Hi Dave. I'm the HR VP in a startup and I have a frustrating dilemma. Before my last retreat with our branch managers the executive committee agreed that I could keep everything that happened in the meeting confidential, and just present the finished report to them. We had a very successful retreat with a managers pinpointed several problem areas in the company. I reported the information back to the executive committee as agreed. The executives...

Continue reading about How strong is a confidentiality agreement within a company?

I just sat through a meeting knowing that I'm getting screwed. On the surface I'm being told that everyone must meet new standards and bear the responsibility for carrying them out. These standards were developed in conjunction with the large suppliers to a hospital I serve. I had no input at all. The large suppliers can easily meet the new standards. I'm a very small company--a mom and pop shop. We deliver the same product,...

Continue reading about Big suppliers generate standards, pushing out small competitors?

One of our suppliers has completed a job for us and shut down his business. My boss doesn't want to pay bill for his services. My boss justifies this because if something goes wrong with the completed job, the supplier won't be there to fix the problem. I think he just wants to avoid paying just because he can get away with it, and I think we owe the money and should pay it. I...

Continue reading about Should we pay our bankrupt supplier?