Recent gas price increases mean airfares are going back up. That could make holiday travel painful … unless you happen to drink a lot of Frappuccinos.

Earlier this week, Starbucks and Delta Air Lines announced a partnership. By linking your Delta SkyMiles and Starbucks Rewards memberships, you’ll earn one mile for every dollar you spend getting caffeinated.

The average American drops about $2,000 per year on coffee, according to multiple surveys. That won’t get you very far miles-wise — but if you have almost enough for a free ticket, it could put you over the top. So, how much do you love pumpkin spice exactly? 

Surveillance: Keep track of employees without going 1984.

Salary: When is it too soon to ask about in a job interview?

Schwarzenegger: A few business tips from Predator.

Your menu at your restaurant is the exact same on Thursday as it is every other night — and Grandma’s meatball recipe hasn’t changed in 80 years — so why are you getting fewer customers than on Wednesdays and Fridays? Probably because they’re at home, watching Thursday Night Football along with 13.3 million other Americans.

Here’s the secret to getting ’em back: DIRECTV for BUSINESS℠. It’s the most convenient way to air Thursday Night Football in commercial establishments nationwide. No wonder 92% of large bar and restaurant subscribers say DIRECTV for BUSINESS adds a livelier atmosphere. Here are some other baller stats from DIRECTV for BUSINESS sports bar subscribers:

• 94% highly rate the selection of games from all across the country.
• 90% say its premium sports packages get customers to stay longer. 
• 88% feel it provides a more enjoyable experience for customers.

With the 2022-23 NHL regular season starting on October 7 and the NBA coming back on October 18, would-be customers shouldn’t have to choose between dining out at their favorite spot and watching their favorite team. Get DIRECTV for BUSINESS on screens in your establishment now … before you’ve gotta throw out another pot of uneaten meatballs.

(Source: Shutterstock)

Last month, Florida software company Chetu lost a wrongful termination suit in the Netherlands — and had to pay $73,000 — after firing a remote worker who didn’t keep his webcam on all day. It reopened the conversation about when employee surveillance goes too far.

The average employee wastes two hours per day at the office, according to a Salary.com survey of 10,000 workers. Two percent waste five hours (or more) per day. Nobody is productive every second, of course, but if you’re paying someone to do a job and they’re binge-watching Netflix instead, shouldn’t you know about it?

With millions of Americans working remotely, managers have less physical oversight than ever before. That’s why many companies (including eight of the 10 largest private U.S. employers, according to The New York Times) have turned to employee monitoring software, which tracks activity levels to let you know who is taking advantage of your trust.

But these apps can have major drawbacks for company culture and worker privacy. Here’s what managers need to consider before implementing them.

The Upside: You Could Learn Who Is Planning to Leave

“Quiet quitting,” or doing the bare minimum to keep a job, is all the rage. It’s also a no-win situation for employees (who silently crave a better working environment) and employers (who don’t know why productivity is cratering).

Artificial Intelligence can detect certain indicators of employee dissatisfaction, like irregular work patterns. This allows managers the opportunity to address concerns before there’s a retention issue.

The Downside: You May Convince Employees to Leave

Retention issues can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Monitoring employees’ productivity can actually decrease it by demoralizing them. Too much surveillance erodes trust, along with personal responsibility and drive.

One of the quickest ways to ruffle an employee’s feathers is to tell them that their boss has been secretly spying on them. Weren’t they hired because management had confidence in their ability to do the job?

Transparency Is the Key

Consider informing your employees about any workplace measurement tools and strategies in advance so they aren’t alarmed when a software-detected issue is addressed.

Rather than using workplace monitoring as a fearmongering tool, leaders should promote it as a way to empower employees by tracking their development over time and distinguishing their strengths.

(Source: Shutterstock)

Dr. Steven Rogelberg is Chancellor’s Professor at UNC Charlotte and former president of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

You’re interviewing for a job. You answer each question carefully and thoughtfully. You feel confident in your performance. In fact, you think you nailed it.

Then, the interviewer says, “That’s all the questions I have. What questions might you have for us?”

You already know a lot about the role and the organization, but the salary and benefits haven’t been disclosed yet. So, you ask to learn more. Seems like a reasonable thing to do. Unfortunately, research suggests this might cost you the job.

The Problem With Asking

A 2020 study published in the Academy of Management Journal found that candidates who ask about pay and benefits during the interview are generally seen as less intrinsically motivated — which, in turn, leads to them being more readily dismissed.

The researchers call this the “motivation purity bias.” It negatively affects the hiring manager by discounting qualified candidates they consider are more interested in money than passion. Consequently, interviewers need to be aware of this bias and seek to guard against it.

Save the Question for Later

Although salary and benefits are critical to know, don’t ask about them during the interview process. (Wait until you have an offer in hand.) 

Instead, ask questions that create a positive impression about your motivation. Here are some examples:

• “What does success in this role look like to you in the short and long term?”
• “Can you share more about the culture in the department and the organization?”
• “Do you have any concerns about my qualifications that I might be able to address?”
• “What do you see as the keys to succeeding in the role and the challenges associated with it?”
• “What is your timeline and next steps?”

The motivation purity bias isn’t fair, but nevertheless (to paraphrase JFK), ask what you can do for your prospective employer, not what they can do for you.

(Source: 20th Century Studios)

The rain forest is an erratic, unforgiving ecosystem built on a foundation of symbiotic relationships. Sound anything like your office?

With the Predator prequel film Prey now streaming on Hulu — and receiving tremendous reviews — here are three lessons that business professionals can take away from the blood-soaked jungle battle between a deadly extraterrestrial and Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) in the 1987 action classic.

Stay Cool During Unforeseeable Events

Our hunky protagonist is enlisted to lead a paramilitary team on a (seemingly) straightforward rescue mission: save a group of hostages from guerrilla-held territory in Central America. However, like many business endeavors, circumstances quickly change.

When Dutch discovers that he’s been deceived — and that, y’know, a creepy alien is hunting down humans for sport — he takes a minute to get upset before moving on. Rather than allowing his emotions to get in the way, Dutch stays calm and constructs a plan to make it out of the jungle alive.

Study the Competition

Dutch could have viewed the predator as just a vicious animal, but instead he takes the time to understand its logic: The alien uses camouflage to hunt (just like Dutch) and won’t attack unarmed people.

In other words, he performs a competitive analysis.

For business leaders, there are always hungry competitors out there with fresh ideas that could swiftly knock you off the top of the food chain unless you’re aware of exactly what they’re doing.

Infiltrate the Weak Spot

By covering himself with cold mud, Dutch evades the predator’s tracking system, allowing him to set up a series of traps. Most of us wouldn’t stand a chance against the predator given its brute strength and advanced technology, but Dutch knew that stealth innovation would get him to the choppa.

Written by Antonio Ferme. Comic by John McNamee.