Hunter Valley, Australia. Ron and I spent mid-Feb to mid-March 2016 traveling in New Zealand and Australia, spending most of our time visiting with much-loved friends in both countries who we see far less often than we’d like.  But I needed to let those thoughts settle a bit — and let me revisit them when entirely sober — to see if there’s really an aha here, and there is. MORE

retro Olive. This comment section is open for any non-work-related discussion you’d like to have with other readers, by popular demand. This one is truly no work and no school. If you have a work question, you can email it to me or post it in the work-related open thread on Fridays.). Book recommendation of the week:  Olive Kitteridge , by Elizabeth Strout. open threads MORE

When you were a job candidate. what is the best question a hiring manager/HR person/other person on the hiring panel ever asked you? Why was it a great question? Answer in the comments or send me an email at [email protected]. Looking forward to hearing your questions MORE

Attracting and retaining top talent can be a knock down, drag out fight for some industries. Depending on how large the pool of viable talent is for a given position, it’s a situation that could leave some companies in the dust. That’s why we’ve seen such a rise in what people refer to as office “ perks. But, the question remains, “ How much do these things really say about a company?”. MORE

Know how an employer can help employees with the balance they want between work and life? This is not the employer's responsibility, but they can help MORE

Why track exactly how many hours every employee works? For an organization with primarily hourly employees, this question might be very straightforward, as tracking hours worked is required to know how much the employees need to be paid and how much overtime is owed. There are actually quite a few reasons to do so, even when it’s not directly required for payroll administration. MORE

One of the most disruptive changes we’ve seen in business over the last decade is the end of the traditional “career.” ” People used to join companies for life: we would look for a. Bersin & Associates, Leading Research and Advisory Services in Enterprise Learning and Talent Management. Career Management Informal Learning career management careers MORE

Need an inspirational quote about excellence for your newsletter, business presentation, bulletin board or inspirational posters? These are my favorites MORE

Need to know more about a resignation letter and what it can accomplish for the employer? Here's why you'll want to ask for one when an employee resigns MORE