12 Things HR Must Consider When Dealing With Family Leave

12 Things HR Must Consider When Dealing With Family Leave12 Things HR Must Consider When Dealing With Family LeavePaid or elend, 80% of parents take a family leave following the birth of a child. So while soon-to-be-parent employees are busy painting nurseries and reading What To Expect When Youre Expecting, you can start planning for their family leave. When it comes tofamily leave, Human Resources must cover a lot of bases. You are legally required to do some things while you must do others in order to keep the work flowing and take care of employees who are new parents. Your family leaves checklist must consider ansicht twelve items. Know the Rules About Family Leave The United States is one of the only countries in the world that doesnt require paid maternity or paternity leave, but the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires you to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave for eligible employees. Understand this law and what employees are entitled to receive. For instance, employees arent required to take the full 12 weeks in one chunk- they can take the time intermittently. Birth moms, lebenspartners, and adopting parents all qualify (assuming they meet the criteria). Get to know this law, as well as any other laws in your state. More employment laws are adopted regularly so it does pay to stay knowledgeable about the laws in your jurisdiction. Write a Formal Policy About Family Leave Document the companys policy about family leave. Yes, abide by the laws, but your company can decide other details. Consider these options when you think about family leave. Will you offer paid time off for family leave? Its not required by federal law, but there are many benefits for doing so. Google increased the retention of new mothers by 50% by simply offering a little extra paid time off.If you offer paid time off, specifically state how much time is offered and which employees qualify. For example, full-time employees receive x amount, but part-time employees dont qua lify.Will the paid time off for family leave run concurrently with the FMLA time? If employees receive two weeks paid time off, decide if that time will run separately or concurrently with the FMLA time.If it runs separately, employees could potentially take 14 weeks off. If it runs concurrently, you should simply paythe employee during two of the 12 weeks theyre entitled to through FMLA. Will you have a universal plan for family leave? If you offer a period of paid time off to employees, decide if every parent will receive the exact saatkorn amount of time off or if different situations will receive different treatment.For instance, should birth mothers receive two weeks of paid time off, but adoptive parents or non-birthing partners receive one week paid? Thats up to the company, but write down the family leave policy so similar situations are treated consistently. Coordinate Work for Family Leave Make sure managers work with employees well in advance of the family leave to co ordinate work while the employee is gone. Get all of the details covered, clear down to having their emails forwarded to a coworker (if necessary). This will decrease stress on coworkers and eliminate potential bottlenecks. Managers can work with their team to cross-train responsibilities, which comes in handy not only for family leave time but also when losing an employee for other reasons. Remember Employee Privacy About Family Leave Not everyone wants the entire company to know that theyre expecting or have had a baby. And actually, HR isnt required to even tell managers specifically why an employee is out on FMLA (although they will likely know why an obviously pregnant employee is suddenly gone for a few weeks). Consider how openly the employee discussed the pregnancy with coworkers and act with respect. If the employee wants to circulate pictures of the newborn on the company social site, on Facebook or via email, great. But you shouldnt do it. Make Benefits Accessible Benefits are important during pregnancy and birth, and lack of them or confusion about them generates stress for employees. Almost all employees want benefits communication customized to life events. While health needs are impossible to predict, theyre certainly easier to anticipate when someone is expecting a child. Its a thin line to walk, but provide as much help as possible without disrespecting the employees privacy. For instance, its inappropriate to tell a pregnant employee that your health provider has a nursing rckendeckung hotline unless they specifically ask. You dont have any idea what choices theyll make for their child, but you can still help by reminding them that the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) has good support resources. Have a secure system online where employees can access details about benefits or give employees copies of applicable paperwork. Whenever possible, direct employees to places where they can research and find answers. This results in less work for you and empowers them to navigate and explore benefits on their own, all while respecting their privacy. Provide Flexibility People want flexibility but draw the necessary lines. The new title of parent doesnt make it acceptable for full-time employees to only work 25 hours a week. It probably isnt reasonable for employees to bring their new baby to work all of the time. Its probably not a huge deal if Erica arrives at 915 am while figuring out the daycare drop-off schedule. Flexibility can help employees adjust to their new responsibility. Employees should have a team of people who support them at work, and offering flexible hours illustrates your support. Some companies find it mutually beneficial to allow employees to slowly ramp back into working. Allowing employees to come back part-time for a few weeks after family leave gives them the option to bring in money while not getting overwhelmed. It also eases the burden of having an employee out of the office. If employees use all their FMLA time but still need a little more time to recover, try to extend it with unpaid leave time. If employees dont qualify for FMLA (and according to paid parental leave advocates, 40% of U.S. employees dont), try to accommodate them anyway. Create a Contingency Plan Flexibility may also benefit the company if a position change is requested before or after an employee takes parental leave. For instance, a parent may want to cut back hours or switch some (or all) of their work time to telecommuting to stay home with his or her new child. You are only legally required to restore a position of equal pay, benefits, and prestige to an employee returning from FMLA, but employees might work more effectively if additional adjustments are made. Not all companies can afford to make these changes, but sometimes accommodations are possible. Some parents want to change their work plan following a birth and may cut work out of their plan entirely. And, dont assume that only fema le parents will choose to leave the workforce behind. Consider Employee Benefit Changes With all the excitement of a new baby, employees may forget that the new bundle of joy is also a new dependent they need to add to their health insurance plans. Remind employees of the dates and windows where they can and need to change their benefits elections. Other benefits changes to consider relate to employees taking leave. During unpaid FMLA leave, employees wont collect a paycheck. How will they pay for their benefits premiums? You need to make decisions about several other matters of policy for your employee handbook and implementation. Decide if employees will continue accruing time off during theirleave. If they wont accrue, take this into account when calculating time off or adjust for this leave in the companys time off software.If employees wont return after the birth, cash out vacation time on the final paycheck if this is stipulated in the companys vacation policy.Check the va cation policy to determine whether employees can append any accrued vacation time onto the parental leave or FMLA time theyre already taking. All of these details should be included in your time off policies. If they arent, add them so that each employee is treated equally. Be Sensitive Occasionally, the birth of a child is not a celebratory event in peoples lives. Unplanned pregnancies happen. Late-term miscarriages and infant mortality are devastating. An employee may choose to place their child for adoption or terminate a pregnancy. Approach any of these situations with sensitivity and respect. Work with the employee and the employees manager to sensitively handle transitioning back into work. Also, consider some situations (like miscarriages) in the companys bereavement policy. Painful life events are difficult for employees but also difficult for the people at work who care about them. Think about how the company can sensitively (and privately) handle these situations befo rehand. Celebrate A small, nice gesture from the organization will remind employees that they have a team of coworkers cheering them on back at the office. Wait a few days after the birth to make sure everything goes well, and then send some flowers, a card, or a onesie. Consider what that employee will appreciate, and try to individualize the gesture. Think about Post-Baby Accommodations For many companies, parental benefits dont end when family leave does. Consider what accommodations employees will need or appreciate. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires companies to provide nursing mothers with break time and somewhere private to express breast milk. Working parents without a stay-at-home partner will also likely need childcare- which ranks as the biggest budget item for American families. On average, American families spend $9,589 per year on childcare up to $28,353 for an in-home caregiver. Consider Additional Benefits for Employees Consider creating some t ype of childcare benefit for employees like subsidizing costs or even providing on-site or close-to-work childcare options. Eighty-three percent of employees who have childcare benefits say that this helps them reduce stress and increase work-life balance. When it comes to childcare benefits, employees will appreciate the help and the only limit is in how creatively you can approach the benefit (and what the company can afford and accommodate). Help employees have a restful- not stressful- family leave while ensuring the business is adequately taken care of both while theyre gone and when they return. Follow the rules and establish guidelines to ensure compliance and fair treatment for all employees who take family leave. Big changes in the lives of employees are exciting and a transition for everyone. With a little planning, you can navigate family leaves with ease. Kelsie Davis is a brand journalist, and an advocate for high-impact HR professionals. She researches, analyzesand wr ites to encourage HR to get the most out of their initiatives.

20+ Years Experience Creating a Resume that Highlights Your Expert Skills

20+ Years Experience Creating a Resume that Highlights Your Expert Skills 20+ Years Experience Creating a Resume that Highlights Your Expert Skills How to appear skill-focused and contemporaryAs someone with a long work history, youve got the skills and expertise for high-level jobs. America has millions, yes, millions of open jobs that require skilled workers like you to fill them. But your long years of work experience also might send up red flags for hiring managers. Baby Boomers and other older workers might be perceived to be lacking skills.Age discrimination is illegal, but evidence suggests that its harder to find a job after 40, and that it gets even harder as you get older. But that doesnt mean your skills arent needed. They most certainly are. Getting a new job with a long work history means just selling the usefulness- and rarity- of your skills. Here, well give you a few tips about how to format your long and distinguished resume.Use a two-page resumeA good rule of thumb is that each page of your resume should contain 10 years of experience. Since you have 20 or more years of experience, you can expand your resume to two pages. But if youre going to have a long resume, it should be tailored to the particular job you want and should only include relevant experience. Remember, recruiters only spend an average of 10 seconds scanning a resume. So, if you still have an ice cream scooping job from 15 years ago on your resume, its time to take it off.Use a hybrid resume format.A hybrid resume lets you focus on your skills, rather than going into a long chronology of your work history that can be difficult for applicant tracking systems (ATS) and hiring managers to read. A hybrid resume begins with a section summarizing your qualifications, followed by professional accomplishments, key skills, and a work history. Using measurable data and highlighting information and skills relevant to the current job makes your resume compelling and concise.Tailor your ski ll set to contemporary keywords.ATS scans your resume for keywords that exactly match the words used in the job description. You very well may have many or all of the skills that the job description requires, but if you havent applied for a job for a while, you may not be using keyword optimization. In other words, your language might not match the keywords in the job description, even if your skills are the same.Dont let your skills be overlooked because they dont match a job descriptions keywords. Jobscans resume optimization tool lets you scan the job description and your resume to make sure your resumes keywords match exactly. If you arent using the right keywords for a job, you can change your resume to include the skill-equivalent words the company is looking for.?

Whats changed for American workers since last years tax reform

Whats changed for American workers since last years tax reorganisationWhats changed for American workers since last years tax reformWhen Congress passed a $1.5 trillion tax overhaul last year, supporters justified major corporate tax cuts by claiming the money companies saved would trickle down to Americas workers. Its still too soon to tell whether that theory will prove accurate. But there are some data points that indicate how the economy is trending almost a year after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law.Heres whats happened for U.S. employees since tax reform nearly one year ago.Salary bumps750 companies have proposed to use the money theyve saved through tax cuts to benefit their employees, whether through bonuses, raises, or other methods. Already, some workers have seen more green in their bank account because of the law.Just Capital, a nonprofit monitoring how 1,000 large companies are spending their tax cuts, estimates an average employee at one of those businesse s has seen a bump of around $225 this year thats linked to the act, according to the New York Times.The Labor Department announced inflation-adjusted wages were up by 0.5% in September. But that growth is actually lower than in 2017, before tax reform was enacted.Hirings and firingsThe unemployment rate has been steadilydeclining since 2011 (from a high near 10%)when the economy started recovering from 2008s Great Recession. The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the U.S. unemployment rate was 3.7% in October 2018, and 250,000 jobs were created during that month.However, Just Capital discovered a surprising nuance within the booming economy The large public businesses they study have created 73,000 jobs but also gotten rid of nearly ersatzdarsteller that number.Some of these trends may not be a direct result of the tax cuts, which take time to manifest fully. Correlation does not imply causation, and the U.S. economy is privy to a lot of factors beyond tax reform that influen ce its success or failure.But for now, these are the takeaways American workers can infer from preliminary data about the tax cuts and what they mean for them. Now, its time to get up the gumption to ask for that raise - even $225 more a year can make a difference.

100 Best Keywords for Your Atlanta Job Posting

100 Best Keywords for Your Atlanta Job Posting100 Best Keywords for Your Atlanta Job Posting100 Best Keywords for Your Atlanta Job PostingYoure looking to attract and hire talent and you need to select the right keyword phrases for your job title and description. Intelligence dug into what job seekers are searching for in Atlanta. If youre ready to list a job, youll want to know what we found.Over 641,000 Atlantajob searches are conducted each month on Monster.com.1 That figure doesnt even factor in job-related searches on Google.com and other major search engines. In order for your online job posting to be relevant to search engines, select the right keyword phrases for your job title and description. This process will also help your listing perform better within search engine as well.Administrative AssistantCustomer tafelgeschirrAccountingReceptionistPart TimeSalesWarehouseWork From HomeHuman ResourcesAdministrativeMedical AssistantManagerData EntryRetailMarketingProject ManagerITC all CenterConstructionExecutive AssistantReal EstateClericalMedicalEntry LevelOfficeLPNWarehouse WorkerManufacturingBusiness AnalystParalegalAccountantMaintenanceOffice ManagerFinanceEducationEngineerCustomer Services RepresentativePart-TimeRegistered NurseManagementAccounts PayableInsuranceCashierLogisticsHealthcareInformation TechnologyForklift OperatorRNControllerPayrollBankingLegalNurse PractitionerAnalystMedical Office ReceptionistAutomotiveRecruiterMechanical EngineerMedical BillingDirectorOperations ManagerSales RepresentativeAttorneyAccounts ReceivableSupervisorJavaCNAPurchasingSecurityDriverGraphic DesignerAccount ManagerWarehouse ManagerSales ManagerRemoteFull TimeAssistantPharmacistMaintenance TechnicianBookkeeperCertified Medical AssistantNurseDelivery DriverOffice AssistantOffice ClerkData AnalystBiologyPharmacy TechnicianWelderProject CoordinatorTeacherHealthcare AdministrationDevOps EngineerSupply ChainQualityRegistered Nurse (RN)Front DeskOracle DBAPhlebotomistJava D eveloperData finding are based on analysis of job seeking activity from more than 22 mio unique visitors2. Most Non-Human Traffic removed from the results.Note Direct keyword searches on Monster.com account for about of job traffic with increasing traffic coming from 3rd party search (e.g., Google, Banners, TargetMail, Career Ad Network, and other traffic drivers)1Internal Data, Direct Keyword Searches, 6-month average, Jan 2017 Jun 20172comScore Media Metrix, 1Q 2017, 3-month average, (includes all US Mobile + PC traffic)

What You Dont Know About Sample Resume Objectives

What You Dont Know About Sample Resume Objectives Quickly reference what it is youre looking for, the organization or kind of company, the job which youre applying for, and your best, related skill or experience as it is related to the position. Stick to the easy measures to make an effective graphic designer resume. On the flip side, functional resumes are normally used by fresh graduates or individuals who have less experience but want to grab the work vacancy. Your resume should highlight artwork in your portfolio together with the usual factor between the 2 professions. If you do choose to use a resume objective, however, you must ensure that its not self-serving or too limiting, and that its uniquely stated. Possessing an objective thats perfectly matched with the position youre applying for is the secret to sparking interest in a possible employer. A short, well-written objective should tell the employer what youre seeking to gain from the particular position youre ap plying for. In the end, in case you have decided to incorporate a resume objective statement, think about developing more than 1 version, tailored to the different varieties of roles or organisations youre targeting. It is vital to draft an exemplary Education Resume that will enable you to receive a dream job. TheResume Objective Examples are used by people who want to find jobs. You may also Simple Resume Template. Sample Resume Objectives Explained Theres a very long field of career objective examples that can be put in on entry level resumes. Whenever you would like to emphasize that youre ambitious, that you understand what you want in a career, or you have the skills for the particular job, you could benefit from a resume objective. When youre crafting your resume objective, you should concentrate on particular abilities and experiences which are directly associated with the job. If you would like a phlebotomy technician job seriously then you ought to use an ideal p hlebotomy resume. Sample Resume Objectives Can Be Fun for Everyone Objectives are optional, but if used in the proper way, will tell the employer that you understand just what you desire. They are simple to write. They should be job-specific. The sample resume objectives below will provide you with some inspiration when youre writing your own resume. You might not know where to abflug in regards to writing a resume objective. The skills section should consist of info about your competencies and abilities. A resume objective is a significant part of writing a resume. Your career objective is a chance for you to impress it to the employer immediately they start to read your resume that youre well suited for the finance job and deserve a chance for an interview. Entry-level objectives can be particularly hard to write as you likely dont have loads of work experience, but you do want to solidify how you know the sort of career youre searching for. These statements assist you in tailor making your resume for the job youre applying for and hence boosting your probability of getting selected. Possessing a brief statement or overview at the start of your resume is a good way to demonstrate your abilities and experience and show the hiring manager the value you will bring to the position. If youre looking for an entry-level position without a lot of work experience, the reply would be different than for a seasoned specialist. Almost everyone whos starting out to compose their resume knows about using an objective on top. A great objective statement can highly raise your chances of finding the job. You should begin by knowing that the resume objectiveshould be short and right to the point. You are able to include the information regarding the teaching licenses and certifications in a different section. If you submit your application online, its also advisable to have a chance to attach your resume. If you take a look at sample resumes online, you will observe dozens of distinct formats and resume templates. Use this sample clerical resume to come up with your very own persuasive resume. The Importance of Sample Resume Objectives You might also see nursing resume template Sample resume objectives can be employed by anybody who is making a resume. You can also go for including different sections like reference, hobbies and regions of interest in the resume. Together with helping with your layout, resume examples are able to help you see what sort of content you should have in your document. The resume summary will act as their sales pitch. A summary statement is a brief expert introduction which you can increase the peak of your resume. You may also demonstrate a personal touch using the company name specifically. If you decide to incorporate a resume objective, you ought to be quite careful on the option of words you add in the objective.

Ideas, Formulas and Shortcuts for Professional Resume Writing Sunshine Coast

Ideas, Formulas and Shortcuts for Professional Resume Writing Sunshine Coast Imagine the caliber of writing youll receive from an affordable essay writing service. Because an excellent writer will often devote a couple of hours writing or editing a resume. Resume writing can be a true job for everyone, even if you have many years of experience in your work. When you choose to use a professional resume writing service, you will surely want certainty that youll be pleased with their work. In the current competitive job marketplace you want to be viewed. A good example of ways to receive a professional resume at a very affordable price is found at Resumes That Work. If you are searching for Professional resume writing company in sunshine-coast-australia, then CrispResumes is 1 stop solution for many of your requirements. Developing a professional resume is absolutely critical in todays tough job industry. Make sure that your resume is acceptable for your career leiter and de gree of expertise. The response is it is dependent upon where youre in your career and the position youre targeting. The Fight Against Professional Resume Writing Sunshine Coast If you are searching for top essay writing companies, try out the mentioned above. Yes, theres a person who can assist you with your essays expert essay writers at MyPerfectWords. Professional resume writers have the ability to create you a unique resume that will stick out from the crowd for most proper factors. Your professional resume needs to be a lot more than a list of achievements in order to genuinely stick out from the crowd. The Dos and Donts of Professional Resume Writing Sunshine Coast In tomorrows world, job seekers will concentrate on managing their on-line identity, not only sending out resumes. A professionally written resume will provide you with a better chance of receiving an interview with the employer that you want. Old resumes were written like that. The resumes are extremely important for each individual who needs to have a great job. The Lost Secret of Professional Resume Writing Sunshine Coast Professional Resume Writer is somebody who will make your resume for the intent of getting notices by the employers. Availing Resume Services is among the best choices if you prefer to clear the ATS and find the eye of your future employers. Resumes are the document that is provided to unique businesses and employers when they need to find work. Where to Find Professional Resume Writing Sunshine Coast A professional resume writing service ought to be your final choice in regards to writing resumes. Some will seek out the assistance of a professional resume writer. The increasing number of essay writing services is totally overwhelming. As writing a resume is only a simple endeavor but its also an important task.

Why Am I Not Getting Calls After Submitting My Resume

Why Am I Not Getting Calls After Submitting My ResumeWhy Am I Not Getting Calls After Submitting My ResumeYour resume is your flugschein into a job interview. But if youve sent out dozens of them and havent gotten a single call back then theres a problem. Youre probably wondering Why am I elend getting responses to my resume?If youre like many candidates out there, the culprit is some of these common resume mistakesYour resume looks dated.If you havent written a resume in a long time, then chances are, youre taking an out-of-date approach. For instance, you dont need to include your entire street address on your resume. Simply include your email, cell phone, and city and state so the hiring manager knows youre local. In addition, skip the objective instead, list a summer of qualifications highlighting your most relevant skills and experience at the top. Finally, dont state that references are available upon request. This simply takes up valuable real estate on your resume. Theres t oo much fluff on it.Todays hiring managers want candidates with a proven track record. So if you only include tasks and responsibilities, or you use hyperbolic language, its a turn off for the hiring manager. Rather, use hard-hitting, factual statements about your accomplishments and back them up as often as possible with actual numbers. For instance, renegotiated vendor contract with office supply company that saved 15% on future orders.The format is difficult to read.Hiring managers expect experienced job candidates to submit a polished resume. So if your font size is too small or inappropriate (think Comic Sans), or the copy is dense and hard-to-read, then youre going to get overlooked even if you have extensive experience. Thats why when formatting your resume, you shouldChoose a professional-looking font and make sure the point size is 11 (10.5 is ok if you need the space)Bold job titles and the names of employers.Use bullet points under job descriptions to highlight your duti es and accomplishments.Make sure theres plenty of white space on your resume. Keep in mind, its best to submit a two-page resume that is well-formatted and easy to read than a one-pager that looks jam-packed.Youre not taking ATS systems into account.In todays world, a human doesnt often lay eyes on your resume until its been screened through the applicant tracking system (ATS). These systems are designed to organize and sort applications, as well as screen candidates based on specific criteria. Thats why you need to format your resume in an ATS-friendly way.To help you, here are some tips on getting through ATS systemsName your resume file properly, such as Joe Smith Resume. Dont go the Joe Smith Marketing Resume Version 27b route.Use standard headings such as Work Experience and Education throughout your resume. Dont try to get creative.Get rid of any unusual font types, images, tables or fields that could filter you out of the running.Be consistent with how you order jobs under W ork Experience.Use some of the keywords in the job posting throughout your resume.Dont put your contact information in a header or footer include it in the body of the document.Send in your resume as a Word document.Many times, candidates dont understand why theyre not getting called for interviews. But its almost always because of one or more of the resume mistakes listed above. If you need help with yours, contact the resume writing experts at ResumeSpice. Were here to help and just a call away at 832.930.7378.

How Long A Meeting Should Really Be, According to a Communications Expert

How Long A Meeting Should Really Be, According to a Communications ExpertHow Long A Meeting Should Really Be, According to a Communications Expert When was the last time you walked out of a meeting feeling energized, excited, motivated, clear-headed? Exactly. Those meetings are rare.At best, the good ones represent only half of all meetings . But even then, of all meeting attendees across the country, 91% say they daydream and 73% do other work. Its estimated that $37 billion in salary cost is wasted each year in having people attend unnecessary meetings.Okay, so lets huddle. Something is terribly wrong with meetings. Surely we can address or fix this? For now, here are three suggestions concerning time, purpose and content the basic components of every sit-down chat.One-hour meetings. Did you ever wonder why meetings are scheduled in one-hour time blocks? My guess is because its easy, and calendars have always readily enabled the one-hour time block. But do meetings need to last one hour? Absolutely not.Meetings can be 15 or 30 minutes just as easily as they can be 60. The standard one-hour meetings including and especially the ones that run over happen as a result of someone a) doing what weve always done, and/or b) preferring to process or review everything in a group setting rather than giving it critical thought or vetting it with critical others first.From now on, think before you send the meeting invite. What is this meeting for? Who really needs to attend? How many of the attendees really need to speak? How much discussion time does there need to be? Do I even need to call a group together or would it be better to meet one-on-one with a select few first and then call the group together later? If/when I call everyone together, how much time do we realistically need? Is the topic/issue worth that amount of time? Thoroughly think through these questions and plan before you schedulePlain and simple have an end-game in mind or dont have the meeting. Ask yourself What is my desired outcome? What do I hope or need to accomplish by calling this meeting? If you are the meeting leader, you need to be clear about the meetings purpose and articulate it at the top of the meeting. It sets context, expectations, and it helps you keep everyone on track. You are not obliged to build consensus about the purpose of the meeting. Rather, you establish the purpose and then move the meeting along to achieve it. Prior to the start of each meeting, ask yourself What do I need to accomplish? Then, turn that into a sentence for your meeting opener and build your agenda around it. Your purpose, or desired outcome, becomes the litmus test if an agenda item, discussion point, or even a particular person is not going to contribute to accomplishing the end-game, feel free to omit from the meeting. Likewise, if you cannot identify a clear purpose or desired outcome, then perhaps you need to revisit the validity of calling a meeting.To r un a tight meeting, you should also ask yourself What has to happen in order to arrive at the desired outcome? Will we need to inform, collaborate, share, process, decide? What verb best describes the type of communication that needs to take place?Curate the meeting agenda so its content reflects what you are trying to accomplish, keeping the end-game in mind. All too often, meeting agendas are built around participants and ensuring that certain people get air time. Dont worry about them, worry instead about the meetings effectiveness and time well spentBy focusing on these three primary components, the foundation for each meeting will be rock solid. And from there, you can begin fine-tuning any minor details. You may even find that different structures are appropriate for different teams, and thats okay Theres no science or formula for the perfect meeting, but establishing a basic framework and slowly determining what works and what doesnt can make all the difference.

How Margin Loans Work

How Margin Loans WorkHow Margin Loans WorkMargin loansare loans taken to finance the purchase of securities, usually the purchase of stock (also known as equity). The loans are normally extended by the samefinancial servicesfirm, such a stock brokerage, that the customer uses to trade. They are a common method of financing used by investors and extended by brokerage firms, giving individuals extended credit and increased risk. How Margin Loans are Created The maximum value of a margin loan relative to the value of the underlying securities is set by the Federal Reserve Board. Each firm is free to implement more stringent lending policies than prescribed by the Fed. The portion of the trade price not financed by the margin loan can be paid for in cash or by posting yet other securities as collateral. If securities are posted as collateral, their value must normally be at least twice the amount of cash otherwise required. The standard paperwork for opening a margin account typicall y includes language in which the client allows the firm to lend the securities held therein, at its discretion and with no compensation to the client. More than almost any other type of account, margin account paperwork should be read over carefully, ideally with a financial professional or lawyer to assist with any confusing language. Upside Potential Utilizing leverage by buying securities on margin can significantly increase an investors potential for gain. For example, paying $10,000 in cash for a security that doubles in value to $20,000 yields a 100 percent gain, exclusive of commissions, fees, and taxes. Buying the same security with 50 percent down in cash($5,000) and 50 percent obtained through a margin loan ($5,000) would yield a 200 percent net gain (after paying off the $5,000 margin loan), exclusive of commissions, fees, taxes and interest on the loan. Effectively, the brokerage is letting you use their funds to place trades beyond what your net worth would normally allow. Since you are leveraging larger amounts, the potential for larger gain is also there. Downside Risk Leverage cuts both ways. If the value of the security in our example fell from $10,000 to $5,000, a cash customer would incur a 50 percent loss. However, a client who bought the security on 50 percent margin would suffer a complete 100 percent loss. All $5,000 of the remaining value of the security would have to go to paying off the margin loan, and the $5,000 put down in cash would be lost entirely. A margin call, which is the belastung call you want to receive as an investor, results when there is a fall in the price of securities, either the securities purchased with the margin loan, or the securities posted as collateral for it. A margin call requires the borrower to post yet more collateral in the form of cash or securities. The rules surrounding margin can get rather complex, and differ at the discretion of the lender, but some investors go bankrupt not because they made a bad initial investment, but because they did so on margin. Vetting Clients Because of therisksinvolved, clients should be closely vetted for the appropriateness of giving them access to margin. Unfortunately, brokerages are notoriously lax on this, and will give margin to almost anyone who posts collateral and signs the paperwork. Accordingly,compliance departmentstypically require special paperwork and disclosures to ensure that margin accounts are offered only to clients who fully understand the risks, and who have the financial resources to incur possible losses. The Bottom Line Although trading on margin can give an investor access to increased amounts of return, the risk inherent is best left to only the most seasoned traders. Losing 100 percent of your investment is bad, but you could potentially owe the brokerage if you borrowed against securities that fail to cover the margin loss.