Written for the leaders, owners and professionals of the 11 million businesses with between $50,000 and $50 million in revenue.

Your business probably sends stuff from one place to another, whether it’s offers via direct mail marketing or products via an order fulfillment service. If so, you might’ve noticed how much it costs to do so lately.

The good news is that UPS and FedEx, battling for market share, are both expanding discounts to many small business customers. These price breaks had previously been available only to larger accounts, but shipping companies are eager to increase volume as 2024’s holiday shopping season will be abbreviated due to a relatively late Thanksgiving. At least Santa’s reindeer will get a bit of a break?

Commutes: Why the drive feels so much worse lately

“Perverse” incentives: Be careful what you wish for

Legally Blonde: Dress for success with personal style

(Source: Shutterstock)

If rush hour seems worse than you remember, that’s because it is: U.S. traffic levels have surged 12 percent above pre-COVID levels. Here are the factors making your commute as insufferable as a meeting that could’ve been an email.

We moved farther away

The average American commute is now three times longer — in terms of physical distance — than it was pre-pandemic. A lot of people wanted more space during the year of isolation, relocating to the suburbs and exurbs. When businesses opened back up in city centers, that left workers on the move for longer stretches. Good luck getting your old rent back downtown.

Longer travel times are cutting sleep by about a third, worsening back and joint pain, and increasing stress and anxiety and the likelihood of burnout. The more hours spent on the road, the less time there is for family and hobbies, putting even more strain on an already fragile work-life balance.

New traffic patterns

Hybrid work is now the norm for over half of remote-capable employees, which should leave roads quieter on Mondays and Fridays. However, habits like “coffee badging” and running errands during the workday have given rise to a new “midday rush hour,” adding unpredictable traffic spikes that make commutes harder to plan.

Inadequate infrastructure

Mid-sized U.S. cities like Austin and Phoenix are all-in on transportation upgrades, from light rail networks to wider highways. Columbus, Ohio, and Las Vegas have the nation’s easiest commutes, saving local workers up to 13 hours per year, according to Lyft.

However, in larger hubs like New York City and Los Angeles, infrastructure plans keep getting delayed and commuting times are only stretching longer. Meanwhile, public transit ridership has only bounced back to 75 percent of pre-pandemic levels due to public safety concerns and other factors, meaning heavier congestion on the roads.

As companies like Amazon plan full-time returns to the office next year, commutes will likely feel even worse. Time to find a new favorite podcast?

Today’s workplace is anywhere and everywhere, but your team still needs to collaborate and provide your customers with exceptional service. Zoom connects your business to employees and customers here, there, and everywhere.

More than just a video conference platform, Zoom offers complete business communications systems with top notch features like voice over internet protocol (VoIP), contact center support, and virtual customer service agents. Zoom doesn’t just support your business’s communications, it helps bring them to the next level.

Ready to upgrade how you stay in touch with employees, customers, and partners?

Dr. Steven Rogelberg is a chancellor’s professor at UNC Charlotte, former president of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and author of Glad We Met: The Art and Science of 1:1 Meetings.

The Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research (FASTER) Act of 2021 mandated clear labeling on foods containing sesame. This was intended to assist individuals with sesame allergies.

However, the law’s strict protocols on cross-contamination prompted numerous companies to add sesame to their goods — and label it accordingly — given ease and less expense. This shift reduced the availability of sesame-free options and even raised the potential for allergic reactions in individuals consuming foods they previously considered safe.

When an effort to encourage a certain behavior has results counter to its whole goal, it’s called a “perverse” incentive. To prevent perverse incentives, here are tips to consider:

• Carefully define your objectives. Clarity is essential to developing a good incentive system.
• Gather feedback and pressure test. Ask key stakeholders to look for weaknesses and run studies for potential problems. Deeply understand reactions and whether anything should be tweaked.
• Monitor potential negative side effects in real time. You can’t foresee every reaction, but you can make changes and updates as needed. Keep learning and adjusting. Communicate any potential changes effectively.

(Source: MGM)

In the 2001 cult classic Legally Blonde, Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) gets into Harvard Law to win her ex-boyfriend back. Despite being surrounded by preppy and polished East Coast classmates, Elle doesn’t lose her SoCal identity, maintaining her iconic hot-pink hues and collection of Jimmy Choos.

Elle receives criticism for not being “serious,” but she ultimately leverages her knowledge of fashion and cosmetics to prove a defendant’s innocence in her first big murder trial.

There’s a lesson here about allowing employees to bring their most authentic selves to the workplace, even if they ditch the power suit. Support for more relaxed dress codes is prevalent in 2024, especially among younger generations who’ve spent much of their careers in Zoom meetings (and in their pajamas).

Flexible dress codes allow your employees to work more comfortably and express their individuality, boosting morale and fostering a healthy company culture. Sure, you probably want to draw a line somewhere depending on your industry and clients … but who doesn’t look good in hot pink?

• 1789: Elijah Craig distilled the first whiskey from corn using charred oak barrels in Bourbon, Kentucky. The spirit is now a $9 billion industry.
• 1966: The American Football League and National Football League received permission from the Johnson administration to merge.
• 1972: HBO debuted with Sometimes a Great Notion, beginning its legacy of groundbreaking series, documentaries, and sports releases.
• 1986: Reddit cofounder Aaron Swartz was born. He tragically died in 2013, shortly before the site became the true “front page of the internet.”

Written by Antonio Ferme and Ali Saleh. Comic by John McNamee.