All Briefs

In the coming months, global executives could find themselves trying to navigate an international currency market wherein both the USD and the RMB are competing in a ‘how low can you go’ devaluation game. This new battleground, if it fully manifests, could be more detrimental and problematic for global businesses than anything we’ve seen from the tariffs to date.

Are millennials misunderstood? Over a decade of research from the Case Foundation has found that the characteristics with which millennials were previously branded—a quiet, inactive, insular group that did not engage with social causes and were often considered self-centered, lazy, and too concerned with their devices to think about anyone else—are false. Instead, millennials are thinking, acting, and living their lives like no other generation before them.

Managers need to be skilled at the basics of effective recognition and to use that skill in a timely, sincere and specific manner on a daily basis as their employees have performed well. Managers have to lead the charge in proactively helping to make your workplace a culture of recognition in which the behavior is part of the common practices of the organization.

Research indicates that there are huge gaps in long-term care planning. The need for help, and possibly a lot of help, later in life, has a huge impact on multiple generations of many American families. Society of Actuaries’ research studies show that while many people are aware of the risk, few do advance planning for managing it.

Do Employee Resource Groups help employees promote activism and help guide the culture of a company? If not, better collaboration could help. There are three key building blocks companies should consider to promote organization-wide collaboration: Trust, Communication, and Shared Vision and Purpose.

What does strategic internal communications look like at a Fortune 100 insurance company like Nationwide? Rick Phillips retired in 2018 as Chief Communications Officer for the company. In this interview, he discusses, among other things, the importance of alignment between internal and external communication with corporate goals and how to demonstrate the impact of internal communication.

The following FAQ provides a helpful review of the steps needed to evolve the annual board development process.

As the lines between internal and external communications blur, does your organization ensure the needs of internal audiences are not overlooked? Research from IC Kollectif has found that companies are increasingly adopting an integrated approach to internal and external communication. But if internal stakeholders are treated as a distinct audience—a common practice, according to the research—external content alone is not enough to respond to their needs.

What are innovative ways that companies are generating social impact? New research from PYXERA Global suggests that for the first time, Global Pro Bono initiatives—corporate-sponsored human capital initiatives aligned to a company’s broader strategy—are being used by companies to generate social impact, ahead of leadership skills development and increased employee engagement.

Too many retailers are shutting down: 2019 just hit its halfway point, but already the number of planned retail store closings has exceeded the total for all of 2018.