DOJ Policy on M&A to Encourage Extra Scrutiny of Target Companies’ Compliance

A Justice Department policy shift around the disclosure of possible wrongdoing uncovered in mergers and acquisitions reinforces the need for buyers to dive deep into a target’s compliance efforts, both before and after a deal closes, corporate advisers said.

Under a new policy announced in October, an acquiring company that discloses potential wrongdoing at a company being acquired within six months of either side of the deal closing date—and fully cooperates and fixes the underlying problems within a year of closing—can presume it won’t be prosecuted by the Justice Department. READ MORE

Why Would Workers Return to a Former Employer?

Post-Covid, there has been a lot of media attention to what is being called “the Great Resignation”—workers leaving their jobs to look for better or different employment options. This includes changing career paths, returning to school to ready oneself for a new career, and leaving steady employment to join the “gig economy.”

Surprisingly, however, a subset of workers who leave their employers have decided to return to their previous companies, in what is called “the Boomerang Effect.” What is going on? READ MORE

How Can You Be Sure Someone Has Exceptional Leadership Skills? It Comes Down to 4 Actions

Leadership is no Sunday stroll in the park. It's more like a hike up a steep, rocky mountain, often in unpredictable weather. You'll face challenges that'll test you and moments that'll have you questioning if you're cut out for it.

Whenever I deliver keynotes on leadership topics, I touch on the most critical aspect leaders need to become exceptional: You have to value your people.

If this has got you pondering whether your team feels genuinely appreciated and valued, there are some tried-and-true methods you can use to elevate your leadership game. Let me share a few practical tips to help you along the way. READ MORE

Why Are Newly Promoted Employees Quitting Their Jobs?

Promotions are commonly career milestones that are celebrated widely, posted on social media, and viewed as a mark of career achievement in one's life. But in reality, we are beginning to witness the very opposite.

A recent study has uncovered a startling truth about newly promoted managers: in a survey of 1.2 million workers in the United States, nearly one-third of employees quit their roles within the first month after their first internal promotion, according to ADP's findings. READ MORE

Goldman Sachs no longer sees U.S. govt shutdown in 2023

Goldman Sachs removed its forecast for a U.S. government shutdown this year given new geopolitical risks and the election of a speaker at the House of Representatives, but warned of risks in 2024.

The brokerage's previous base case was for a shutdown for up to 2-3 weeks in the current quarter ended December, which now seems "much less likely", Goldman Sachs economists led by Jan Hatzius said. READ MORE

We need a better way to find AI’s dangerous flaws

As concerns mount about AI’s risk to society, a human-first approach has emerged as an important way to keep AIs in check. That approach, called red-teaming, relies on teams of people to poke and prod these systems to make them misbehave in order to reveal vulnerabilities the developers can try to address. Red-teaming comes in lots of flavors, ranging from organically formed communities on social media to officially sanctioned government events to internal corporate efforts. Just recently, OpenAI announced a call to hire contract red-teamers the company can summon as needed. READ MORE

10 Beliefs That Get in the Way of Organizational Change

Let’s acknowledge a hard truth: A colleague you love or respect may be playing a role in unproductively lowering your organization’s metabolic rate. Maybe it’s even you. People often ask us about the right timing for big change, and our answer is almost always the same: How about now? Now is typically the right time to accelerate excellence. But first you need to address some of the common assumptions that may be holding your team back. READ MORE

10 questions to determine if your employees trust you

There are numerous academic definitions of trust, each of which can be boiled down to one thing—predictability. We trust people when their behavior is consistent, and we can accurately predict how they will behave. We trust our workplaces and the people we work with when we know how they will likely behave, and we believe they act with our best interests in mind. When you decide to join a company, uncertainty and risk are involved in making the upfront commitment. You need to trust your hard work will be met with financial rewards and opportunities for promotion. READ MORE

A store let customers steal shoes — if they could outrun a pro sprinter

While shopping recently at a Paris running store, a customer stopped in front of a security guard and asked to take a selfie with him. While the security guard was distracted, the customer’s friend grabbed a hat from a nearby table and sprinted out of the store.

Realizing he had been duped, the security guard chased after the thief and caught them a few seconds later. But the guard wasn’t upset; instead, he smiled. READ MORE

‘Let that sink in!’ The 13 tweets that tell the story of Elon Musk’s turbulent first year at Twitter (or X)

A year ago this week, when he completed the purchase of Twitter for $44bn, Elon Musk tweeted “the bird is freed”. Billionaires like nothing more than casting themselves as popular liberators, but the acquisition fitted the pattern of his ever-expanding empire.

Musk has colonised areas of the economy from which public funding and regulation have been in retreat. His carmaker, Tesla, is shaping the future of transport; SpaceX, meanwhile, has in many ways replaced Nasa on the final frontier (so far this year it has launched 75 spacecraft). READ MORE

US workplaces implement unconventional recruitment methods as they try to find the best hires

Recruiters and business owners are turning to innovative ways to determine whether potential job candidates are not only the best fit for an open position — but also if the candidate will mesh well with the company’s corporate culture.  

These methods include trying unconventional communication tactics, giving personality assessments and aiming to assess job talents before an offer is extended.  READ MORE

MBA job offers in short supply as tech, finance, consulting dial back recruiting

Companies are dialing back or delaying hiring of M.B.A.s this fall, a sharp turn from the supercharged recruiting seasons of years past.

Career officers and students at Yale University, Columbia University and Northwestern University say businesses are spending less time on campus than in recent years to hire second-year M.B.A. candidates, or holding off on job offers. That has students thinking about their Plan B if top-tier companies aren’t making offers. EY, Amazon and Boston Consulting Group are rethinking hiring strategy, or saying they will make moves when next year’s business picture becomes clearer, the companies and campus officials say. READ MORE

Employees consider wellness programs at work critical for job choice

Wellness-enhancing offerings in the workplace aren't just good for employees' health.

They can also boost workers' motivation and sustain productivity, according to a recent report. 

The report, released by Mindspace, a global provider of boutique flexible spaces with locations in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Poland, Romania, The Netherlands and Israel, indicated that 9 out of 10 employees consider well-being facilities and offerings to be critical when choosing a workplace. READ MORE

Psychological trauma in the workplace is real—and it could be holding you back

When we face a horrific situation and we are at a loss as to what to do, our response relies entirely on the most primitive part of the brain, the basal ganglia, which controls the innate and automatic self-preserving behaviors needed to survive. This part of the brain is also responsible for primitive activities such as feeding, escaping danger, and reproducing.

The brain is a predictive organ and it learns from the consequences of what we do. It learns typical day-to-day behaviors from situations during our early developmental years. When we take a potentially unsafe action such as touching an electrical socket or crossing the road when a car is approaching and a guardian intercepts, informs us of the risk, and offers an alternative action, the brain will learn and apply this categorically across a diverse set of situations involving danger and safety. READ MORE

Work ethic or work mode? Here’s what a new poll reveals about remote employment productivity

When it comes to working from home, Utahns are mostly giving themselves high marks for maintaining productivity versus how much they accomplish when toiling in an office setting. But, they’re less charitable about their co-workers’ at-home work ethics and new academic research suggests no one is getting nearly as much done as they think they are.

A new Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found 50% of respondents who are currently working said they were somewhat or much more productive during time spent working from home than at their respective offices. In the minority were 18% of workers who said they were somewhat less productive while working at their abodes and 11% copped to being much less productive when working from home. READ MORE

US ad revenue at Musk's X declined each month since takeover

Monthly U.S. ad revenue at social media platform X has declined at least 55% year-over-year each month since billionaire Elon Musk bought the company formerly known as Twitter in October 2022, according to third-party data provided to Reuters.

The company has struggled to retain some advertisers since the takeover, as brands have been wary of rapid changes under Musk's ownership. X's chief executive, Linda Yaccarino, is expected to meet on Thursday with bank lenders who helped finance Musk's acquisition to outline the company's business plans, according to a person familiar with the plans. READ MORE