We all have them in our lives. Trump lovers, Bernie supporters, birthers, 9/11 truthers, and people who send you a voicemail/text/email and then stop by your desk two seconds later because they need a response. Here’s how to work with stupid people. Smile. Pause. Breathe. It diffuses the stupidity. Begin with praise. We’re all narcissists. Works for everybody. Speak slowly and user fewer words. Cognitive processing speeds are sluggish. End your sentences with a declarative statement. Inflect down. Don’t invite follow-up questions with your tone. Boring is the new black. MORE >>

Seems I’m doing more podcasts than writing lately. think it’s because I’ve been writing for almost 10 years about engagement, rewards, incentives, recognition and just about anything connected to influencing behavior in an organization. It gets tough to continue to find new things to say. It’s almost as tough as seeing someone write a doppelganger post on a subject you wrote 5 years ago that gets high praise and all it really does is confirm no one read your post. And it is going extremely well. And the conversations have been enlightening and fun. Talk soon! MORE >>

Yes, tax season is in full swing, but there is still time for companies to recover some significant tax savings for 2015. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) was temporarily shuttered, but now Congress has given it new life, and has even allowed these hefty tax credits to be used retroactively. WOTC is a federal hiring incentive program that encourages companies to hire people from several target groups that tend to face barriers to employment. These groups include select veterans, those on food stamp and various other government assistance programs, just to name just a few. all new hires. MORE >>

Organizations today are more diverse than ever today. Hiring top talent from different racial, ethnic, geographic and religious backgrounds is becoming an accepted business practice. Most companies benefit from a diverse environment, but there are always certain challenges that may rise. Realizing that truth and developing hands-on strategies that welcome diversity is imperative. Employers who fail to do so are likely to experience conflict and reduced productivity. Understand discrimination. Determine one ’s preconceptions. Invest in diversity training. Create an empowered atmosphere. MORE >>

Maybe you’re interested in making the big leap from team member to manager, and want to know how much those in the latter position tend to earn. Or maybe you’re just curious about the amount (roughly) your boss takes home every month. Either way, Dice recently crunched the numbers on how much some of the top posts in the tech industry—CIOs, vice presidents, and top-level managers—pull down in annual salary. Before we plunge into the data, a few explanations about our methodology (and a few caveats about the actual numbers). Starting at the top of the earnings scale… VP of Engineering. MORE >>