This time five years ago, my business partner Vicki Pero and I were about to open the doors to the Marlyn Group, having spent the better part of the year preparing to go on our own and quite convinced we had most of it figured out.  As anyone who has established his/her own company knows, it’s humbling to learn what you didn’t know you didn’t know!

My business partner, Colleen Niese, recently delivered an education session at the Women In Parking Annual Conference, and I was reminded of an exchange we had about this presentation when she first developed it a few years ago.  The program includes an exercise that is a bit risky in terms of how it will be received by the audience, and when she first developed it, she was concerned that it might upset members of the audience.  Every time she has delivered this program, not only has the WTF exercise been well received, it has been the most memorable part of the session for most participants and likely the catalyst for change for many of them. 

In attending this year’s Women In Parking Annual Conference, during the roundtable, Gary Neff, CEO of Park Assist commented on his hiring principles, specifically sharing he isn’t so focused on hiring to literally ensure gender balance, rather he evaluates primarily based on each candidate’s background, skill set and cultural fit.  Mr. Neff touched on a cornerstone of gender diversity with his insight, namely hiring on talent vs. comfort.

If you spend any time on LinkedIn or read business publications and trade journals, you’re likely to be inundated with information regarding millennials in the workplace. Topics range from how do we recruit and retain them to scrutinizing how they interact with other generations in the workplace and everything in between.

Well! It’s that time of year again: the vacations are winding down, kids are back in school and there’s basically two and a half months left in the year to complete the current year’s company goals, given it’ll be difficult to implement corporate initiatives once the holiday season is upon us.  If your strategic goals became a bit neglected over the summer months, try these tips to jump start and finish them up before the Thanksgiving Day parade.

Unless you’ve been fortunate enough to take a year long hiatus from the corporate world, you’re likely aware of the upcoming FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) changes that affect Exempt vs. Non Exempt classifications going live this coming December 1st.