Talent Tips: Organizational Success

Talent Tip #127: Lessons from an Old Jeep Wrangler: Upgrades for Your Organization’s Hiring Process

August 18, 2020

I drive an old Jeep Wrangler. No, I mean old. It’s adorned with scratches, dents, rust spots, classic bumper stickers, and faded upholstery. Patches cover holes in the seats and the stereo emits a pleasant crackle if you dial it up to 11.

And it has just the technology you’d expect for a relic. Manual windows and locks, a bare bones instrument panel, and keyed ignition (minds under 25 just exploded). Oh, and it hasn’t had a functional roof in…

Talent Tip #125: Dating (and Interviewing and Hiring) During Lockdown

July 14, 2020

Katelynn Barbosa

Back in my 20s, I did my fair share of online dating. I remember those days of sending my favorite Hayek quotes to men that looked interesting and getting excited when they would send the perfect Adam Smith quote back. That response would deem a guy sarcastic enough to warrant further exploration, and if he really seemed worth the effort, I might set up a phone call to talk about how to resolve state budget pensions crises. And…

Bonus Talent Tip: How to Interview in the Age of COVID-19

April 6, 2020

What a time for your organization to be hiring, huh?

Your team members are scattered around, working from home perhaps for the first time ever, and trying to squeeze in interviewing amidst homeschool lessons. Your job applicants are hesitant to make a move to an organization unless they are confident about stability. And you cannot fly your finalists in for an in-person interview for the foreseeable future, but you still need to fill a…

Talent Tip #120: 5 Tips to Ensure an Efficient Hiring Process

November 19, 2019

You know how I like to compare dating and hiring, right?

Well, let me share a story. Many moons ago I was dating a great guy. Smart, funny, handsome, gainfully employed, liberty-minded…the whole nine yards. But after a long spell of dating, he was clearly afraid of commitment. So, I dumped him.

If this gentleman were an employer, you could say that his interview process went on too long and he lost a good candidate. This,…

Talent Tip #115: Maps and Mobility: Revisiting the Yellow State/Blue State Phenomenon

May 21, 2019

People often ask me, “How did you land in Charleston?”

The answer mystifies some and intrigues others: I picked it on a map.

I’m not kidding. I sat down with a map and asked myself where I wanted to live. When I factored in lifestyle, cost of living, proximity to family (and the ocean), and weather, I ended up with Charleston. I didn’t know a soul here, but I figured, how bad can it be? 

My story  is not uncommon. People are…

Talent Tip #113: Workplace Change: Too Much of a Good Thing Isn’t a Good Thing

March 19, 2019

Change is a good thing, right? We’re constantly told how important it is to be able to adapt as individuals and as organizations. As Darwin said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

But what very few talk about is how taxing change can be. Just ask the child of divorced parents, an Army brat who has lived in six…

Talent Tip #109: Toxic Personalities: Bad for the Holidays; Bad for Business

December 13, 2018

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. And while that means reflecting on our  many reasons to be grateful, for some of us it also means dreaded interactions with difficult family members. 

Maybe it’s good ol’ Uncle Bob, who never fails to have one too many glasses of Scotch and upset the whole family by trash-talking his ex-wife. Or perhaps it’s your mother-in-law, who, like clockwork, passive-aggressively reminds you and your spouse that she would like…

Talent Tip #105: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: How To Effectively Show An Employee The Door

July 24, 2018

I’m terrible at break-ups. I once broke up with a long-term boyfriend by refusing to take his calls. No explanation. No note. No text. No smoke signals. I was just done.

For some people (apparently me), breaking up is hard to do.

The same can be said about letting employees go. Because it’s such a remarkably awkward thing to do, many of us go about it in all of the wrong ways. 

Talent Tip #101: Follow the Golden Rule When Hiring

April 5, 2018

My Mom has given me some great advice over the years.

Talent Tip # 99: Want to Be Fashionable? Stop Wearing Fanny Packs (And Stop Asking Candidates for Salary History)

January 23, 2018

If you follow fashion, you know that off-the-shoulder necklines, fanny packs, and male rompers are going out of style in 2018.

If you are like me (fashionably clueless), you are surprised to learn that fanny packs had even staged a comeback (once in style was too much, amirite?). And you are even more surprised to learn that male rompers are even a thing. (Apparently they are nicknamed “RompHims.” Get it? Instead of “Romp-Hers.” I wish you could see the look…