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Blog Spotlight: Caren Young
Caren Young is the founder and president of The Professional Adult, a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) consulting firm, based out of Chicago, Illinois. Caren has been working with FMP over the past few months to evaluate our DE&I efforts, identify gaps, and provide recommendations for success. We recently sat down with Caren to discuss…
The River at Thirty
As we celebrate FMP’s 30th Anniversary, we’re sharing a number of different blog posts that reflect on our work, culture, and history. In this special post, Tim Barnhart, the founder of FMP, shares his perspective on FMP, past and present. I live in the Shenandoah Valley, with its beautiful, meandering river. Several decades ago, I studied philosophy. When I began to pull my thoughts together about…
Flashback February: A Journey to the ’90s
As you may have read in our last blog, this year marks FMP’s 30th anniversary. In preparation of celebrating this great milestone, we’re spending some time reflecting on the past. Before we had our open-layout office (which we miss dearly) and a growing workforce of 70+ employees, we were a small consulting firm of just…
What We Learned in 2020
At the end of a year, many organizations reflect on their work and their accomplishments. Some publish annual reports filled with tables, graphs, and stories describing their impact. They go into the new year excited to use new insights to do bigger and better things. But 2020 brought lessons that went deeper than the projects we worked on and our accomplishments. Amid the chaos, challenges, and grief…
The Importance of Celebrating Company Anniversaries — Kicking Off FMP’s 30th Birthday
As we begin the new year—especially this new year—we are looking forward to many things. A particularly exciting event here at FMP is our approaching 30th anniversary on March 4th. As the date nears, we’re reflecting on the importance of celebrating an anniversary, and what all that entails. Anniversaries are more than opportunities to recognize…
Flexible Paid Time Off: Before, During, and After COVID-19
Fall 2020 marked year four of flexible paid time off (PTO) at FMP Consulting. However, having begun my career at FMP in March 2017, I’ve never experienced anything different during my employment here. First, you may ask, ‘what is flexible PTO?’ I describe it as a type of PTO that gives employees the freedom to…
Staying Motivated and Maximizing Workplace Flexibility in the New Year
So, it’s 2021. New year, new you (or, something like that…)! A chance for fresh starts, fresh goals, and reinvigorated motivation. But, if you’re still working from home in the new year, that “fresh start” won’t look like a brand-new work outfit, greeting coworkers and sharing stories of celebrations over coffee in the kitchen, and…
Moving from Mentorship to Sponsorship: Securing New Seats at the Table
Though the terms mentor and sponsor are commonly used interchangeably, there are clear differences between the two. Almost anyone can be a mentor, but only those with access to positions of power and leadership, and the ability to improve the visibility of those they sponsor, can serve as sponsors. Mentorship can be looked at as…
Combating 2020 Fatigue
We’re five months into working at home…eating at home, shopping at home, school at home, movies at home, socializing at home, and repeat. Are you feeling in a bit of a funk, lacking your usual energy and excitement, tired of waiting under a cloud of uncertainty? If you are operating at a less than optimal…
Promoting Diversity and Inclusion Through Conversation
2020 has added momentum to the Diversity and Inclusion movement and increased the need for safe spaces where team members can develop authentic connections and share what they are experiencing both in their work and personal lives. While many companies are investing in Diversity and Inclusion trainings, they may be overlooking a simple yet effective…