The Inside Job
-
Few Females Are Among Silicon Valley Celebs
Continue reading… 1 CommentIf you believe what social news gathering site NowPublic has to say, these are the most influential folks in Silicon Valley. I say folks generously. It's mostly men. (You'll find a much better showing among the ladies in last week's list of the most influential people in New York. See Arianna Huffington at No. 2.)
At any rate, here's the top half of the top 50 list for Silicon Valley, as measured by online visibility, presence on Web 2.0 sites, interactivity and accessibility, and presence on microblogging platforms like Twitter:
-
Office Bullies Aren't Always Screamers
Continue reading… 0 CommentsIt's easy to point out the screamers and the ragers as the bullies of the office. But some of the worst colleagues are calm, quiet, and incredibly selfish. Over at HR Capitalist, blogger Kris Dunn has pointed out this piece of workplace wisdom. Dunn calls them "information hoarders." You cross your fingers you won't need their help, because they're not interested in collaboration or support. They don't share. They make your job harder.
The problem with these sorts of colleagues, however, is that they're hard to confront and difficult to complain about. Adult tantrums and rages are easy to point out to a boss. Stealth selfishness is harder. Saying something like "Joe is so not a team player" may ring catty and, by the way, is lovely corporate-speak.
If it's just one colleague who operates like this, you can probably survive. If your office is populated with these kinds of people, and you're not one of them, I think you may need to find a new office.
-
For Every Generation, the Threat of ‘Lazy Teens’
Continue reading… 0 Comments"Lazy teens!" That's the headline on this morning's Examiner. Apparently Washington, D.C., area teens are bereft of summer job opportunities and they don't really mind. Urban teens are losing out to immigrants and suburban teens are seeing their opportunities swallowed by retirees. Instead of fighting the trend, today's teens are reportedly kicking back, firing up the Xbox, or watching movie matinees—and happily freeloading off their parents.
But folks, this is nothing new. Despite these bad tidings, the threat of aimless teens has been around for a long time.
-
You Haven't Changed Since Childhood
Continue reading… 0 Comments"If I knew you in the schoolyard versus knowing you now, what's changed?"
Trainer and speaker Marcus Buckingham asked this of a woman in an Oprah workshop posted to the show's site. Most of us would have a variety of answers to this. I'd probably say that I'm less bossy, more sensitive, a bit less brave, and more aware.
-
Who Really Pays for Paid Sick Leave?
Continue reading… 1 CommentAnxiety over the financial repercussions of taking a sick day had 50 percent of Ohioans heading to work when they should have stayed home in this past year, according to a new survey.
The poll, conducted by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health, found the chief reasons employees in swing states Ohio and Florida were not taking sick days were because those days weren't paid or because they felt pressure from their employer to show up.
-
Star Employees Aren't Safe From Layoffs
Continue reading… 1 CommentLast night, I was cleaning house while listening to a rerun of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and looked over long enough to catch sight of a preproduction Ford Flex given to the family.
For all the hype, however, the car's designer reportedly couldn't escape a round of layoffs at the struggling U.S. carmaker.
-
You Do Not Need an Internship to Succeed
Continue reading… 4 CommentsThere's been quite a bit of lamenting lately about the import placed on internship experience.
This needs some clarifying:
You don't actually need to have a fancy internship on your résumé. Really. You need something that gets a hiring manager's attention. That's what internships do—they open doors and allow you to put great corporate or creative names on your résumé—and they ultimately get you attention.
-
CEOs Must Demand Raises—the Market Depends on It
Continue reading… 3 CommentsIf you get steamed about CEO compensation, then you'll love Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, who has been winning major kudos in the British press for turning down a salary increase earlier this year.
The BOE's annual report said a review committee determined King was entitled to a raise of about a third—from 290,000 pounds (about $575,000) to as much as 400,000 (about $794,000). But King has previously "called for wage restraint to keep a lid on inflation," the Guardian reports, and so found it appropriate to refuse the increase and remain at his current salary.
-
Minimum Wage Deals a Blow to Teen Training
Continue reading… 2 CommentsThe federal minimum wage rose 70 cents today to $6.55 an hour. It will rise again next year to $7.25. The move has its fair share of detractors who argue against government price-setting.
Business owners who pay minimum wage to train teenagers in their first jobs often find the increases frustrating, as it makes the training more expensive, and the teenagers aren't bearing major financial burdens.
-
It's the Cubicle's 40th Birthday
Continue reading… 0 CommentsThe cubicle was born 40 years ago this month. In 1968, it was not called a cubicle, but an "Action Office," invented by Herman Miller executive Robert Propst. (Hat tip to the Kansas City Star.)
From the Herman Miller website:
The Action Office system was the world's first open-plan office system of reconfigurable components and a bold departure from the era's fixed assumptions of what office furniture should be. With the Action Office system, Propst assailed traditional, complacent office design with a concept that fit the way people really work. Wildly successful, the Action Office system transformed the workplace, as well as Herman Miller and the entire furniture industry, which scrambled to copy it.
