look like a cafe. A blend of restaurant, bar
Q: In the family business where I work, the owner and his son have very different perspectives. The owner is always looking for growth opportunities, while “Stan” tends to focus on maintaining the status quo. Although I have good relationships with both of them, the owner and I tend to think more alike. Whenever I
Denim days are ahead for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. employees. The Bentonville, Ark., company told employees Wednesday that they will be allowed to wear khaki or black denim pants to work starting July 1. Workers with more labor-intensive jobs, such as in the gardening department, will be allowed to wear T-shirts and blue denim. The dress
LOS ANGELES — Moving to the forefront of a national campaign to boost the incomes of low-wage workers, Los Angeles lawmakers voted Wednesday to approve an ordinance hiking the citywide minimum wage to at least $15 an hour by 2020. With the Wednesday action, which requires one more procedural vote by the City Council and
CHICAGO — Every time the Veldman brothers attempted to grow their franchise, Ron Veldman said, a fight with corporate ensued. The franchiser said “no” to expanding the business into cleaning and repairing homes damaged by fire or flood. It said “no” to packing and storing customers’ clothes and furniture. And it said “no” to owning
WASHINGTON — The U.S. is turning to another asset in addition to its strategic oil reserve to help pay for a budget deal: Congress and the Obama administration want to sell federal airwaves after an auction earlier this year set records. The Federal Communications Commission needs to begin an auction of 30 megahertz of airwaves
Who doesn’t dream of their first real job after graduating? Images of lavish break rooms, high-powered suits and corporate ladders often dance in the heads of recent grads, but scaling down those first-job dreams just might be the smartest career move you’ll ever make. If you’re a new grad that’s about to enter the workforce,
Craig Jenkins-Sutton grew up with a love for gardening, but after working for a landscaping service he decided he didn’t want to work for someone else. In 2003 he put an ad in the Chicago Tribune, offering garden design services. After receiving 40 responses, he went into business and started a garden design company. Passing
Many of us, if not all of us, share the desire to reach our full potential and work our way up the business ladder. It is most definitely not ideal to all of us to stay stationary at work and never move our way along to greater success. Success at work counts for a variety
The recession has affected almost every industry, including the financial industry. It’s a smart move to get in a career that has some longevity in our changing future. Here are five careers in finance that have a bright outlook. 1. Risk Management Analyst Risk is a significant word in the financial world. The importance of
If you’re a small business owner, you know one thing is true – once you’ve got your business going and you are on the right way to even bigger success, you cannot afford any mistakes. Investments in your further work are obligatory, if you want to continue the good work. Connections that you make with
Q: Two years ago, our department got a new director who came from another business. “Rick” gradually brought in more employees from his previous company, and they now make up a rather large group. These people all enjoy socializing and often attend parties and ballgames together. After awhile, I began to notice that Rick’s friends
How Income Inequality Affects Us All — And Why Companies Should Care Introduction Recently, we looked at some numbers that suggested the gap between rich and poor in the United States is growing. Then, we considered some possible reasons for this growing inequality. Now, we answer perhaps the most important question: So what? The numbers suggest
How to Successfully Oversee Tough to Manage Workers Some Employees Are Tougher Than Others If you’re a manager or small business owner, we don’t have to tell you how difficult it can be managing employees. Even the best ones can be challenging, but the challenging ones can be damn near impossible at times. However, the
Even the Most Well-Intentioned Managers Commit These Cardinal Sins Are You Guilty Of Any of These? Contrary to popular belief, most managers aren’t ineffective because they’re monsters lording their power over underlings. Most of the time, it’s because they’re making mistakes — just like the rest of us. It’s true that for every mistake you
A Checklist of Attributes to Consider Before Handing Out Pay Bumps Know What to Look For So your employees want a raise? That’s understandable and expected. But do they DESERVE a raise? Too many employees only think about things from their own perspectives. But if you want to determine which ones are truly deserving of
New Survey Finds People Job Search Often & Online It’s All About Social Media…Kind Of Everyone knows by now social media is here to stay, and should be incorporated into how companies do business. And that includes hiring. We surveyed nearly 700 people earlier this year regarding their job search habits. But in addition to
