Chicago startups are drawing praise for their innovation and success. Entrepreneur contributor Hank Ostholthoff calls Chicago the “new B2B boomtown,” while Inc. says the city is “one of the hottest tech startup scenes” and the “new best city in America for startups.” Nearly 50 percent of investments in the city produced 10 times a return… Read more »
Giving Back: The Impact of Employee Volunteering Programs
Employee volunteering programs are on the rise. Fifty-nine percent of companies surveyed in CECP’s 2015 Giving in Numbers report provided paid time for employees to volunteer in 2014, up from 54 percent in 2012. But “there are still a significant number of companies missing out on the benefits of employee volunteer programs,” according to Sarah… Read more »
Improving Health Literacy in America
To make healthy decisions, patients must be able to understand and react to the health information they receive. But the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL), the only large-scale survey of health literacy in the country, revealed that 88 percent of American adults do not have proficient health literacy. Greater health literacy awareness is critical… Read more »
Retaining Millennials: How to Keep Young Talent (Happy)
Retaining millennial workers is a natural concern for managers. Millennials passed Generation X in the first quarter of 2015 to become the largest share of the American workforce, according to the Pew Research Center’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. There were 53.5 million millennials — individuals born between 1981 and 1997 — in the… Read more »
Happiness, Productivity and Family Time: The Win-Win Premise of Workplace Flexibility
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) defines workplace flexibility as a “mutually beneficial arrangement between employees and employers in which both parties agree on when, where and how work gets done.” Flexible work arrangements such as flextime and telecommuting provide employees with the ability to meet child care demands and achieve better work-life balance…. Read more »
The Rise of Single Parent Households: Effects, Risks and Available Assistance
The percentage of children under the age of 18 in the United States living in single parent households increased to 35 percent in 2014, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation. In some locations, the number is greater. Chicago has joined cities such as Fresno, Indianapolis and Tucson where approximately half of children live in… Read more »
Changing Hearts, Changing Lives: How 5 Social Initiatives in Chicago Are Making a Difference
Home to 9.5 million people, Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States and is internationally recognized for its contributions to finance, transportation, commerce, and culture. In the 2014 Global Cities Index, Chicago earned its fourth-consecutive top 10 ranking for its impact on business, information exchange, cultural experience, and political dialogue. But despite… Read more »
