Articles

TASA ID: 22108

COVID-19 has disrupted many areas of our lives, including our careers. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to strengthen and secure your career during these uncertain times.

Due to the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the restaurant industry, one of my coaching clients, Alex, who served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) in a regional chain of 24 diners in the Northeast US, wanted to explore switching her career to a different industry.

Alex turned to me as her executive coach and asked for my guidance. I recommended a 5-step decision-making process to her that addresses the dangerous judgment errors we make called cognitive biases, and coached her through the process to help her make the wisest and most profitable decision.

TASA ID: 22108

Google recently announced its new post-pandemic hybrid work policy, requiring employees work in the office for at least three days a week. That policy goes against the desires of many rank-and-file Google employees. A survey of over 1,000 Google employees showed that two-thirds feel unhappy with being forced to be in the office three days a week, with many threatening to leave in internal meetings and public letters, and some already quitting to go to other companies with more flexible options.

Yet Google’s leadership is defending its requirement of mostly in-office work as necessary to protect the company’s social capital, meaning people’s connections to and trust in each other. In fact, according to the former head of HR at Google Laszlo Brock, three days a week is just a transition period. Google’s leadership intends to enforce full-time, in-office work in the next couple of years. Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt supports this notion, saying that it’s “important that these people be at the office” to get the benefit of on-the-job training for junior team members.

TASA ID: 9075

If you own or operate any kind of work vehicle fleet, whether a truck transport fleet or a non-transport service fleet, you should be aware that liability from rear-end road crashes is among the biggest threats you face.  Road crashes are a looming threat to truck transport companies, including delivery operations.  They also threaten the economic welfare of light vehicle service (e.g., taxi, repair, installation) fleets in metropolitan areas or other regions.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among U.S. workers (NIOSH, 2003, 2015) .  Our target in this discussion is rear-end (RE) crash impacts where the transport/work vehicle is the striking vehicle.  The U.S. DOT Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS) found that about 10% of all serious injury or fatal truck crash involvements were of the RE-striking type (Knipling, 2009).  These crashes may injure truck drivers but they cause much more damage to struck light vehicles and more human harm to their occupants.     

TASA ID: 22108

A January 2022 Slack survey of over 10,000 knowledge workers and their leaders shows that the top concern for executives about hybrid and remote work is “proximity bias.” Namely, 41% feel worried about the negative impact on work culture from the prospect of inequality between office-centric, hybrid, and fully remote employees.

The difference in time spent in the office leads to concerns ranging from decreased career mobility for those who spend less face time with their supervisor to resentment building up against the staff who have the most flexibility in where to work. Leaders who want to seize a competitive advantage in the future of work need to use research-based best practices by creating a culture of “Excellence From Anywhere” to address these concerns. This cultural best practice is based on guidance for leaders at 17 major organizations I helped guide in developing and implementing effective strategies for a work culture fit for the future of work.

TASA ID: 22346

OVERVIEW

Many life insurance policies are underperforming original projections and are forecasted to terminatesooner than anticipated.1 This may come as a surprise to many policyowners since 70% of inforce policies have not been reviewed in the past five years.2 With the extended ultra-low interest rate environment, even policies labeled as “permanent” may be at risk. Advisors can provide value and security to their clients by being aware of this situation and offering assistance in reviewing inforce policies to prevent surprises. Rest assured, life insurance is not rocket science and understanding the basics will take you a long way in helping your clients make sound decisions.