News & Insights

When a grocery chain adds new stores or an independent entrepreneur decides to open one, they can choose between building brand-new or renovating stores left vacant by other chains. Both options come…

Encouraging employees to take ownership of their work benefits both the company and the individual. Company-wide work ownership leads to attaining both company and personal career goals.

More small grocery stores, minimarts, and niche grocery stores are opening and thriving, especially in cities and rural areas. Some current grocery buying trends include shoppers using store apps for…

Do you know people who can’t make decisions? Are people on your team afraid to move forward on a project because they fear decisions they make might be wrong and come back to bite them? For companies…

Companies that establish trust and open communication between all the team members succeed in building a strong, forward-thinking company, whereas secretive compartmentalized companies often don't.

The car wash industry has grown in recent years due to greater service demand. Cars and trucks cost more yearly, and most people understand how regularly cleaning a vehicle, inside and out, preserves…

All companies, teams, and projects need meetings, but they should be well-planned and time limited. Often people complain about how meetings interrupt workflow and sometimes waste time.

Retail brick-and-mortar stores must occasionally be renovated and refreshed to stay competitive and relevant. That's always been true but has become more so in recent years. According to a 2021…

Do you have 20-somethings working alongside 60-somethings? Most companies do, and each generation has experienced different historical events and economic conditions, which can create communication…

People in Europe think Americans who avoid taking vacation time are crazy. While a stoic work ethic is admirable and very American, everyone deserves and needs occasional breaks from their workplace…

Companies used to rely heavily on planes and helicopters to get photographs, do site inspections, and measure project progress. Today, they often use drones instead. Drones have several advantages…

In the most basic sense, empowerment or empowering another person simply means giving them the power and authority to do something. It’s about giving someone permission, the tools needed for the…

Employees fill multiple life roles; worker, parent, committee member, friend, caregiver, each with their own demands and challenges. Working in today’s high-tech, fast-paced work environments can be…

Employees fill multiple life roles; worker, parent, committee member, friend, caregiver, each with their own demands and challenges. Working in today’s high-tech, fast-paced work environments can be…

With today’s urgent focus on climate change and caring for the planet, responsible architects, designers, and construction companies look for more sustainable building materials.

COVID-19 and other health concerns have made everyone more concerned with keeping themselves safe in public spaces. As a result, hotels and other hospitality businesses have been making changes to…

Employee engagement is a key piece of company success. Companies must engage their employees to attract and keep the best people, and the importance of this cannot be overstated. The key question is:…

Employees fill multiple life roles; worker, parent, committee member, friend, caregiver, each with their own demands and challenges. Working in today’s high-tech, fast-paced work environments can be…

What motivates employees besides pay and benefits? Most people say money motivates them, but studies show it’s not that simple. While earning enough money to meet their basic needs matters, everyone…

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” — Benjamin Franklin There are three reasons to provide team members with educational opportunities; doing so attracts the best job candidates,…

Modern culture has started to combat the stereotyping of certain jobs as men-only or women-only, and younger people prefer dealing with and working for diverse companies. The more groups or…

Psychologists identified four communications styles in the 1960s: passive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, and assertive. By understanding the four styles, businesspeople can analyze how their team…

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a term describing company policies and programs that promote representation, participation, and acceptance of individuals from different population groups.…

In reading today’s job boards, you’ll notice an increased focus on well-being-connected benefits. The emphasis on these benefits has continually increased over the past 20 years because employers…

Understanding individual work styles provides businesses a practical approach to evaluating employees, setting goals, assigning tasks, and building strong teams. Some experts divide styles into four…

Soft skills, sometimes called core or common skills are common to all professions and help people succeed at work. Soft skills include everything from critical thinking and problem solving to…

Now more than ever, consumers are looking for an experience while shopping. After the difficult recent years for brick-and-mortar stores, traditional shopping centers are now looking to capitalize on…

Consumer shopping habits and preferences have changed drastically over the past few years. With this shift, stores need to be able to quickly tailor the shopping experience to their customers’ needs.…

Many businesses, including grocery stores, saw a large increase in operating costs due to the pandemic. Stores have been forced to make expensive changes to fight the COVID virus and provide services…

Regardless of their age, most people think it's important that companies implement environmental improvement programs. The younger generations are especially interested in supporting responsible…

With many big-box retailers closing locations or going out of business, each year brings an increasing amount of empty square footage in need of a new strategy. Shopping centers and malls are finding…

Even in companies with healthy and thriving cultures, disagreements and conflicts still happen in the workplace. What matters more than whether or not disagreements arise is how a team deals with…

Choosing the ideal leader can make a huge difference to a project’s success. Understanding what makes a good leader is the first step to finding the right person to head up your next project. Group…

The delivery service industry has boomed in recent years due, at least in part, to the pandemic. As a result, delivery service apps are growing and evolving. In addition to restaurant food, customers…

When you describe yourself to someone you meet socially, what do you tell them? You probably include your job title and workplace, but you also talk about where you grew up, your family…

Community outreach projects build company and customer loyalty. Doing good work makes participants feel good about themselves, and a company’s willingness to help the community promotes company…

One unexpected result of Americans sheltering in place has been a dramatic increase in pet adoptions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, people stayed home, and as many as one in five households adopted…

Everyone has experienced the daunting and confusing first days at a new company. A new hire has the qualifications and skills to do the new job, but there’s many factors at play when adjusting to a…

It's no surprise that shopping for groceries online saw a major upswing in the past year and a half, but what may be a revelation is the number of shoppers who plan to continue using this service…

These days, culture is trending. But moving from a set of written values & mission statements into something that is a thriving and integral part of your company’s daily operations can be tricky.…

It’s a confusing time in the retail world. While some traditional retailers are closing stores and ramping up their online presence, direct-to-consumer brands are opening flagship brick-and-mortars.…

Helping employees feel engaged in the success of the company through team development can have a huge impact on company success

After a year of shopping online, expectations for the in-store experience are projected to be significantly higher as shoppers re-enter the brick and mortar space.

As many locations are re-opening with health measures still in place, here are three easy steps to adapt offices and shared work spaces, as well as lobbies and waiting rooms, for this new world.

Across industries, employee retention is an expensive problem. Here are four tips for developing an effective employee recognition program that addresses worker satisfaction and helps meet company…

Now more than ever, customers and clients are looking for unique experiences as part of their brick-and-mortar shopping.  From creating Instagram-able installations to interactive displays,…

Many company’s core values center around teammates and clients. There’s real potential in taking a “People First” approach. Here’s how adaptable and valuable the idea can be.

A critical part of being a company with culture is encouraging a healthy work/life balance for employees. We believe in working to live, not living to work, and would like to share how this idea has…

No matter how well you care for your store, eventually, every retail space needs repairs. Because you shouldn’t have to sacrifice customer experience to get the renovations you need, here’s some key…

With the growth of e-commerce, brick-and-mortar retailers must look for new ways to appeal to customers across the globe and to compete with giant online sellers. Following the wave of ship-to-store…

Teams are built from shared goals and shared experiences, so what happens when your people are spread across departments, possibly in different buildings, cities, or states? Here’s three tips that…

The challenge of planning, opening and running a retail or commercial establishment—meeting the needs of a throng of customers day after day—has met its match in The MDC Group (MDC).

Dear Potential Interns, I come from a family where no one has ever worked in construction and I had little-to-no experience with the construction industry before school. Going into college, I quickly…

We see and hear the term “employee engagement” quite frequently these days but, depending on which of the 2,740,000 Google links you click on, the definition varies.

Most parents I know taught their children about the Golden Rule when they were growing up,

Currently, inside the construction industry, it is well-known fact that we have a labor shortage. This deficiency has heavily influenced two aspects of our business: hiring and costs.