My mother always said I was a schmuck. “All of the women in our family are,” she says. “We work like animals, and what does it get us? Nothing.” We call this the “Coopersmith gene,” for my grandmother Muriel, may she rest in peace. Grandma had a heart attack in her early 40’s, shoveling snow offRead… Read more »
Thanks for coming back for part 3 of this series. If you have not already, please check out: Change the Way You Hire Part 1: Am I Qualified Change the Way You Hire Part 2: Years of Experience is Overrated Recruiting talent is a critical factor in avoiding mediocrity. You cannot just expect talented peopleRead… Read more »
I landed my first supervisory job at the age of 29 (considerably young, in HUD years). While the 3 years of experience definitely resulted in more gray hairs (and more frequent trips to the stylist for highlights), I learned a lot along the way. Confidence – I remember one of my very first meetings atRead… Read more »
Suppose you are an IT decision-maker (and who in IT doesn’t have to make decisions regularly?). For that matter, forget the “IT”. What drives your decision-making? Let’s assume that you would like to consistently make decisions so as to have the maximum positive (or least negative) impact on your own personal well-being. Does this soundRead… Read more »
You’ve probably been involved in a team building exercise at some point in your work life. Perhaps it was a human knot, an mandatory weekend outing or a few hours in the workplace “getting to know” your colleagues. I am always interested in what leaders subject employees to under the guise of teamwork. I’ve neverRead… Read more »
A few summers ago, I stood at a railing and watched the thundering water of Niagara Falls while other people watched me. The number 1349 was plastered on all four of my limbs. Temporary tattoos. I had raced a triathlon in Vermont the day before. Although many people stared, nobody dared to satisfy their apparent curiosities. When IRead… Read more »
Because the federal government can’t always compete with the private sector on wages, it has some tools at its disposal to ensure that agencies can recruit and retain the best possible candidates. These include relocation, recruitment, and retention bonuses, also known as 3R payments. Here, we focus specifically on retention incentives to help you understandRead… Read more »
Writing contract specifications can seem daunting, boring or like a mere formality. Where should I start? What should I write? It is difficult to start with a blank piece of paper and to generate the specifications for a contract. If the service is existing, start by thinking through the day to day details of theRead… Read more »
The days of having to build a website “brick by brick” (i.e., code it line by line) are long behind us. For small organizations and “single shingle” professionals in particular, who don’t have in-house resources and can’t afford the time or money for complex development projects, there is a wide range of website builder and hostingRead… Read more »