sutton030

" Employers should give tests that measure flexibility, balance, coordination, and other forms of movement quality ." More than 28 percent of Americans today work in physically taxing jobs such as law enforcement, firefighting, construction, maintenance, or the military, so fitness screening is an increasingly important part of the hiring process. However, physical ability tests are also highly litigious because most male applicants are physically stronger than women. This fact leads to physical ability tests being the third highest cause of workplace discrimination suits in Federal courts.  And who, really wants to be sued in Federal court. It turns out that physical fitness tests that focus on sheer strength and endurance may not be the most accurate ways to determine is qualified for a physically demanding job, and may also increase your  likelihood of a gender discrimination lawsuit from female applicants, according to new research from the Univers...

" We're more influenced by attractiveness than we are willing to admit ." High school.  Both the high point and low point experience of growing up. Why?  Because every school has an in-crowd and an out-crowd, with the outs often the butt of jokes, teasing and downright mean treatment.  Do we grow out of it? Apparently not, according to new research by Timothy Judge, professor of management at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business, and Brent Scott of Michigan State University. In the article "Beauty, Personality, and Affect as Antecedents of Counterproductive Work Behavior Receipt," recently published in the scientific journal, Human Performance, the researchers examine how physical attractiveness plays as much of a role as personality in how a person is treated in the workplace. According to Judge, "Unattractive individuals are more likely the subject of rude, uncivil and even cruel treatment by their coworkers. And, not only do we,...

The spread of some very nasty viruses seems to be constantly in the news, with the possibility of catching illnesses such as the Novel Corona Virus or the latest IH7N9  Influenza currently spreading in S.E. Asia becoming more likely. This probably seems obvious, but this study is the first to really examine how these illnesses and others can be spread through routine social contacts - such as working in retail sales or as a food server.  Having just recovered from my second head cold in two months, I thought passing along this study to be appropriate.  Here's the jist: Most people have an average of around 26 social contact hours a day but a small number have up to 50 contact hours a day since people can spend time with more than one individual simultaneously. “There are many sensible measures people can take to cut down on the risk of catching or passing on these kinds of infections. These include regularly washing your hands with soap and water, keeping surfaces cl...

To win customers — and a bigger share of the marketplace — companies must first win the hearts and minds of their employees.                                                                                                                                                 ~ Gallup State of...

Back thirty years ago when I first wrote about small business, a hoary and horrible statistic was bandied about, even by some of the most experienced entrepreneurial pros: "80% of new businesses fail in their first five years."  This "statistic" has appeared in more places than you can imagine, from the leading small business magazines, books, presentations by employees of SBDCs, the SBA, SCORE, Chambers of Commerce, even professors on the college level - who should know better than to quote un-sourced numbers.  It still shows up in small-business blogs today. For some years, I searched for a source of that statisitic.  Never found where that number came from, leading me to believe that some self-appointed expert made it up.  To quote a character from the popular television show, M*A*S*H, "Horsepucky."  Here is the truth about the survival rate of new start up businesses in the U.S. economy from two unimpeachable sources, The Marion Ewin...

 " attractiveness is not the 'be all, end all' -- it just helps to tip the scales when competitors are otherwise equally talented or skilled ." At least for real estate agents, it turns out that beauty is indeed more than skin deep. A recent study of physical attractiveness and how it impacts real estate brokers' pay and productivity shows that the more attractive the real estate agent, the higher the listing price of the home for sale.   Those higher listings lead to higher sales prices, meaning that beauty enhances an agent's wage, said the report by Frank Mixon, professor of economics at Columbus State University's Turner College of Business.   He collaborated on the article, "Broker beauty and boon: a study of physical attractiveness and its effect on real estate brokers' income and productivity." with Sean P. Salter, from the Jennings A. Jones College of Business at Middle Tennessee State University and Ernest W. King from the College of...

One of the most enjoyable and important parts of starting a new business is creating a “corporate culture”; in other words, an environment in which your employees are able to perform at a peak level with the least supervision while developing new products and services that meet the needs and wants of customers while growing your business. That being said, it’s not always easy to make this happen.   Many if not most businesses are so driven by the day by demands that little thought is given to where the company is going and how it’s going to get there and by what route. For example, innovation is always a hot topic in the business press.   How does a company foster innovation?   The short answer is by creating a corporate culture in which innovation is encouraged and rewarded.   Research shows that people innovation when they are given the freedom to explore those things that interest them based on their internal motivation.   Telling people that they must innova...