No matter how exciting that new job is, without the proper welcome on the new hire’s first day, it may resemble the first day of freshman year of high school – awkward! Those age old questions resurface and new hires begin to think: Where will I sit? Where will my workstation or office be? Will I fit in? Will my co-workers like me? We all have experienced those uncomfortable feelings at some point in our lives and I think I can speak for us all when I say, let that be history!

Deciding to expand your business to international markets can be both exciting and intimidating. In this three part article series, we will discuss topics organizations need to consider when venturing outside their country of origin for business. For Part 1, let's discuss why organizations decide to expand internationally.

At Helios, we often talk about 'building a culture of intention'. We coach our clients on being more intentional, we honor and award organizations who do (i.e. The Helios Apollo Awards), and we even wrote a book compiled of interviews we had with local leaders on how they build these 'cultures of intention'. We were delighted to read a blog post by our friends at Inspirion today that shed light on giving feedback intentionally. Here's CEO Misti Burmeister's advice: “If your intention in giving someone feedback is to judge or criticize, you’ll fail to inspire a shift in their behavior.” — Misti Burmeister

Recognizing Washington Employers Who Grow, Develop and Engage Their Employees

Providing employees with a sense of involvement in decision making and an ability to drive results for final outcomes has been proven to increase employee satisfaction. The concept of "employee empowerment" is often defined simply as allowing employees at all levels of the organization to have a part in making business decisions. For instance, share information and give employees the opportunity to make decisions that solve problems, improve service and performance. Empowerment is based on the idea that giving employees skills, resources, authority, opportunity, motivation, as well as holding them responsible and accountable, will contribute to their competence and satisfaction, ultimately leading to achievement of organizational goals.

[FAIRFAX, VA]-May 23, 2012-Celebrate Fairfax, Inc. is privileged to announce the 2012 Lords and Ladies Fairfax. The tradition of honoring Lords and Ladies Fairfax began in 1984 as a unique way to recognize exceptional citizens of Fairfax County. Each year, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors selects two people from each district who have demonstrated superior volunteer service, heroism, or other special accomplishments to receive the award. The Lords and Ladies will be honored at a special dinner hosted by Great American Restaurants, Celebrate Fairfax, Inc., and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, on Tuesday, June 5, 2012. They will also be presented by the Board during their meeting at the Fairfax County Government Center.