Want to Build a High-Performance Team? Start with Trust.

Right from the start, we thought if we could create the category of B2B ecommerce, Ariba could be a rocket ship. But, one quarter, early on, some big deals got delayed, and our team started getting anxious. Instead of working together to come up with solutions, everyone started pulling in different directions. To me, this pressure situation was a clear symptom of a lack of trust, and I knew we needed to do something about it. READ MORE

This key unemployment measure hasn't been this low since 1970

America's jobs recovery didn't lose steam in the new year with a key measure of jobless claims dropping to its lowest level since March 1970, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Continuing claims for unemployment benefits, which count people who have filed for jobless aid for at least two weeks in a row, dropped to just below 1.5 million in the week ending February 12, adjusted for seasonal swings, marking the lowest level since the week of March 14, 1970. It was also a lower level than economists had predicted. READ MORE

US facing worst worker shortage since WW2

The U.S. economy is facing the worst labor shortage in close to a century, according to new research, raising the prospect of prolonged higher-than-usual inflation.  

In an analyst note to clients, Goldman Sachs economists, led by Jan Hatzius, estimated that there is a shortage of 4.6 million workers in the U.S. – the most since the World War II period. That number takes into account the total number of available jobs, of which there is a near-record, and the size of the labor force. READ MORE

The recovery was stronger than we thought last year. Here's why it didn't feel that way

The economic recovery was stronger than initially thought in the fourth quarter of last year, new data from the Commerce Department showed Thursday. But for many Americans it didn't feel that way.

US gross domestic product -- the broadest measure of economic activity -- grew at an annualized pace of 7% between October and December, just above the 6.9% that was first reported in January and in line with economists' expectations. READ MORE

The race for talent: Now job offers can come within days

When it comes to hiring, companies are moving fast.

With millions of open jobs and not enough workers to fill them, employers are struggling to attract and retain employees. At the end of 2021, there were 10.9 million job openings, according to the most recent data from the Labor Department.

One way companies are addressing the problem is by streamlining the hiring process to bring talent in faster. READ MORE

How Leaders Should Think About Employee Benefits

As the seismic shifts caused by the Great Resignation continue to reverberate across the workforce, employees everywhere are looking to make a change motivated primarily by companies offering better compensation, including benefits.

Record numbers of workers left their jobs in 2021. And, as the year came to a close, Ceridian’s annual Pulse of Talent report found that as many as one in four workers were still actively seeking new jobs. READ MORE

Most employees don’t understand their benefits. Here’s how to make sure you aren’t wasting your money

So you’ve received a job offer. Now comes the part where you try to understand the intricate web that is also known as your employer’s benefits program. This is no easy task, which is why you might find yourself calling your dad crying, asking “what is life insurance, and should I be worried about someone stealing my social security number enough to sign up for identity theft protection?" as you try to decipher all your different options. READ MORE

How to Do Market Research for a Startup

So, you have plans to create an industry-disrupting startup. Before you get started, ask yourself this: Do I know the industry well enough to disrupt it?

It’s exhilarating to start a new entrepreneurial endeavor. However, it’s easy to get caught up in the tangible elements of establishing and advertising your business: designing a website, getting the message out, and building your brand. READ MORE

Small businesses still struggling financially, Fed survey finds

Small businesses continue to struggle financially and many are facing greater challenges with managing supply chain challenges and hiring enough workers, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve.

While some small businesses have seen their revenues increase, the recovery has been uneven, with smaller firms and those owned by racial minorities seeing fewer gains, the report showed. READ MORE

Another U.S. Inflation Gauge Is Heading Even Higher

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues in the coming week can expect to see their key inflation metric accelerate to a fresh four-decade high last seen when Paul Volcker led the U.S. central bank.The personal consumption expenditures price index, which the Fed uses for its inflation target, probably jumped 6% in January from a year earlier, according to the median of a Bloomberg survey of economists. The core measure, which excludes food and fuel, is forecast to climb 5.2%.Less than a month before the Fed’s next policy meeting, a sharper-than-projected advance in the price gauge could turn up the heat for a half-point increase in the benchmark interest rate. January’s consumer-price index rose more than forecast, with broad advances in the costs of goods and services. READ MORE

Executive greed is driving the labor shortage, says leader whose workers own 100% of the company

Bob Moore, 93, goes to work every day doing what he describes as his dream job, running Bob’s Red Mill, the Oregon-based whole-grain foods manufacturer he founded with his wife in 1978. But having a nonagenarian president isn’t the only thing that makes Bob’s Red Mill a special place to work. As of April 2020, the company is 100% employee-owned. READ MORE