Articles

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) announced Mel DePaoli, President of Omicle: Contractors Doing it Right has been selected to present at their 93rd Annual Convention in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Mel DePaoli, internationally recognized author, national speaker and successful construction culture and marketing specialist gave attendees strategies for putting together a diversity program that produces results, is measurable and will build their brand within minority communities and the fed…

“Oh that happens daily!” Karen Say says laughing.

Somehow along the way, our society has decided that certain types of people or certain genders know or do certain things. That is the reality women in construction have to face daily, the judgment that just because they are a woman, they couldn’t possibly know anything about construction, the process, the tools, the technique, or speak the lingo.

When a woman walks into a room, “you start at a negative three. Men are taken at face-value and just be…

What is the value of diversity in your organization? How much does that project mean to you and your company? Seriously, assign a number to it.

Would you be surprised to learn that on average, when diversity is implemented as a process of change it has a one to three hundred percent ROI! (Honest it does!)

It also typically has a higher ROI than other company training initiatives, decreases employee turnover, increases customer loyalty, and can help you land more jobs. . . just to name a few.

By the…

It is no secret that equal pay does not consistently exist in our country. To this day, women still earn less than an equal male counterpart regardless of the industry! On average women earn 77 percent of a man’s pay, according to Census statistics released in September 2011. To put this in perspective, fifty years ago, women earned 61 percent of what men earned. While it is not equal, it is progress!

To break it out further, in 2010, African American women were at 67 percent of all men's earning…

I have lost count of all of the different “types” of customer service and sayings about what customer service should be. Oh, and we can also add the different words for customer service and the actual customer! In the end, they all say the same thing, be nice to the people or companies that give you money.

When I was in Hawai’i, Oahu to be exact—and just so you know, there is no ‘w’ in O’ahu. I was there for a speaking gig and then magically it into a vacation. It was my first time there and wh…

Diversity simply addresses differences. It doesn’t specify what is different, how it’s different, or why it matters that it is different, it just simply is different. These differences can come in the form of religion, sexual orientation, language, age, race, communications styles, gender identification, social class, mental abilities, or even looks.

Senior leadership and a company’s employees bring these qualities and characteristics to work every day—whether you want them to or not. These are…

This has become a “chick” question.

The female stereotype is that we obsess over this question every day and every time we need to change our outfit. But in reality, it is a question that we all ask ourselves every time we get ready to leave the house. Men tend to ask it subconsciously; women give it more conscious thought. Working in a male-dominated industry makes this question even more stressful!

As a minority, you are constantly under a microscope for things that are relevant and irreleva…

Three key elements in understanding how attitude affects your company are:

1. Diversity is about things that you and your employees cannot leave at home: race, religion, sexual orientation, age, and looks. These traits affect the experiences people have in life.
2. Differences between people can create barriers that affect a business’s bottom-line. When we are aware of the barriers and accepting others’ differences are encouraged in your company culture, people grow which means your company will gr…

The bell rings to start the fight! The crowd is roaring to cheer on the contender they want to win, Perception or Communication. They are evenly challenged though their strengths reside in different areas, this will be a good fight!

Perception leads the way in affecting emotions, capitalizing on the senses and influencing word of mouth. Communication leads the way in providing information, exchanging ideas, involves all parts of the body, and is a part of every form of media.

Perception has the ab…

I don’t know if you have noticed, but Lego has been taking a beating lately with claims of the company being sexist in their marketing and who they target their products to. It is no secret that generally speaking, boys are more interested in science and engineering. It is also no secret that the media and toy companies have decided that all girls must love dolls and pink.

So what’s the problem?

The problem is we are creatures of conditioning. How we raise our children and what we expose them to s…