The Watercooler

The Watercooler Blog is full of workplace tips and trends related to employee retention, engagement, interviewing and more. The Watercooler is frequently refilled, so gather ‘round often.

How Does Employment in Akron Compare to the Rest of Ohio?

While many places in the state have come back from the recession of nearly a decade ago, not all cities have bounced back in the same way. When looking at Akron’s unemployment rates specifically, it does about the same or a little higher than Ohio’s rates in general but surpasses some of the major cities. [...] Read More

Interview Tips: When to Keep Your Answers Short

You may feel a need to tell an interviewer everything possible so they can get the best measure of you in the time you have, but that can lead to wordy answers that actually hurt your chances rather than helping you. For some questions in particular, you’ll do best keeping your responses succinct.   When [...] Read More

Are You Allowing Your Employees to Take Enough Time Off?

Keeping your employees happy, focused, and productive is vital to the success of your business. And today, people view benefits – including paid vacation – as being just as important as salary when it comes to where they work. It’s time that every employer got smart about the critical need to offer work/life balance to [...] Read More

How to Use Strategic Differentiation to Your Advantage

In any business, you want to keep your competitive edge. Most companies use the concept of operational effectiveness, the idea of performing tasks better than their competition. However, Michael Porter, management expert at the Harvard Business School, makes the case for strategic differentiation, doing the same thing as your rival but in a different way [...] Read More