• BACK-TO-OFFICE WORK MEANS GREATER RISK OF EMPLOYEE BURNOUT – when “feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance, negativism/cynicism about the job, pessimism leading to depression/ apathy/ anxiety and ultimately a sense of hopelessness & helplessness all lead to reduced efficiency which undermines effectiveness.” ALL workers are at risk, whether execs or support teams.  Symptoms including physical issues like neck/ back/ headaches, careless mistakes, withdrawal in meetings, or taking others’ comments about personal work as critical or hostile.  Burnout is “a systemic issue that arises from chronic workplace stress that is poorly managed.” So, changing the way work is organized, by not overloading employees, reducing meetings & distractions, and practical guidance – like the Time Management workshop DCG offers (“Working Smarter Not Harder”) – are important start-points to minimize the risk of substantive impact on productivity, profitability and business sustainability.  [FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT – 10//8/21]
  • ANGER AND DRAMA ARE NEVER AN OPTIMAL SOLUTION TO RESOLVING BUSINESS OR PERSONAL DISPUTES. DCG have decades of experience and 100%-effectiveness in facilitating dispute settlement thru Informal Mediation – direct, in-person meetings without 3rd-parties involvement. Our process focuses on goals & priorities of each side, clarity of issues under dispute (usually including financial & tax implications), realistic impact of comprisable alternatives, and efficient implementation of dispute resolution. Call us for courtesy consult before commencing legal action, to dramatically minimize time, energy, stress, frustration and costs of moving on.
  • SLEEP DEPRIVATION IS A COMMON UNDERLYING AND PRINCIPAL CAUSE of preventable health problems, and an impediment to creative problem solving. According to CDC, insomnia affects between a third and half of U.S. adults, a result of work issues, stress, kids, financial/ social/ political concerns, and the unknown future. Another factor is “behavior called Revenge Bedtime Procrastination” involving people putting off sleep as a form of rebellion against their own inner authority… weirdly depriving themselves of sleep to show some sort of independence, allowing them to do things ‘more important’ at night.” Some tips suggested for better sleep: “(1) Stop treating ‘sleep’ like a chore; (2) Recognize that sleep has been an intrinsic source of spiritual wisdom & happiness, taught & practiced for millenia; (3) Set a bedtime that is both realistic and sensible; then (4) Thirty minutes prior, tell yourself out loud: ‘I have control over my schedule and am choosing to go to bed at this time,’ which may sound childish but is a way to deal with the situation maturely by quieting your inner squalling toddler.” Couldn’t hurt to try. [THE ATLANTIC – 6/10/21]
  • CALIFORNIA APPLIES THE MOST STRINGENT FOCUS ON WORKER CLASSIFICATION as Independent Contractor versus an Employee – which provides varying worker protections but also enables the state to collect & fund income/ unemployment/ disability taxes, as well as supporting politically-aligned labor unions. In today’s rapidly expanding ‘gig’ economy, where internet platforms connect service providers directly with customers and tasks are performed on-demand or on a client-by-client basis, the distinction is now subject to three categories of ‘evidence’: (1) Behavior Control – whether the company or the worker controls how a task is done; (2) Financial Control – over business aspects of the job, including capital costs & pricing; (3) Relationship of the Parties – like degree of permanency and whether employee-type of benefits are provided. California’s ABC Test also stipulates that for Contractor status to apply, the work must be performed “outside the usual course of the business… by a person who has their own independent business or trade doing that kind of work.” Penalties for non-compliance with Employee classification are substantial; Call DCG for further courtesy guidance.
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK: “Nothing will kill a great employee faster than watching bosses tolerate a bad one.”

  Although humans ascribe our actions to ‘reason,’ our decision-making process is fundamentally a pattern-recognition system, based on logical arrangement of things we’ve learned through sources of education & experiences, influenced by expediency/ sentiment/ political or media pressure/ personal prejudice/ vested interest/ and then becomes so-called Truth.  But nothing is ever ‘true,’ except under certain circumstances and then only from a particular viewpoint. So, under the collective process of whomever are in position to make the rules & laws of Society, decisions affecting the lives of everyone under their jurisdiction are made under conditions that virtually guarantee failure.  [DAVID R. HAWKINS]