Engaging businesses

My first-ever performance review was for a huge consulting firm. It felt like drinking water from a firehose: How could I condense everything I’d done and learned into a few paragraphs? I stayed up all night, hacking together a list. But when I was done, I realized I’d missed the mark. All I had created was a record of the activities I’d done. The “so what?” wasn’t there. It wasn’t an ideal way to kick off my career. So, I developed a system that helped me track and celebrate my milestones and prepare for my reviews—without subjecting myself to disgusting coffee and all-nighters. Here’s my system, and how you can adapt it for your performance reviews. Step 1: Identify your metrics A successful performance review connects your accomplishments to metrics that matter. So, how do you identify the most important metrics? Pull verbs from your job description When you boil down a job description down, the verbs are what matter. Those words—along with … [Read more...] about A simple 5-step system to ace performance reviews

It’s no surprise that working from home has been popular for many workers, but it hasn’t been a win for every profession across the board. Glassdoor recently surveyed workers to determine how important remote work was to them as a benefit, and how employees across various levels of seniority and various occupations view their experiences working from home. In general, the survey found that the ability to work from home was among the top three benefits for more than two-thirds (68%) of the respondents. Remote work was only a few percentage points behind vacation and paid time off in popularity, which 71% of respondents found important, and health insurance, which was a top-three benefit for 69% of respondents. Working from home—or WFH for short—has particularly been a hit with a few specific professions, according to the Glassdoor survey. Here are the top 10 professions, ranked by how satisfied employees were with working from home: Social Worker Customer … [Read more...] about Tired of the office? These jobs have the happiest remote workers right now

Companies founded by women received less than 2% of venture capital funding in 2022— a decline from the year before. However, when women-led startups are funded, research has shown that they generate more in cumulative returns, compared to those led by men. A new VC fund aims to take this lesson to women’s sports. On Monday, venture capitalists Kara Nortman and Jasmine Robinson announced the close of a $100 million fund, the Monarch Collective, with a mission to “accelerate equity in global sport.” Nortman is a former partner at the Los Angeles-based venture capital firm Upfront Ventures. Robinson was a partner at Causeway, a fund focused on sports, media, and entertainment. The Monarch Collective, founded in January, will focus on investing in women’s teams and leagues, along with adjacent industries, such as media and gaming. The duo say they are initially considering investments in women’s soccer teams in the U.S., and in women’s teams and leagues in sports such … [Read more...] about The Monarch Collective unveils $100 million fund to bring equity to women’s sports

Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s is telling me a story about smoking pot. We’re on Zoom, and he says: “The idea came about when I was on a camping trip with a friend of mine, sitting around a fire, smoking a joint. And we were saying, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to have pot like the old days?’” The idea Cohen is referring to is his latest venture, the eponymously named Ben’s Best Blnz , or B3. The just-launched company is a bright, bold cannabis brand that offers low-THC pre-rolls and full-spectrum vapes. Much like his endeavors in ice cream, Cohen set out to use B3’s platform as a conduit for what he refers to as “social benefit.” B3 is registered as a nonprofit, with 100% of its profits split between three entities: 10% will go to the Last Prisoner Project , an organization dedicated to freeing individuals impacted by cannabis criminalization; another 10% will be donated to the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance , whose mission is to “secure sustainable power, ensure … [Read more...] about Ben of Ben & Jerry trades ice cream for cannabis

Shares in Deutsche Bank fell sharply Friday, dragging down other major European banks and leading German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to express confidence in the country’s largest lender after fears about the global financial system sent fresh shudders through the market. Deutsche Bank shares were down 8.8% in late-afternoon trading on the German stock exchange after falling as much as 14%. That followed a steep rise in the cost to insure bondholders against the bank defaulting on its debts, known as credit default swaps. Rising costs on insuring debt were also a prelude to Swiss lender Credit Suisse’s government-backed rescue by rival UBS. That hastily arranged takeover Sunday aimed to stem the upheaval in the global financial system after the collapse of two U.S. banks and jitters about Credit Suisse’s long-running troubles led its shares to tank and customers to pull out their money. Asked whether Deutsche Bank could be the next Credit Suisse, Scholz said, … [Read more...] about What’s happening at Deutsche Bank? Stock drops amid fears that banking crisis will get worse

I ❤️ New York . Dylan . The New York Magazine logo . As one of the most well-known graphic designers of the past century, Milton Glaser and his work have long been ubiquitous in culture. If you assumed you’d seen it all, you’d be in good company. “I thought I had laid eyes on most everything Milton designed,” says Beth Kleber, the founding archivist of the Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. “I was wrong.” In Milton Glaser: Pop , authors Kleber , Steven Heller (disclosure: whose blog this author edits), and Mirko Ilić resurrect hundreds of works from Glaser’s pop period (roughly 1963 to 1975) that have remained filed away since their initial publication. In kaleidoscopic color and Glaser’s signature line and wit, the works—1,100 of which are collected in the book—fueled a graphic revolution that existed beyond stuffy galleries and away from mid-century realism. As the authors detail, “pop” … [Read more...] about Milton Glaser didn’t want to be the voice of a generation. He was anyway

With chatbots like ChatGPT making a splash , machine learning is playing an increasingly prominent role in our lives. For many of us, it’s been a mixed bag. We rejoice when our Spotify For You playlist finds us a new jam, but groan as we scroll through a slew of targeted ads on our Instagram feeds. Machine learning is also changing many fields that may seem surprising. One example is my discipline, ornithology—the study of birds . It isn’t just solving some of the biggest challenges associated with studying bird migration; more broadly, machine learning is expanding the ways in which people engage with birds. As spring migration picks up, here’s a look at how machine learning is influencing ways to research birds and, ultimately, to protect them. The challenge of conserving migratory birds Most birds in the Western Hemisphere migrate twice a year , flying over entire continents between their breeding and nonbreeding grounds. While these journeys are … [Read more...] about How machine learning is helping scientists forecast bird migration

HONG KONG  -Asian and European markets traded higher on Tuesday, as fears of a banking crisis eased thanks to the sale of fallen lender Silicon Valley Bank. News that North Carolina-based First Citizens Bank had agreed to take over most of SVB boosted European stocks and Wall Street on Monday. The gains were led by banking shares, following a rout last week over concerns that the turmoil in the sector could hit other major institutions, such as German giant Deutsche Bank. Hong Kong and Tokyo closed higher, while Sydney, Singapore and Seoul also gained. Shanghai was down, however. European equities were also higher in early trade, with London, Frankfurt and Paris all in positive territory. Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank, said Tuesday that the acquisition by First Citizens had “helped set a positive tone” in global markets. SVB deal helps to steady banks amid credit crunch concerns “Together with the absence of new scare stories over … [Read more...] about Asian, European markets rise as banking crisis fears ease

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is planning to split its business into six main units covering e-commerce, media and the cloud, the company said on Tuesday, adding that each of the units will explore fundraising or initial public offerings. U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba rose 3.5 percent in trading before the bell. The six units will include Cloud Intelligence Group, Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, Local Services Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics Group, Global Digital Commerce Group and Digital Media and Entertainment Group. Each of the six will be managed by its own CEO and board of directors. Daniel Zhang will continue to serve as chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group, which will follow a holding company management model, the company said in a statement. Zhang will also serve as CEO of Cloud Intelligence Group, as previously announced. Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again. Your subscription has been successful. … [Read more...] about Alibaba to split into six units, explore IPOs

But the group is still mired in a war of nerves with the government over management affairs. Former CEO Koo Hyun-mo was appointed under the liberal Moon Jae-in administration. But he gave up a bid for another term under pressure from the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration. Yun’s withdrawal underscores how the KT management remains under political influence. As Koo’s term ends at the end of March, KT could be doing business without CEO for a while. Finding the next candidate for the top post is not easy. The government opposed Yun as the new head of KT, not to mention three other candidates shortlisted by the KT board of directors. The government more or less displayed its disapproval of the current KT management, accusing it of being “a cartel group.” While resigning from the nomination, Yun said that the new CEO should be able to improve the governance structure that can exceed the expectations of major stakeholders. Given that Yun’s nomination was approved by minority … [Read more...] about [Editorial] A critical leadership vacuum at KT