Reference checks are an essential step in your hiring process. As someone who has conducted a significant number of them in my career, I know they can be extremely time consuming and don’t always yield the most insightful information.

However, reference checks have the potential to provide you with some of the most critical, timely, and valuable information you could ask for:  actually knowing how a candidate has performed on the job. Certainly, past performance is a strong predictor of future performance. But simply verifying employment dates and asking superficial questions will typically leave you in the cold. You need to make sure that you ask the right questions.

Business and government can’t be separated. When Congress was at a standoff during the debt ceiling crisis in 2011, 300 business executives signed an open letter posted in The Wall Street Journal to encourage an agreement. The fiscal policy debate had been heavily impacting the market, and Americans were afraid of another major economic downturn. Read more about Blending Business and Government Leadership

There is a shift in education towards online learning. There are a lot of advantages to distance education that benefits students, teachers, and institutions. Students don’t have to relocate. Online schedules are often flexible. Schools can recruit the best talent from a worldwide pool. Modern technology is often faster and easier to use than traditional teaching methods. Read more about Enrolling Students You Never Meet