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  2. Key Takeaways Importance of Local SEO: Local search engine optimization is essential for businesses seeking to connect with customers in their geographical area, enhancing visibility and driving foot traffic. Google My Business Optimization: Claiming and optimizing your Google My Business listing is critical for improving local search visibility and engaging with customers through reviews and updates. Location-Specific Keywords: Utilizing local keywords in your content strategy aligns your business with potential customers’ searches and boosts your relevance in local search results. Consistent NAP Citations: Accurate and consistent business name, address, and phone number (NAP) across online directories enhances credibility and local search rankings. Customer Reviews Impact: Positive customer reviews are vital for local SEO performance; actively managing and responding to them fosters trust and improves your online reputation. Measuring Success: Utilize key performance indicators such as local search rankings, website traffic from local searches, and Google Business Profile insights to evaluate and optimize your local SEO strategies. In today’s digital landscape, local search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for businesses aiming to attract nearby customers. With more people turning to their smartphones for local services, optimizing your online presence can make all the difference. It’s not just about ranking high on search engines; it’s about connecting with your community and driving foot traffic to your store. Imagine your potential customers searching for services you offer. If your business isn’t visible in those local search results, you’re missing out on valuable opportunities. By implementing effective local SEO strategies, you can enhance your visibility, boost customer engagement, and ultimately increase sales. Let’s dive into the essentials of local SEO and discover how you can elevate your business in your local market. Understanding Local Search Engine Optimization Local search engine optimization (SEO) focuses on enhancing your business’s online visibility to attract customers in your geographical area. It’s vital to your small business strategy, especially with the increasing reliance on smartphones for finding local services. Effective local SEO connects you to your community, driving foot traffic and boosting sales. Definition and Importance Local SEO involves optimizing your online presence so that your business appears in local search results on platforms like Google. This includes managing your Google My Business listing, utilizing location-specific keywords, and encouraging customer reviews. For small businesses, local SEO is crucial. It drives customer acquisition and enhances brand awareness in your area. Positive customer feedback reinforces your business’s reputation and encourages customer retention. Key Differences from Traditional SEO Local SEO differs from traditional SEO in its emphasis on location. While traditional SEO targets a broader audience, local SEO hones in on users searching for products or services nearby. Key distinctions include: Search Intent: Local SEO targets users seeking immediate solutions within a specific area. Keywords: Location-based keywords (e.g., “best coffee shop in [your city]”) play a central role in local SEO. Google My Business: This tool is unique to local SEO and allows you to manage your business information, interact with customers, and display location data. Local Listings and Directories: Citations on local directories enhance your credibility and visibility in local search results. Understanding these differences equips you to develop a focused marketing strategy that leverages local search effectively, driving growth and operational efficiency for your small business. Key Components of Local SEO Local SEO optimizes your online presence to attract nearby customers and enhance visibility in local search results. Focusing on specific components boosts your effectiveness in connecting with the local community. Google My Business Optimization Optimizing your Google My Business (GMB) profile is vital. Claim and verify your listing to increase its visibility in local searches. Categorize your business accurately, include key details like hours of operation, and showcase high-quality images. Engaging with customer reviews, both positive and negative, builds trust and improves your online reputation. Regular updates to your GMB account can draw attention to new offerings and special promotions, leading to increased customer acquisition and engagement. Local Keywords and Content Incorporate local keywords into your content strategy. Use location-specific terms to align your business with what potential customers search for online. Create blog posts, articles, or product descriptions that resonate with local needs. Tailoring content to address community interests enhances relevance and drives traffic to your site. This practice not only improves your search rankings but also fosters customer retention and loyalty, vital for your small business growth. By focusing on local keywords, you improve your marketing strategy and better connect with your audience. Strategies for Effective Local SEO Effective local SEO strategies are essential for connecting your small business with nearby customers. These strategies enhance online visibility, increase customer engagement, and ultimately support business growth. Citation Building Building accurate online citations is crucial for local SEO. Citations consist of your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) listed on various online directories. Ensure consistency across all platforms to improve your local search rankings. Focus on reputable sites relevant to your industry, such as Yelp, Yellow Pages, and local chambers of commerce. This consistency fosters trust and improves your visibility in search results. Regularly monitoring and updating your citations maintains accuracy, which is vital for local customers looking for your services. Customer Reviews and Reputation Management Customer reviews significantly influence local SEO performance. Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews on platforms like Google and Yelp. Aim for a balanced approach by responding to reviews, whether positive or negative, to showcase your commitment to customer service. This interaction demonstrates your engagement with customers and builds community trust. Use customer feedback as a tool for improvement; analyzing reviews provides insights into your business operations and identifies areas for growth. Prioritize managing your online reputation, as it directly impacts customer perception and can enhance your overall business strategy. Measuring Success in Local SEO Measuring success in local SEO helps you evaluate your strategies and make necessary adjustments. Focus on these key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess your local SEO effectiveness. Key Performance Indicators Local Search Rankings: Track your business’s rankings in the local pack on Google Maps and organic search results for local keywords. Higher rankings enhance visibility, drive traffic, and increase conversions. Website Traffic: Analyze website traffic from local searches using Google Analytics. This metric shows the volume of visitors seeking your products or services in your area. Google Business Profile Insights: Use insights from your Google Business Profile to monitor actions such as clicks to your website, direction requests, and phone calls. These actions showcase user engagement and interest in your business. Tools for Tracking Local SEO Performance Google Analytics: A fundamental tool for monitoring website traffic and user behavior. You can track local traffic sources, user demographics, and interactions with your site. Google Search Console: This tool allows you to analyze the search performance of your website. Check which local keywords are driving traffic and monitor any indexing issues. Moz Local: Use this software to manage business listings and ensure consistency across various directories, which boosts local SEO rankings. BrightLocal: An excellent platform for tracking local search rankings and managing online reputation. BrightLocal also provides insights into customer feedback and reviews, vital for building trust in your local market. Understanding and utilizing these tools supports your ongoing local SEO efforts, enhances your business’s online presence, and ultimately drives local customer acquisition. Conclusion Investing in local search engine optimization is essential for your business’s success. By enhancing your online visibility you can attract more customers in your area and drive foot traffic. Implementing effective strategies like optimizing your Google My Business profile and engaging with customer reviews can set you apart from the competition. Remember that local SEO isn’t just about ranking higher in search results; it’s about connecting with your community. By focusing on local keywords and maintaining consistent online citations you can significantly improve your search performance. Tracking your progress with the right tools will help you refine your approach and maximize your efforts. Embrace local SEO as a vital part of your marketing strategy and watch your business thrive in your community. Frequently Asked Questions What is local SEO? Local SEO is a digital marketing strategy aimed at improving a business’s visibility in local search results. It focuses on optimizing online presence to attract customers searching for services nearby, using tools like Google My Business and location-specific keywords. Why is local SEO important for businesses? Local SEO is crucial for businesses because it helps them connect with nearby customers actively looking for their services. An optimized online presence enhances visibility, increases foot traffic, and ultimately drives sales. How can I optimize my Google My Business listing? To optimize your Google My Business (GMB) listing, claim and verify your business, correctly categorize it, add accurate contact information, and engage with customer reviews. Keeping your listing updated helps improve local search rankings. What are the differences between local SEO and traditional SEO? Local SEO targets users seeking services in a specific location, using location-based keywords and emphasizing local listings. In contrast, traditional SEO focuses on broader keywords without geographic limitations, often serving a wider audience. How do customer reviews impact local SEO? Customer reviews significantly impact local SEO by enhancing trust and credibility. Positive reviews can improve rankings in local search results and encourage potential customers to choose your business over competitors. What are some effective local SEO strategies? Effective local SEO strategies include optimizing your Google My Business profile, building consistent online citations, incorporating local keywords into your content, and actively managing customer reviews. These practices help improve visibility and engage local audiences. How can I measure the success of my local SEO efforts? You can measure local SEO success by tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as local search rankings, website traffic from local searches, and insights from your Google Business Profile. Using tools like Google Analytics can also provide valuable data. What tools can help with local SEO performance tracking? To track local SEO performance, consider using tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Moz Local, and BrightLocal. These tools offer insights into online presence, helping to monitor effectiveness and adapt strategies as needed. Image Via Envato This article, "Mastering Local Search Engine Optimization to Boost Your Business Visibility" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article
  3. Ashlee Piper is a former political strategist turned eco-lifestyle journalist. She has been a Professor of Sustainability Marketing at Loyola University Chicago and eco instructor for LinkedIn Learning. Well-known companies, such as Airbnb, LUSH, and Nissan, have sought her counsel on sustainability practices. Piper has spoken at the United Nations, SXSW, and has a popular TED Talk. What’s the big idea? A life of overconsumption can feel almost inescapable in our hyper-personalized advertising ecosystem. Billions of dollars go into getting people hooked on shopping. Fortunately, a way out of this addictive cycle is the No New Things challenge, which guides anyone fed up with buyer’s remorse toward a healthier, happier, more sustainable lifestyle. Below, Ashlee shares five key insights from her new book, No New Things: A Radically Simple 30-Day Guide to Saving Money, the Planet, and Your Sanity. Listen to the audio version—read by Ashlee herself—in the Next Big Idea App. 1. It’s not you, it’s us. If you wrestle with overconsumption or just buy way more stuff than you’d like to, then you’re not alone. Fifty-four percent of Americans report feeling stressed by their stuff, 60 percent say they don’t have enough time in the day, and 80 percent are in some form of consumer debt. Overconsumption distracts us from what’s important and steals time, energy, money, and peace of mind—not to mention harms the planet. It’s safe to say that if you’re uncomfortable with your relationship to shopping, you’re probably experiencing one or more of these side effects. 2. It’s not your fault. Our drive to buy more, buy better, and seek out stuff to meet or fulfill every need and emotion we experience is the result of decades of deft marketing programming. Starting at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, Americans fundamentally shifted their consumption habits, and World War II turned consumerism into a patriotic act. From 1941 to 1945, advertising expenditures grew from $2.2 billion to $2.9 billion, and the 1950s were seen as the “advertiser’s dream decade” (think Mad Men). Today, companies collectively spend nearly $515 billion annually on marketing in the US, much of which is devoted to consumer insights, data, and research. “Our drive to buy more, buy better, and seek out stuff to meet or fulfill every need and emotion we experience is the result of decades of deft marketing programming.” I don’t want to sound like I’m wearing a tinfoil hat, but there are entire departments that track how you buy, when you buy, and what you buy, as well as your demographics like income, gender identification, marital status, and more. It’s no wonder we are constantly exposed to advertisements that show us exactly what we need or what they can convince us we need. 3. This is your brain on shopping. This conditioning isn’t just historical; it’s omnipotent and happening to you right now. It has morphed over the years to create an uncomfortable, unsustainable pattern that keeps industry overproducing, marketing playing on our emotions, and advertising driving us to buy because we don’t feel good enough. The act of browsing merchandise initiates the release of dopamine, so what you sometimes conflate with a feeling of pleasure is really you being flooded by desire. Let’s say you’re a little stressed or excited when going out on a shopping trip. In that scenario, adrenaline enters the equation, heightening your senses and making you more impulsive. You’re essentially high, teetering between feeling in control and out of control, which ratchets up the dopamine release even more. “The emotional high isn’t meaningfully sustained.” The interesting part about dopamine is that it’s released in anticipation of getting the thing you want. Before you even receive the item you’re coveting, dopamine begins to Irish Goodbye, leaving you feeling…sort of empty. That’s why many shoppers regret buying many of their impulse purchases. The emotional high isn’t meaningfully sustained. If you repeat this process regularly (aka: you shop at the same places around the same time), dopamine interacts with the part of the brain responsible for habit formation, recognizes your behavior as a pattern, and eventually automates it into a habit. In that way, impulsive shopping gets coded in your brain. This is biochemically similar to what happens when someone is addicted to drugs or alcohol. When you feel powerless over your shopping impulses, remember that you’re wired to chase your next fix. 4. The No New Things solution. Help is on the way in the form of my 30-day No New Things Challenge, designed to help you build strong neural pathways that move you away from knee-jerk shopping and toward more sustainable, economical, circular ways of getting your needs met. Each day is designed with an action item and reflection that is relatively easy to do, but incredibly powerful for building a new relationship with shopping. “You don’t need any supplies or fancy connections to get started.” Moreover, these action items help you extend the longevity of the things you already own, tap into gratitude for the abundance you already have, declutter your space and schedule, save loads of money, focus on your goals and dreams, and nurture the things that actually matter and make your life better. You don’t need any supplies or fancy connections to get started. No New Things is as easy as turning off of the shopping tap and learning to redirect shopping impulses to healthier-for-you activities. 5. Make it stick. The rest of the book covers how to keep the No New Things mindset going as an enjoyable lifestyle. You’ll hear from some of the people who have done the Challenge with remarkable results, from the family that saved enough money and got organized so they could adopt a little girl to the woman who saved a whopping $36,581 just from items she wanted to buy, tracked, and didn’t. And yes, I consider that savings because she saved herself from spending that amount. No New Things gives you the tools, guidance, and support to shift your mindsets and habits, and in turn, live better—while also being better to others and the planet. Thousands have participated in No New Things before it was a book, so imagine the community doing the Challenge alongside you. Imagine the broader, powerful impact it can make. Getting closer to a more peaceful, prosperous, satisfying life while also upending epidemic overconsumption? That’s a win-win. This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission. View the full article
  4. Tensions likely to persist despite mostly convivial meeting between Canadian prime minister and US presidentView the full article
  5. In the crypto world, meme coins are mostly just jokes with no intrinsic value. But the The President family is parlaying the president’s meme coin into two valuable commodities: serious cash and access to the president. Since the coin was launched earlier this year, it has generated more than $320 million in fees for its creators, according to the blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis. And on Monday, The President promoted a dinner he’s set to attend on May 22 that’s open to almost anyone who buys enough of the coins. According to the contest’s rules, the top 220 holders of the meme coin will get to go to the dinner at The President’s Washington-area golf club. The top 25 holders will also get to attend a reception where they can rub shoulders with The President beforehand. “Let the President know how many $The President coins YOU own!” the meme coin said on its website promoting the dinner. Trading activity in the meme coin jumped after the dinner was first announced and the price rose as well. But the The Presidents don’t need to sell any coins to make money. How The President makes money off the meme coin Decentralization is foundational to cryptocurrency. Bitcoin, the world’s most popular crypto, was born in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis as a digital currency meant to be uncontrolled by banks or governments. The President meme coins can be traded on a decentralized exchange, which is essentially a place where traders can swap goods without a middleman. Instead of matching buyers and sellers one by one, decentralized exchanges use something called a liquidity pool to ensure trades can happen easily and instantly. Liquidity pools are essentially an automated pot of funds that pair meme coins like $The President with more popular types of crypto that can be easily traded. When the The President meme coin was first launched, its creators initially released 20% of the planned 1 billion total coins. Half of that 20% was put up for public sale while the other half was put into a liquidity pool. CIC Digital, an affiliate of the The President Organization, and another company receive “trading revenue derived from trading activities” of the The President meme coins, according to its website. Through the liquidity pool, the creators of The President’s meme coins make money by charging tiny fees on each trade. “You don’t really care about what happens to the price. You only care that there is continuous volume,” said Nicolai Søndergaard, a research analyst at the blockchain analytics firm Nansen. “Because the more volume there is, that means more trades and therefore more fees for you.” Since cryptocurrency blockchains are public, it’s possible to track how much in trading fees has been paid. Chainalysis said The President meme coin creators made more than $1.3 million in trading fees in the week after the dinner was first announced. The value of the meme coin jumped from about $9 to around $14 just after the announcement. It was trading around $11 on Monday afternoon. The President downplays profits Launched just before he took office, The President’s meme coin has become one of the most high-profile ways the norm-breaking president has mixed politics and his personal finances. The remaining 80% of The President’s meme coins, which are still under a lock-up, have been allocated to CIC Digital and another company. An ethics agreement prohibits The President from “day-to-day” decision making at the The President Organization when he’s president and limits the financial information about the business that can be shared with him. During an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” over the weekend, The President said he didn’t follow the price swings of his meme coin and dismissed the idea that he was profiting from the presidency. He also rejected a suggestion that he would forgo any profits made from his crypto endeavors. “Should I contribute all of my real estate that I’ve owned for many years if it goes up a little bit because I’m president and doing a good job? I don’t think so,” The President said. Heavy promotion The team behind The President’s meme coins has been aggressively trying to promote the chance to eat with the president. “Good News! President The President is allowing one more person to attend Dinner with The President,” the meme coin’s official account on X said last week, encouraging people to reply with memes featuring The President. “Our favorite $The President memes will be shown to President The President and we will pick 1 person who gets to come to the dinner on May 22nd!” The creators have also tried to up the ante by offering $100,000 The President-themed watches to the top four holders of The President’s meme coins. Unknown guests On Monday night, The President hosted a closed-door “Crypto & AI Innovators Dinner” fundraiser sponsored by his MAGA Inc. super PAC at his golf club outside Washington. An invitation to the event that circulated online instructs those invited to pay $1.5 million per person to attend. The White House did not provide a list of attendees, though the super PAC eventually will be required to list donors in its regular public disclosures. Whether the public will ever know who bought their way into the meme coin dinner with the president is unclear, though. Unlike political donations that must be publicly reported, there’s no disclosure requirement for meme coin buyers. Critics of The President’s foray into meme coins, which includes several Democrats, say the pseudonymous nature of cryptocurrency gives bad actors the opportunity to try and unduly influence the president through purchasing his digital assets. The The President meme coin website assures those who register for the contest that their full legal name and contact information will “never be publicly shown.” Instead, registrants pick a username that’s displayed on the website’s leaderboard. The ranking is dependent not just on how many The President meme coins someone holds, but also on how long. After No. 220, the board has a note of encouragement for those just below the cut to buy more of the meme coins. “You’re so close. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT for your $The President dinner.” —Alan Suderman, AP business writer Associated Press reporter Will Weissert contributed. View the full article
  6. The The President administration's tariffs will hit American families hard, with estimates ranging from nearly $4,000 to almost $8,000 per household. Plus, when it comes to personal shopping, tariffs will disproportionately affect clothing and textiles, with apparel prices predicted to rise 17%. And if you're accustomed to ultra-cheap online shopping, dark days are ahead. Given all these rising costs, it’s more important than ever to keep on top of your spending habits. Making a budget is a great start, but following it easier said than done. It’s one thing to abstractly vow to “cut back on pricey coffee," but how do you stick to that when it’s 7 a.m. and you need caffeine ASAP? Or what if your restrictive budget causes so much anxiety, you impulsively start “revenge spending?" Let's take a look at some ways you can become a more conscientious spender, especially when prices are out of control. Figure out where your money is goingIn order to undo unconscious spending habits—like the costs of lifestyle creep—you have to confront some tough questions about your finances as honestly as possible. The most important question to answer: Where does my money go? Don’t settle for estimates, here. Go through your bank statements and look your spending habits full in the face. Then evaluate which expenses are actually valuable to you, and not some subscription service you forgot about long ago. It’s far easier to eliminate unconscious spending once you bring it out into the open. Recognize your spending triggersThe key to breaking any behavior is understanding what triggers it. Maybe you're prone to spending when you're stressed, bored, or celebrating. Or maybe it's simply about convenience, or social pressure, or compelling marketing tactics. Take time to reflect on your recent impulse purchases. What emotional state were you in? Were you influenced by others? Identifying these patterns is crucial to breaking the cycle. Get specific about your money goalsThe idea of “cutting back on spending” is abstract and hard to achieve. It’s like saying you want to “learn how to cook” without ever picking out a recipe or buying any ingredients. Instead, you need specific, attainable goals to guide your conscientious spending. One place to start with your specific spending goals is to physically write down the things you want to buy before you buy them. Use those bank statements to inform what items make your official “to-buy list.” When you read over items on this list, you’ll be able to make a more thoughtful decision as to what you really need. Create financial frictionWhen I was a teenager who needed to stop biting her nails, I started wearing gloves. Did I look cool? Definitely not. But it worked. Make unconscious spending more difficult by creating barriers—or "financial friction"—for yourself by: Removing saved payment information from websites Unsubscribing from retail emails and notifications Deleting shopping apps from your phone Using cash for discretionary spending Placing savings in less accessible accounts These obstacles seem small, but they can be a big help in curbing unconscious spending patterns. Implement a waiting periodAnother tactic is introducing a deliberate delay between the desire to purchase and the act of buying. Before making non-essential purchases, especially online, institute a mandatory waiting period: For items under $50: Wait 24 hours. For items $50-$100: Wait three days. For items over $100: Wait one week. This simple delay helps distinguish between wants and needs, often breaking the spell of impulsive desires. Think of it as a cooling-off period. Remember, you’re still allowed to treat yourselfCold-turkey restriction is a recipe for an unhealthy relationship with money. Instead, it’s important to indulge thoughtfully. Ask yourself, “How do I expect this purchase will make me feel? What do I want it to make me feel? What feelings am I trying to avoid by buying it?” When you feel confident that you’re spending only on things you love and not wasting money on things you don’t love, you will make much better financial decisions. Only you can determine what is truly valuable in your life. Personally, I’ve budgeted enough money for my daily coffee indulgence. For you, it might mean treating yourself to a fancy dinner once a month, or cutting back on restaurant costs in order to go wild on vacation in a few months. Allow yourself to indulge, especially if these indulgences improve your overall relationship with your money. View the full article
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  8. United Wholesale Mortgage originated $32.4 billion, up 17% year-over-year and its best first quarter since 2022, helped by refinance volume of $10.6 billion. View the full article
  9. US president says rebel group has agreed to halt its attacks on regional shippingView the full article
  10. A WordPress bug is causing fatal errors on WooCommerce sites, resulting in widespread outages. The post WordPress WooCommerce Bug Causing Sites To Crash appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article
  11. Instacart is rolling out a new app, but it's not for ordering groceries—at least, not the essentials. Instead, Instacart sees "Fizz" as a party delivery app, designed for ordering snacks and alcoholic drinks. Fizz isn't the first to offer alcohol delivery, of course. Instacart itself supports alcohol delivery wherever it's legal, as does DoorDash. But perhaps the most notorious alcohol delivery app was Drizly: The service was a popular option for ordering alcohol, but its reputation suffered following a massive 2020 data breach. Uber acquired the app the following year, then shut it down in 2024. But Fizz isn't a Drizly clone. Instead, the app seems more like if Drizly crossed with a party-planning app like Partiful or Apple's Invites—not only do you order drinks and snacks, but you invite others to do so as well. In fact, Fizz is now embedded in the Partiful app, so you can use it when planning a party at large. Instacart says after you start a "party cart," you can share a link with friends to invite them to join. (They don't need the Fizz app to participate.) Everyone in the group can see what's already been ordered, and can add whatever they want. Anything you add to a party cart, you pay for yourself, which I feel mixed about. On the one hand, it's cool to let people "bring" what they want to the party, without needing to track people down to pay for their share. But for some parties and gatherings, it makes sense to split everything evenly. It'd be nice if Fizz would at least add that as an option. If you want to use Fizz with Partiful, you can choose to enable "Group Order" in the app. Then, everyone on the Partiful can access the Fizz link. Credit: Instacart As the app is made for ordering alcohol, it's only available to users 21 and older. There's also a flat $5 delivery fee for all orders, though that does not include a tip. If you live in a state or area where alcohol delivery isn't legal, you can't use Fizz (or any alcohol delivery service). According to TechCrunch, Fizz is available in Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana (some areas), Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico (some areas), New York, Nevada (some areas), North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. You can download the app by scanning the QR code on Fizz's website. View the full article
  12. A reader writes: I’m a new-ish manager in a small company. I have two direct reports. One is professional and a joy to work with. The other is a recent hire (he’s been here two months) who is right out of college, Jake. In our most recent weekly one-on-one, Jake told me that he is “disappointed in the role” and the work is “not as interesting as he hoped.” I can understand how someone could find much of the work tedious. There’s a significant amount of data entry in the position. But I never hid this. I was clear with every candidate I interviewed that there would be tedious tasks and screened for people who seemed able to figure out strategies for handling that tedium. I’m wondering where to go from here. Jake was not able to give me any clear idea about what he wants the role to be instead, and even if he could, I hired him for the job he’s doing now. Part of me also feels like he hasn’t given this a fair shake. He’s only been here two months! A lot of those tedious tasks will start taking up less of his time as he gets better at them so he can expand other parts of the role, and I have told him that this is what I expect. And lastly, I’m not sure how much investment I want to put into someone who has expressed such disinterest so early. He has also had a couple of attitude problems that I have been addressing (he can come across as entitled and arrogant, which is not a good look for the most junior member of our staff), but those by themselves, I felt were coachable. I answer this question over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here. The post my new employee is “disappointed” with his job appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article
  13. The Senate Banking Committee sent the nomination of Michelle Bowman to the full Senate in a party-line 13-11 vote. View the full article
  14. Two government agencies are warning Americans about threats from Salmonella outbreaks this week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has cautioned about a multi-state outbreak of the potentially deadly bacteria in poultry, while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has posted two recall notices about tomatoes that are feared to be tainted with Salmonella. Although the poultry and tomato salmonella outbreaks are not reported to be linked, each should be taken seriously given the threat that Salmonella infections can pose. Here’s what you need to know about the Salmonella outbreak and recalls. CDC announces Salmonella outbreak linked to poultry On May 5, the CDC issued an investigation notice confirming a multi-state outbreak of the potentially deadly bacteria. The outbreak is believed to be linked to human contact with backyard poultry, including chickens and ducks. The agency says that two individuals who became sick “reported obtaining poultry from agricultural retail stores” beforehand. However, an individual does not need to consume poultry to become infected with Salmonella. The CDC says that simply touching infected birds, supplies the animals have come into contact with, or the eggs they have laid is enough to contract the bacteria. The CDC says that between February 9 and March 24, 2025, seven people across six states have been confirmed to have been infected with Salmonella. The illnesses occurred in the following states: Utah: 1 South Dakota: 1 Wisconsin: 1 Illinois: 1 Missouri: 2 Florida: 1 However, the CDC says that the number of sick individuals is likely much higher. That’s because many people who become infected with Salmonella get sick and recover fully at home without ever reporting the illness to health authorities. The CDC also notes that it usually takes between three and four weeks to determine if a sick individual is part of an outbreak, which means the agency’s current numbers may be lagging behind the actual number of cases up to this point in time. FDA posts Salmonella-linked tomato recalls Separately, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has posted recall notices on its website for tomatoes that are feared to possibly be contaminated with Salmonella. There is no indication that the tomato recalls and the poultry outbreak are linked. On May 3, the FDA published a recall notice from Ray & Mascari Inc. of Indianapolis, Indiana. The voluntary recall covers the company’s 4 Count Vine Ripe Tomatoes product. The tomatoes were acquired from a Florida provider who discovered that they may be contaminated with Salmonella. The recalled product is as follows: Brand Name: Ray & Mascari Inc. Product name: 4 Count Vine Ripe Tomatoes Package: clam shell containers [20 oz. (1 lb. 4 oz) 567g] UPC: 7 96553 20062 1 Lot numbers: Lot# RM250424 15250B or Lot# RM250427 15250B The recalled tomatoes were sold by Gordon Food Service Stores in eleven states: Illinois Indiana Kentucky Michigan Missouri Mississippi New York Ohio Pennsylvania Tennessee Wisconsin On May 2, the FDA published a recall notice from Williams Farms Repack LLC of Lodge, South Carolina, for some of its tomato products over fears they could be contaminated with salmonella. The tomato products were sold in multiple package sizes under the brand name H&C Farms Label. The full list of products affected by this recall can be found here. The products covered under this recall were sold to wholesalers and distributors between 4/23/2025 and 4/28/2025. They were sold in the following states: Georgia North Carolina South Carolina There is currently no indication that the two tomato recalls are linked, nor is there any indication that they are linked to the multi-state poultry Salmonella outbreak. Consumers who believe they may have the recalled tomatoes should read the respective recall notices carefully for instructions on what to do. What is Salmonella? Salmonella is a bacterium that can make you very sick if ingested. According to the CDC, the symptoms of Salmonella can include: Watery diarrhea that might have blood or mucus Stomach cramps that can be severe Headache Nausea Vomiting Loss of appetite The agency says that symptoms can begin anywhere from six hours to six days after infection. Symptoms can last for anywhere between four and seven days. While many people can recover without treatment, some may require hospitalization. In certain cases, Salmonella infections can cause death. The illness can be particularly troublesome for people who have weakened immune systems, are 65 or older, or are younger than 5. In 2024, there were several significant Salmonella outbreaks, including a backyard poultry outbreak in May of that year that sickened more than 100 people and an outbreak reported in September linked to eggs that sickened at least 65 people. View the full article
  15. China and others must think afresh as the US steps away from its role as balancer of last resortView the full article
  16. Country has briefed diplomats and humanitarian officials on proposal to funnel supplies through little-known foundationView the full article
  17. What firms of all sizes are doing. By Marc Rosenberg The Rosenberg Practice Management Library Go PRO for members-only access to more Marc Rosenberg. View the full article
  18. DoorDash, the ubiquitous U.S. food delivery app, has agreed to acquire British rival Deliveroo for 2.9 billion pounds ($3.9 billion) in cash, expanding its business in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. San Francisco-based DoorDash will pay 180 pence ($2.40) for each Deliveroo share, 29% more than the closing price on April 24, the day before the offer was announced, the companies said in a joint statement before the London Stock Exchange opened for trading on Tuesday. The deal is DoorDash’s second major international acquisition in three years as the company expands from its traditional base in the U.S., Canada and Australia. After the purchase of Deliveroo, and the 2022 acquisition of Helsinki-based Wolt Enterprises, DoorDash will operate in more than 40 markets worldwide. “I could not be more excited by the prospect of what DoorDash and Deliveroo will be able to accomplish together,” DoorDash CEO Tony Xu said in the statement. Both companies were founded in 2013, using the then emerging technology of smartphones to link restaurants and their customers to a network of delivery riders. Deliveroo now operates in nine countries, including the U.K. and Ireland, which accounted for 59% of its business in 2023. It also does business in France, Italy, Belgium, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar. The acquisition comes less than three months after technology investment company Prosus agreed to buy Amsterdam-based Just Eat Takeaway.com for 4.1 billion euros ($4.29 billion), boosting its food delivery portfolio in Europe. View the full article
  19. Improve your conversion rate. By Martin Bissett Passport to Partnership Go PRO for members-only access to more Martin Bissett. View the full article
  20. Improve your conversion rate. By Martin Bissett Passport to Partnership Go PRO for members-only access to more Martin Bissett. View the full article
  21. Bloc’s latest package of measures targets more than 20 businesses it accuses of helping Moscow evade restrictionsView the full article
  22. Big Four accounting firm PwC is laying off about 1,500 employees in the United States, a company spokesperson told Reuters on Monday. The workforce reduction equates to approximately 2% of our U.S. firm, the spokesperson said. PwC employs more than 75,000 people in the United States. “This was a difficult decision, and we made it with care, thoughtfulness, and a deep awareness of its impact on our people, appreciating that historically low levels of attrition over consecutive years have made it necessary to take this step”, PwC said in a statement. Last year, Reuters had reported that PwC was considering slashing up to half its financial services auditing staff in China, as a regulatory investigation and an exodus of clients darken business prospects. PwC last month shut operations in nine Sub-Saharan African countries following a strategic review. KPMG, PwC, EY and Deloitte make up the Big Four accounting firms. In November last year, Reuters had reported that KPMG would lay off less than 4%, or about 330 people, of its audit workforce in the United States. —Jaiveer Shekhawat, Reuters View the full article
  23. We may earn a commission from links on this page. When I wrote about adding baking soda to ground beef for better browning and moisture retention, the readership was starkly divided—those who think this chemical reaction is pure snake oil, and those who want to know immediately how to apply this technique to hamburgers. Well, for those of you mapping out your Memorial Day weekend grill game, saddle up. This very real chemical reaction is indeed perfectly suited to improving your summer burgers. How does baking soda make meat tender? Baking soda reacts with the proteins in meats, whether ground or not, preventing them from winding up as tightly as they normally would when cooking. This is a technique that’s been around for ages in Chinese cooking, called velveting. You’ve probably seen steak, chicken, bacon, and hamburgers that haven’t been treated with baking soda shrink dramatically after cooking. The protein network starts to squeeze and clench up as it heats, expelling the meat's natural juices. When you bite into it, the meat feels rubbery and dry because the proteins are wound tight and the juices have been left behind in the pan or down in the charcoal pit. Baking soda-treated meats have looser protein networks that maintain a comparatively greater amount of natural juices. To the palate, this feels like a tender, juicy, more flavorful hamburger patty with a crispy brown exterior. Oh about that: The browning gets better too. How does baking soda improve browning?It turns out that the Maillard reaction (the attractive and flavorful browning that happens to foods when they cook at around 300°F) happens faster in a more alkaline environment. A sprinkle of baking soda is enough to increase the PH and cause more pronounced browning to occur faster, whether it's in banana waffles or with meat. This literally creates new flavors in your food, thus your burger will actually be more flavorful by incorporating a pinch of this basic pantry item. To demonstrate, I split up a pound of 93% lean ground beef and added a half teaspoon of baking soda to one half of the meat. I shaped the meat into patties and griddled up both types of burgers in a light spritz of canola oil to ensure good contact with the heat. I cooked each burger to reach 140°F to 145°F degrees for medium doneness. You can see in the picture, it’s pretty easy to tell which one was treated with baking soda. The baking soda treated burger on the right has better browning and less shrinkage occurred. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann How to make better burgers with baking sodaThis small amount of baking soda leaves no off flavors behind in your burger, and it reduces moisture loss, which keeps the shrinking to a minimum (you won’t end up with tiny burgers on huge buns). The result is tender meat, and you’ll be rewarded with a lovely brown crust. Here’s how I do it. 1. Season the ground meatI add the ground burger meat to a large bowl and season it with salt. Go ahead and add any other seasonings you like. Then dust baking soda over the surface of the meat. For every eight ounces (half-pound) of ground meat, I used a half-teaspoon of baking soda. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann 2. Mix it thoroughlyThen you need to get your hands dirty. I’m sure you could do this with a spoon but I find it much quicker to do it with my hands. I find that the seasoning gets more thoroughly distributed this way too. If you want to keep your hands clean, don some vinyl food-safe gloves. Squeeze and toss the meat in the bowl until it’s well mixed. 3. Shape the patties and cookForm the patties with your hands and have them ready on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, or a plate for a small batch. Let them rest in the fridge while you get the pan or the grill ready. Cook as usual. I recommend testing for doneness with a meat thermometer rather than by color. With the accelerated browning of the exterior, you don’t want to remove the burger too soon. I use the Thermapen One and I love it. Try to insert the probe end at a side angle toward the center as much as possible. You want a reading for the center, not to poke through to the other side. Once done, let your burgers rest for a few minutes off the heat—which I think happens naturally as you plate them and dress them with fixin’s—and enjoy the first bite of summer grill season. View the full article
  24. Cisco is the latest company to announce a quantum breakthrough. On Tuesday, the company said it has developed a prototype entanglement source chip that has the potential to cut the timeline for practical quantum computing by as much as a decade. The chip was developed in partnership with UC Santa Barbara and is novel in that it generates up to one million entangled photon pairs per second, and does so at room temperature, saving considerable resources. Additionally, Cisco is also announcing the opening of Cisco Quantum Labs, which will be the company’s dedicated quantum research hub in Santa Monica, California. The chip itself was developed at Cisco’s “Outshift” incubator, where Viljoy Pandey, senior vice president at Outshift by Cisco, says the company works on projects that are “slightly out of the comfort zone.” “We’re a networking company,” says Pandey. “We’re looking at quantum networking and quantum security.” “Our thesis is pretty straightforward: To make [quantum computing] practical, you need to scale it out,” he adds. “You need a network, and to have a quantum network, you need a quantum entanglement chip. That’s the first building block.” In practice, the chip will allow quantum computers to be networked together—similar to existing networks for classical computers—enabling distributed quantum computing. ‘There’s going to be a ChatGPT moment for quantum’ While other companies are focused on building quantum computers themselves, Cisco is working on the infrastructure to make quantum computing actually work—and it’s attempting to get ahead of things by developing the network and security frameworks while large-scale quantum demand is still likely years away. Moreover, while some experts have mused that quantum computing could be as far as 20 years down the road, Pandey says that Cisco’s breakthrough likely cuts that timeline by “between five and 10 years.” Building the chip took between three and four years, and now Cisco is looking at moving it into production, says Reza Nejabati, head of Quantum Research and Quantum Labs at Outshift by Cisco. “We’re working toward more commercial fabrication,” he says. “There’s a whole bunch of hardware and software technology that we’re bringing up. The quantum proof of concept is happening.” As for what’s next, Pandey says Cisco will work on software to help build out a quantum network and continue work on a quantum roadmap. “There’s going to be a ChatGPT moment for quantum,” he says. “We need to start putting the fundamental building blocks together to prepare.” View the full article
  25. Hallucinations have always been an issue for generative AI models: The same structure that enables them to be creative and produce text and images also makes them prone to making stuff up. And the hallucination problem isn't getting better as AI models progress—in fact, it's getting worse. In a new technical report from OpenAI (via The New York Times), the company details how its latest o3 and o4-mini models hallucinate 51 percent and 79 percent, respectively, on an AI benchmark known as SimpleQA. For the earlier o1 model, the SimpleQA hallucination rate stands at 44 percent. Those are surprisingly high figures, and heading in the wrong direction. These models are known as reasoning models because they think through their answers and deliver them more slowly. Clearly, based on OpenAI's own testing, this mulling over of responses is leaving more room for mistakes and inaccuracies to be introduced. False facts are by no means limited to OpenAI and ChatGPT. For example, it didn't take me long when testing Google's AI Overview search feature to get it to make a mistake, and AI's inability to properly pull out information from the web has been well-documented. Recently, a support bot for AI coding app Cursor announced a policy change that hadn't actually been made. But you won't find many mentions of these hallucinations in the announcements AI companies make about their latest and greatest products. Together with energy use and copyright infringement, hallucinations are something that the big names in AI would rather not talk about. Anecdotally, I haven't noticed too many inaccuracies when using AI search and bots—the error rate is certainly nowhere near 79 percent, though mistakes are made. However, it looks like this is a problem that might never go away, particularly as the teams working on these AI models don't fully understand why hallucinations happen. In tests run by AI platform developer Vectera, the results are much better, though not perfect: Here, many models are showing hallucination rates of one to three percent. OpenAI's o3 model stands at 6.8 percent, with the newer (and smaller) o4-mini at 4.6 percent. That's more in line with my experience interacting with these tools, but even a very low number of hallucinations can mean a big problem—especially as we transfer more and more tasks and responsibilities to these AI systems. Finding the causes of hallucinations ChatGPT knows not to put glue on pizza, at least. Credit: Lifehacker No one really knows how to fix hallucinations, or fully identify their causes: These models aren't built to follow rules set by their programmers, but to choose their own way of working and responding. Vectara chief executive Amr Awadallah told the New York Times that AI models will "always hallucinate," and that these problems will "never go away." University of Washington professor Hannaneh Hajishirzi, who is working on ways to reverse engineer answers from AI, told the NYT that "we still don't know how these models work exactly." Just like troubleshooting a problem with your car or your PC, you need to know what's gone wrong to do something about it. According to researcher Neil Chowdhury, from AI analysis lab Transluce, the way reasoning models are built may be making the problem worse. "Our hypothesis is that the kind of reinforcement learning used for o-series models may amplify issues that are usually mitigated (but not fully erased) by standard post-training pipelines," he told TechCrunch. In OpenAI's own performance report, meanwhile, the issue of "less world knowledge" is mentioned, while it's also noted that the o3 model tends to make more claims than its predecessor—which then leads to more hallucinations. Ultimately, though, "more research is needed to understand the cause of these results," according to OpenAI. And there are plenty of people undertaking that research. For example, Oxford University academics have published a method for detecting the probability of hallucinations by measuring the variation between multiple AI outputs. However, this costs more in terms of time and processing power, and doesn't really solve the issue of hallucinations—it just tells you when they're more likely. While letting AI models check their facts on the web can help in certain situations, they're not particularly good at this either. They lack (and will never have) simple human common sense that says glue shouldn't be put on a pizza or that $410 for a Starbucks coffee is clearly a mistake. What's definite is that AI bots can't be trusted all of the time, despite their confident tone—whether they're giving you news summaries, legal advice, or interview transcripts. That's important to remember as these AI models show up more and more in our personal and work lives, and it's a good idea to limit AI to use cases where hallucinations matter less. Disclosure: Lifehacker’s parent company, Ziff Davis, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems. View the full article
  26. From answering complex queries to generating creative content, large language models (LLMs) are designed to deliver “zero-click” results – concise, direct answers that eliminate the need for further research. This shift raises a critical question: if users no longer need to visit a website to get the information they want, what happens to web traffic? While the broader implications for the future of websites are a conversation for another day, there’s a more immediate and tactical issue worth examining – links. Specifically: What kind of links are LLMs providing, and how can brands generate traffic from them? The critical role of links in LLM outputs Links in LLM results function as citations, giving users a way to verify the information presented and explore the original source material. This is especially important for maintaining accuracy and reliability, particularly in sensitive or complex topics. For brands, these citation links are the only viable path to generating inbound traffic from LLMs. The good news: Referral traffic from LLMs is up nearly 400%. If LLMs are driving significantly more traffic, then the nature of the links they provide becomes even more important. What the data tells us: Branded vs. third-party links I analyzed hundreds of prompts and categorized the resulting links into three buckets: The brand’s official domain. Third-party domains. Third-party domains that mention the brand name. The data revealed that only 9% of links pointed to the actual branded domain. This presents a clear problem for brands – they’re being mentioned in responses, but not receiving the direct credit of a link to their own site. Dig deeper: Optimizing LLMs for B2B SEO: An overview Real-world examples: Retail and financial services Here are a couple of practical examples from the retail and financial services sectors. In the retail case, I was shopping for a raincoat for an upcoming golf trip to Bandon Dunes. The results for raincoats were decent, but only one link in Perplexity pointed to Patagonia. The rest directed me to third-party sites. The same pattern emerged with a financial services and insurance prompt. The brands mentioned were the major players you’d expect, but every link pointed to third-party lead aggregator sites – sites that typically resell traffic back to those same brands, monetizing it through arbitrage. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. Business email address Sign me up! Processing... See terms. Why LLMs prefer third-party sources From the LLM’s perspective, linking to a third-party site is a logical choice. It mirrors how people seek information in the real world. If you’re deciding which coat to buy, you don’t ask Patagonia for an unbiased opinion. LLMs appear to apply the same logic, favoring third-party sources that seem more “neutral.” This perceived neutrality is intended to provide a better user experience. However, nearly all of these third-party sites are monetizing traffic in some way, often by profiting from the brands they’re linking away from. Dig deeper: How to optimize your 2025 content strategy for AI-powered SERPs and LLMs What brands can do about it: A 3-step framework So what can brands do about it? Right now, there are three key actions to take: Step 1: Understand your results If you haven’t already, analyze how your brand appears across various LLMs and identify which links are being surfaced. You need a clear picture of the landscape before making any strategic decisions. Step 2: Audit the links Are the links coming from third-party sites? Do those sites have strong inbound link profiles or rely on user-generated content? These insights will shape how you approach Step 3. Step 3: Build a hypothesis LLMs are constantly evolving, and the inputs they rely on remain a bit opaque, so start testing. Based on the patterns you’ve observed, create control and test groups, then adjust your content and link strategies accordingly. Measure impact, revisit Step 1, and refine. Dig deeper: How to segment traffic from LLMs in GA4 Rethinking link equity in the AI era Links have long been the backbone of the web – and they now play a critical role in how LLMs are trained and how they deliver information. As these models become more deeply integrated into our daily lives, the importance of links will only grow. By understanding how links function within LLM outputs, brands can better navigate this shifting landscape and ensure they remain a credible, visible, and accessible part of the conversation. View the full article
  27. A reader writes: In February, I changed companies and took on a manager position for the first time as the current manager was being promoted. While the exiting manager introduced me to the different people I would be supervising I was taken aback when “Benjamin” immediately assured me that despite looking like he was 21 or 22, he had worked there for years. If you had asked me to guess his age, I would have said 41 or 42. In the moment I was stunned, not sure if it was a joke, and just said I looked forward to working with him. Later the exiting manager told me that he’s been doing that for years. The first time at a lunch meeting with a potential client, Benjamin made a big deal of having his ID ready and despite the best efforts of the others would not let the conversation move on until he had thoroughly discussed how often he gets carded and how no one believes his actual age. During a presentation, he started by talking about how he was qualified despite his youthful appearance while everyone waited uncomfortably for him to finish and begin the actual presentation. The exiting manager claimed he talked with Benjamin several times, but Benjamin insisted it was necessary to inform people of his true age because everyone would assume he was younger and not treat him as an equal. Finally Benjamin threatened to complain to HR, who in turn told the manager to leave it alone. The manager said Ben’s usual work is good, so he just kept him away from in-person and Zoom meetings with people outside the team and hoped that when Ben turns 40 this year he’ll finally drop it. Since I officially took on the manager role, I’ve noticed Ben will try to bring up his supposed youthful looks at every opportunity. If someone went to their kid’s school, he insists that when he went to his nephew’s high school winter concert a few months ago he was mistaken for a student. If someone goes on vacation, he talks about how hard it is to get a rental car when everyone thinks he’s too young to be the person on the paperwork. You get the idea. He is good at what he does and always volunteers to help others, so I was willing to chalk this up as a harmless if annoying quirk. Recently, however, when Ben took a long lunch for a doctor’s appointment, I was walking by the break room and overheard his colleagues making fun of him. They were talking about how he would be in tomorrow with nothing but stories about how the doctor actually claimed he was aging backwards, how the nurses couldn’t believe his birthday, etc. in a frankly mean-spirited way. And the “jokes” and impressions of him got worse from there. I chose to eavesdrop and confirmed this isn’t a one-off conversation; Ben is the office joke. From what I heard, the consensus from the older workers was that he is competent but needs therapy, while the younger ones called him “delulu” and said he is the last person they would ask for help with anything considering how “obviously detached” from reality he is. I don’t want to have a culture of bullying, so I tried talking to a few of Ben’s colleagues privately. Their sentiments can be summed up as: we’re always nice to his face and if he stopped talking about it we would too, but his lies are so obvious and outrageous that people are going to inevitably talk. I’m not sure what to do. Do I frankly tell him how badly him professional reputation is being damaged and hope the whole team doesn’t implode? Do I pray this is a joke that has gone on too long and telling him so will get him to drop it? Do I try to stop people from talking about him? Do I ignore it and try to maintain the current status quo? Do I wait until I am more established to do something? Do I escalate it to someone? Do I find a picture of him when he was 20 and a picture of him now and tell him, “Corporate wants you to find the difference” a la The Office? What on earth. This fixation would be weird even if he did look a lot younger than he is, but it’s especially bizarre since he doesn’t (and in fact, you actually originally guessed his age to be slightly older than he actually is). Is there such a thing as age dysmorphia? If you didn’t know the history about Ben complaining to HR when the previous manager tried to address this, I’d say to definitely just talk to him. You wouldn’t need to frame it as “no one thinks you’re that young”; you could frame it as, “Talking so frequently about your age is becoming disruptive, derailing meetings, and distracting from the good work you otherwise do. None of us here are focused on age, and I expect we’ll treat everyone respectfully regardless of what age anyone guesses they are.” In other words, it’s not your job to correct whatever age dysmorphia he has going on, but it is your job to say this has become disruptive and he needs to stop making it such a focus. But since there’s already an HR history with it, you’d likely benefit from touching base with them first. Explain that it has affected Ben’s relationships with others and the way he’s perceived, and that you believe it’s a disservice to him not to let him know. Who knows, maybe you’ll find out that the previous manager addressed it differently and there’s more room for you to try the approach above. Or maybe HR will tell you to leave it alone. If you’re told to leave it alone, then I tend to agree with Ben’s colleague that people are inevitably going to talk. That said, you don’t need to accept mean-spiritedness on your team and you overhear anything like that again, you should shut it down with something along the lines of, “Regardless of what he’s doing, I want us to speak respectfully about each other.” People will still talk about it — because what he’s doing is really weird, and it’s not realistic to expect his coworkers not to be bursting to reality-check it with others — but you can at least make it clear that they need to be discreet about it / you’re going to call it out if you hear it. The post my employee keeps insisting he looks much younger than he is (but he doesn’t) appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article