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Survey: Skills shortage forces 31% of organizations to prioritize investment…

Terri Williams Business Management, Services & Risk Management

The pandemic has forced many organizations to reconsider their projects for the rest of the year — and beyond. While a lot of plans have been put on hold, some companies have elevated IT training to a priority project. According to the 2020 Netwrix IT Trends Report, 38% of CIOs and IT directors now plan to invest in the education of IT staff, compared to 20% who had it on their top five list before the pandemic. We asked Ilia Sotnikov, VP of product management at Netwrix, to discuss this and some of the other IT trends revealed in the report.

The gold standard in policies

Robert C. Harris Association Management

Policies are the wisdom of prior boards, adopted as motions and recorded in the minutes, to guide actions and decisions of the current and future boards. They frequently interpret broad sections of the bylaws, which purposely lack detail. For example, the bylaws may require a periodic financial audit. A policy will specify frequency, type of audit, and the hiring of a CPA. It is easier to adopt, amend or repeal a policy than the bylaws, which usually require as approval process by the membership. Associations rely on 25 to 50 policies.

Clear as muck: When the only thing that’s certain is more uncertainty

Linda Popky Business Management, Services & Risk Management

As we get to the end of what’s been a long and challenging year for most of the world, we can all look forward to … who knows? We are just under a month away from a presidential election that may or may not have a clear winner on election night. We’re expecting an effective vaccine to protect us from the virus in the next month or two — or maybe the next year, or maybe not at all. Virtually none of this is clear. Yet, we need to continue to move forward, run our businesses, support our customers, take care of our families. How do you maintain a sense of balance when nothing is certain? Here are a few suggestions.

US payrolls add 661,000 jobs; unemployment rate falls to 7.9%

Seth Sandronsky Business Management, Services & Risk Management

American employers created 661,000 nonfarm jobs in September after hiring 1.4 million workers in August, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. September’s jobless rate dropped to 7.9% from 8.4% in August. The jobs numbers reflect in part the easing of social restrictions and reopening of businesses to stem the spread of COVID-19. However, government employment, mainly in public education at the state and local levels, dropped in September from August.

Tips for interrupting unconscious bias

Michelle Silverthorn Business Management, Services & Risk Management

"Why do you brush your teeth?" When I ask that in my unconscious bias trainings, people give me a very strange look. Because you want healthy teeth and fresh breath, obviously. Except, for millennia, humans were perfectly happy without either. So what changed? Advertising. Marketing. Pepsodent, especially. They made you want to brush your teeth. They made you desire that clean feeling. They made it into a habit. A habit is changed behavior. And making people want to do something is how we always think habits should form.

Drug use rises among US workers amidst the pandemic

Grace Ferguson Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Lockdowns, social distancing, layoffs, and uncertainty about the future are well-documented effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Research also shows higher rates of substance use and misuse. A May 2020 report by Well Being Trust and The Robert Graham Center says, "The growing epidemic of ‘deaths of despair’ is increasing due to the pandemic — as many as 75,000 more people will die from drug or alcohol misuse and suicide."

Report: 39% of contractors say it’s business as usual during COVID-19

Justin Gitelman Construction & Building Materials

According to a new Construction Payment Report from Levelset, more than 1 in 3 contractors say they have yet to change any of their business practices in response to COVID-19. The report is based on a Levelset survey of more than 600 construction professionals, conducted in August 2020. In the months following its initial outbreak, the coronavirus pandemic upended the construction industry across the country, shutting down or delaying projects. Even where construction was considered an essential service, contractors faced financial strain from stalled funding and slow payments.

Study: How ‘empathy lens’ marketing can increase your brand’s…

Lisa Mulcahy Marketing

As a marketer, you know the importance of brand outreach. Yet, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more important than ever for your customers to respect and identify with the "faces" representing your products and services. You want your customers to like the point people they deal with initially and bond with them on a fundamental level. How can you most effectively achieve this goal? A recent study published in the Journal of Marketing may hold the key.

Why there’s no such thing as instant coffee

Hank Boyer Business Management, Services & Risk Management

You and I have been born into an accelerating world. Travel that took a week by horseback two centuries ago is now competed in a few hours in the air-conditioned comfort of your car. A little more than 10 years ago, the two-hour meeting you had in the next time zone that required flights and overnights is now completed in two hours, plus 2 minutes for the set up and tear down of a video call. We've become so used to speed that we actually believe there is something called instant coffee.

Avoiding the cardinal sin of communication

Linda Popky Marketing

We all have opinions about the communications we receive from businesses and associations. In some cases, we get too much material too often; in others, not enough. Some pieces are too generic; some too detailed. But there’s one thing that’s guaranteed to turn off your customers and prospects: being too boring. How do you avoid turning off your target audience with your communications? Here are a few suggestions.

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