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Study: Well-being and technology are driving workplace productivity

Scott E. Rupp Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Employee well-being is dependent on several factors, it seems, including workplace productivity, job satisfaction and employee retention. These factors are tied to employee physical health and financial well-being, according to a new survey, entitled "Working Well: A Global Survey of Workforce Wellbeing Strategies." According to the survey, 40 percent of the organizational leaders interviewed said they believe they have created a culture of well-being in 2018 compared to only 33 percent in 2016. Of those who have not achieved such a result, 81 percent said they "aspire to achieve a culture of wellbeing."

Travel2020: Airbnb bets on bedding the business traveler

Lark Gould Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

As more and more road warriors turn to Airbnb for their overnight lodging needs, the company is gaining insights into how business travelers travel: where they go, where they prefer to stay, and what they do when visiting a new city — and how those factors are changing in interesting ways. Traditional business travel hubs like London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles and Sydney are giving way to new corridors of surging growth, especially in Latin America, Asia and Africa, according to the upstart lodging technology company.

Is last month’s manufacturing job increase a trend or a blip?

Michelle R. Matisons Manufacturing

While the glory days of manufacturing jobs are gone, and globalization has fundamentally shifted the production terrain abroad, November’s job numbers show U.S. manufacturing jobs are on the rise. Is this a trend? Since November 2016, manufacturing jobs have increased by 189,000. Generally, 228,000 new jobs appeared in November 2018, with 27,000 in manufacturing. These productive statistics conflict with the tone set two weeks ago when 14,700 GM employees heard they might be relocated or laid off from GM facilities in the U.S. and Canada.

A stock market survival course: Part 3

Patrick Gleeson Business Management, Services & Risk Management

This is the third of a five-article survival course designed to give you essential information you need to succeed as an investor in the stock market. None of it is mere opinion. Everything stated in these articles is backed by the research of well-known economists and published in leading journals of economics and finance. Each article can be read in 10 to 15 minutes. This third article begins outlining the market strategies that will substantially improve your investment results.

Is vertical or horizontal video best for social media ads?

Emma Fitzpatrick Marketing

After Facebook rewrote its algorithm in January, social media marketing plans for the year went out the window. The previous silver bullet for success, video, was no longer prioritized. Instead, live videos, which are more focused on generating engagement as opposed to passive viewership, became Facebook’s new gold standard. But try as they might, many companies struggled as they saw their organic reach continue to drop. That’s been happening for years, but in 2018, Facebook made it clear that this was by design.

Inadequate workplace benefits cause employees to jump ship

Terri Williams Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Employee benefits might be more important than you think. Smart companies are using them to attract and retain talent, and employees indicate that they prefer workplace benefits over a salary increase. A report by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) reveals that by a margin of 4 to 1, American workers favor workplace benefits over an increase in salary. So, why are benefits so important to employees, and which benefits do employees want?

Living the association’s values

Robert C. Harris Association Management

Boards frequently adopt values. Values are the guiding principles that are intended to frame discussions, decisions and events. Often the process of adoption is only a perfunctory step in strategic planning; like updating the mission or adding a vision. Once adopted, the values remain buried in the strategic plan report. They are seldom referenced at board meetings. If you ask a board if it has values, the room may go silent.

U.S. payrolls grow by 155,000 jobs as unemployment holds at 3.7 percent

Seth Sandronsky Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Nonfarm payroll jobs rose 155,000 in November, down from 250,000 in October, while the rate of unemployment remained at 3.7 percent for the third straight month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. In November, the number of jobless workers was 6.0 million workers versus 6.1 million in October. November’s jobs report could be a harbinger of slower growth due to the U.S. and China imposing retaliatory import tariffs. That conflict is on pause now, though existing tariff impacts on businesses and consumers continue.

Overcoming the fear of failure

Dr. David Hillson Business Management, Services & Risk Management

The fear of failure often stops us taking risks, because most of us think of failure as "a bad thing." Reality is more balanced. Accepting the possibility and likelihood of failure gives us freedom to think outside the box, to act unconventionally, to challenge norms and stereotypes, and to be different — which can be very enjoyable! The 10 key characteristics of failure in this article show it includes both negative and positive aspects. Of course, not all of these characteristics are evident in every instance of failure, or they may appear at different times in the same failure.

US, China come to trade truce — for now

Seth Sandronsky Civil & Government

There are signs that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping want to mend if not end a growing trade fight. Businesses in both nations would appear to welcome the 90-day binational trade truce between the nations that began on Dec. 1. "China will agree to purchase a not yet agreed upon, but very substantial, amount of agricultural, energy, industrial, and other product from the United States to reduce the trade imbalance between our two countries," according to a White House statement. This is not a signed agreement, though. In other words, this is no done deal.

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