Striking a Balance of Youth and Wisdom + Weekly Must-Reads

Balance sages and rookies

While gender and race diversity are hot topics in recruiting, Kayak cofounder Paul English believes that an age-diverse workforce is also key to a company’s success. His newest venture, Blade, explicitly recruits a 50/50 mix of twenty- and forty-something employees.

Read more on Fast Company

Eliminating unhappiness, one question at a time

Employee unhappiness is an expensive problem, costing U.S. businesses billions of dollars in lost productivity. A company called TINYpulse uses companies’ employee data to find the source of workplace doldrums. It sends workers weekly, one-question surveys to gauge their vibe about everything from compensation to office bathrooms.

Read more at The Atlantic

How a Google innovator hires for personality traits

Mike Cassidy heads up Google’s Project Loon, which uses balloons in the stratosphere to deliver high-speed Internet to remote parts of the world. The work is intense, and so is his hiring practice. Cassidy shares how he finds people who are focused and take ownership.

Read more at Quartz

A plea for politeness toward new hires

Hiring managers are snubbing candidates like never before, says Anne Kreamer, a former Nickelodeon executive. She attributes their rude behavior to bureaucratic inefficiencies, adding that companies can’t afford to be cavalier about how they treat people outside the organization.

Read more at Harvard Business Review

Photo: Flickr/xflickrx