When wildfires strike in Australia, detector dogs are employed to sniff out fur and rescue koala bears.  Being that animals are such a critical part of our lives and our happiness, it’s not surprising that offering time off to take care of new pets is the latest twist on paid leave. Fur-ternity or Paw-ternity Leave is the ability for an employee to work from home for a week to welcome new dogs or cats. “This is [...]

It’s no secret that the global  labor market is tight.  What are the top two most in-demand skills?  Oral communication, followed by digital literacy.  Business, management, and leadership round out the top five.  It’s fascinating to me that the top two skills are what they are, as in my opinion, a person could not have more opposing skillsets. Let me explain.  Oral communication is the ability to look someone in the eyes, clearly articulate one’s point [...]

Aurea conducted research with Gartner about employee engagement.  And guess what?  People who are creating a business out of telling you millennials are ‘different’ are wrong.  Like the media, they are creating a divide, so they can step in and ‘help.’ Some key findings of the research include: According to Gartner’s analyst Craig Roth, millennials behave the way they do not because they belong to the particular ‘millennia’ cohort, but because they are ‘young.’ Youngest and oldest workers [...]

The time for compensation decisions is upon us. And although pay does not impact employee engagement – unless an employee is underpaid relative to local market – modern workplaces demand modern pay practices. According to BambooHR, “Business leaders need to utilize their compensation dollars where they’ll have the most impact and inspire the best results.” If a manager understands compensation strategies, how to effectively communicate pay decisions with employees, and how to build a pay-for-performance culture, [...]

I like to share information that helps people, so Kathryn Vasel’s article about what to do when you are cut off in a meeting caught my eye. Why is this an issue? Because if you are constantly being interrupted and don’t regain control, you may not be seen as adding value. A writer at CNN Business, Vasel shares tips to “regain your ground without causing tension.” Don’t assume ill intent. The interrupter doesn’t always have malicious intentions. [...]

According to a Wall Street Journal and NBC News poll, patriotism, religion and having children are not as important to Americans as they were decades ago. The change is driven by Millennials and Gen Zers, who don’t rank those values as high as older generations. Despite the generational gaps, Americans of all ages rank the value working hard higher than everything else. As I read the study, I thought about the importance of corporate values, and an organization [...]