Workplace
100 Best Companies to Work For 2012: HQ Outside Washington
FIRST PLACE: West Monroe Partners West Monroe Partners is a consulting firm cut from different cloth. The Chicago-based company prides itself on a cachet of unique virtues uncommon among the behemoths of the field. For one thing, the firm focuses only on eight key industries: banking, capital markets/trading, energy/utilities, health care/life sciences, insurance, manufacturing/distribution, private…
100 Best Companies to Work For 2012: Nonprofit Companies
FIRST PLACE: Holy Names Academy In 1880, the city of Seattle was little more than a rough-hewn timber town, replete with brothels, log booms and saloonsand one all-girls school. Holy Names Academy was founded that year by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, and it has been educating some of Seattles…
100 Best Companies to Work For 2012
We all want to love going to work, to have a nurturing, welcoming workplace that makes our jobs easier, more enjoyable. We all know that not every company fits that description. Happily, the companies and organizations listed on these pages do, according to the very people who work there. Congratulations to the Seattle Business magazine…
Airport Avatar Enters Brave New World of Customer Service
Attorney, Paradigm Counsel Travelers coming through the New York City areas three airportsLa Guardia, JFK, and Newarkmight soon feel the need to double check that they arent walking through the set of a science fiction movie. Thats because the airports are introducing some high-tech help in the form of Avaa life-sized, computer-generated female avatar. Shell…
Seattle’s Economic Indicators Show Healthy Growth
The city of Seattle showed a significant increase in business activity last year, with 9,100 new businesses opening while just 3,100 closed for a net gain of 6000 new businesses, up 40 percent from 2010, according to the city’s Office of Economic Development. In 2009 Seattle suffered a net loss of 900 businesses. Seattle’s taxable…
The Art of Starting Over
Attorney, Paradigm Counsel When that meeting or conversation gets off to a rocky startwhether tense words are exchanged or you just dont seem to be connectingits time to push the reset button. Andrew Sobel, author of Power Questions, reveals the phrase that can turn it all around. Has this ever happened to you? Youre talking…
Spotlight: A Gay-friendly Business Environment
When a delegation from Charlotte, North Carolina, visited Seattle recently, one of the visitors asked Steve Johnson, director of Seattles Office of Economic Development, how Charlotte should go about creating a welcoming environment for gay and lesbian entrepreneurs and workers. Underlying the question was the recognition that in a world where economic success is increasingly…
Washington Unemployment Drops to 8.2 Percent
Washingtons job seekers got bitter sweet news from the states Employment Security Department in February. The state added 4,200 jobs, which is good news, but the new jobs are likely to trigger a cut in federal unemployment benefits. The new jobs pushed the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate to 8.2 percent in February, from 8.4 percent…
Washington Job Growth Strong
Washington’s economy looked stronger in January as the state added 13,200 jobs and its unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent from 8.6 percent the month before. The state’s Employment Security Deprtment also found that Washington grew faster in 2011 than previously believed, adding 53,500 jobs, almost twice the previously reported 26,600 jobs. These numbers show…
Employee Evaluations Must Change to Encourage Honest Feedback
https://seattlebusinessmag.com/sites/default/files/Tamra%20Chandler%20Peo…Attorney, Paradigm Counsel Performance Management (PM) is currently a hot topic among business leaders and human resource professionals, with many voices challenging the value being delivered by todays traditional PM programs. Whats changed? Lots. The working world has experienced dramatic changes driven by globalization and shifts in the expectations of todays workforce. New technologies have…
Heartfelt Thanks
Attorney, Paradigm Counsel Valentines Day is usually reserved for showering love on your special someone. But if youre in a leadership position at a company thats been hit hard by the recession and its aftereffects, you probably already know that your employees could use some love too. In the battle for survival, your company may…
Do You Really Need a Bigger Office?
https://seattlebusinessmag.com/sites/default/files/NormanPartnerswebdoubl…Attorney, Paradigm Counsel Why? Its a simple question that is not asked nearly often enough when it comes to real estate and workplace strategy. Todays tenants market means that rents are low and negotiating power is high, so many companies areand rightly soidentifying their needs for more space, and signing leases. But sometimes the best…
Seattle Business magazine’s “visas for bridges” story is picked up by The Economist
Wealthy foreigners who want to live in the United States have new visa options. For some time now, there’s been the opportunity for foreign investors to get a visa in exchange for investing in businesses or commercial developments. Now there’s an option to put money into public works projects. The story, was first reported by…