TheGrindstone

How To Save Yourself From W2 Scams This Tax Season

The Grindstone — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 17:43:07 +0000

Guest blogger Sandra A. Bernardo is senior manager of Consumer Education at Experian Consumer Services, a division of Experian, the nation’s largest credit bureau. In her role, she informs the media and public about credit-related topics and Experian’s credit products. She conducts interviews with national and local media and acts as a host for the company’s podcasts and social media activities. She also writes for the consumer blog addressing various topics including those subjects of most interest to multicultural communities. Prior to Experian, she has held positions in the corporate and agency sectors. She is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles.

April 15 may seem like it’s a long way away but it’s never too early to get started on your taxes. Rest assured, scammers are already working on them.

You’re probably familiar with tax identity theft, aka tax refund fraud, which the Federal Trade Commission dubbed the largest and fastest growing ID theft category in 2016. But did you know the IRS reports that W-2 scams aimed at employers increased nearly 80%last year vs. 2016?

In other words, diligently protecting your personal information and filing your taxes early might not be enough. Company employees have been falling for email phishing scams and exposing your W-2 to criminals before you even get your tax return mailed.

How W-2 Scams Happen

A W-2 scam usually works like this: Cybercriminals hack into executives’ email accounts and send communication from that alias targeting human resources and/or payroll departments. In the email, the criminal will request that the executive send them a file containing the W-2 forms of the staff. They then attempt to file fraudulent tax returns for refunds.

While it would seem unlikely that any employee would fall for this request, nearly one in four organizations that reported receiving a W-2 phishing email acknowledged they had been a victim of the scam last year. Everyone is susceptible: W-2 cons have evolved beyond the corporate sector to target all types of organizations including universities, charities, and medical companies.

“These scams have quickly become one of the most prolific forms of cybercrime, largely due to the fact that employees believe the requests are coming from trusted sources and do not know how to spot the warning signs,” says Michael Bruemmer, Vice President of Consumer Protection at Experian.

“The schemes are popular among criminals because of the opportunity for mass fraud, given all U.S.-based companies are required to issue W-2s.”

What Can You Do to Stop W-2 Scams?

Here are five ways to diminish the threat of W-2 scams:

Report any suspicious emails you receive to your company and don’t ever click on any links in emails from unknown sources.
If you haven’t been trained at work on how to spot phishing emails and other cybersecurity protocols, inquire if a training can be launched at the company or ask your IT team for help.
Share news about prevalent scams and good security practices with your colleagues (including this article!).
Because this issue continues to grow, the IRS established a special email notification address specifically for employers to report any W-2 theft at dataloss@irs.gov. If you just received a phishing email but did not fall victim to the scam, report it at phishing@irs.gov and use “W2 Scam” in the subject line.
Stay vigilant and file your taxes as early as possible to prevent thieves from cashing in on your refund.

Today, it takes a collective effort to protect ourselves from cybercriminals. In the workplace, you have an important role in keeping not only your information safe but those of your colleagues too. Be alert and report anything suspicious as soon as possible.

For more protection tips and other resources, visit the FTC’s annual Tax Security Awareness Week website.

This blog originally appeared on the Experian blog.

Video Screening Technology Is Changing The Hiring Game

The Grindstone — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 17:18:35 +0000

Guest blogger Sean Gordon has an extensive track record recruiting, hiring, training, and unlocking the talent of people. For 20 years, Sean has been on the front lines of business across North America. He started with AT&T, where he built award-winning teams in sales and operations from coast to coast. He delivered equally stellar results for EMC, Aetna and West Corporation before becoming CEO of a technology company in need of innovation.

Sean founded HIRENAMI to take recruiting challenges from painful, inefficient, and time consuming to quick and effective, for employees and employers. Sean has created new lines of business, reinvigorated stagnant company cultures, and mentored hundreds of employees who have gone on to do great things.

Connect with Sean Gordon on LinkedIn.

When it comes to applying and interviewing for prospective jobs, things are looking a little bit different in 2018 than they did ten years ago. For one, the pool of applicants for any professional position is going to be massive. Because of the proliferation of online job boards and web postings, the average employer will devote weeks and months to listing job duties for a position listing on the company website, waiting for a torrent of hundreds of applications for a single position to come pouring in, sifting through resumes and cover letters and working with team members to sort candidates down to a small enough pool to screen.

The screening process can be just as grueling. The average employer will narrow options to roughly twenty candidates prior to screening per position, meaning that a lot of time is about to be devoted just to get candidates strong enough to be placed in an in-person interview. Talk about time-consuming! That’s as much as ten hours per position set aside just for phone screening (if the average call and scheduling takes thirty minutes).

Employers recognize that this is a burden on their HR teams and staff, so they’re taking up new tactics to circumvent this problem. Most of this centers around the use of a process known as video screening. This video-centric technology approach has greatly reduced the time that HR teams must devote towards sorting candidates and screening them, greatly relieving personnel burdens on the HR side of things across a variety of industries.

This all sounds great for companies as a means of saving both time and money, but you may be wondering how exactly video screening benefit applicants that are seeking a new position at a company? And what can you expect from a video interview that differs from the traditional phone approach?

Let’s first understand why companies are using video screening to gain some insight on how the entire process works. Then, let’s turn our attention towards what measures an applicant should take to succeed in a video screening. By the end, we should have a strong idea of how to knock that video call out of the park.

What Can I Expect from Video Screening?

Video screening can take on a few unique looks, each one utilized to deliver a greater degree of convenience to both the employer as well as the applicant. It’s developed into a more efficient way to handle the pre-interview process. In the most basic form, video screening makes use of mobile video technology and video content management platforms to completely expedite the screening process and give both employers and candidates a faster and more authentic view of what they’d be looking for in an interview.

When faced with a video screening, you can expect employers to engage with you across a variety of platforms in diverse ways. They may hold a more traditional video-in interview with multiple parties and the interview taking place at once. What you should know in this case, and in every, is that there’s a good chance the video is being recorded and shared with other team members through a video recruitment management system. It’s best to address the person or group you’re screening with as you would but keep this fact in mind as you cater responses to a potentially wider audience.

The other, more preferred format for all parties involved is a recorded question and answer session. This version provides greater flexibility for everyone and is favorable for recruits that may feel a bit nervous heading into a screening where they need to think on their toes. The benefit of these question and answer sessions for prospective employees is that it can greatly expedite the hiring process, a journey that can often times be long and frustrating.

Anyone who has ever applied to several positions at once and engaged in a job hunt knows how aggravating it can be working with human resources representatives to find a scheduling time for interviews and screenings. Getting multiple team members in on a call is not easy with a busy schedule. Through video screening, HR managers can send invite codes to you and the team members that would like to take part in the screening process. You can then log into the video content management system and find questions from different team members delivered in video or text format. Using the webcam on your phone or laptop, you can then respond accordingly at your own discretion. You can keep answers as long or as short as you’d like and in many programs, you can take the time to research and construct your answer as you see fit. The responses will begin to build up within a thread, often appearing like an online message board. You can typically enter a thread of your own and ask questions to individual team members or groups of team members about the position requirements, duties, benefits or other things like office culture.

This may seem on the service as advantageous to the employer, getting another opportunity to look you over, but it’s actually just as advantageous to the prospect. Besides having the benefit of thinking about an answer and hashing it out more before submitting, for video questions you can have the opportunity to see team members, pick up on their mannerisms, scope out the office environment in the background and know who to look for if you’re invited back for an in-person interview.

On the other end, team members will have the ability to leave comments on videos and share them with each other for insight on your performance. You can keep this in mind if you have a question that one of the team members in on the screening doesn’t have an answer for. Simply record a general question and they can pass it along.

This entire process gives the company a better idea of the candidate, all on file. It also gives the candidate a better idea of who they’ll be working for and with. But that’s not even the greatest advantage you can take away from companies that choose to video screen…

Video Screening Expands the Scope of Your Geographical Presence. The most favorable aspect of video screening for applicants is the ability to widen your own opportunities and apply for positions that are otherwise geographically challenging. What companies gain from better screening is passed along to the applicants. Companies save time and expenses on making more qualified assessments of prospective candidates by video screening, so they’re more willing to screen an applicant from three thousand miles away and pay to fly them in for an interview if all goes well. They’ll believe they have a sounder picture of you as a candidate due in large to the video screening and are surer of their commitments to invest.

Video screening lets you as candidate apply for a job across the nation or across the ocean, not having to think just five miles out but five thousand miles away. This greatly expands the scope of opportunities for those that are willing to relocate for the right opportunity. The video screening process will allow you to live in Vancouver and send video to a company in Orlando, all while feeling like you’re in the same conference room.

How to Succeed and Take Advantage of Video Screening

The most crucial factor in doing well during a video screening is to treat it as what it is: a simulation of an in-person interview or Q&A. The hiring manager and team will see everything in your video, so approach it with the utmost professionalism.

Dress appropriately as you would an interview. Clean up the area visible in the video; don’t have random clutter lying around. Don’t have anything in the picture that you wouldn’t want your boss to see. Control the environment as much as possible by limiting outside sounds that can be distracting or interrupting. Annunciate well and record a trial video to make sure your mic levels are where you’d like them.

A major consideration that often gets treated as an afterthought is to look into the webcam when speaking. There’s a tendency to instead look at yourself on the screen, which creates an awkward line of vision where it appears you’re looking down and not at the person you’re interacting with.

Consider the length of your responses as well. In a typical phone screening, the hiring manager must listen to your entire answer before moving along. With video screening, if they’re bored by your responses they can simply skip past. Keep it short, sweet and to the point.

Last, consider creating a generic ‘About Me’ video to submit whenever a video screening opportunity is included in an application. This will help you save time and if it’s voluntary, stand out from the crowd.

Video screening can seem a bit intimidating at first, but once you get a hang of it you’ll find that it’s not just beneficial to employers. Candidates can make the most out of their opportunity in front of the camera and land the job of their dreams, anywhere in the world!

Recruit Your Boss to Help Build Your Career

The Grindstone — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 17:38:38 +0000

Is your boss taking time to help you nurture your professional dreams? If the answer is yes, you’re one of the lucky ones. If the answer is no, that can change. And you can be the person who makes it happen.

The truth is, your boss is likely the top resource you have at your fingertips to boost your career and get closer to your vision of success. Unfortunately, this resource goes largely untapped. Not every boss is primed to be a resource, and most are so overwhelmed with the pace and volume of their own work and lives that they don’t know how to step back and be more strategic about developing themselves, or you.

For example, one study by researchers at Boston University found that 40% of people who made career transitions said that their boss was a significant, helpful influence. The other 60% struggled to make the relationship a win-win. It’s critical to learn how to make that win-win happen, and to leverage your boss as a stepping stone to bigger things.

So how can you help your manager feel less overwhelmed by daily tasks and more dialed-in when it comes to your professional development? What’s the secret to transforming your manager into your best career ally?

It’s a simple concept: have empathy for your boss. But the plan of attack is a bit more elaborate.

Empathy is “the social and emotional glue that helps us maintain our relationships,” says educator Karla McLaren, and that glue goes a long way when it comes to encouraging your boss to buy in to your development. In today’s tough work environments, softer skills like empathy are increasingly viewed as essential leadership qualities. Strengthening this all-important skill may not only improve your relationship with your boss, it may help you handle interpersonal conflicts more effectively and build deeper connections with peers. In the long-run, your investment of time today in practicing empathy with your manager may lead to bigger career returns down the road.

What are the practical ways to build a greater win-win relationship with your boss? By using what I call and “empathy map.” Below are the questions and scenarios that together, create the map:

What are your manager’s professional dreams? How do you support them? It might sound counterintuitive, but to get where you want to go, it’s powerful to know where your boss wants to go. Try to see things from your boss’ perch. Put yourself in your boss’ shoes. What pressures is he or she under? Then consider: how could you and your boss be more of a team, working towards achieving your collective goals?

What do you see your manager doing that could be delegated to you? Many managers don’t know how to let go of work that is no longer theirs to do. This week, scan the horizon for what’s happening on your team. Notice when your manager takes on tasks that could be delegated. For example, does your boss write a summary report of the department’s activities? Liaise with another department? Draft the agenda and facilitate an upcoming team meeting? Scan the horizon outside of the company for new technologies you can suggest. Draft a proposal for how you could help.

How often do you give your manager positive feedback? Positive feedback is one of the most underutilized tools in the workplace. You may be waiting for your boss to give you a pat on the back, but chances are today’s bosses don’t hear much when it comes to the things they are doing well. Give your boss positive feedback on a regular basis. Think about something he or she did this week to help the team or you be more effective. Be specific about the action and its impact.

Find a way to tap into your manager’s professional network in a way that’s a win-win. Your boss may have access to people in departments or other organizations who you’d like to meet to learn more about their work or professions. Most people assume their boss wouldn’t want to make this kind of introduction. Identify a person you’d like to meet and ask for your boss’ help in making the connection. This builds your boss’ reputation as someone who cares about developing her people and who is good at making connection. Believe it or not, it’s a big win-win.

Although it may feel like you’re straying from your own career advancement, taking the time to empathize with your boss is the fast-track to enhanced career development and greater satisfaction in your work.

4 Tips For Blending 5 Generations In The Workplace

The Grindstone — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 17:34:09 +0000

Guest blogger Sue Hawkes (www.suehawkes.com) is a leadership expert and author of Chasing Perfection: Shatter the Illusion, Minimize Self-Doubt & Maximize Success.

“A divided country” is a prevalent theme in America today, and simultaneously many business leaders find the need for their employees to work well together has never been more important – or perhaps more challenging.

For the first time in modern history, the workforce consists of four and sometimes five generations within a single company. That age/experience difference can lead to varied ways of looking at things – and also varied ways in which co-workers perceive those from another generation. Research by firms that explore office interaction reveals generation gaps in areas such as communication style, goals, adaptation to change and technical skills.

Bosses face the challenge of how to bridge these differences.

It starts with dropping the stereotypes. Belief in generational stereotypes limits your ability to harness the best from everyone at the table. A company’s leader can learn how to unlock potential from all generations by engaging everyone around shared values.

• Building bridges. Despite wide age disparities, common ground needs to be found. Hawkes says that requires investing the time to learn about others and their motivations. “The research and conversations about generations tend to focus on the differences,” Hawkes says. “Millennials, for instance, get a bad rap in the working world, like they have an inflated sense of entitlement. Yet research shows they share some traits with entrepreneurs.”

• Daily check-ins. Reading the temperature in your multi-generational office doesn’t include trying to read employees’ minds. Hawkes emphasizes that younger people new to their career need interaction. “Don’t assume people you’re mentoring haven’t asked a question because they already know the answer,” Hawkes says. “Be proactive and make daily check-ins a habit. It gives them a chance to air thoughts and ask questions.”

• Share a big enough “why.” Employees of all ages and backgrounds are key gears that turn the big wheel. At the center of that wheel is the why – essentially, the core values of the company culture. “Some people are put off by a new or younger employee’s need to know the why for the things they’re asked to do,” Hawkes says. “Once rules and methods are explained as connections to success, everybody moves forward with a renewed purpose.”

• Set clear expectations for projects, goals. No matter what generation leaders are from, they should make sure their mentee or employee understands exactly what they want and how with a specific timeline. “It’s important to be explicitly clear,” Hawkes says. “Someone from a different generation may not have the same ideas about what is relevant and necessary toward certain business objectives.”

Challenge the belief that any generation can be categorized and generalized in behavior,. We can move from seeing the barriers between us to a place of common ground and opportunity, doing so with courageous and open conversations expanding on what each person brings to the table.

5 Ways to Find the Right Talent for Your Online Business

The Grindstone — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 17:28:01 +0000

Guest blogger Ellie Martin is co-founder of Startup Change group. Her works have been featured on Yahoo! , Wisebread, AOL, among others. She currently splits her time between her home office in New York and Israel. You may connect with her on Twitter.

Having a business is one of the most fruitful and encouraging things a human can do. The most magnanimous thing about owning a business is hiring employees that can flourish underneath you and bring true success to your company. What is interesting in the present day, however, is that the rules of business and of hiring are changing all of the time.

How is it then that a business owner in the new online age can find the right talent to fill the positions of their business? In this guide we hope to cover strategies and ideas that will improve your chances of finding the right candidate. This new technological age brings with it a whole host of opportunities and is a wonderful symbol of progress. It should be wholeheartedly embraced but, it does change some of the rules. Let’s go over the best strategies for finding the best talent.

1. Post On Freelance Sites. One of the simplest but most direct things an owner can do is post on freelance websites that specialize in employees for online businesses. It may seem obvious, and too saturated, posting on freelance websites can oftentimes bring the best talent available directly to you.

The higher end, and more exclusive, freelance websites can also filter candidates to make sure you are getting the most qualified freelancers. There are also general job boards where you can post to anybody with an account if you want to cast a very wide net. This method often brings about a high amount of feedback but if you go through the premier sites you can have a whole team of employees ready in a moment’s notice.

2. Offer Referral Rewards. This method may not seem to be the most obvious but oftentimes those who already have employees can find others through offering referral Rewards. Incentivizing referrals is a great way to find people quickly who, if the employee is trusted, can be quickly enculturated in your company. The rewards don’t have to be staggering to get great results and is often a wonderful investment opportunity that can grow your business quickly.

3. Search for Remote Talent. You may not think of it right off the bat but sometimes casting a wide employment net can yield interesting results and formidable candidates. Globalization and technology has made it so that people all over the world can speak languages and communicate with people no matter their country of residence or origin. It is important for an owner to cast a wide net and search for remote talent.

You may not think about it at first but large parts of the world speak English and can code in the same language like everybody else can. You may find the perfect candidate in Japan or in Argentina. The important part is to not be restrictive geographically with where and how you search.

4. Use Social Media. Social media can be a business owner’s best friend as they target millions of active users every day. Facebook even has targeted ads that can direct your message or advertisement to specific people browsing their feed. Instagram and Snapchat also have large demographics so that you can always target the correct age group for your business.

On social media you can reach the most amount of people at once which, by the law of averages, only helps in the search for the right employee. Do not be afraid to spend a little bit of money to get a great result using social media.

5. Recruit Prospects. While it can seem like an aggressive strategy from the outset, recruiting prospective employees from your competitors’ employee pool or from top of the line schools can often give you talented employees at great rates. Always educate yourself with whatever information is publicly available about your competitors and the top schools worldwide.

Create recruitment packages that give an idea of the culture and strategies of your business. Take full advantage of the online capability of your business to hire students who maybe don’t have the money to move or go out on their own all the way yet. Always use your businesses’ online presence to attract those who would like to be part of the future. There are a few recruitment sites that you can use as well which can take some of the hard work out of your day. This method is great for getting the highly knowledgeable employee that can make an immediate impact on your team.

Ultimately, finding talent for your online business is about using the tools available to their best and highest use. Search through job boards and contact talent agencies to find employees that fit everything you need.

Recruit them from schools and competitor businesses to help you gain an advantage. Most importantly, do not be afraid to spend a little money to target people on social media. The truth is hiring the right employee will always involve a bit of luck and a whole lot of work but in the end the right employee can completely revolutionize your business.

Why Remote Workers Still Need the Physical Office

The Grindstone — Wed, 24 Jan 2018 17:22:55 +0000

Guest blogger Lisa Froelings is a business and productivity consultant with over 4 years of experience in human resources working for a major retailer in the country before she decided to build her own business. Her interests include technology, mindfulness as well as time management.

Integrating more flexibility in the traditional workplace has been a major topic in the workplace over the last ten years. According to recent telecommunication statistics, 50 percent of employees in the United States work remotely in some capacity, while a staggering 90 percent would like to work remotely at least part-time.

There are various reasons that permitting people to work remotely is beneficial, but it’s important to recognize the positive effects of work/life balance when it comes to boosting employee satisfaction and productivity.

While permitting employees to telecommunicate grants workers more autonomy and the ability to manage their own schedules, that doesn’t mean getting rid of the physical office in its entirety. In fact, the keeping the office around could be hugely beneficial.

Here are some of the main reasons that both employers and telecommuters still need the physical office, even if it’s only for a couple days a week.

The physical office is a platform for connection. The introduction of a more flexible workplace has brought to the surface many of the issues workers have faced in the traditional office environment over the years. One of the most common complaints is that reporting to the same office day in and day out results in a decrease in productivity and worker engagement.

While this makes sense, the same logic can be applied to working at home 5 days a week. In short, workers need to be stimulated, and offering a variety of environments can help boost employee morale while re-establishing connection.

Bringing workers together in the same space, even if it is only one or two times per week, can be an effective way to strengthen employee relationships:

Using non-remote days to hold a quick roundtable to go over each remote worker’s progress that week is an easy way to create space for both employees and employers to review their progress and express any problems or concerns in person.
Working in the same physical space can help unify professional teams as they have the chance to communicate spontaneously face to face.
Employers can make the most out of their time with their employees by providing team-building days and additional training on the days their employees come in, which will contribute to overall productivity.

While there is no perfect formula for how many days employees should be expected to come into work, there are numerous benefits that come from enabling physical connection, whether that’s just once a week or once a month.

Structure helps us feel satisfied at work. The physical office space is an effective way to create a more structured working environment. First time remote workers and freelancers understandably tend to feel excited to go out on their own, often cutting themselves off from the office completely. While this can work for some people, the more developed the freelance ecosystem becomes, the more examples we see of freelancers returning to the office. There is a myriad of reasons for their return. Some freelancers tire of having to manage precarious pay schedules, others miss the feeling of working alongside a team, while many miss the structure provided by the office, claiming that working from home comes with too many distractions.

Luckily there are various ways that remote workers can use the office while still maintaining the flexibility and freedom that comes with remote work:

Many remote workers join a coworking space, which provides desks, offices and all the professional amenities needed to get work done
Working from home can be more rewarding in combination with days at the office, as workers relationships with space changes when not forced to report to a specific space
There are now more and more companies that provide workers with a freelance lifestyle in combination with the structure of a professional workplace, such as health benefits and set payments

The majority of remote workers often aren’t asking to leave the office entirely, but desire more freedom and autonomy. Providing them with choice and structure is an effective way to boost engagement and helps to combat isolation for those who chose to primarily work from home.

As remote work becomes more commonplace, there are some that feel the physical office will disappear altogether. Yet, because everyone is different, there are plenty of good arguments to keep the office around, even if it’s just on a flexible lease for a few days a week.

Why Remote Teams Are More Productive Than Ever

The Grindstone — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 17:19:49 +0000

Over 40 years ago remote work seemed like a product of the distant future, a fever dream that was too good to be true. Nowadays remote work has become something of a commonality. However, many companies are very reluctant to the idea of remote workers. Business owners all over the world are used to the draconian by laws that dictate the socialized environment of traditional work culture.

Managers in physical offices typically enjoy the stranglehold they have over the individual employees life. However, employees are no longer enjoying the typical corporate business environment.

After slogging through their day-to-day and being judged harshly by men and women they do not know for their livelihood, they are starting to pursue other opportunities in the remote industries. Beneficial to this cause is the fact that businesses all over the world are beginning to accept remote work and telecommuting.

As employees begin to flee the authoritarian environments of traditional work spaces, remote businesses are beginning to see a boom. What was initially seen as a millennial go to has now shown its appeal to workers of all ages. This has created an environment of fierce competition for employees in remote work but luckily more and more businesses are seeing the benefits. Here, in this article, we explore why remote teams are becoming more and more productive.

Traditional office spaces have often been seen as vestigial structures left over from the time of monarchy. Draconian dress codes and bylaws that restrict employees from being themselves are no longer appealing to the pseudo independent worker. While initially reluctant, businesses are beginning to turn and allow telecommuting workers.

This led to an initial bloom in productivity that has not since slowed down. The freedom it grants the employee cannot be understated and immediately invokes a sense of pride and relief along with comfort in their new working environment. This led to a change over and how businesses treated their employees after noticing that employees who were respected and trusted performed better than those who were not. This is only the individual, not the team.

When it comes to teamwork the upsides are obvious and the potentiality is enormous. To put it in simple terms, remote teams benefit highly from their relaxed environments and comfortable spaces. What this means in greater terms is that the individual employees are more satisfied with where they work and how they work.

This creates a culture based in de facto trust and respectful space. Teams that operate through remote work are typically much more pliable and friendly.

Remote work has seen productivity go up exponentially for every business that has incorporated it into their employment scheme. When employees are not being squashed from the top down, they feel levity and an increased push to do their work as efficiently as possible. Some estimates put the productivity increase at over 400%.

When we talk about remote teams we are truly talking about the division of individuals. Due to the pressures being absent from remote work environments, teams in remote environment are more likely to get along and produce higher-quality work. This benefits employees as much as businesses, if not more so.

To contribute to the individuals mood alone, however, would do Injustice to the massive Innovations created in the field. Years ago remote work would only be accomplished via fax machine and telephone.

These days, with apps like Slack, employees can speak to each other in a moment’s notice and organize meetings and projects quickly and efficiently. Email of course is an incredible technology but the ability to have a meeting on your phone, with apps like Zoom, send remote work to another level of interactivity.

These applications make remote work similar to traditional working environments without draconian overlords or harsh judgments by strangers who feel that they are the appropriate judge of whether you get to eat or not.

This furthers the productivity of remote teams and gives a good argument for remote work to businesses that have not implemented it yet. Ultimately, the productivity of remote teams can be linked to an increase in happiness for the employee.

As businesses begin to respect their workers and their spaces they are seeing increases in productivity and profit. Owners who respect their employees receive immediate benefit and can expect business growth along with high levels of productivity. This makes remote work not only a good idea but an absolute cornerstone of any businesses employment model.

Yelp Open Letter Writer Talia Jane Is A Dishwasher Now

The Grindstone — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 05:00:17 +0000

Remember Talia Jane? The Yelp employee who wrote an open letter to her CEO on Medium and was somehow shocked that she got fired?

She’s back.

Jane wrote a first-person essay for The New York Post describing in a bit more detail what led to her Medium meltdown, as well as what she’s up to these days. A quick rundown:

People who worked with her at Yelp were essentially starving, because like her, life in the Bay Area is basically too expensive to live. Yes, she didn’t have a roommate, but it’s also important to note that she lived 30 miles out from San Francisco, so you’d think her rent would have been lower for that reason alone. This made her commute more expensive.
She turned down offers to appear on TV to avoid looking like she was “glory-grabbing.”
She sold everything she owned and moved to New York to room with a friend. New York is also very expensive.
She applied to a lot of jobs, just like the rest of us do. Only Starbucks called her back. When they realized who she was — because she openly bragged about writing the infamous open letter during her interview when asked about her termination — she didn’t become a barista. Surprise!
She gets “odd writing gigs” and is now a dishwasher in Midtown. Remember that when she was at Yelp, she was “too stressed” to complete her freelance assignments.
She wants to be a comedy writer.
Yelp raised their wages from $12.25 to $14 an hour.
Stefanie Williams, who wrote a rebuttal with some factual errors (Talia Jane doesn’t have a degree, for example, and couldn’t move back home), got a TV deal.
She would write the letter again.

Babe.net Editor Katie Way May Have Killed Her Career

The Grindstone — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 19:16:12 +0000

Katie Way is an editor of Babe.net, which finally gained an iota of notoriety by posting a questionable account of either a bad date with or a sexual assault by Aziz Ansari (depending on your interpretation of the piece). I won’t get into the details, because chances are you’ve read the story and the thinkpieces it inspired by now.

Ashleigh Banfield, an HLN personality, called out the Babe.net subject, Grace, in a scathing open letter:

Of course, there are some issues with Banfield’s arguments, namely that in the original piece, Grace actually described trying to get away from Ansari and telling him verbally to knock it off. That said, when Banfield invited Way to debate her on air, instead of actually attacking Banfield’s arguments, Way decided to slam her appearance instead:

Tonight on @CrimeJusticeHLN, @TVAshleigh speaks out on behalf of journalism and women's rights amid @azizansari's accuser sparking #MeToo backlash. https://t.co/QzHHqRHRox

— HLN Public Relations (@HLNPR) January 17, 2018

The full text of Katie’s email is below:

It’s an unequivocal no from me. The way your colleague Ashleigh (?), someone I’m certain no one under the age of 45 has ever heard of, by the way, ripped into my source directly was one of the lowest, most despicable things I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Shame on her. Shame on HLN. Ashleigh could have “talked” to me. She could have “talked” to my editor or my publication. But instead, she targeted a 23-year-old woman in one of the most vulnerable moments of her life, someone she’s never f—ing met before, for a little attention. I hope the ratings were worth it! I hope the ~500 RTs on the single news write-up made that burgundy lipstick bad highlights second-wave feminist has-been feel really relevant for a little while. She DISGUSTS me, and I hope when she has more distance from the moment she has enough of a conscience left to feel remotely ashamed — doubt it, but still. Must be nice to piggyback off of the fact that another woman was brave enough to speak up and add another dimension to the societal conversation about sexual assault. Grace wouldn’t know how that feels, because she struck out into this alone, because she’s the bravest person I’ve ever met. I would NEVER go on your network. I would never even watch your network. No woman my age would ever watch your network. I will remember this for the rest of my career — I’m 22 and so far, not too shabby! And I will laugh the day you fold. If you could let Ashleigh know I said this, and that she is no-holds-barred the reason, it’d be a real treat for me.
Thanks,
Katie

Katie Way is proving that she’s 22. The staffers at Babe.net pride themselves on all being 25 or under, which is stupid. Ageism is, by far, the dumbest “ism,” because if you’re a white racist, chances are you’ll never be black. If you’re a male sexist, chances are you’ll never become a woman. But if you’re a 22-year-old ageist, you’re also an idiot, because someday you’ll be 45 or 50 — if you’re lucky. Journalism is a small world, and it’s a competitive world. Good luck getting hired anywhere other than Babe.net, Katie. Here’s hoping you eventually age out of both your exceedingly narrow demographic and your even narrower worldview.

11 Things To Start Buying At The Dollar Store

The Grindstone — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 05:02:39 +0000

Dollar stores don’t get nearly enough respect. They have items that, yes, can be chintzy and weird and low-quality at times. But they also have items that are just as good as the ones you’d buy elsewhere and pay through the nose for, and we’re here to bring those items to light. You’re overspending on a lot of specific goods if you don’t buy them at a dollar store. Here they are.

1. Gift wrap. Seriously, you just throw this stuff out. Wrapping paper, bags, and tissue are a must from here, with the exception being if you need something exceedingly specific for some reason (like a licensed character or brand you can only find in a larger shop).

2. Party supplies. Paper plates, napkins, plastic forks and spoons? Why would you pay more for these color-themed things than $1 a pop?

3. Storage supplies. While you may not necessarily be able to get a giant Rubbermaid bin here, the dollar store has a lot of options to get organized, from storage cubes to baskets to vacuum bags to drawer organizers and liners.

4. Cleaning tools. Brooms, dustpans, gloves, sponges, scrub brushes, buckets, spray bottles, dish pans—get these at the dollar store, because they work just as well as name brands (and in fact, some of them are name brands).

5. Hair items. Bobby pins are pretty standard wherever you get them. Get them here. Same goes for basic barrettes, hair donuts, foil wraps for dye, foam rollers, elastics, and mirrors.

6. Office and school supplies. Staples, tape, pens, Post-Its, envelopes, bubble wrap! Teachers, this is a biggie for you especially considering the new tax plan will only let you deduct $250 worth of supplies: Construction paper, classroom decor, notebooks, filler paper, folders, poster board, dry erase markers and boards.

7. Toys. In a pinch and need to keep your bratty nieces and nephews quiet for a few hours? Get coloring books, crayons, puzzles, Play-Doh, card games, board games at the dollar store. They have a lot of licensed characters, too!

8. Bar soap, bath sponges, shower poufs. Seriously, get it here. Brand names, super cheap.

9. Candy. Especially movie theater boxes!

10. Food storage. Containers, plastic and foil wrap, disposable pans—get it all here without the insane markup you’ll find elsewhere.

11. Care package supplies. For when you’re done being selfish, you can build a super-affordable care package for troops with supplies from the dollar store. Here’s what they want, and here’s how to send one. They’ll appreciate it.