#6Things: Cliches are Awesome, Hiring Sucks and White House Wage Probs

I know this will shock you

In the Trump and Pence White House, women earn just 63.2 cents for every dollar that a male staffer earns (on average), putting the wage gap at a whopping 37%. I know I shouldn’t be outraged and I’ll just get a bunch of emails telling me that the wage gap is a myth, but it’s still depressing as hell. I was born in 1979, and the pay gap right now in the White House, was at this level THEN. (WaPo)

Speed it up!

According to Mr. Joel Cheesman, oracle of awesomeness, Facebook will start using pace load speed as a ranking signal. Basically, you know how Google ranks based on speed and security? It looks like FB is going that way too. Unrelated, I read The Circle and Mark Zuckerberg recently hired Hillary Clinton’s top strategist, so hello to our new overlords. In the meantime, a girl’s gotta work, so if you want to speed up your site, give us a call 🙂 (FB)

Hiring is Hard…

BHAG hiring goals are being set by some of the world’s largest and most visible companies, including Amazon and Border Patrol and Immigration, who announced plans to hire 15,000 and 50,000 respectively. Unfortunately, due to needed HR training and I guess…no one wanting these jobs in an uncertain economic and political future. In Amazon’s case, their sprawling warehouses, terrible employer brand and low wages make it virtually impossible for even those who NEED jobs to want to stand in line to get one. (SHRM and Inc)

We actually secretly love cliches

According to an article shared by Bryan Chaney, we all secretly love using cliches in business. They make us look and sound smarter (we assume) and allow us to speak a shared language. Here’s a breakdown of 60 cliches that we’re pretty in love with. (Textio Word Nerd)

RFP Revolution

Martin Burns started a very interesting conversation on RFPs on Facebook. His premise was that as a vendor, just answer the question, don’t make the person viewing the RFP scroll through your fluffy BS. Others agreed. In fact, one person recommended using as few words as possible to describe your capabilities. Lisa Scales stated she usually turns down RFPs and asks for a conversation instead and can say it’s improved her win rate. Most on the thread felt they held zero value with government and security as the exceptions. George Larocque looked into his own data to determine what the percentage of RFPs were won with no prior engagement before the RFP was sent. His research showed ZERO. (FB)

It’s Funny Because It’s True

I can’t love this more. (The New Yorker)

Bonus Links:
How to Manage Someone Who Thinks Everything is Urgent
Women in the Workplace 2016
How Leaders Can Push Employees Without Stressing Them Out

Maren Hogan

Maren Hogan is CEO of Red Branch and general Bad@$$

Maren Hogan is a seasoned marketer and community builder in the HR and Recruiting industry. Maren started Red Branch Media and, before she hired all the smiling faces you see below, she ran it on her own. In marketing for over 15 years, she has deep experience in strategic campaigns and a long-term, results-based operational approach.