Want to decrease stress, improve your health and even increase your social interaction among colleagues? Then laugh more at work. Yep, that’s right. Laughter isn’t just for comedy clubs or humorous TV shows. Workplace laughter can help you feel better about your job, increase your productivity and even promote stronger relationships. Here’s how to laugh your way to loving your job… Read the rest of this entry »

Like me, you’ve probably seen it all when it comes to women flirting on the job. From giggling at a male colleague’s comments to crossing legs provocatively when wearing short skirts and even casually leaning forward to reveal cleavage while wearing low-cut tops.

Ever wonder if flirting at work helps or hurts your career? There aren’t a lot of studies on this topic and the few that exist show conflicting information. What the results do show is the need to tread carefully when it comes to exhibiting flirtatious behavior in the office. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m excited to announce that the Career Woman, Inc. blog made the short list for the Pixel Awards Competition in the Blogs category! The Pixel Awards take a fresh look at the best on the web by sponsoring an annual competition to honor compelling websites that have shown excellence in web design and development.

Please help Career Woman, Inc. win the People’s Champ “Blogs Winner” award by voting once a day through January 25th. The categories are in alphabetical order, so scroll down and you’ll see the “Blogs Winner” category on the left. Then, just click on the circle in front of “Career Woman Inc.” and then on the “Vote” button – you can vote up to once per day during the voting period. Thanks for your help!

It may have been a man’s world in the past when it comes to business, but women now make up almost half (46.6%) of the United States labor force, according to recent data by Catalyst Research. Unfortunately, only 7.5% of the Fortune 500 top earners are female and a mere 4% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. Find out how masculine norms in the workplace could be holding women back. Read the rest of this entry »

An unusual job paradox has occurred in the United States. The U.S. continues to face high unemployment rates (7.8% as of September 2012) yet American companies cannot find enough workers to fill all the available STEM positions. According to the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy research organization based in Washington DC, “American companies urgently need professionals trained in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, but there are not enough workers with the necessary skills and too few Americans earn post-secondary STEM credentials.”

How can companies bridge the gap and be able to fill all those available STEM jobs? Microsoft is an example of one company not only seeking today’s answers, they are looking into the future and focusing on the group believed to be a key solution: Women. Read the rest of this entry »

Women in business have long acknowledged that to advance in their careers they need to focus on developing themselves by learning new skills, attaining new knowledge, and seeking out challenging new experiences. But did you know developing others could also positively impact your career?

According to a recent study led by Catalyst, “High potentials who were developing a protégé had $25,075 greater compensation growth from 2008 to 2010.” The study also demonstrated that developing others is a significant predictor of career advancement. Read the rest of this entry »

While feeling frustrated trying to balance her job as the first female director of policy planning at the State Department with her family responsibilities and raising two boys (ages 12 and 14), Anne-Marie Slaughter told a female colleague, “When this is over, I’m going to write an op-ed titled ‘Women Can’t Have It All.’”

Her colleague was horrified and told her she shouldn’t write that because “such a statement, coming from a high-profile career woman – a role model – would be a terrible signal to younger generations of women.” Or would it? Isn’t it about time we female role models started telling younger generations of women the truth? Okay, maybe not as bluntly as telling them they can’t have it all, but by telling them, “You CAN have it all…just not all at the same time.” Read the rest of this entry »

For many years I’ve listened to cynics challenge the results of diversity and inclusion efforts in the workplace and question whether the programs produce enough positive measurable results to continue funding them. Now, findings from a Catalyst study released last month in July 2012 reveal “training can produce a measurable shift in workplace attitudes and behavior – and begin to create an environment where women and minorities can advance.”

However, the study’s positive results were not achieved by providing diversity and inclusion training for all employees. The results were achieved by focusing on one workplace group first – white male employees, which is “the group most likely to be resistant to diversity and inclusion training.” Read the rest of this entry »

Managers are bombarded with an almost constant stream of data every day. According to David Derbyshire, “Scientists have worked out exactly how much data is sent to a typical person in the course of a year – the equivalent of every person in the world reading 174 newspapers every single day” (Derbyshire, 2011, p. 1).

This overload of data is making knowledge management increasingly more important. Three key reasons why actively managing knowledge is important to a company’s success are: 1.) Facilitates decision-making capabilities, 2.) Builds learning organizations by making learning routine, and, 3.) Stimulates cultural change and innovation. Read the rest of this entry »

In a previous blog, “Can Being Thin Actually Translate Into A Bigger Paycheck For Women?” I discussed a study that found a woman’s weight could have a significant impact on her earnings with “heavy” and “very heavy” women earning between $9,000 and $19,000 less than their “average” weight counterparts.

But could being heavy also make it harder for women to obtain promotions into executive-level positions? According to another recent study, “Weight bias may contribute to the glass ceiling on the advancement of women to the top levels of management.” Read the rest of this entry »