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  • KENTECH Launches ClarityIQ, Bringing Predictive Analytics to the Hiring Process

    KENTECH Launches ClarityIQ, Bringing Predictive Analytics to the Hiring Process

    The challenge for business startups is focusing your time and money on the things that will be most impactful to your business success. Kenneth Coats, founder, and CEO of KENTECH Consulting says that “the lesson I would pass on to other entrepreneurs is to simplify.”

    CEO Kenneth Coats of KENTECH Consulting, an investigative background check technology company recently discussed on Entrepreneur his business challenges and offered advice to other small business founders:

    Simplification is Key to Going to Market Quickly

    I’m the founder and CEO of KENTECH Consulting. We help the world make clear informed decisions. We are an investigative technology firm. We help our clients navigate risks and hire superior human capital. The biggest challenge I experience in my current role as founder and CEO is having many ideas and not enough time to execute on them all.

    The challenge that it created was the ability to go to market. How we resolved it was to simplify the process which was harder than it appears on paper to cut out things we knew we couldn’t possibly do in the time we have. The lesson I would pass on to other entrepreneurs is to simplify. There are many great ideas that are constantly running around in our head. Those are great, but it’s good to just journal them and simplify and execute.

    KENTECH Launches ClarityIQ, Bringing Technology to the Hiring Process

    Security has continuously been a challenge throughout the world whether it’s people, or access or technology. What we are looking at is tackling police and law enforcement recruitment. Policing in the US is not so good. There is not a great relationship between the community and police. Part of that challenge is stemming from the hiring practices.

    We’ve been looking at how to resolve that problem by ensuring that the right people are being hired in these positions. We now have a patent pending product called ClarityIQ which is built on providing predictive analytics, a “FICO” score of sorts on the success probability of a person becoming a law enforcement officer that can orient into the community.

    Entrepreneurs Should Expect the Unexpected

    As a leader how do you prepare for the challenges that you may face? The simple answer to that is to expect the unexpected at all times. Being an entrepreneur is living inside the Matrix where two plus two does not equal four. If you understand that from the outset two plus two can equal whatever you want it to. You can always plan and 80 percent of the time things will work out, but leaving about 20 percent unforeseen and expect it is the challenge.

  • How to Find Seasonal Employees For Your Small Business When Unemployment is Low

    How to Find Seasonal Employees For Your Small Business When Unemployment is Low

    Target, Macy’s and other retailers are already gearing up for the upcoming holidays and the accompanying shopping madness. Insiders are anticipating a good season, thanks to consumer optimism and low unemployment. But can retailers find enough seasonal workers to fill their needs?

    Target is aiming to hire 120,000 seasonal employees while Macy’s plans to bring onboard 80,000. The Gap is reportedly looking for around 65,000 part-time workers. Meanwhile, delivery carriers are also looking for more workers in anticipation of the upcoming surge in online shopping. FedEx is hoping to sign up 55,000 extra hands while UPS will have room for 100,000 employees.

    Unfortunately for retailers, finding extra employees won’t be easy. The US job market is very worker-friendly at the moment, thanks to the record low unemployment rate. Job seekers now have more options and can afford to be picky about who they want to work for.

    Image result for us unemployment statistic 2018

    [Image source: TalkMarkets]

    Because of this, a lot of businesses have implemented some strategies in the hopes of seducing seasonal employees. For instance, some retailers are offering customized incentives or hiring HR contractors. Others businesses are opting to give better training to their existing workers instead of hiring additional ones.

    As a small business owner, you’ll also need seasonal employees. However, the hiring strategies used by large enterprises might not be effective for you. But that doesn’t mean they can’t compete. If your small business needs more workers for the holidays, here are a few strategies to help you fill your roster.

    How to Get Seasonal Employees Interested

    1. Tap Into Your Team’s Network

    One of the best sources of temporary employees is through your current staff members. Tap into your team’s network and ask for their help in looking for new teammates. The holiday season can be brutal and most small businesses won’t have the luxury of replacing unreliable workers at this time of year. You’ll have to hire trustworthy people and the best way of doing that is via personal referrals.

    Implement an employee referral system for your small business. This will give you a consistent pipeline of candidates while keeping current staff happy with their referral incentives. Plus, employee retention tends to be higher with referred applicants.

    2. Be Flexible With Schedules and Incentives

    Monetary incentives are often not enough to get a worker interested, especially in today’s labor market. However, customizing your job offer and the perks that come with it can get you a nibble in the job pool.

    Seasonal workers have a different motivation for taking on the job. They might need extra income for school, the position could be an internship they need, or maybe they have family commitments to meet. This also means a conventional schedule or payday might not cut if for them. Your new hires might ask to be paid daily or want the option to give you their preferred weekly schedule. Being flexible with your worker’s schedule or incentive structure will go a long way in helping you to fill your job openings in time for the holidays.

    3. Check College Campuses

    College and university campuses are a great hiring ground for seasonal workers. Many students don’t return home for the holidays and the majority look forward to earning money and getting some work experience during this time.

    Businesses are also ensured of employees that are energetic, enthusiastic and well-educated. The holiday season is also an ideal time for students to work part-time or as interns as their position comes with a definite end date. It’s a win-win situation. Boost your odds by advertising on campuses and posting on college job recruitment websites.

    4. Host a Job Fair

    A job fair is one of the most efficient ways of sourcing contract workers. However, an event like this takes time to plan and organize. But when executed properly, you can connect with numerous candidates in a short period of time.

    Join annual job fairs several months ahead of the season you want to hire for. This will give you enough time to select the best candidates and train them. Spread the word by advertising at local colleges, newspapers, and news stations. Make sure you also post your requirements on your website and through online job boards.

    5. Look at a Different Job Pool

    Don’t limit yourself to conventional job pools or postings. There are numerous organizations or programs that you can reach out to for job placements. For instance, why not get in touch with organizations that work with ex-cons or the handicap?

    A temporary HR contractor can also help fill your job openings. Recruiting is time-consuming and most many small businesses aren’t able to outsource, interview and process applicants. An HR contractor can manage your staffing requirements so you’ll have more time to focus on other critical tasks. What’s more, an HR company knows how to select the best candidates for the job. And if you’re lucky, your seasonal hire could become a permanent asset to your company.

    Businesses hire millions of seasonal employees every year. While it’s more challenging for small businesses to catch the attention of these workers, you can still do it. You’ll just have to think outside the box and come up with creative tactics. Asking for employee referrals, being flexible with incentives and tapping college students are just some ways to secure hires and be productive during the holiday season.

    [Featured image via Pexels]

  • For HR, the Key to the Future is Embracing Technology for the Betterment of Humans

    For HR, the Key to the Future is Embracing Technology for the Betterment of Humans

    “The thing about human resources that I’ve noticed is that I think we are really approaching the time where the end of business as usual is happening and human resources and business follows as a consequence,” noted Gerd Leonhard, Futurist and Author of ‘Technology vs Humanity‘ in a recent talk at the 2018 BeyondHR forum in Amsterdam. “When we talk about people, what do we do in the future? All of the mechanics of today’s business, salaries, hiring, firing, vetting, taxes, etc., I think machines can do a lot of that.” Of course, he’s talking about very intelligent machines that learn via machine learning and utilize cognitive computing enabling the reviewing billions of data points within seconds in order to make recommendations and in some cases actual decisions that impact humans.

    Social Responsibility of HR and Technology

    “Clearly, the more connected we become, the stronger we must think about responsibility, ethics, design, social contracts. When HR moves to the cloud, and many of you are already in the cloud, the possibilities are endless but the responsibility is also increasing. It’s a very powerful tool, so if something goes wrong it can also have very powerful consequences. The primary moving count is that we should put human flourishing first, put the human inside. We should never ask the question if technology can do something, just because it can. Right now, that’s still a question, but in ten years technology can literally do anything. Once we have quantum computing, that’s roughly 5-7 years to really happen, then we have unlimited juice where we could do anything. Humanity will change more in the next 20 years than it has in the previous 300 years!”

    So How Does This Impact HR?

    “Anything that cannot be automated or digitized becomes more valuable and that is going to be the tough part for HR,” says Leonhard. “How in the world would you measure people based on those KPI’s, so to speak, the KPI of compassion? In a way, you do that now but you do it in a non-scientific way, you do it personally. And how do you teach somebody emotional intelligence?” We are moving to a world where emotional intelligence is becoming just as important as IQ for HR managers, according to the author.

    “We should embrace technology but not become it. I think for HR that holds the key to the future, embracing technology but in such a way that we can still serve humans.

  • How to Tell When Employee Morale is Suffering (And What to Do About It)

    How to Tell When Employee Morale is Suffering (And What to Do About It)

    Most business owners would agree that employee morale is vital to a company’s success. Satisfied employees get along better with their co-workers, make fewer errors and are more productive. Conversely, disgruntled employees—even a few—can spread negativity throughout a company like a wildfire and hurt its bottom-line.

    But low morale in the workplace can be intangible and hard to discern. Here’s some advice on what to look out for and what measures you can take to counteract this problem in your business.

    How to Tell When Employee Morale is Low

    • Poor Performance: Missed deadlines, customer complaints, or an increase in mistakes are all signs of low morale. Team members might be feeling pressured by their workload or are experiencing personal problems.
    • Changes in Employee Attitude: Watch out for changes in your employee’s attitude, like increased absences, unwillingness to cooperate or commit, or a rise in negativity. These are clear signs that your employee is unhappy about something that has to be addressed immediately.
    • Lack of Initiative: Be on the look-out for staff members who are just doing the bare minimum at their job. Employees who lack motivation or are confused about their tasks find no reason to be proactive, show leadership skills, or find ways to solve problems.
    • Active Office Gossip: You can’t stop employees from talking, but be wary when the information being spread at work is inaccurate or leads to conflict. Office gossip typically happens when there’s a lack of information or reliable communication with the management.
    • Increase in Resignations or Transfers: An uptick in resignations or requests for transfers to other departments are a sure sign of employee dissatisfaction. Employees who feel they’re not treated well or that their talents are wasted are apt to transfer or quit and look for employment elsewhere. A 2015 survey by Campaign US, revealed that unhappy workers are 3.5 times more likely to search for another job.

    5 Ways to Raise Morale in the Workplace

    1. Promote your own.

    Knowing that there’s a chance to advance in their career path is a strong motivation for every employee. Find out more about your employees’ job aspirations and invest in training programs for them. You can also give team members a chance to bloom simply by placing them in positions that better match their skill sets.

    2. Touch base with employees on a regular basis.

    If you don’t know what’s causing low morale among your staff, ask them. Schedule one-on-one meetings or have group discussions to flesh out underlying problems in the workplace. You could even conduct quarterly employee reviews that allow employees to air out their grievances anonymously. Also, keep your doors open to employees so they can talk to you whenever they feel the need to do so.

    3. Share your vision.

    Give your employees a purpose or a goal they can work towards. Make your workers feel like they’re an integral part of something greater by sharing your vision for the company. Knowing the end goal and their contribution to it can inspire and motivate your team.

    4. Don’t underestimate fringe benefits.

    Giving your employees more money is nice, but fringe benefits can also go a long way toward boosting morale. Something as simple as a well-stocked pantry, providing tasty lunches during a meeting, or a free monthly massage will do wonders. Sending gifts during important milestones, like weddings or birthdays, also make employees feel valued and loved.

    5. Have some fun. 

    Doing something enjoyable should be a regular thing in your company. Bowling matches, an in-house sports competition or even a scavenger hunt are fun and can boost morale. Make things more interesting by creating teams and offering prizes to those who achieve particular goals.

    [Featured image via Pixabay]

  • Why Walmart’s Employee Package Delivery Plan Failed

    Why Walmart’s Employee Package Delivery Plan Failed

    In June of 2017, Walmart announced that it wanted to tap its massive workforce of over 2 million people to bring online orders directly to the front doors of its customers. The retail giant planned to have employees make the deliveries on their way home after ending their usual work shifts. According to Marc Lore, head of Walmart’s eCommerce operations, the strategy would make the company’s deliveries more efficient, a move that would help it fend off rival Amazon. But before launching the employee “last-mile” delivery service nationwide, it was first tested in New Jersey and Arkansas. Walmart reeled employees into the program by offering additional compensation to cover labor and fuel expenses, but the experiment flopped. As it turned out, the last-mile program had more drawbacks than benefits for its workers.

    In January of this year, Walmart quietly shut down the pilot program and is now testing employee deliveries on a smaller scale.

    But exactly why did its last-mile delivery fail? Employees who participated in the program spoke to Reuters about their experience and explained some of the issues they had with it.

    Read the full story at the Reuters website.

    [Featured image via Walmart newsroom]

  • US House of Representatives Passes JOBS Act 3.0, Bill Aims to Help Small Businesses Get More Funding

    US House of Representatives Passes JOBS Act 3.0, Bill Aims to Help Small Businesses Get More Funding

    Small businesses won big on Tuesday night when the House of Representatives passed JOBS Act 3.0. The bill passed on a 406-4 vote, a surprisingly solid consensus from a chamber that has gained infamy due to its present bipartisan differences. But what is the JOBS Act 3.0 and what does it mean for small businesses in the US?

    Understanding JOBS Act 3.0 and Its Significance

    Originally known as the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, the legislation has been under discussion for several years as Congress tried to hammer out changes that both parties would be happy with.

    JOBS Act 3.0, or the JOBS and Investor Confidence Act of 2018, is an amalgamation of 20 distinct bills. These bills are all designed to encourage and boost entrepreneurship by making it easier for small businesses to gain access to capital markets.

    Under JOBS Act 3.0, new legislation will ease banking regulations, allowing startups to get the financial help they need. It will also stimulate venture capital and make it possible for initial public offering (IPO) to become more manageable and affordable.

    This move certainly garnered the approval of Tom Quaadman, the Executive Vice President of the US Chamber Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness. According to Quaadman, these pro-growth policies will not only help get new businesses off the ground, it will also improve the chances that these enterprises will grow, innovate, and boost the job market.

    “It is a win for entrepreneurs, businesses, and job creators across the country,” Quaadman said.

    Ways the JOBS Act Can Benefit Small Businesses

    There are numerous ways JOBS Act 3.0 will help small businesses. For one, it will remove barriers that hinder companies from raising capital.

    The US Chamber of Commerce revealed that three-fourths of the country’s business financing comes from capital markets. However, the sheer number of regulations makes it challenging to keep up with demand. This has resulted in a decline in the number of US startups in recent years. Now China is leading the IPO revolution, producing more than one-third of the world’s startups compared to the 11 percent by the US.

    New regulations would also permit a larger number of accredited investors to invest in startups and small businesses, thus improving their chances. For instance, people who earn more than $200,000 a year or those who have a net worth of $1 million or more could become accredited investors. This will boost the pool of investors and provide more capital funds.

    The Act will also clarify how businesspeople and angel investors can discuss their investments without running into trouble with securities laws. A clear understanding of these regulations would increase venture capital movement and make acquisitions by small businesses easier.

    What’s Next for the Bill

    The JOBS Act 3.0 has garnered a lot of support from numerous organizations and companies. The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) even praised it for being a “tremendous step forward for small, pre-revenue innovators.” However, the bill still has some ways to go.

    The legislation is now in the hands of the Senate, the chamber of Congress that has become known for not getting things done. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will now have the job of wrangling enough votes to get the bill in front of President Trump by fall.

    [Featured image via Pexels]

  • eBay’s Stock Takes Massive Tumble, Company Axes 300 Employees

    eBay’s Stock Takes Massive Tumble, Company Axes 300 Employees

    This is not a good week for eBay. The company’s stocks took a massive tumble a day after revealing that it was slashing about 300 jobs in the Bay Area.

    eBay informed the Employment Development Department of California of its move to cut about 300 jobs in the area by Friday, July 20. The affected employees were reportedly notified last month that they were being laid off.

    The retail giant later reported its second-quarter earnings to its investors. The company secured a net profit of 64 cents per share, which was above what analysts projected. However, its warning that the present quarter’s revenue would go down resulted in a selloff that saw eBay’s stocks fall by 10 percent, ending in $34.11 per share.

    eBay also reported that its expected full-year profit will be around $10.75 billion to $10.85 billion, down from its previous estimate of about $10.9 billion to $11.1 billion. The company also lowered its expectations regarding its third-quarter earnings per share to somewhere between $0.54 and $0.56.

    News of the layoffs and the drop in stock prices is typically something to be worried about. Conventional wisdom dictates that cutting jobs should lead to a boost in share prices. After all, reduced cost means better profits. eBay certainly looks at it that way, as the company stated that the savings it made the previous quarter will provide them with additional funds to spend on marketing.

    eBay has been relatively quiet the past few years, particularly when compared to rival Amazon. But despite losing its luster, the company has been performing steadily. Its stock prices even reached a high $36 per share last January. This capped a 139 percent gain of the past five years. Unfortunately, shares have dropped 27 percent since then.

    Some Wall Street analysts have said that this drop in shares is puzzling, as the company continues to make progress with its key initiatives. They noted that the company is still “losing market share at a time when eCommerce, in general, is thriving.” One analyst even said that this could be due to eBay customers not bringing in new buyers to the platform.

  • Businesses Struggle to Fill Open Positions as US Workers Quit Their Jobs in Record Numbers

    Businesses Struggle to Fill Open Positions as US Workers Quit Their Jobs in Record Numbers

    According to the latest statistics from the Bureau of Labor, a large number of US workers have been quitting their jobs recently. In May, US workers said goodbye to their jobs in record numbers. The statistics showed that 2.4 percent of employees left their companies that month, a higher number than the previous high reached in April 2001.

    Some analysts see this as a positive indication of how strong the job market is these days. After all, employees usually only quit their jobs for greener pastures. People who switch employment often receive higher pay and greater benefits than those that stay put.

    Government data also revealed that there were fewer jobs advertised in May than in April. The numbers showed that there were 6.84 million jobs in April and only 6.64 million the following month. The 3 percent drop was the highest in the almost twenty years that records have been saved.

    However, the number of open positions were higher than that of the unemployed for the second time in as many years. A look at the available jobs in May, factored in with the number of unemployed workers, shows that there are 0.91 out-of-work individuals for every available job.

    The figures mirror a solid job market pushed by employers who are moving to expand their employee base. The recent job report also indicated that the hiring rate was good and that unemployment numbers remained at a low 4 percent.

    The current shortage in the labor pool and the competition for jobs should prompt businesses to increase salaries in order to secure workers. However, wage hikes remain at modest levels. Hourly earnings increased to 2.7 percent in June but aren’t commensurate with the 4 percent yearly gains that are typical in a healthy economy.

    The large discrepancy between unfilled job positions and unemployed workers is forcing companies to become more flexible with their hiring. Where businesses used to employ people with specific skills, now they’re more open to choosing applicants who could thrive in the company’s culture and are willing to learn required skills.

    However, companies are still cautious and are embracing change much slower than they did in the 1990s, the last time the country enjoyed a solid job market. Staffing experts say that the hiring process has become more thorough in the last twenty years, as background checks intensified and more screening steps were introduced. This is also why it’s taking longer to fill many open positions.

    [Featured image via Pexels.com]

  • Google Calendar’s New ‘Out of Office’ Mode Helps Improve Your Work-Life Balance

    Google Calendar’s New ‘Out of Office’ Mode Helps Improve Your Work-Life Balance

    Google has finally taken steps to make their Calendar more flexible. The company has rolled out two new features that will allow users to customize their schedules on a daily basis and mark events as “out of office.”

    Our lives do not run on a fixed schedule, so it only makes sense that Google Calendar should also allow for some flexibility. Let’s say you prefer to have a late start on Mondays and will just make up for it by working longer the following day. A new set of controls in Calendar will make it easier for you to adjust your availability and limitations on a daily basis.

    This means you can adjust it so that your work hours on Mondays can start at 10 am while you can extend your Tuesday schedule until 8 pm. When someone sends an invitation to a meeting and it falls beyond your work schedule, they will receive a notification stating that you might decline.

    At the moment, Google users can set up only a single default working schedule from Monday to Friday. But with this new tool, you can be as specific as possible.

    Another new feature headed to Google Calendar is the “out of office” mode. It also works in a similar manner, but instead of blocking off their schedule with a random event, users can set it up as an “out of office” entry. So people who invite you to an event during this scheduled timeout duration will automatically receive a message declining the invitation. The message can also be personalized as you see fit.

    The updates are Google’s way of assisting its users to have a healthier “digital well-being.” After all, something as simple as setting up flexible work hours or scheduling time to be out of the office can have a big impact on your work-life balance.

    The new features are expected to be available on all G Suite editions in the next few days.

  • Small Businesses are Struggling to Find Workers Due to Low Unemployment Rate

    Small Businesses are Struggling to Find Workers Due to Low Unemployment Rate

    A recent LinkedIn employment report has revealed that the US job market is hale and hearty. The country’s unemployment rate is down across the board while hiring is 4.5% higher when compared to this same time last year. While the news certainly is encouraging, the report also underlines the challenges that small businesses are facing with regards to hiring and keeping the right people.

    Numbers Point to Good News

    Aside from the news that hiring rates are high and unemployment rates are down, the LinkedIn Workforce Report for June also revealed some interesting specifics. For instance, there’s a 12.4% increase in hiring in cities that rely heavily on the oil industry. Tech firms, financial and insurance services, architecture and engineering firms, and automotive and transportation companies are also hiring more people.

    Hiring in San Francisco Bay Area - June 2018

    However, there are also several cities where the demand for skilled workers is simply not being met. These cities include Austin, Washington DC, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Conversely, Hartford, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach have thriving communities of skilled workers, making it easy for small and big businesses to fill their employment requirements.

    The LinkedIn study isn’t the only one touting these numbers. Reuters has also reported that job growth in the US went up in May while the unemployment rate dropped to 3.8 percent, an 18-year low for the country. Total payrolls rose to 223,000 and the average hourly earnings have increased by 0.3 percent month-to-month.

    Image result for 2018 us unemployment rates

    The report does paint a rosy outlook for American households. Tom Porcelli, Chief US Economist of RBC Capital Markets admits the news about unemployment rates “literally checks off all the right boxes.” He also said that they have been looking for any negatives about the findings but admits that so far, they haven’t found anything.

    What it Means for Small Businesses

    The LinkedIn report doesn’t mean everything’s smooth sailing though. One key takeaway from it is the fact that with more businesses hiring, the labor market has become a tight one. This means companies are fighting for a workforce that’s steadily growing smaller.

    The labor shortage means that the majority of businesses will have no other option but to increase wages in order to attract the workers they need and keep the ones they want. This is good news on the side of the employees, as it implies that salary growth is picking up.

    Unfortunately, not all small businesses can go head to head with bigger and more established companies who have better financial backing. This year’s Randstad US Salary Guide says that wages have risen by as much as 3% across different industries, a rate that not all small businesses can meet.

    Low unemployment rates also mean small companies will start to lose out on business. A Federal Reserve survey showed that in some states, restaurants struggle to find waiters and cooks while construction and manufacturing companies simply can’t find workers, regardless of whether they’re skilled or not. This lack of workers has translated to rising production costs, as well as canceled or delayed projects.

    So what can small businesses do to attract skilled workers? Aside from matching the going rate, they can offer an incentive program or a profit sharing option. Work from home options and extensive training can also be used to sweeten the deal. In short, small businesses would have to be more creative with their perks.

  • Walmart May Bring Customer Service Drones to Its Stores Soon, Retailer Files Patents

    Walmart May Bring Customer Service Drones to Its Stores Soon, Retailer Files Patents

    Walmart has always been known to push boundaries. The company is continuing this innovative culture with its recent filing of patents for keeping track of inventory, a store drone and other technologies aimed at changing how customers shops.

    Walmart is no stranger to filing patents. The company has reportedly filed 1,400 patents since 2009, all of which focused on technology that enhances their customers’ in-store experience. One of the newly filed patents pertains to a sensing device designed to make smart shopping carts that can communicate with a mobile device. This can make searching for grocery items go more smoothly.

    Meanwhile, several of the patents that were filed are geared towards sensing and managing inventory levels and one that can track customers via wearables.

    Walmart has also filed two patents for autonomous technology. One is for tech that can detect items or products in containers while the other can gather vehicle information, like size, temperature, pre- and post-delivery weight, using an intricate system of sensors, an interface, and a processor.

    One patent that could drastically change how things are done at Walmart is for a drone that could assist customers as they shop in the store. According to the patent outline, a customer can call the drone through a mobile device that’s either the customer’s own or one that’s been provided by the store. The drone can be used to navigate around the store or to verify product price.

    The patent detailed how the device can control the aerial drone to guide the user to the location of the item in the store. The drone could also give a visual projection to show the shopper what direction they should take or provide audio instructions.

    There’s also the possibility of Walmart utilizing a variety of drones to perform different tasks. Each drone will reportedly have its own distinct features based on its assigned job.

    While the patents appear promising, there’s no guarantee that they will be realized. Most of the time, the patents companies file are never realized.

    However, Walmart’s recent patent filing underlines just how serious the company is in its bid to compete against Amazon and other established retailers. It has already increased the prices of products bought online and has started producing and selling its very own meal kits. Walmart has also signed an exclusive deal with Rakuten, a Japanese e-commerce company, to sell Kobo e-readers.

    Featured image via Pixabay

  • ZenBusiness Wants to Make it Easier for One Million Small Businesses to Get Started by 2023

    ZenBusiness Wants to Make it Easier for One Million Small Businesses to Get Started by 2023

    Austin-based company ZenBusiness has secured $4.5 million in seed money, thanks to numerous angel investors. The startup is also embarking on the lofty goal of assisting one million businesses get started.

    ZenBusiness, which began operations in 2015, helps small business get off on the right foot by assisting with legal documents. The company will inform clients of each and every form required by the state and the reports that have to be filed yearly. This will undoubtedly be a big boon to first-time business owners and entrepreneurs, as the process and requirements of launching a small business differ per state.

    The corporate creation and management company is offering a fast, easy and affordable alternative to the complicated process of filing legal and business documents. ZenBusiness will provide clients a set of questions to answer that will determine the business they want to start. The business platform then creates and files all the needed documents for free, except for the state-mandated fees. What’s more, this is all accomplished in as little as 48 hours.

    Company owners can also avail of the $10 monthly package that lets ZenBusiness become the business’ registered agent and allows them to handle “annual filings, franchise tax, all of the red tape around an entity.” The company is also open to paying any potential fines in the event that they have been remiss with any of the documents. The payment will be taken from the $4.5 million seed money from investors Lerer Hippeau, Greycroft, Slow Ventures, Founders Fund, and Revolution’s Rise of the Rest.

    ZenBusiness founder Ross Buhrdorf explains that their platform and affordable pricing ensures that every small business owner has the “resources and protection they need to turn their business dreams and ideas into reality.” Burhdorf has also set a very lofty goal for the company, that of helping develop one million small businesses by the year 2023. This roughly translates to 2.5 million new jobs for Americans and over $100 billion in income for workers.

    [Featured image via Pexels]

  • Former Facebook and Google Employees Form Coalition Against Tech Addiction

    Former Facebook and Google Employees Form Coalition Against Tech Addiction

    If there’s one group of people who best know the negative effects of tech addiction, it would be the Silicon Valley technologists who helped companies like Facebook and Google implement methods to steer the public’s attention. Now, former employees of these tech companies have banded together to speak against the addiction they had a hand in creating.

    “We were on the inside, we know what the companies measure,” former Google in-house ethicist Tristan Harris explained. “We know how they talk, and we know how the engineering works.” Harris is the co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, a group of former Google and Facebook employees who joined forces to form an anti-tech addiction lobbying effort. The group, along with Common Sense Media, a non-profit media watchdog, plans to target around 55,000 schools in the United States in its effort.

    To fund the campaign, which is titled The Truth About Tech, Common Sense and the Center for Humane Technology managed to $7 million. Common Sense has been active in campaigns against the dangers of technology especially on heavy social media use which has been known to trigger depression. The group already received $50 million in donated airtime towards its cause after partnering with media companies like Comcast and DirectTV.

    Harris is a vocal critic against his former employer and has made it his goal to expose what he views as Google’s manipulative design techniques. In fact, he called the search engine’s tactics as a “civilization-scale mind-control machine” in a Bloomberg interview.

    “All the tech companies profit the more attention they extract out of human vessels,” Harris said in an interview with Quartz. “They profit by drilling into our brains to pull the attention out of it, by using persuasion techniques to keep them hooked.”

    Ultimately, the group wants legislation to regulate the activities of these tech firms. At the moment, the group is focused on banning the use of digital bots as well as a bill that will commission research on the impact of technology on children’s health.

    [Featured image via Pixabay (1), (2)]

  • Apple Announces ‘Business Chat’ with Upcoming iOS Update

    Apple Announces ‘Business Chat’ with Upcoming iOS Update

    It seems that more and more tech companies are starting to monetize their messaging apps to meet the communication needs of businesses. The latest company to go this route is Apple, which recently announced that it will be launching Business Chat, a feature that was actually unveiled during last year’s Worldwide Developer Conference.

    Apple will be releasing a new operating system update this Spring, the iOS 11.3. The company will also introduce a host of new features along with the iOS update, one of which is the Business Chat.

    With the Business Chat feature in place, users will be able to talk directly with a company’s business representative via the iMessage app. In addition, the new feature will offer payment capabilities via Apple Pay as well as make appointments if such is applicable to the business.

    The move seems to signal Apple’s serious intent to enter into the niche. SnapChat made a similar move earlier this month by launching its own WhatsApp Business app.

    While many people may not be used to using chats to contact companies, demand for business messaging is increasing. In fact, a Facebook-commissioned Nielsen study concluded that the majority of consumers would actually prefer messaging a business than calling their hotline. Based on the survey, 56 percent expressed a preference in using text to contact companies. Furthermore, a total of 67 percent believed that business messaging is going to pick up in the next two years.

    However, it will be a big challenge for Apple to make it big in business messaging given its smaller number of users. Facebook Messenger has a head start with around 1.3 billion users using the app with 80 percent of its 65 million businesses users already using the platform to connect with customers.

    While WhatsApp may be a bit late in entering the business chat segment, Apple can’t compete in terms of the size of its user base. WhatsApp has around 1.3 billion users worldwide.

  • Google Tries to Fill Vacant IT Jobs Through Certification Program

    Google Tries to Fill Vacant IT Jobs Through Certification Program

    Google has just rolled out an education course that aims to address the dearth of IT professionals in the United States.

    Google recently announced that it will be teaming up with Coursera to offer an IT support training program. The company is hoping that the new program will help fill in the IT shortage in the country.

    The course is dubbed the Google IT Support Professional Certificate. It’s designed to assist students with no previous IT education or training to get the relevant experience necessary to secure an entry-level job in just eight to 12 months.

    The idea for the Coursera program was the result of the best practices that came to light during Google’s in-house IT residency program, which began in 2010. According to Natalie Van Kleef Conley, the product lead for Google, the company had to contend with having openings for IT roles and not enough skilled people to fill the vacancies. It’s a situation that a lot of companies are familiar with. As a matter of fact, research shows that there are 150,000 vacant IT support jobs in the US today.

    Google previously worked with YearUp, a nonprofit that designs workforce training programs for adults in low-income families. The organization developed a program that helped prepare young professionals for entry-level IT support jobs.

    The experience also proved to Google that IT was a teachable field, and that people can be trained the fundamentals of IT in as little as eight to 12 months.

    Google’s new Coursera-backed program consists of over 64 hours of video lessons, with hands-on lab and various interactive evaluation tools. The course will cover topics like customer service and troubleshooting, automation, networking, operating systems, security, and system administration. According to Van Kleef Conley, the topics cover “all the fundamentals of IT support.”

    The course will also feature Google staff whose own experience in IT support served as a starting point in their careers.

    Google’s new IT support course will cost $49 a month. However, scholarships will be offered to those who come to the program via the non-profit organizations that Google partners with, like Goodwill, Per Scholas, Student Veterans of America, Upwardly Global, and YearUp.

    In order to complete the certificate, participants have to finish six courses. One of the already open now, with the five other courses just available for pre-enrollment. These courses will commence on January 23.

    This isn’t the first time that Google has worked with Coursera. The two companies have previously collaborated on Cloud Platform training modules for businesses. They also share the same vision when it comes to developing programs that aim to help people secure good jobs.

  • Are Twitter Employees Snooping Through Your DMs? Undercover Video Raises Concern Over User Privacy

    Are Twitter Employees Snooping Through Your DMs? Undercover Video Raises Concern Over User Privacy

    Twitter is going on the offensive; adamantly stating that the company is not reading users’ direct messages.

    The denial comes on the heels of allegations raised that Twitter employs hundreds of people tasked with reading account holders private messages.

    Project Veritas Makes Disturbing Claims

    Project Veritas recently posted footage that allegedly features Twitter engineers who claim that the company has hundreds of employees that look at users personal data, including “d**k pics” and “all your sex messages.”

    The undercover footage features four Twitter engineers—Clay Haynes, Conrado Miranda, Mihai Alexandru Florea, and Pranay Singh. Haynes and Singh claimed that teams of Twitter employees have access to account holders’ data and that all the private photos and sensitive messages sent by users are all stored on company servers. Singh, a Direct Messaging Engineer for Twitter, even said that data shared by Twitter users are analyzed and sold.

    One of these engineers even appears to say that the company can even give account information to the Department of Justice President on Donald Trump, including direct messages and any deleted tweets.

    Twitter Denies Reading DMs

    Twitter was quick to deny these allegations. A company spokesperson for the company has told Buzzfeed News that Twitter does not “proactively review DMs. Period.” The representative further stated that while there’s a select group of employees that do have access to users’ personal data, it’s “for legitimate work purposes,” and that they have strict guidelines in place for those employees.

    Twitter’s response to the Project Veritas videos was corroborated by a former employee who said that while the clips were “technically accurate to a degree,” the engineers’ claims were an exaggeration made by “drunk idiots.” The ex-employee also added that personnel with access to private data are those tasked to check claims of abuse by Twitter users.

    With regards to Project Veritas’ claims that Twitter can forward any personal information, the company states that it does not share any of its users’ personal information with law enforcement unless there’s a valid legal request. In its biannual transparency report, Twitter revealed the legal requests it has received and responded to from January 1 to June 30, 2017.

    Twitter also lambasted Project Veritas for its deplorable tactics in obtaining the footage and how it was edited to portray the company in a negative light.

    Project Veritas is no stranger to controversy. The company has been derided for utilizing unethical and underhanded methods in its investigations of issues. Most recently, the project received flak for attempting to discredit the Washington Post by trying to trick the paper into publishing a fake story about Roy Moore.  

    [Featured image via YouTube]

  • Google Sued By Fired Employee Alleging that White, Male Conservatives are Systematically Discriminated Against

    Google Sued By Fired Employee Alleging that White, Male Conservatives are Systematically Discriminated Against

    James Damore, the former Google engineer who was fired in 2016 after releasing a manifesto that questioned the benefits of diversity programs, has filed a discrimination lawsuit against Google. Damore also discussed his belief that Google is politically biased in the manifesto saying, “At Google, we talk so much about unconscious bias as it applies to race and gender, but we rarely discuss our moral biases. Political orientation is actually a result of deep moral preferences and thus biases. Considering that the overwhelming majority of the social sciences, media, and Google lean left, we should critically examine these prejudices.”

    Damore and his attorney Harmeet K. Dhillon conducted a live video press conference on Facebook explaining why they filed suit this morning. He stated that he thinks his lawsuit will “help make Google a truly inclusive place.”


    Here are some highlights of Damore’s manifesto: (Read it in full here)

    I value diversity and inclusion, am not denying that sexism exists, and don’t endorse using stereotypes. When addressing the gap in representation in the population, we need to look at population level differences in distributions. If we can’t have an honest discussion about this, then we can never truly solve the problem. Psychological safety is built on mutual respect and acceptance, but unfortunately our culture of shaming and misrepresentation is disrespectful and unaccepting of anyone outside its echo chamber. Despite what the public response seems to have been, I’ve gotten many personal messages from fellow Googlers expressing their gratitude for bringing up these very important issues which they agree with but would never have the courage to say or defend because of our shaming culture and the possibility of being fired. This needs to change.

  • Google’s political bias has equated the freedom from offense with psychological safety, but shaming into silence is the antithesis of psychological safety.
  • This silencing has created an ideological echo chamber where some ideas are too sacred to be honestly discussed.
  • The lack of discussion fosters the most extreme and authoritarian elements of this ideology.
  • Extreme: all disparities in representation are due to oppression
  • Authoritarian: we should discriminate to correct for this oppression
  • Differences in distributions of traits between men and women may in part explain why we don’t have 50% representation of women in tech and leadership. Discrimination to reach equal representation is unfair, divisive, and bad for business.

    • According to The Verge, Damore and another fired engineer claim that “employees who expressed views deviating from the majority view at Google on political subjects raised in the workplace and relevant to Google’s employment policies and its business, such as ‘diversity’ hiring policies, ‘bias sensitivity,’ or ‘social justice,’ were/are singled out, mistreated, and systematically punished and terminated from Google, in violation of their legal rights.”

  • Walmart Closures: 269 Stores, Affecting 16,000 Employees

    Walmart Closures: 269 Stores, Affecting 16,000 Employees

    Walmart has announced that it will be shutting the doors on 269 stores – 154 in the US and another 115 globally.

    Many of the US closings will be Walmart Express locations – the company’s smallest stores.

    Out of the 154 closing in the US, 102 are Walmart Express stores.

    As far as the international closings, the majority are coming from Brazil.

    “This includes 60 recently-closed, loss-making stores in Brazil, which represents only 5 percent of sales in that market. The company has already been able to relocate many affected associates in Brazil to other stores. The remaining 55 stores are primarily small, loss-making stores in other Latin American markets,” says the company in a release.

    “Actively managing our portfolio of assets is essential to maintaining a healthy business,” said Doug McMillon, president and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. “Closing stores is never an easy decision, but it is necessary to keep the company strong and positioned for the future. It’s important to remember that we’ll open well more than 300 stores around the world next year. So we are committed to growing, but we are being disciplined about it.”

    So, how many employees with this affect? According to Walmart, about 16,000 – 10,000 in the US.

    “The decision to close stores is difficult and we care about the associates who will be impacted,” McMillon said. “We invested considerable time assessing our stores and clubs and don’t take this lightly. We are supporting those impacted with extra pay and support, and we will take all appropriate steps to ensure they are treated well.”

    Check here to find the complete list of stores that are closing.

  • LinkedIn Is Reportedly Rolling Out Employee Content Curation Tool Elevate

    LinkedIn Is Reportedly Rolling Out Employee Content Curation Tool Elevate

    Back in April, LinkedIn announced Elevate as a way to help businesses get their employees sharing content on their behalf. It piloted with Adobe, Unilever and a few other companies in Q1, and became available on an invitation-only basis upon announcement.

    Now, LinkedIn Elevate is reportedly rolling out to the masses. This is according to AdAge (we haven’t seen an official announcement yet), which shares some words from LinkedIn:

    “LinkedIn members have always been able to share content about their companies, but it hasn’t always been easy for them to do so. And sometimes they’re not sure about the company’s ground rules or what types of content to share,” said Penry Price, VP-marketing solutions at LinkedIn.
     
    “Elevate enables employee advocacy at scale,” he added. “Now employers have an entire employee base to be activated so they can share content across their social and professional networks.”

    The product is aimed at the enterprise – specifically companies with at least 2,000 employees. It comes in the form of an app that’s separate from LinkedIn itself. The point is that employers can share content with employees, who can then share it to their own personal networks, which are likely to be more in tune with the employee – based on job – than with the business itself. Businesses have to pay for access.

    According to LinkedIn, the average employee has ten times as many connections as a company has followers. It also says that people are three times more likely to trust company information from employees than from the CEO.

    Screen Shot 2015-09-29 at 11.18.32 AM

    Elevate isn’t just about sharing a company’s own branded content. It also provides content that can be curated by employees. It includes algorithmic content recommendations from LinkedIn Pulse and Newsle, so employees can share additional relevant content. Of course they can share anything they find on their own as well.

    Elevate is essentially a competitor to products from Hootsuite, Salesforce, and others. It includes analytics both for employees and companies. Employees can look at how many times the content they’ve shared has been liked, commented on, and reshared, as well as how many people it reached. Eventually, LinkedIn says they’ll also be able to see who viewed their profile and requested to connect as a result of the content they shared. The companies get the same data as well as things like job views, Company Page followers, hires, leads, and sales.

    LinkedIn said in its initial announcement that during the pilot, employees shared six times more often than in the months leading up to it.

    There are Elevate apps for Android, iOS and Desktop.

    Image via LinkedIn

  • Uber Isn’t the Only One Getting Sued over the ‘Employee or Contractor’ Issue

    Uber Isn’t the Only One Getting Sued over the ‘Employee or Contractor’ Issue

    With the rapid growth of the so-called ‘sharing economy’, one of the biggest issues has been whether or not workers for services like Uber and Lyft are employees of contractors.

    Uber’s stance has always been that it’s a software company. Uber connects people wanting a ride to those offering a ride. It’s a logistics company. Uber simply connects third-party contractors with customers. Its drivers are independent contractors, not employees.

    This has been met with numerous lawsuits and some unfavorable (for Uber, at least) rulings from regulatory bodies.

    But it’s not just Uber that’s facing lawsuit over the employee or contractor question.

    Food delivery services like GrubHub, Caviar, and DoorDash are now embroiled in a class action lawsuit of their own.

    And it’s the same lawyer that’s going after Uber in San Francisco.

    From the Chicago Tribune:

    The complaints were filed in San Francisco Superior Court on behalf of the delivery drivers by Boston attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan, who is also representing plaintiffs in similar lawsuits against on-demand transportation companies Uber and Lyft. A federal judge in San Francisco certified the lawsuit against Uber for class action last month.

    The complaints filed against GrubHub and DoorDash are both class actions, while the Caviar complaint is a demand for arbitration on behalf of a San Francisco driver.

    Earlier this month, a court ruled the case against Uber could proceed as a class action.

    The lawsuit, which was filed in 2013 and fought by Uber all the way, questions the company’s classification of its drivers. The class of drivers says it should be considered employees, not contractors, which would entitle them to things like reimbursement of expenses, minimum wage, overtime pay, and more.

    A week later, the California Employment Development Department (EDD) ruled that a former Uber driver was in fact an employee, not a contractor. That’s not the first time a regulatory agency has done that.

  • Uber Driver Ruled an Employee in Yet Another Case

    Uber has lost another cases over the categorization of its fleet of drivers – whether they are employees or contractors.

    Reuters reports that the California Employment Development Department (EDD) has ruled that a former Uber driver was in fact an employee, not a contractor.

    Uber’s general stance has always been that it’s a software company. Uber connects people wanting a ride to those offering a ride. It’s a logistics company. Uber simply connects third-party contractors with customers. Its drivers are independent contractors, not employees.

    The agency’s ruling reflects what we’ve heard in a couple of similar cases – that Uber basically controls every aspect of the operation.

    Here’s the full justification:

    The evidence showed a distinct and strong right to control by the appellant USER in the manner and means in which these services were provided. The appellant had complete control on who could obtain the services, The riders could only obtain the services by entering into a contractual agreement with USER, The claimant was not involved in these transactions, The employer/appellant communicated directly with the client or rider and established the pick-up and destination points of the trip. The appellant, UBER, had sole discretion In determining the amount to be charged for the services and when and how to
    collect these charges. Only UBER could make adjustments to the charges and decide requests for reimbursements,

    The claimant, once logged on UBER application Indicating readiness to work, was informed of the requested trips. She could only provide the services to those riders referred by USER and could not pick up other riders on the street who were not processed by UBER’s application. The claimant could not obtain or develop her own clientele, UBER also determined which drivers will be offered the trips, The claimant was not told of the destination until she arrived at the pick up point.

    The appellant, UBER, had absolute control in determining the compensation the claimant would receive for the services. The appellant established a percentage to be paid to the claimant, and whether or not at certain times this percentage rate will change, was decided by the appellant. The time and method of payment for her services were determined by the appellant. The claimant was paid in a weekly basis through direct deposit to her bank account, The appellant provided the claimant with a weekly statement reflecting the trips done, amounts collected for services and amounts disbursed to her.

    There was clear evidence of supervision and right to discharge at will The claimant had to he approved by USER in order to become a driver. She had to submit to background checks as required by UBER and had to complete tutorial videos, The claimant’s work was also supervised through regular reports containing customer service ratings, The claimant was warned when the numbers In her customer service ratings were below the acceptable number as established by the appellant. She was warned of deactivation when her acceptance of trips fell below the minimum percentage required by the appellant, The appellant had, In fact, deactivated the claimant’s account, not allowing her to use the application to obtain work, when she failed to provide certain documents required by the appellant.

    Every aspect of the trip completed by the claimant for the clients of UBER were controlled by USER without the claimant’s intervention. The claimant was authorized to provide services in a specified area by the appellant. The only aspect of the trip left to the rider’s discretion was the route. Even in those cases, If the claimant had deviated from the suggested route by the appellants applications, she might need to explain the reasons.

    Based on the evidence and given consideration to all the factors used to determine an employment relationship pursuant to section 621 of the code and principles established by relevant precedent case law, it Is concluded that there was in fact an employer/employee relationship between the claimant and the employer/appellant.

    According to Reuters, Uber appealed this specific decision twice to no avail.