Leaders determined to stem the tide of talent defections during the Great Resignation could be surprised to learn they’re barking up the wrong tree by simply throwing money or perks at the problem. The author spoke with six human resource executives from companies reporting that their organizations are not experiencing higher-than-normal attrition. Among the many insightful perspectives shared, three practices appeared to be universal across these companies. First, build a culture of solidarity. Then, let employees co-create the workplace experience. Finally, coach your managers on how to genuinely care for others. The author offers several ways to put those practices into action.

Image: Mr. Nelson Design

With relatively few founders and CEOs coming from a marketing background, the org often remains a black box, particularly in the earliest days of a startup. There’s the hyper-focus on finding product/market fit, onboarding the first set of customers, and ironing out the kinks in the product to contend with — leaving marketing near the bottom of the to-do list. But plenty of startups then find that their launches are falling flat, there’s no way to get the word out without well-crafted content, and the initial website copy isn’t grabbing any eyeballs — potholes that a marketing hire can pave over.  

The innovation economy has produced countless disruptions and revolutions in how we consume everything from news to noodles, while creating unprecedented returns along the way for entrepreneurs and investors. Yet relatively little of this energy and capital has focused on the senior care and longevity markets. We’re starting to see that change, however — and Boston can become the critical hub where the world’s longevity-innovation ecosystem will develop.

Image: ADOBE/GLOBE STAFF

It was September 2020, and another disrupted school year was about to begin. In many places around the country, pencils and folders were yet again traded for iPads and laptops. Recess and gym class were traded for Zoom breakout rooms and online co-curricular activities. The ominous red pen that teachers use to give students corrections was traded for track changes and live feedback. Students were still showing up excited to learn, but their entire experience as students was fundamentally different from prior years. To say the same about a teacher’s experience during this time and even now is an understatement.      

Image: A student at Brooke Charter School in Massachusetts. BROOKE CHARTER SCHOOLS

In the previous article, I outlined the growing global problem of plastic pollution. Global treaties and new technologies that address the manufacture, use, and reuse of plastics are needed to tackle this problem.

Some companies are already working on the problem. 

Researchers have tried several different reuse approaches for addressing the growing global plastic waste stream. Plastics are almost exclusively made from petroleum, and they retain a lot of potential energy after they have been used. So, it may seem to make sense to simply burn them for power.

ach year, the U.S. federal holiday of Columbus Day—which falls on Oct. 11 this year—is a source of pride for many in the Italian-American community, marking the anniversary of the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus reaching the Caribbean. The 77th annual Columbus Day Parade, expected to take place on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue on Monday, is billed as “the largest celebration of Italian American heritage and culture in the United States.”

Image: Posthumous portrait of Columbus by Sebastiano del Piombo, 1519. There are no known authentic portraits of Columbus - Wikipedia

The pandemic undoubtedly inflicted real pain on higher education during the past year, but it also brought about clarity for what’s next. Much has already been written about how Covid-19 forced schools to accelerate their blending of in-person and online learning. While this abrupt shift created significant challenges, this hybrid model will in the long run greatly enhance the classroom experience. Toward that end, universities need to act now to break down barriers to access and reach a broader, more diverse population of students in the pipeline to college, to meet the needs of a changing workforce, and to provide life-long learning and career opportunities for working adults.

Every technical entrepreneur is an early adopter of technology, so naturally they build things with people like themselves in mind. Unfortunately, for most solution markets, early adopters represent only 10 to 15 percent of the total opportunity, so it’s easy to get mislead on the real requirements of mainstream customers. Psychologists call this the confirmation bias. I call it failing by early adopters.

Imagine it’s the end of the workday and you have a non-urgent work question to ask a colleague. You know this colleague has already gone home for the day, but you send off an email to them anyway.

Now ask yourself this: Do you expect a response from your colleague right away?

Probably not. But does your colleague understand that?

Research...

These days, anyone can become an entrepreneur thanks to all the digital resources available at your fingertips. However, what many entrepreneurs soon learn after taking the leap into owning their own business is that it takes a special level of passion and drive to ride the roller coaster that is entrepreneurship. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 20% of small businesses fail within the first year and 50% fail after 5 years.

When people think of nonprofit (sometimes called not-for-profit) organizations, they generally think of charitable and religious organizations. However, nonprofits can also be created to advance education, scientific research, sport, music, art or entrepreneurship.

When I raised capital for my startup LearnVest over a decade ago, getting on a plane to meet investors in person was a matter of course. Many founders have tales of their trips up and down Sand Hill Road, and war stories of missed flights and sleepless airport nights.

Image: Source images: kreatikar/Pixabay; Magnet.me/Unsplash - https://www.fastcompany.com

Crowdfunding has taken off in a big way in recent years, creating some successful businesses in the process. However, those that are successful are just a few among many thousands of promising projects looking for backing. How do you create a successful crowdfunding project that brings you the investment you need?

Here are seven surefire tips to help you out. 

Look at any ad for a new car model, and you’ll notice that car makers seem to be in a race to make the lightest cars without compromising space, quality, and comfort. To explain why every automaker wants to make lighter cars, the car division of USNews.com notes that “The less mass something has, the less energy is required to move it.”

Like all other carmakers, Tesla is also taking measures to make simpler, lighter, and cheaper cars. In its characteristic Tesla fashion, the company is doing this with great fanfare, announcing via a Tweet on February 5, 2021, that it has acquired the “World’s biggest die casting machine.” The company says that this machine “can cast front & rear vehicle underbodies in a single piece each — down from 70+ parts for same sections previously.”

Image: https://moldie.net

All of us have been on the receiving end of a difficult conversation at work, and many have had to deliver a hard message to others. Unless you are totally inhuman, none of these are painless, and we all wish we had some way to make them more meaningful and more effective. We all want to feel good about our work and relationships, and we want others to feel that same way.

Image: https://blog.startupprofessionals.com

A popular myth these days is that finishing college only dilutes your entrepreneurial instincts, and the best of the best, including Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, dropped out early to hasten their success. I agree with Robert E. Litan, former VP of research at the Kauffman Foundation, that these are exceptions to the rule, rather than a model to emulate.

Image: https://blog.startupprofessionals.com

As Pittsburgh makes strides in tech sectors like robotics, autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence, some are wondering what the city’s next big horizon might be. Word on the street at recent events is that it could be life sciences. A recent public offering from a local biopharmaceutical company as well as expertise from healthcare systems like UPMC or the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has some tech industry leaders convinced that there’s strong potential for Pittsburgh to become a life sciences hub. But to get there, existing startups need to grow and attract the high investments that clinical trial work requires.

For nearly six hours on Monday, the world experienced a forced break from Facebook's social networking tools.

We lived to tell the tale. But how did we feel in the process?

Although relatively short, the Facebook outage showed "how reliant we are on social media in different ways to distract ourselves, to escape, to connect, to cope with anxiety and stress," according to Ian Kerner, a marriage and family therapist.

When people can't scroll and post as they usually do, Kerner said they can become bored and vulnerable to difficult emotions and stressors -- sometimes without knowing how to cope with them.

Next week we observe Columbus Day. Say what you will about the man’s skills as an explorer—even after four trips to the New World, he died believing he’d discovered a new route to Asia—or his mixed record dealing with Native peoples, one thing we can all agree on is that Christopher Columbus was a gifted pitchman and entrepreneur.

The talent and economic importance of the region’s technology sector will be showcased at the South West Innovation Expo this October.

Andrew Dean, University of Exeter, said: “The pandemic has confirmed that technology is shaping the future for every type of business. When we look ahead to the global challenges facing us all we can see that new technology and innovation offers solutions and a way forward.

Image: The event will bring together leading South West technology companies, innovators, entrepreneurs and investors to see innovation in action, meet and collaborate - https://www.business-live.co.uk