Some of the brightest minds in business have seen their careers nosedive because they use too many emoticons in their emails. The situation has grown worse the past few years with the introduction of over 20,000 new emoticons to add to the standard smiley face – ranging from sword-fighting...

It took Sandra Standish, a Chicago advertising sales rep, four years to work up the nerve to get outside of her comfort zone. Once outside, however, it took her just 12 minutes to get back in. “I didn’t like it out there,” she says. “I couldn’t keep up with the conversation,...

For months, cost accountant Steve Dilman (not his real name) endured the bullying of an older, bigger colleague at a Cleveland brokerage house. The bully would stomp on Dilman's foot in the elevator, steal his weekly Redundancies Report and turn it in as his own, and even staple his tie...

Shared workspace provider Jam’D was losing thousands of clients last summer, due to people not wanting to get within six feet of each other. Faced with the expense of maintaining 3400 workspace facilities averaging 16,000 square feet apiece, the company was within days of going under.  Then founder and CEO...

Upon ordering employees working from home to return to the office, US businesses are discovering that once they come back, many don’t like it and go back home. This has forced some to install invisible fences to keep them in.    The fences – actually wires buried underground – emit...

Sterling Heights marketer Stella Winkler was fired Friday after her standard poodle disgraced the CEO during a company-sponsored “Take Your Dog to Work” Day. “We believe in having fun,” said Merit-Weiss HR Director Molly Turner, “but employees must be held accountable for the behavior of their pets." Twenty-five employees participated in...

In 2019, when Masters Customization set out to hire a new employee, one human resources staffer could make it happen in less than an hour. As of mid 2024, it was taking an average of 232 hours for every new hire, with 17 people assigned to filling each position. Finding...

After just six weeks in business, Detroit Artisan Ice Cubes is already working at capacity “We're up to 33 cubes a week,” says founder Larry Petrangelo. “With just three makers, we can’t make more and guarentee quality.” The three – who also include former airline executive Madeline Fare and part-time...

As recently as 2021, Executive Burnout cost US business over $600 billion a year in medical and replacement expenses. That’s likely to change, thanks to a new charging helmet that enables burned-out executives to get back to brainstorming in as little as five minutes. Developed by Slippstick – famous for...

From walking with purpose in Downtown Detroit to a big cosmetics company replacing Pink Cadillacs with Black BMWs, a look at recent business news.

The Chief Transformation Officer at Milwaukee's Tellway-Platt was dismissed this week for not knowing that rapper Bow-Wow had dropped the prefix “Lil.’” Monica Pasterell, 51, was a 29-year veteran of the company. She referred to the star by his outdated name on October 8, when delivering a talk on transformational...

When its stock hit $151,006 per share on November 20, Denver toothpick maker Tonssill achieved a market valuation of $500 billion. That makes it the fourth most valuable company in the world. Founder Neal Molling told reporters that while he’s pleased at achieving the milestone, he isn't surprised. “Our toothpicks are...