As advocates for the power of fun to nourish staff relationships and brand loyalty, it may not surprise you that Venture Up supports having parties at any time of year. What is a surprise is that nearly one-third of company decision-makers are against throwing parties for employees. Why? They’re costly, and the potential for drama […]
Continue reading »
Gender inequality has long overshadowed the corporate policies and business jargon complying with laws against discrimination. You don’t need statistics to know that discrimination remains widespread, and women are still underpaid. The old-fashioned logic of, “He gets paid more because he has to support a family,” hardly fits today’s working demographic, not that it was […]
Continue reading »
Some of the greatest business successes have come not from winning the game, but from changing the rules. As a core business strategy, innovation is what makes a company stand out from the competition. Learning from the masters just got easier with The New York Times bestseller, Blue Ocean Shift: Beyond Competing, a follow-up to the breakthrough title Blue […]
Continue reading »
Updated November 2025 Timeless Tales Transforms Teams Imagine stepping into your first shift at a bustling coffee shop back in the height of the 2008 economic downturn — a wide-eyed newcomer, skeptical of corporate giants and eyeing the job only as a stopgap until better opportunities arose. Picture your manager, let’s call her Alex, […]
Continue reading »
Research shows that businesses with high levels of employee engagement achieve stronger results, higher productivity, and more positive workplace cultures than those where employees are simply going through the motions. Employee engagement measures how much energy, interest, and respect people bring to their work — how proactive they are and how well they mesh with […]
Continue reading »
Updated November 2025 Once promoted, many managers discover that the technical expertise and individual performance that earned them advancement are not enough to make them effective leaders. Mastery of hard skills drives results, but leadership requires something more—self-awareness, adaptability, and the ability to bring out the best in others. The most successful leaders combine operational […]
Continue reading »
Updated November 2025 Finding the Corporate Soul Can a company really have a soul—or is that an oxymoron in the corporate world? When Satya Nadella became CEO of Microsoft in 2014, he inherited a global brand both admired and criticized. Some analysts still frame Apple and Google as tech’s top rivals, but Microsoft’s momentum under […]
Continue reading »
Updated November 2025 Diversity training isn’t disappearing—it’s evolving. As organizations grow more global and complex, the goal is no longer box-checking but building cultural intelligence across teams that differ in background, thought, and experience. When done well, diversity training strengthens collaboration and trust. When done poorly, it breeds division and alienation—the opposite of its intent. […]
Continue reading »
Updated November 2025 Remember sitting in math class, staring at a page of word problems, wondering, When will I ever use this in real life? Then the outspoken kid said what everyone was thinking: Why are there words in math class? The teacher, half-smiling, gave the classic reply: “Because solving word problems teaches you how […]
Continue reading »