There is no entrepreneur or senior level executive I know of that hasn’t experienced serious stress during the course of their business career. Certainly there are times when the pressure builds and builds and builds – forcing executives and line personnel alike to struggle just to keep up!

Stress causes all kinds of problems – more often than not compromising the individual’s ability to concentrate and get work done. Certainly the costs of neglecting stress in your business can be very high. And, strangely, stress is sometimes overlooked as a health and safety issue by small businesses. Yet the unexpected absence of just one member of staff can affect productivity, and efforts to secure cover can be costly and time-consuming.

Effective April 1, 2010, all CMC’s (Certified Management Consultants) certified by the Institute of Management Consultants (Washington, D.C.) are now certified by the International Organization for Standardization ISO (Geneva, Switzerland).

How might this impact a U.S. company’s competitiveness?

Today, the U.S., as well as foreign companies seeking business in the European Community (EC) are expected to be ISO certified. ISO (International Organization for Standardization)—a non-governmental organization—is the world’s largest developer and publisher of International Standards. From ISO9000 to the broad spectrum of other standardizations, the necessity for becoming certified is critical when a company wishes to partner with businesses that sell to European governments.

For many employers, the choice to hire an employee or an independent contractor had become one of convenience. It’s cheaper and easier to hire independent contractors. They don’t get medical or other employee benefits; they don’t get overtime and aren’t subject to minimum wage restrictions; the employer doesn’t withhold taxes, provide worker’s compensation or contribute to unemployment compensation and they help moderate the impact of peaks in work-flow.