I’m not easily surprised, but I am when I see something like this: According to The Wall Street Journal, companies are now turning to robots to train and coach young managers. *Insert your bad manager joke here* According to The Journal, the training comes in the form of a bot, “a manager-training app powered by the artificial intelligence of IBM …
I learned long ago that you should always be ready to take good advice — no matter where it comes from. This month, it came from a guy named Michael Dermer who touts himself in his blog and newsletter as The Lonely Entrepreneur. His words of wisdom were short, sweet, and spot-on. He said: “Turn off at a respectable time, …
Count me as a big fan of college internships. I’ve told this story before, but I trace my long career as a journalist and media executive back to my college internship on the Metro Desk of the Los Angeles Times. I got class credit instead of pay, but that wasn’t the point. I wanted a chance to write something that …
It drives me crazy when I hear people touting “unlimited” PTO. That’s because “unlimited” time off is really just one big fairy tale. I know, I know; that sounds harsh, because there are a number of companies that will defend “unlimited” PTO to the death, and on the surface, it sounds like a good idea. But what often gets lost …
Here’s a workplace truism that’s hard to dispute: Good people frequently get fired. Steve Jobs got fired from Apple, eventually returning to build it into the highly profitable, trend-setting company that it is today. Oprah Winfrey, Walt Disney, and Harry Potter author JK Rowling all got fired too. Pointing out all the famous people who once were “involuntarily terminated” is …
I learned long ago that user-generated ratings — whether they be on Amazon, Yelp, TripAdvisor, or anywhere else — are easily manipulated and should be taken with a grain of salt. So, is anyone really surprised that Glassdoor ratings get manipulated too? The Wall Street Journal recently published an in-depth look at how some companies have figured out how to …
Who says there’s no such thing as “fake” news? This goes through my head whenever I read about how the “ghosting” trend (people skipping job interviews, failing to show up when they get hired, or bailing from a new job with no warning) is disrupting recruiting and hiring, because the more I hear about it, the more I’m convinced that ghosting is …
I’ve never met my Fistful of Talent colleague Rachel Bitte, but her recent post on the big changes recruiters had to make (2018 Was the Tipping Point For Recruiting) to deal with “the current job market reality,” tells me she knows her way around a recruiting department. I’m also sure her insights are spot on for recruiters and hiring managers …
The more holiday seasons I work, the more I feel like Clark Griswold. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, the character certainly will. It’s the role Chevy Chase played numerous times, but most memorably in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. A major plot point was how Clark was anxiously waiting to hear how large his Christmas Bonus was going to …
I’m a sucker for anything that tries to answer a question that I almost never hear anyone ask, much less answer: How can you be a good boss? Notice that I say anything that “tries” to answer because I usually find that most advice on how to better manage people usually goes one of two ways — it’s either very …
