In my work as a human resources and leadership consultant, I’ve observed that many organizations have dedicated spaces where employees come together to receive training. Most of the time, these locations are basic conference rooms, which led me to wonder: what if companies could build facilities uniquely equipped to meet the needs of the human learner? Seeking to find out what such spaces might look like and what b...

Everybody’s telling you to avoid so many meetings. Here’s some opposite advice. It’s almost a cliché that people hate going to meetings, and many of the complaints are legitimate. Meetings take up a lot of time. They distract people from important tasks. To add insult to injury, if you’re the one who called the meeting, some are focused on other things such as daydreaming, looking at their...

As a business leader, I know, you’re no softie. That’s why you’re in charge. You didn’t get where you are today by knowing all the words to “Kumbaya.” You have developed a thick skin, an unsentimental view of the world, and a Teflon exterior that lets problems roll right off your back. Those are all important leadership qualities in the workplace, sure. But if that’s all you are,...

When writing my new book Humanity Works: Merging People and Technology for the Workforce of the Future, I found a business world in the process of rapid transformation. I learned that one way to have a sustainable competitive advantage in a constantly evolving, virtual, global and automated environment is to master how to lead a team. Leaders who do this may well find that running their organizations at this time in history...

You’ve noticed. The job market has changed. A few short years ago, you were able to sit back and let the resumes of highly qualified candidates roll in. Between 2008-2014, you could require all sorts of criteria for candidates, and you could put them through a myriad of exercises, assessments, and interviews. But today, the candidates hold the cards. You can sit back and complain that you can’t find any qualifie...

The effort to combat gender pay inequity has taken many twists and turns at the federal level. We've all seen reports and data about the difference in average pay between men and women (83%), and the even greater disparity involving minority women (i.e., 53%) when compared to non-minority males. OFCCP and EEOC have been at the forefront of many attempted policy and program measures. Included among these are the OFC...

As we stand back and examine what happened during 2018, it is natural to simply catalogue the numerous changes that occurred at the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). There were multiple new directives, new initiatives, and new personnel at the agency. There were actions taken that we had never seen before from the agency, including the public release of information on h...

For several years now, I have been conducting an ongoing study of OFCCP statistics and the impact on the contractor community. The most recent results are based upon the review and analyses of OFCCP closed compliance activity between FY 2014 through FY 2018 (as reported as of 7/21/2018) and do not address the compliance readiness of the entire federal contractor community who may have an open OFCCP compliance activity (ev...

96 The OFCCP Digest is a complimentary resource for federal contractors on topics of Affirmative Action, EEO, and government compliance....

The 'gig economy,' characterized by freelance and temporary contract work, has grown exponentially in recent years. A January 2018 NPR/Marist poll found that, currently, one in five jobs in the United States is held by a contract worker and, within a decade, contractors and freelancers could make up half of the American workforce. This remarkable shift away from the traditional employer-employee relationship has and will...