Operations

WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE FIND SMARTPHONE USE DURING MEETINGS INAPPROPRIATE? Dr. Travis Bradberry New research from USC’s Marshall School of Business explains what your colleagues are thinking when you use your phone during a meeting and why this practice might keep you from getting a promotion. You are annoying your boss and colleagues any time you take your phone ...

Beth Carroll | Prosperio Group Companies often struggle with the question of timing for making changes to their compensation plans. Some never change, while others change far too often. So, how do you know when it is the right time to change? For starters, your compensation plan is not a “fix it and forget it” part of your business. If ...

Gary Pittsford | Castle Wealth Advisors, LLC Most owners of closely held businesses are able to fill up every day working in the business – doing paperwork, helping customers, and anything else necessary to keep the company running. Unfortunately there are still many tasks that do not get touched. Have you ever considered how many days last year you worked ...

HOW RETIRED EMPLOYEES CAN HELP COUNTER TALENT SHORTAGES Amy Marcum | Insperity Unemployment rates remain at historic lows, which is widely considered good news. However, many employers are struggling to find skilled workers for open positions. Retired employees returning to the workplace can offer a relief from these struggles, and provide various benefits to an organization. Many consider retirement a ...

Stephanie Mansfield | Transportation Intermediaries Association Mentoring can be a magic act. To motivate others is less about teaching or coaching than building trust and instilling self-worth. An experienced mentor presents a ladder toward success and gives others the inspiration to ascend. No self-help book can compare to an effective mentor, and nowhere is mentoring more important than in the ...

Henry Hutcheson | Family Business USA Succession planning is the most important change a family business will undergo. Trying to pass the family business from one generation to the next is fraught with risk. Who will run the business? How will the current generation phase out? Can the next generation work well together? Successful family businesses are those that recognize ...

Beth Carroll | PROSPERIO GROUP It may come as a surprise that managers do not have complete freedom when it comes to how they pay their employees. Most everyone knows you must pay minimum wage for most positions, and now we are all more familiar with the overtime rules of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) than we ever wanted ...

Amy Marcum | Insperity Often, the development of new technology, including cell phones and other advancements that allow for remote access to work, come with the promise of increased efficiency and reduced time demands. In many ways, the opposite has occurred. All of this increased accessibility has resulted in blurred boundaries between work and personal time leaving some employees feeling ...

Beth Carroll | Prosperio Group There are many different ways to compensate and reward employees: commissions, goal-based incentives, bounties, MBOs, time-off, pizza parties, etc. In some organizations a pure commission model works the best, whereas in others a goal-based incentive model works best. What makes the difference? How can one be “right” for one organization and another right for a ...