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What to Do When Government Officials Unexpectedly Show Up

by James P. Gillece, Jr. As an employer, you may have already experienced the discomfort of having the “Men in Black” — i.e., agents or investigators from a government agency — appear on your doorstep. With increased enforcement efforts by various federal and state agencies, the likelihood that you’ll be visited by regulators isn’t an […]

emotional

How Emotional Intelligence Can Help You Get Work Done

There’s a paradox when it comes to emotional intelligence: Those who lack it rarely see the value in attempting to get better at it. It’s dismissed as an unimportant “soft skill,” and the conversation moves on. However, to be successful in a professional setting, the tenets of emotional intelligence, or emotional quotient (EQ), are too […]

The Constant Battle of Collaboration vs. Control

Oswald, who is CEO of BLR, offered his thoughts on collaboration and control in a recent edition of The Oswald Letter. The definition of control is, “the power to influence or direct people’s behavior or the course of events.” Think about those words for a minute. Let’s start with the first four words of the […]

skills

Etiquette and Language Skills for Global Business

The ability to conduct business globally at all levels of an organization creates many opportunities, but it isn’t without its challenges and risks. With the rise in remote work and new technologies, brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, businesses are realizing that the opportunity to go global is rapidly increasing.

Encouraging PTO to Avoid Burnout in 2023

In today’s workplace, work-life balance, flexibility, psychological safety, and advocacy for mental health and well-being are all signs of a positive culture. With employee burnout at a record high, organizations are looking for new ways to keep their employees productive, happy, and stress-free. Fortunately, organizations already a tool they can utilize: paid time off (PTO). […]

Mental Disengagement’s Surprising Benefits

Disruptions in the environment around us, while unpleasant at best and heartbreaking at worst, can sometimes contribute to positive improvements in the working culture. One such shift can be seen in businesses that are discussing and implementing psychological safety measures. Organizational researchers first coined the phrase psychological safety in the 1960s, and it has since […]

401(k) Fiduciary? Personal Liability If You Get It Wrong

Changes to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) mean that sponsors of 401(k)s and other retirement plans have new responsibilities. If you are a fiduciary, and you get it wrong, your own assets could be at risk. The changes, which take effect July 1, 2012, are big. As a plan sponsor, you […]

Top 10 Noncompete Law Developments of the Past Year

Lawmakers and courts continued to demonstrate hostility toward noncompete and no-hire agreements in 2021. The activity underscores employers’ need to stay current on the diverse state-specific limitations governing restrictive covenants, new federal activity in the area, and ongoing case law developments.