In 1983, the year that Chevy Chase loaded his movie family into the Griswold’s station wagon in National Lampoon’s Vacation, Americans took an average of 20 vacation days. Now, the youngest member of the Griswold family is back on the big screen in 2015, this time taking his own family on a vacation. If Americans’
“You’re fired!” What you need to know about firing a client In the early stages most independent contractors and businesses encounter a learning curve when it comes to client procurement and business practices. They may need to find their footing in terms of understanding their own interests and strengths. Over time they start to understand
How to increase prices and retain customers Companies raise prices all the time. There are various reasons, explanations, and results. Sometimes companies disclose the changes, but sometimes customers and clients never even catch wind of a change. Let’s have a look at the causes, the perception, and the actions to take. Why? Usually there’s an
When it comes to hiring it is important to get it right. This is especially true for small businesses. This is not only because of the significant financial implications of a bad hire, but also because, as Jeff Haden points out, “When employee No. 300 turns out to be a disaster, the impact on
The inability to delegate effectively is a principal reason why executives fail. According to London Business School Professor John Hunt, only 30% of managers think that they are able to delegate well. Among these individuals only one-third are considered to be good delegators by their subordinates. For many managers there is a fear of delegation
You might be surprised to find currently untapped financial gains just by putting employee happiness at the top of your priority list. The way we work has fundamentally changed. There’s no doubt it is still evolving, but what we know about the way we work is that it can no longer be summed up by
As much as 80 percent of employee turnover is due to bad hiring decisions, which doesn’t fare well for a company since a poor hiring choice can cost from 1.5x to 3.5x of that person’s annual salary. Consider an employee who earns $50,000 a year. If that person is a bad hire it could cost
There are times when change is good. There are also times when change is bad for business. The phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is often attributed to Thomas Bertram Lance, businessman and Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Jimmy Carter. He was quoted in the May 1977 issue
Don’t start the year without asking these 4 essential questions. Well, another year has come and gone. Out with the old, in with the new, right? Wait, not so fast. Don’t overlook the valuable information you can glean from conducting a year end review. Use these four questions as a guide to thoughtfully assess the
Most teams are able to fairly easily decipher what needs to be done. However, when it comes to the how, new or weak teams fall flat. Here is how you can optimize your team for success. Define roles Clearly define roles and make sure every team member understands not only their role, but the roles
Look across business, sports, entertainment, and the military, and identify the top performers. Next, take a step back at look at the characteristics of these individuals. What you will find is that there are at least three elements that they all have. They know how to maximize through self-knowledge. Top performers have intimate self-knowledge. They know themselves
Want to advance? Stop whining. Whining won’t get you to the top. Whining. Just writing the word makes me cringe. Whining is a truly unattractive characteristic. It is unattractive in children and it is even more unattractive when adults partake. One of the reasons why whining is just so unattractive is that it is ineffective
