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The top 7 recent employment law cases you should know

By David I. Brody

Jul. 31, 2020

When March began this year, nobody had any idea what was just around the corner – a global pandemic, a fiscal meltdown, unprecedented unemployment and a national reckoning with the terrible consequences of centuries of racial violence and inequity. Then we all witnessed a historic decision from the Supreme Court, affirming, at long last, that our family and friends in the LBGTQ community are protected from discrimination in employment under federal law. 

In this ever-changing landscape, it is increasingly important to keep up to speed on the latest employment legal cases and developments. Below is a brief summary of the seven most significant employment legal cases.

1. U.S. Supreme Court Issues Landmark Civil Rights Decision

Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. (2020)

The Supreme Court has issued a landmark decision in Bostock v. Clayton County , holding that Title VII prohibits discrimination against employees based upon sexual orientation and transgender status. 

In the 6-3 Opinion of the Court, written by Justice Gorsuch — who, along with Chief Justice Roberts, sided with the four “liberal” members of the Court — the majority held that a “straightforward” rule emerges from the ordinary meaning and application of Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination: 

“[F]or an employer to discriminate against employees for being homosexual or transgender, the employer must intentionally discriminate against individual men and women in part because of sex . That has always been prohibited by Title VII’s plain terms — and that should be the end of the analysis.’” 

Such discrimination has long been a violation of Massachusetts law, Chapter 151B, but with the Bostock decision, it is now clearly unlawful to discriminate in employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

2. Unlawful Employment Practices During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During these uncertain times, employers and employees alike are struggling to understand their legal rights and obligations. To that end, there has been a great deal of COVID-specific guidance provided by state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Equal Employment Commission , Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination , and Office of the Attorney General .

It is important to remember that neither a global pandemic nor an economic recession can be used as a shield by employers to carry out unlawful employment practices. 

Indeed, as the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has noted, just because an employer may be required to “reduce its workforce does not mean that it is free to make its employment decisions on impermissible grounds: ‘even during a legitimate reorganization or workforce reduction, an employer may not dismiss employees for unlawful discriminatory reasons.’” See Sullivan v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. , 444 Mass. 34, 41–42 (2005).

If you think that you may have been illegally targeted, seek legal counsel as soon as possible and prior to waiving any legal rights.

Hlatky v. Steward Health Care System, Inc., 484 Mass. 566 (2020)

Following a jury trial, Dr. Hlatky, an experienced cancer researcher, was awarded $10 million in damages in a breach of contract action against her former employer, Steward Health. The $10 million damage award represented the cost of reestablishing her research laboratory, which she lost as a result of Defendant’s unlawful conduct. 

On appeal, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court unanimously agreed the damages awarded were not too speculative, noting that the harm suffered by Dr. Hlatky, including the loss of her research laboratory, equipment, and cell samples, constituted her “life’s work.”

The Court was, however, divided regarding whether restrictions should be imposed on how Dr. Hlatky could use the $10 million award. In the six Justice decision, three Justices were concerned that, since the laboratory had not actually belonged to Dr. Hlatky, an unrestricted award might put Dr. Hlatky in a better position than she would have been had there been no breach, e.g., “[n]othing would prevent Hlatky from spending the $10 million on a house or a yacht rather than on the re-establishment of a cancer research laboratory.”

The other three Justice were not persuaded, “Whether she wishes to start again, whether she even could start again after so much time has passed and her faculty position has been lost, whether she wishes to use the money to fund different research or others; research in the same field, or whether she wants to hike the Appalachian trail — these matters simply are not our concern.”

These Justices pointed out that imposing restrictions on such a damage award would open a “Pandora’s box of unknown future harm to the predictability of contract law upon which contracting parties have relied for hundreds of years.”

As the Court was equally divided, the trial court’s award of monetary damages – without restrictions – was affirmed.

4. Non-Competition Agreements and the “Material Change” Doctrine

Now Bus. Intel., Inc. v. Donahue, C.A. No. 17-3732 (Middlesex Sup Ct. Apr. 1, 2020)

A non-competition agreement may become unenforceable if, after execution, the terms and conditions of employment are modified to the point where the parties have effectively abandoned the original employment agreement and entered into a new employment agreement. This is known as the “material change” doctrine which was delineated in F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Co. v. Barrington, 353 Mass. 585 (1968). The application of the material change doctrine is a highly fact-specific inquiry and will focus on factors, such as promotions, changes in job duties and titles, changes in remuneration, changes to sales area, as well as the associated time periods for such changes.

In the recent case of Now Bus. Intel. Inc. V. Donahue , the Superior Court rejected an employee’s material change defense to the enforceability of his non-compete. In granting Summary Judgment in favor of the former employer, the Court ultimately held that the temporary and short-term changes to the employee’s job duties, without more, did not amount to a material change sufficient to render otherwise reasonable and valid post-employment restriction unenforceable.

5. Anti-SLAPP Motion Revived

Rosario v. Caring Bees Healthcare, Inc., C.A. No. 19-P-1223 (Mass. App. Ct. June 5, 2020)

Retaliatory lawsuits designed to silence one from speaking out are referred to as strategic lawsuits against public participation, or “SLAPP Suits,” and are expressly forbidden in Massachusetts. See the Anti-SLAPP Statute, M.G.L. c. 231, § 59H (the “Statute”). The Statute provides a quick mechanism to dispose of SLAPP suits, and it allows the victim of a SLAPP suit to recover attorney’s fees.

Here, Ms. Rosario had complained (to co-workers, her mother, the MCAD, and, finally, in court) of sexual harassment by her supervisor, Jean Paul Karangwa. In response, Mr. Karangwa counter-sued Ms. Rosario for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Relying on the Statute, Ms. Rosario moved to dismiss Mr. Karangwa’s counter-claims. The lower court denied her motion, indicating that there was a colorable basis to believe that Ms. Rosario’s statements were defamatory, i.e ., false and causing damage to Mr. Karangwa.

However, the Massachusetts Appeals Court reversed and remanded. The Court reiterated that the legal issue was not solely whether Mr. Karangwa’s claims were “colorable” but also, if so, whether or not they were retaliatory, i.e. , “primarily brought to chill [Ms. Rosario’s] legitimate petitioning activities.” 

In considering whether or not Mr. Karangwa’s counterclaims were retaliatory, the lower court should consider, among other things, (1) whether the claims are ‘typical’ SLAPP claims, e.g., claims that one would not likely bring on their own, (2) the temporal proximity of when the counter-claims were brought to when Ms. Rosario engaged in escalated protected activity, e.g., when Ms. Rosario filed her claims to court, and (3) the chilling impact on such activity by, for example, increasing the cost to Ms. Rosario of complaining about sexual harassment.

The case was remanded to the lower court for a sequential application of the correct anti-SLAPP standard.

6. Enforcement of Arbitration Agreements

Theodore v. Uber Technologies, Inc., C.A. No. 18-cv-12147 (D. Mass. Mar. 3, 2020)

Many executives (and employees generally) are subject to arbitration clauses of which they are unaware until a dispute arises. The enforceability of such clauses is often hotly disputed. This is particularly true in civil rights cases, pitting two established principles against each other ( i.e. , the preference for arbitration under federal law against a strong public policy against discrimination). Enforceability is often fact-specific, such as whether the agreement to arbitrate and the waiver of judicial remedy are sufficiently obvious and clear.

Although Theodore is not an employment case, its analysis may be useful, especially regarding on-line forms that invite a user to follow one or more links which can be easily bypassed. The US District Court’s analysis involved not only a review of the text itself but also a discussion of the font size, layout, and background color on the page. The Court went so far as to include screen-shots in the decision.

Ultimately, the Court refused to compel arbitration where Uber invited a customer to click to “CREATE ACCOUNT” without “reasonably communicating” the impact of doing so.

7. The Process – and Not Just the Final Decision – Matters

Comcast Corp. v. Nat’l Assoc. of African American-Owned Media, 140 S.Ct. 1009 (2020)

In Comcast , the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously held that the but-for causation standard applies to claims of racial discrimination raised under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, a statute which guarantees all persons the same right “to make and enforce contracts . . . as is enjoyed by white citizens.” However, the Court expressly declined to decide an issue raised by Comcast, i.e , whether § 1981(a) guarantees only the right to equivalent contractual outcomes, as Comcast argued, or if it also guarantees the right to an equivalent contracting process, as the law has been interpreted for years.

In her concurrence, Justice Ginsburg addressed Comcast’s argument directly:

“I write separately to resist Comcast’s attempt to cabin a ‘sweeping’ law designed to ‘break down all discrimination between black men and white men” … Under Comcast’s view, § 1981 countenances racial discrimination so long as it occurs in advance of the final contract-formation decision. Thus, a lender would not violate § 1981by requiring prospective borrowers to provide one reference letter if they are white and five if they black. Nor would an employer violate § 1981 by reimbursing expenses for white interviewees but requiring black applicants to pay their own way … That view cannot be squared with the statute. An equal ‘right … to make… contracts’ … is an empty promise without equal opportunities to present or receive offers and negotiate over terms … It is implausible that a law ‘intended to secure … practical freedom’ … would condone discriminatory barriers to contract formation.”

As Justice Ginsburg recognized, and recent events have made abundantly clear, we must remain vigilant to protect and expand, not erode, our civil rights laws.

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Labor & Employment Supreme Court Cases

Many of the labor and employment cases that have reached the Supreme Court involve claims of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation in the workplace. These may arise under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits adverse employment actions based on the race, color, religion, sex, or national origin of an employee. The Supreme Court also has reviewed cases under parallel anti-discrimination laws, such as the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

Meanwhile, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 imposes rules for pension, health, and other benefit plans in the private sector. The Supreme Court has clarified ERISA terms and requirements, in addition to determining whether ERISA preempts various state laws. The ERISA preemption clause provides that the law supersedes any state laws to the extent that they relate to employee benefit plans. However, the ERISA savings clause allows states to regulate the business of insurance.

Other workplace issues addressed by the Supreme Court include employee privacy, wage and hour rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the free speech rights of government employees. The Court also has discussed the use of arbitration to resolve labor and employment disputes.

Below is a selection of Supreme Court cases involving labor and employment, arranged from newest to oldest.

Author: Clarence Thomas

The traditional four-factor test for a preliminary injunction governs NLRB requests for a preliminary injunction from a federal district court while administrative enforcement proceedings take place.

Author: Elena Kagan

Although an employee must show some harm from a forced job transfer to prevail in a Title VII claim, they do not need to show that the injury satisfies a significance test.

Author: Samuel A. Alito, Jr.

Title VII requires an employer that denies a religious accommodation to show that the burden of granting an accommodation would result in substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business. The impact on coworkers is relevant only to the extent that it goes on to affect the conduct of the business.

Author: Neil Gorsuch

An employer that fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII.

The federal-sector provision of the ADEA demands that personnel actions be untainted by any consideration of age.

The state's extraction of agency fees from non-consenting public-sector employees violates the First Amendment.

Author: Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Dodd-Frank's anti-retaliation provision does not extend to an individual who has not reported a violation of the securities laws to the SEC.

Author: Stephen Breyer

When an employer demotes an employee out of a desire to prevent the employee from engaging in protected political activity, the employee is entitled to challenge that unlawful action under the First Amendment and Section 1983 even if the employer's actions are based on a factual mistake about the employee's behavior.

Author: Anthony Kennedy

ERISA preempts a state law that governs or interferes with the uniformity of plan administration.

Author: Antonin Scalia

To prevail in a disparate treatment claim, an applicant needs to show only that their need for an accommodation was a motivating factor in the employer's decision. They do not need to show that the employer had knowledge of their need.

Time spent waiting to undergo and undergoing security screenings is not compensable under the FLSA.

Author: Sonia Sotomayor

A public employee's sworn testimony outside the scope of their ordinary job duties is entitled to First Amendment protection.

Title VII retaliation claims must be proved according to traditional principles of but-for causation.

An employee is a supervisor for the purposes of vicarious liability under Title VII only if they are empowered by the employer to take tangible employment actions against the victim.

Author: John Roberts

The Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses bar lawsuits brought on behalf of ministers against their churches, claiming termination in violation of employment discrimination laws.

A government employer's allegedly retaliatory actions against an employee do not give rise to liability under the Petition Clause of the First Amendment unless the employee's petition relates to a matter of public concern.

In an employment discrimination class action, the conceptual gap between an individual's discrimination claim and the existence of a class of persons who have suffered the same injury must be bridged by significant proof that an employer operated under a general policy of discrimination. More generally, a class in a proposed class action has common questions of law or fact if their claims depend on a common contention of such a nature that it is capable of classwide resolution, which means that determination of its truth or falsity will resolve an issue that is central to the validity of each of the claims in one stroke.

If a supervisor performs an act motivated by discriminatory animus that is intended by the supervisor to cause an adverse employment action, and if that act is a proximate cause of the ultimate employment action, the employer is liable.

A government employer had a right to read text messages sent and received on a pager that the employer owned and issued to an employee.

Before an employer can engage in intentional discrimination for the asserted purpose of avoiding or remedying an unintentional disparate impact, the employer must have a strong basis in evidence to believe that it will be subject to disparate impact liability if it fails to take the race-conscious, discriminatory action.

A plaintiff bringing an ADEA disparate treatment claim must prove that age was the but-for cause of the adverse employment action.

A provision in a collective bargaining agreement that clearly and unmistakably requires union members to arbitrate ADEA claims is enforceable as a matter of federal law.

Author: David Souter

An employer defending a disparate impact claim under the ADEA bears both the burden of production and the burden of persuasion for the “reasonable factors other than age” (RFOA) affirmative defense.

The anti-retaliation provision of Title VII covers only those employer actions that would have been materially adverse to a reasonable employee or applicant. The plaintiff must show that the challenged action well might have dissuaded a reasonable worker from making or supporting a charge of discrimination.

When public employees make statements pursuant to their official duties, the Constitution does not insulate their communications from employer discipline.

Author: John Paul Stevens

When employees must don protective clothing on the employer's premises before they engage in the productive labor for which they are primarily hired, the time that employees spend walking between the changing area and the production area is compensable under the FLSA. However, the time that employees spend waiting to put on the protective gear is not compensable.

While the ADEA authorizes recovery in disparate impact cases, ADEA Section 4(f)(1) significantly narrows its coverage by permitting any otherwise prohibited action when the differentiation is based on reasonable factors other than age.

ERISA prevents individuals from suing HMOs in state court for pure eligibility decisions. Also, if an individual at some point in time could have brought their claim under ERISA Section 502(a)(1)(B), and no other independent legal duty is implicated by a defendant's actions, the individual's cause of action is completely preempted.

A plaintiff alleging sexual harassment can establish constructive discharge if they can show that the abusive working environment became so intolerable that their resignation qualified as a fitting response. An employer may assert the Faragher affirmative defense unless the plaintiff quit in reasonable response to an adverse action officially changing their employment status or situation.

Direct evidence of discrimination is not required for a plaintiff to obtain a mixed motive jury instruction under Title VII.

The common-law element of control is the principal guidepost to be followed in deciding whether director-shareholder physicians in a medical clinic should be counted as employees for the purposes of the ADA. Factors to be considered in deciding whether a shareholder-director is an employee include whether the organization can hire or fire the individual or set rules for their work, whether the organization supervises their work, whether they report to someone higher in the organization, whether they can influence the organization, whether written agreements or contracts show that the parties intended the individual to be an employee, and whether the individual shares in the profits, losses, and liabilities of the organization.

HMOs may be insurers and thus subject to state regulation of insurers. State laws directed toward the insurance industry are saved from preemption under ERISA's saving clause.

An agreement between an employer and an employee to arbitrate employment-related disputes does not bar the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from pursuing victim-specific judicial relief, such as backpay, reinstatement, and damages, in an ADA enforcement action.

Author: Per Curiam

Judicial review of a labor arbitration decision pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement is very limited. Courts are not authorized to review an arbitrator's decision on the merits despite allegations that the decision rests on factual errors or misinterprets the parties' agreement. Even when the arbitrator's award may properly be vacated, the appropriate remedy is to remand the case for further arbitration proceedings.

A retaliation claim will not withstand a summary judgment motion when nobody could reasonably believe that the incident of which the plaintiff complained violated Title VII.

The exemption in Section 1 of the Federal Arbitration Act, which excludes contracts of employment of seamen, railroad employees, or any other class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce, is confined to transportation workers.

Author: Sandra Day O’Connor

A prima facie case of discrimination, combined with sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to reject the employer's non-discriminatory explanation for its decision, may be adequate to sustain a finding of liability for intentional discrimination under the ADEA.

Mixed treatment and eligibility decisions by health maintenance organization (HMO) physicians are not fiduciary decisions under ERISA.

An employer's conduct does not need to be independently egregious to satisfy the requirements for a punitive damages award in a Title VII case. However, in the punitive damages context, an employer may not be vicariously liable for the discriminatory employment decisions of managerial agents when these decisions are contrary to the employer's good-faith efforts to comply with Title VII.

For a union to waive employees' rights to a federal judicial forum for statutory anti-discrimination claims, the agreement to arbitrate these claims must be clear and unmistakable.

An employer is subject to vicarious liability to a victimized employee for an actionable hostile environment created by a supervisor with immediate or successively higher authority over the employee. When no tangible employment action is taken, the employer may raise an affirmative defense if they can show that they exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct promptly any sexually harassing behavior, and the plaintiff unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities provided by the employer or to avoid harm otherwise.

Under Title VII, an employee who refuses the unwelcome and threatening sexual advances of a supervisor, yet suffers no adverse, tangible job consequences, may recover damages from the employer without showing that the employer was negligent or otherwise at fault for the supervisor's actions, but the employer may interpose an affirmative defense. (The defense consists of the elements in Faragher below.)

Sex discrimination consisting of same-sex sexual harassment is actionable under Title VII.

The power to amend or abolish an employee welfare benefit plan does not include the power to discriminate against the plan's participants and beneficiaries for the purpose of interfering with their attainment of rights under the plan.

The salary-basis test denies exempt status under the Fair Labor Standards Act when employees are covered by a policy that permits disciplinary or other deductions in pay as a practical matter. That standard is met if there is either an actual practice of making such deductions or an employment policy that creates a significant likelihood of such deductions.

When employers or other plan sponsors adopt, modify, or terminate pension plans, they do not act as fiduciaries but are analogous to settlors of a trust.

The fact that one member of a protected class lost out to another member is irrelevant to an employment discrimination claim so long as they lost out because of their protected trait.

A law operating as an indirect source of merely economic influence on administrative decisions should not suffice to trigger ERISA preemption.

An employee discharged in violation of the ADEA is not barred from all relief when, after their discharge, their employer discovers evidence of wrongdoing that, in any event, would have led to their termination on lawful and legitimate grounds had the employer known of it.

Title VII is violated when the workplace is permeated with discriminatory behavior that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to create a discriminatorily hostile or abusive working environment. This standard requires an objectively hostile or abusive environment, as well as the victim's subjective perception that the environment is abusive.

An employment decision based on years of service is not necessarily age-based, since this factor is analytically distinct from age.

The common-law test for determining who qualifies as an employee under ERISA considers the hiring party's right to control the manner and means by which the product is accomplished. Other factors to consider include the skill required, the source of the instrumentalities and tools, the location of the work, the duration of the relationship between the parties, the extent of the hired party's discretion over when and how long to work, and the method of payment, among others.

Author: Byron White

An ADEA claim can be subjected to compulsory arbitration.

ERISA's deemer clause demonstrates Congress' clear intent to exclude from the reach of the saving clause self-funded ERISA plans by relieving them from state laws purporting to regulate insurance. State laws directed toward such plans are preempted because they relate to an employee benefit plan but are not saved because they do not regulate insurance.

The proper comparison in a disparate impact employment discrimination case is generally between the racial composition of the at-issue jobs and the racial composition of the qualified population in the relevant labor market.

Author: William Brennan

In the specific context of sex stereotyping, an employer that acts on the basis of a belief that a woman cannot be aggressive, or that she must not be, has acted on the basis of gender.

A policy of paying discharged employees for their unused vacation time does not constitute an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of ERISA, and a criminal action to enforce that policy is not foreclosed.

For disclosure purposes, a “participant” in an ERISA plan means an employee in currently covered employment (or reasonably expected to be in currently covered employment), or a former employee who has a reasonable expectation of returning to covered employment or who has a colorable claim to vested benefits. To establish that they may become eligible for benefits, a claimant must have a colorable claim that they will prevail in a suit for benefits, or that eligibility requirements will be fulfilled in the future.

The National Labor Relations Act does not permit a union, over the objections of dues-paying non-member employees, to expend funds collected from them on activities unrelated to collective bargaining activities.

Disparate impact analysis in an employment discrimination claim may be applied to subjective employment criteria.

To be preempted by ERISA, a state statute must have some connection with or reference to a plan.

ERISA preempts state common law tort and contract actions asserting improper processing of a claim for benefits under an insured employee benefit plan.

Both the inception and the scope of the intrusion must be reasonable when a public employer intrudes on the constitutionally protected privacy interests of government employees for non-investigatory, work-related purposes, as well as for investigations of work-related misconduct.

Author: William Rehnquist

A claim of hostile environment sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that is actionable under Title VII.

Author: Harry Blackmun

A law relates to an employee benefit plan for ERISA purposes if it has a connection with or reference to such a plan.

When a public employee speaks as an employee on matters only of personal interest, a federal court is generally not the appropriate forum to review the wisdom of a personnel decision taken by a public agency allegedly in reaction to the employee's behavior.

A non-job-related test that has a disparate impact and is used to limit or classify employees is used to discriminate within the meaning of Title VII, even if it was not designed or intended to have this effect and even if an employer tries to compensate for its discriminatory effect.

Author: Lewis Powell

When a plaintiff in a Title VII case has proved a prima facie case of employment discrimination, the defendant bears only the burden of explaining clearly the non-discriminatory reasons for its actions. It is sufficient if the defendant's evidence raises a genuine issue of fact as to whether it discriminated against the plaintiff.

Author: Potter Stewart

A regulation could permit private employees of a private employer to avoid workplace conditions that they believe pose grave dangers to their own safety, when the employees have no power under the regulation to order their employer to correct the hazardous condition or to clear the dangerous workplace of others.

A public employee does not forfeit their First Amendment protection when they arrange to communicate privately with their employer, rather than expressing their views publicly.

To establish a prima facie case of employment discrimination, a plaintiff need only show that facially neutral standards select applicants for hire in a significantly discriminatory pattern. If the employer proves that the challenged requirements are job-related, the plaintiff may show that other selection devices without a similar discriminatory effect would also serve the employer's legitimate interest in efficient and trustworthy workmanship.

Once a prima facie case has been established by statistical workforce disparities, the employer must have an opportunity to show that the claimed discriminatory pattern was a product of pre-Title VII hiring, rather than unlawful post-Title VII discrimination.

In cases alleging a pattern or practice of employment discrimination, the government must show that discrimination was the standard operating procedure of the defendant. Statistics may be used in proving discrimination.

An employee's statutory right to trial de novo under Title VII is not foreclosed by prior submission of their claim to final arbitration under the non-discrimination clause of a collective bargaining agreement.

In a private, non-class action complaint under Title VII charging racial employment discrimination, the complainant has the burden of establishing a prima facie case, which they can satisfy by showing that they belong to a racial minority, they applied and were qualified for a job that the employer was trying to fill, they were rejected, and the employer continued to seek applicants with their qualifications.

Author: Warren Burger

An employment practice that operates to exclude members of a protected group is prohibited if it cannot be shown to be related to job performance, even if the employer lacked discriminatory intent.

Author: Thurgood Marshall

When a public employee's false statements concerned issues that were currently the subject of public attention and did not interfere with the performance of their duties or the general operation of their employer, they were entitled to the same protection as if the statements had been made by a member of the general public.

Author: Robert H. Jackson

Rulings, interpretations, and opinions of agency administrators are not controlling on courts but provide a body of experience and informed judgment that courts can use for guidance. The weight of such a judgment depends on the thoroughness evident in its consideration, the validity of its reasoning, its consistency with earlier and later pronouncements, and all those factors that give it power to persuade, if lacking power to control. Also, no principle of law precludes a determination that waiting time is working time under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The fact that an employer has individual contracts of employment with a majority of its employees does not preclude the employees from exercising their right under the National Labor Relations Act to choose a representative for collective bargaining, nor does it warrant refusal by the employer to bargain with this representative regarding terms covered by the individual contracts.

Author: Charles Evans Hughes

In recognizing the right to strike, the National Labor Relations Act contemplates a lawful strike. When a strike, even if it arose from unfair labor practices, is initiated and conducted in lawlessness by the seizure and retention of the employer's property, and the strikers are discharged because of their lawlessness, they do not remain employees under the NLRA.

A restraint or regulation of the liberty to contract is due process if it is reasonable in relation to its subject and adopted for the protection of the community against evils menacing the health, safety, morals, and welfare of the people. Also, in dealing with the relation of employer and employed, the legislature has a wide field of discretion in order that there may be suitable protection of health and safety, and that peace and good order may be promoted through regulations designed to ensure wholesome conditions of work and freedom from oppression.

Author: George Sutherland

Legislation fixing hours or conditions of work may properly take into account the physical differences between men and women, but the doctrine that women of mature age require (or may be subjected to) restrictions on their liberty of contract that could not lawfully be imposed on men in similar circumstances must be rejected.

Author: David Josiah Brewer

The regulation of the working hours of women falls within the police power of the state, and a statute directed exclusively to such regulation does not conflict with the Due Process or Equal Protection Clauses.

Author: John Marshall Harlan

It is not within the power of Congress to make it a criminal offense against the United States for a carrier engaged in interstate commerce to discharge an employee simply because of their membership in a labor organization. A provision to that effect is an invasion of personal liberty and the right of property and is unenforceable under the Due Process Clause.

A U.S. court has no jurisdiction under the Thirteenth Amendment or other federal laws of a charge of conspiracy made and carried out in a state to prevent citizens of African descent, because of their race and color, from making or carrying out contracts and agreements to labor.

Author: Rufus Wheeler Peckham

The general right to make a contract in relation to one's business is part of the liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, and this includes the right to purchase and sell labor, except as controlled by the state in the legitimate exercise of its police power.

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More From Forbes

$70 million verdict against texas company in employment discrimination case.

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Gavel for judge, law and order

Last month, a jury in Texas delivered a stunning $70 million verdict in favor of 10 employees who worked for Glow Networks. Nine of the ten plaintiffs were Black employees. The case, Yarbrough, et al. v. Glow Networks, Inc., is a potent reminder about the continuing effects of employment discrimination as well as the legal remedies that exist to combat unequal treatment and retaliation at work.

The plaintiffs are represented by The Sanford Firm.

The defendants are represented by Ford & Harrison.

Background Of The Case

The employees filed their lawsuit against Glow Networks in a Texas federal court in December 2019 (Civil No. 4:19-cv-00905, E.D. Tex. 2019). According to their complaint, numerous Black employees faced continuing race discrimination at work, including promotion denials, unequal pay, and a hostile work environment.

At trial, the employees sought only compensatory/emotional distress damages and punitive damages in the lawsuit and did not seek lost pay damages. For this reason, their decision to proceed solely under 42 U.S.C. 1981 (Section 1981) rather than including a claim under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (Title VII) was particularly important and will be discussed in more detail below.

Ultimately, the jury determined that the employees had proved that Glow Networks had subjected them to unlawful discrimination and retaliation at work. This discrimination and retaliation included demotions, promotion denials, and getting fired or laid off.

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Notably, the jury then awarded each plaintiff $3 million in emotional distress damages and $4 million in punitive damages, which are designed to punish employers in particularly egregious cases of employment discrimination. The total award to the 10 employees thus equaled $70 million (this amount does not include any attorneys’ fees and trial expenses that the court may later order the company to pay).

Glow Networks will have an opportunity to appeal the jury verdict if it chooses to do so.

Differences Between Section 1981 And Title VII Race Discrimination Claims

On a broader level, both Section 1981 and Title VII outlaw employment discrimination based on race. In the Yarbrough case, the employees filed their case under Section 1981 instead of Title VII. This choice paid off handsomely as a key difference between these two employment discrimination laws is that Title VII caps the maximum amount that a plaintiff can receive for compensatory and punitive damages at $300,000. Title VII’s cap would thus result in a maximum jury verdict of $3,000,000 for these 10 plaintiffs. Section 1981, however, has no cap on compensatory and punitive damages, which resulted in a $70 million verdict, an eye-popping $67 million more than could have been awarded under Title VII.

Other distinctions between Title VII and Section 1981 exist, including:

Title VII outlaws disparate impact discrimination but Section 1981 does not

Both statutes prohibit intentional discrimination in employment based on race. But Title VII also prohibits using hiring practices that are neutral on their face (such as written tests), which have a discriminatory outcome: disproportionately excluding female, African-American, and other protected classes of applicants.

Under the disparate impact theory, even if the employer did not intend for an employment practice to exclude protected groups, if the practice ultimately has the effect of rejecting an excessive number of otherwise qualified, for example, female or African-American applicants, then using the practice might violate Title VII.

Section 1981, on the other hand, outlaws only intentional discrimination.

Section 1981 does not require the employee to file an EEOC charge

To file a Title VII lawsuit in court, an employee must fist have exhausted their administrative remedies by filing a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Depending on which state the employee works in, the time period can be either 180 or 300 days to file the charge if the employee works in the private sector. Different procedures and time periods apply if the employee works for the federal, state, or local government.

Section 1981, however, does not require an employee to file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. This distinction is particularly important if the employee has missed the deadline to file an EEOC charge of discrimination because the employee may still be able to assert a claim under Section 1981.

Section 1981 has a longer statute of limitations than Title VII

close up of calendar and alarm clock

As noted above, the deadline for filing an EEOC charge of discrimination can be up to 300 days, depending on where you work and whether you are in the public or private sector. Also, a Title VII lawsuit must generally be filed within 90 days after the EEOC’s Right to Sue Notice is received.

Claims asserted under Section 1981 though have a significantly longer statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit. Indeed, an employee may file a Section 1981 within four years of the violation. Jones v. R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co ., 541 U.S. 369 (2004).

Section 1981 applies only to race discrimination while Title VII covers more classes of people

Section 1981 provides several additional benefits not contained in Title VII, but in at least one area–scope of protected classes–Title VII offers broader coverage.

Section 1981 covers discrimination based only on race or ethnicity.

Title VII covers discrimination based not only on an employee’s race and ethnicity, but also protects against discrimination related to, for example, sex, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

The Yarbrough jury verdict highlights the work that remains to be done to eradicate employment discrimination, but also the promise that laws like Section 1981 and Title VII can provide a powerful weapon to improve workplaces for everyone. As one of the lawyers for the employees, Brian Sanford, told BET about the jury verdict, “[t]hey were sending the message,” he said. “Don’t do this in the 21st century. Stop.”

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The 10 most important employment law cases in 2021

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, HR professionals have had their fair share of employment law rulings to keep track of in 2021. We count down the 10 most important judgments of the year that every employer should know about.

10. Male directors dismissed to improve gender pay gap

Bayfield and another v Wunderman Thompson (UK) Ltd and others (employment tribunal)

The employment tribunal upheld two male directors’ claims after their advertising agency dismissed them in a bid to “obliterate” its reputation as a “Knightsbridge boys club”, in this cautionary tale for employers that are seeking to correct overnight the systemic issues that influence a gender pay gap.

Not long after publishing a “horrible” and “embarrassing” gender pay gap, the advertising agency held a conference to address the lack of diversity in which reference was made to the agency wanting to “obliterate” its reputation that it was full of “white, British, privileged, straight, men”.

Keep track of key employment law cases on appeal

In a decision that the tribunal found to be discriminatory and unfair, the advertising agency subsequently made two creative directors redundant. It selected two straight white British men for redundancy, both of whom had been among those who had complained about the presentation.

9. Failure to consider furlough affected redundancy’s fairness

Mhindurwa v Lovingangels Care Ltd (employment tribunal)

In one of the first cases to examine the furlough scheme, the employment tribunal held that the employer’s failure to consider the possibility of furloughing a care worker as an alternative to redundancy resulted in her dismissal being unfair.

More furlough cases

Furlough scheme and unfair dismissal: Employment tribunal round-up relx_copyright – This article is Brightmine content – Copyright 2024 LexisNexis Risk Solutions

In the early days of the pandemic, a live-in care worker was made redundant, despite her request to be furloughed. She brought a successful unfair dismissal claim, citing in particular her employer’s failure to consider her furlough request seriously.

The tribunal highlighted that the purpose of the furlough scheme was to avoid laying off employees because of the pandemic and this was exactly the type of situation that the furlough scheme envisaged. In the tribunal’s view, a reasonable employer would have considered if she could be furloughed to avoid redundancy.

8. ‘Stale’ training no defence for racist jibes

Allay (UK) Ltd v Gehlen (EAT)

In this case, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that the employer’s diversity training was insufficient to amount to a “reasonable steps” defence in a claim of racial harassment committed by one of its employees.

Diversity and inclusion training

Line manager briefing: discriminatory behaviour

Line manager briefing: protected characteristics

Employers are liable for acts of harassment committed by their employees against other employees in the course of their employment, unless they can show that they took reasonably practicable steps to prevent those acts.

The EAT agreed with the employment tribunal that the “reasonable steps” defence was not valid here because the training that the staff in question had received several years earlier was “clearly stale” and required refreshing.

7. Absence of appeal not determinative of redundancy’s fairness

Gwynedd Council v Barratt and another (Court of Appeal)

In this decision, the Court of Appeal neatly answered a question that is frequently asked during a redundancy procedure: if a proper consultation process is followed, must employers still give employees the right to appeal against the decision to make them redundant?

Redundancy procedures

Model redundancy policy

Must employers give employees the right to appeal against a decision to make them redundant?

The Court of Appeal held that the absence of an appeal in an otherwise fair redundancy process does not, of itself, render the dismissal unfair. According to the Court of Appeal, it would be wrong to find a dismissal unfair only because of the failure to provide the employee with an appeal hearing.

However, the Court of Appeal did say that the absence of an appeal is one of many factors to consider in determining the overall fairness of a redundancy. In this case, the tribunal had been entitled to consider all the relevant circumstances, which included a lack of consultation as well as the absence of an appeal.

6. Office-based role discriminated against primary carer

Follows v Nationwide Building Society (employment tribunal)

While it is a non-binding first-instance decision, this case provides a timely reminder for employers that a non-disabled employee may bring a claim for indirect disability discrimination if they suffer a particular disadvantage because of their association with a disabled person.

More disability cases

Employment tribunal round-up: Reasonable adjustments in the workplace

The most likely scenario is where a primary carer is disadvantaged by their employer’s inflexible policies. That was the case here, where the employer’s requirement for a senior manager, the primary carer for her disabled mother, to be office based was found to be indirectly discriminatory.

The decision shows how important it is for employers to support employees with caring responsibilities and ensure that they are not treated less favourably than employees who are not carers. Employers should put in place clearly framed policies, such as a carers policy and a policy on requesting flexible working.

5. Menopausal symptoms can be disability

Rooney v Leicester City Council (EAT)

Law firm Linklaters has highlighted the rising number of tribunal cases in which employees are alleging menopause-related discrimination , prompting the firm to call for more awareness and support for staff experiencing it.

Menopause support

Model policy on supporting employees experiencing menopause

How to support employees experiencing the menopause

In this key 2021 case, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that an employment tribunal had wrongly decided that a woman suffering with menopausal symptoms was not disabled.

While the case law in this area develops, employers should ensure that line managers understand how menopausal symptoms can impact an employee’s wellbeing, performance and attendance. This will help line managers to have sensitive and supportive conversations with affected employees, as well as reduce the risk of discrimination claims.

4. Shop workers can compare themselves with depot workers

Asda Stores Ltd v Brierley and others (Supreme Court)

In this long-running equal pay saga, the Supreme Court confirmed that workers in Asda supermarkets are entitled to compare their pay with the pay of depot workers.

While this decision resolves the comparator issue in this case, the employment tribunal has still to decide if the claimants performed work of equal value and, if so, whether there are any non-discriminatory reasons for Asda’s failure to pay the two roles equally.

This case has been blighted by challenges on technical points of law at every turn. In its decision, the Supreme Court advised tribunals to avoid overly complicated assessments when considering cross-establishment comparisons and to discourage appeals, which may make it easier for claimants to overcome this first hurdle in an equal pay claim.

3. Uber drivers are workers entitled to basic employment rights

Uber BV and others v Aslam and others (Supreme Court)

In this high-profile case, the Supreme Court had little hesitation in finding that Uber drivers are workers and are entitled to receive the national minimum wage and paid annual leave.

The decision is consistent with the direction of travel of the case law on the employment status of gig-economy workers, with the Uber drivers being successful at every stage of the legal process when arguing that they are workers and not self-employed.

In recent years, rulings in this area have had a significant business implications on employers in the gig economy. Many gig-economy employers have had to rethink the terms on which they engage workers, offering them basic employment rights from day one.

2. Sleep-in care workers not entitled to minimum wage while asleep

Tomlinson-Blake v Royal Mencap Society; Rampersad and another (t/a Clifton House Residential Home) v Shand (Supreme Court)

In this long-awaited decision – the case was heard in February 2020 but the ruling published only in March 2021 – the Supreme Court found that sleep-in care workers are entitled to be paid the national minimum wage only when they are awake for the purposes of working, not when they are sleeping.

Covid case law

Covid-related employment cases: 10 key lessons for employers

Employment tribunal round-up: Employees raising health and safety concerns

The judgment was a bitter blow for sleep-in care workers, with unions, charities and campaign groups believing that the national minimum legislation covering sleep-in payments is out of date and unfair.

However, the Supreme Court’s remit in this case was narrow. Its job was to interpret the wording of the national minimum wage legislation to decide if it requires sleep-in workers to receive the minimum wage only when they are awake and “available” to work. According to the Supreme Court, the legislation is quite clear and issues of general fairness could not influence its decision.

1. Direct pay offers to workers during collective bargaining unlawful

Kostal UK Ltd v Dunkley and others (Supreme Court)

In the most important trade union case for years, the Supreme Court held that trade union legislation prevents employers from bypassing the union and making direct offers to employees while the collective bargaining process is ongoing.

In this case, the employer had reached a stalemate with the recognised trade union over a pay package and Christmas bonus. It wrote to its workforce directly, offering them a deal and threatening consequences if they rejected it.

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The Supreme Court made clear that a direct approach can be made after the collective bargaining process has been followed and exhausted. However, the Supreme Court warned that what an employer cannot do with impunity is to make offers to workers before the collective bargaining process has been exhausted.

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47 case interview examples (from McKinsey, BCG, Bain, etc.)

One of the best ways to prepare for   case interviews  at firms like McKinsey, BCG, or Bain, is by studying case interview examples. 

There are a lot of free sample cases out there, but it's really hard to know where to start. So in this article, we have listed all the best free case examples available, in one place.

The below list of resources includes interactive case interview samples provided by consulting firms, video case interview demonstrations, case books, and materials developed by the team here at IGotAnOffer. Let's continue to the list.

• McKinsey examples
• BCG examples
• Bain examples
• Deloitte examples
• Other firms' examples
• Case books from consulting clubs
• Case interview preparation

Click here to practise 1-on-1 with MBB ex-interviewers

1. mckinsey case interview examples.

• Beautify case interview (McKinsey website)
• Diconsa case interview (McKinsey website)
• Electro-light case interview (McKinsey website)
• GlobaPharm case interview (McKinsey website)
• National Education case interview (McKinsey website)
• Talbot Trucks case interview (McKinsey website)
• Shops Corporation case interview (McKinsey website)
• Conservation Forever case interview (McKinsey website)
• McKinsey case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)
• Profitability case with ex-McKinsey manager (by IGotAnOffer)
• McKinsey live case interview extract (by IGotAnOffer) - See below

2. BCG case interview examples

• Foods Inc and GenCo case samples  (BCG website)
• Chateau Boomerang written case interview  (BCG website)
• BCG case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)
• Written cases guide (by IGotAnOffer)
• BCG live case interview with notes (by IGotAnOffer)
• BCG mock case interview with ex-BCG associate director - Public sector case (by IGotAnOffer)
• BCG mock case interview: Revenue problem case (by IGotAnOffer) - See below

3. Bain case interview examples

• CoffeeCo practice case (Bain website)
• FashionCo practice case (Bain website)
• Associate Consultant mock interview video (Bain website)
• Consultant mock interview video (Bain website)
• Written case interview tips (Bain website)
• Bain case interview guide   (by IGotAnOffer)
• Digital transformation case with ex-Bain consultant
• Bain case mock interview with ex-Bain manager (below)

4. Deloitte case interview examples

• Engagement Strategy practice case (Deloitte website)
• Recreation Unlimited practice case (Deloitte website)
• Strategic Vision practice case (Deloitte website)
• Retail Strategy practice case  (Deloitte website)
• Finance Strategy practice case  (Deloitte website)
• Talent Management practice case (Deloitte website)
• Enterprise Resource Management practice case (Deloitte website)
• Footloose written case  (by Deloitte)
• Deloitte case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

5. Accenture case interview examples

• Case interview workbook (by Accenture)
• Accenture case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

6. OC&C case interview examples

• Leisure Club case example (by OC&C)
• Imported Spirits case example (by OC&C)

7. Oliver Wyman case interview examples

• Wumbleworld case sample (Oliver Wyman website)
• Aqualine case sample (Oliver Wyman website)
• Oliver Wyman case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

8. A.T. Kearney case interview examples

• Promotion planning case question (A.T. Kearney website)
• Consulting case book and examples (by A.T. Kearney)
• AT Kearney case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

9. Strategy& / PWC case interview examples

• Presentation overview with sample questions (by Strategy& / PWC)
• Strategy& / PWC case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

10. L.E.K. Consulting case interview examples

• Case interview example video walkthrough   (L.E.K. website)
• Market sizing case example video walkthrough  (L.E.K. website)

11. Roland Berger case interview examples

• Transit oriented development case webinar part 1  (Roland Berger website)
• Transit oriented development case webinar part 2   (Roland Berger website)
• 3D printed hip implants case webinar part 1   (Roland Berger website)
• 3D printed hip implants case webinar part 2   (Roland Berger website)
• Roland Berger case interview guide   (by IGotAnOffer)

12. Capital One case interview examples

• Case interview example video walkthrough  (Capital One website)
• Capital One case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

12. EY Parthenon case interview examples

• Candidate-led case example with feedback (by IGotAnOffer)

14. Consulting clubs case interview examples

• Berkeley case book (2006)
• Columbia case book (2006)
• Darden case book (2012)
• Darden case book (2018)
• Duke case book (2010)
• Duke case book (2014)
• ESADE case book (2011)
• Goizueta case book (2006)
• Illinois case book (2015)
• LBS case book (2006)
• MIT case book (2001)
• Notre Dame case book (2017)
• Ross case book (2010)
• Wharton case book (2010)

Practice with experts

Using case interview examples is a key part of your interview preparation, but it isn’t enough.

At some point you’ll want to practise with friends or family who can give some useful feedback. However, if you really want the best possible preparation for your case interview, you'll also want to work with ex-consultants who have experience running interviews at McKinsey, Bain, BCG, etc.

If you know anyone who fits that description, fantastic! But for most of us, it's tough to find the right connections to make this happen. And it might also be difficult to practice multiple hours with that person unless you know them really well.

Here's the good news. We've already made the connections for you. We’ve created a coaching service where you can do mock case interviews 1-on-1 with ex-interviewers from MBB firms . Start scheduling sessions today!

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Employee Engagement » Employee Engagement Case Study

25 Most Impactful Employee Engagement Case Studies for 2024

Introduction to employee engagement.

In today's highly competitive business environment, employee engagement has emerged as a critical driver of business success. It represents the level of commitment, passion, and investment employees have in their work and their organization. More than just job satisfaction, employee engagement is about employees feeling valued, involved, and connected to their work and workplace.

Engaged employees are not merely satisfied with their jobs; they are enthusiastic, motivated, and committed. They are the ones who are willing to go the extra mile, contribute their best ideas, and stay with their organizations in the long run. They are the backbone of any successful business, and their engagement is the key to unlocking a company's full potential.

Defining Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is a complex concept that encompasses a range of factors, from the emotional connection an employee feels towards their organization, to their level of satisfaction with their role and their motivation to perform to their best ability. It's about creating an environment where employees feel empowered, respected, and part of something bigger than themselves.

Why Employee Engagement Matters

Research has consistently shown that organizations with high levels of employee engagement are more profitable, have higher productivity levels, and experience lower turnover rates. Engaged employees are more likely to stay with their organization, reducing the costs associated with staff turnover. They are also more likely to be productive and deliver high-quality work, which can drive business growth and success.

Moreover, engaged employees are more likely to be advocates for their organizations, promoting their company's products and services to others and enhancing the company's reputation.

At its core, employee engagement is about creating a positive, inclusive, and inspiring workplace culture where employees feel valued, heard, and motivated to contribute their best. It's a win-win situation: employees are happier and more fulfilled, and businesses are more successful.

In this blog post, we will delve into 35 impactful case studies that illustrate the power of employee engagement in driving business success. From leveraging technology to fostering a culture of engagement in diverse workforces, these case studies will provide valuable insights and practical strategies for boosting employee engagement in your organization.

The Importance of Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is more than just a buzzword in the corporate world. It is a vital element that drives productivity, fosters innovation, and ultimately, contributes to a company's bottom line. In this section, we will delve into the significance of employee engagement and why it should be a priority in every organization.

1. Driving Productivity

Engaged employees are not just working. They are passionate, enthusiastic, and committed to their work. They strive to exceed expectations and continuously seek ways to improve their performance. As a result, their productivity levels are significantly higher than those of their disengaged counterparts. According to a study by Gallup, businesses with high employee engagement levels have 21% higher productivity.

2. Enhancing Employee Retention

Employee engagement is intrinsically linked to employee retention. When employees feel engaged, they are more likely to stay with the company. A sense of belonging, feeling valued, and being part of a purposeful mission can significantly reduce turnover rates. This not only saves costs associated with hiring and training new employees but also preserves the valuable knowledge and experience within the company.

3. Fostering Innovation

Innovation is the lifeblood of a company's growth and sustainability. Engaged employees, with their high levels of commitment and enthusiasm, are often the source of innovative ideas. They are more likely to take the initiative, think outside the box, and contribute to the company's innovation efforts.

4. Improving Customer Satisfaction

Engaged employees are more likely to provide exceptional customer service. They understand that their role is crucial in shaping the customer's experience and perception of the company. Hence, they invest more effort in serving customers, leading to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

5. Boosting Profitability

All of the above factors - increased productivity, improved retention, enhanced innovation, and better customer service - contribute to boosting a company's profitability. A study by Towers Perrin found that companies with engaged employees had a 19% increase in operating income over a 12-month period.

In conclusion, the importance of employee engagement cannot be overstated. It is a critical factor that influences a wide range of business outcomes. By prioritizing employee engagement, companies can reap substantial benefits, from increased productivity and innovation to improved customer satisfaction and profitability.

6 Case Studies on Boosting Employee Engagement with Technology

In this digital age, technology has become an integral part of our lives, influencing how we work, communicate, and engage with our surroundings. The same holds true for the corporate world, where technology has emerged as a powerful tool to boost employee engagement. Here, we present six compelling case studies that shed light on how various organizations have leveraged technology to enhance employee engagement.

1. Tech Titan: A Gamified Approach

Tech Titan, a leading technology company, used gamification to boost employee engagement. They developed an internal mobile app that transformed mundane tasks into exciting challenges. Employees could earn points, badges, and rewards for completing tasks, sparking competition and fostering a sense of achievement. This innovative approach led to a 25% increase in employee engagement within a year.

2. HealthCare Plus: Virtual Reality Training

HealthCare Plus, a renowned healthcare provider, introduced virtual reality (VR) for employee training. The VR simulations provided a realistic, immersive experience, allowing employees to practice procedures and protocols in a risk-free environment. This training method not only improved employee skills but also boosted engagement levels by making learning more interactive and enjoyable.

3. FinServ Corp: Harnessing AI for Personalized Learning

FinServ Corp, a financial services firm, used artificial intelligence (AI) to create personalized learning paths for its employees. The AI system analyzed each employee's skills, strengths, and areas for improvement to develop tailored training programs. This personalized approach made learning more relevant and engaging for employees, leading to increased participation in training programs.

4. EcoEnergy: IoT-Driven Employee Wellness Program

EcoEnergy, a sustainable energy company, launched an Internet of Things (IoT)-driven wellness program. They provided employees with wearable devices to monitor their health metrics, encouraging them to adopt healthier habits. The program created a sense of camaraderie among employees as they collectively worked towards their wellness goals, leading to higher engagement levels.

5. GlobalComm: Collaborative Tools for Remote Work

GlobalComm, a multinational communications company, implemented collaborative tools to engage its remote workforce. Tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams facilitated seamless communication and collaboration, making remote employees feel more connected to their teams. This initiative resulted in a significant increase in engagement among remote workers.

6. Retail Giant: Augmented Reality for Employee Onboarding

A leading retail company used augmented reality (AR) for its employee onboarding process. New hires could use AR glasses to virtually explore the company's facilities and learn about its processes. This innovative onboarding experience made new employees feel welcomed and engaged from day one.

These case studies demonstrate the transformative power of technology in boosting employee engagement. By embracing digital tools and solutions, companies can create more engaging, rewarding, and meaningful work experiences for their employees.

8 Case Studies on Employee Engagement in Diverse Workforces

Diversity and inclusion have become a crucial part of organizational culture. A diverse workforce brings a variety of perspectives and approaches to the table, fostering innovation and creativity. However, managing a diverse workforce and ensuring high levels of employee engagement can be a challenge. Here, we present eight case studies that illustrate successful strategies for engaging diverse workforces.

1. IBM's Diversity Networking Groups

IBM, a multinational technology company, has implemented Diversity Networking Groups (DNGs), which are employee-led groups formed around common interests, backgrounds, or demographics. These groups have played a significant role in promoting diversity and inclusion, leading to higher employee engagement levels.

2. Johnson & Johnson's Employee Resource Groups

Johnson & Johnson, a multinational corporation, has leveraged Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to engage their diverse workforce. These ERGs, which include groups for women, veterans, and the LGBTQ+ community, have fostered a sense of belonging, thereby enhancing employee engagement.

3. Coca Cola's Global Office of Diversity

Coca Cola established a Global Office of Diversity, which focuses on fostering an inclusive culture and promoting diversity. This initiative has led to increased engagement as employees feel valued and recognized for their unique contributions.

4. Accenture's Inclusion and Diversity Strategy

Accenture, a leading global professional services company, has implemented an inclusion and diversity strategy that focuses on creating a culture of equality. This strategy has resulted in increased employee engagement and a more innovative work environment.

5. Microsoft's Autism Hiring Program

Microsoft has introduced an Autism Hiring Program, which offers inclusive interview experiences for candidates with autism. This initiative has not only diversified their workforce but also increased engagement among these employees who feel valued and included.

6. Starbucks's Inclusion Academy

Starbucks has created an Inclusion Academy, a training program focused on providing people with disabilities with the skills they need for logistics roles within the company. This initiative has resulted in increased engagement among these employees.

7. Deloitte's ALL IN Diversity Strategy

Deloitte, a multinational professional services network, has implemented an ALL IN diversity strategy. This strategy focuses on fostering an inclusive culture where everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed, leading to higher levels of employee engagement.

8. Google's Employee Resource Groups

Google has leveraged Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to engage their diverse workforce. These ERGs, which include groups for women, veterans, and the LGBTQ+ community, have fostered a sense of belonging, thereby enhancing employee engagement.

In conclusion, these case studies demonstrate that fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment can significantly boost employee engagement. By implementing appropriate strategies, organizations can ensure that every employee feels valued and included, leading to higher levels of productivity and innovation.

6 Case Studies on Employee Engagement through Team Building Activities

Employee engagement is not just about work; it's also about fostering a sense of camaraderie, trust, and mutual respect among team members. Team building activities are a tried-and-true method of achieving this. Here are six case studies that showcase the power of team building activities in boosting employee engagement.

1. A Tech Giant's Approach to Team Building: Google

Google, one of the world's leading technology companies, is renowned for its unique approach to team building. They've implemented a program called "gPause," which encourages employees to take part in mindfulness exercises together. This initiative has led to enhanced team cohesion, reduced stress levels, and improved productivity, proving that team building activities don't always have to be grandiose or expensive to be effective.

2. Building Trust through Adventure: Johnson & Johnson

Healthcare conglomerate Johnson & Johnson turned to adventure-based team building activities to foster trust and collaboration. They organized a series of outdoor challenges, including rock climbing and rafting. These activities required employees to rely on each other for success, thus strengthening their trust and rapport. The result? Improved team performance and higher employee engagement levels.

3. Creative Engagement: Pixar

Pixar, the renowned animation studio, uses creative exercises as team building activities. By encouraging their employees to take part in sketching sessions and storytelling workshops, Pixar fosters a culture of creativity and collaboration. This approach has not only resulted in some of the most successful animated movies of all time but also in a highly engaged workforce.

4. Team Building through Social Responsibility: Salesforce

Salesforce, a global leader in CRM, has integrated social responsibility into their team building initiatives. They offer their employees seven paid days off each year to volunteer for a cause of their choice. This unique approach to team building has fostered a sense of unity and purpose among employees, leading to increased engagement and job satisfaction.

5. Virtual Team Building: Scavify

In the era of remote work, Scavify has taken team building to the digital realm. Our interactive scavenger hunts not only foster team collaboration but also inject fun into the workday. These virtual activities have proven effective in maintaining high levels of employee engagement, even when teams are physically apart.

6. Physical Fitness as Team Building: Reebok

Reebok, a global athletic footwear and apparel company, uses fitness challenges as a team building activity. They offer CrossFit classes to their employees, promoting both physical health and team spirit. This approach has resulted in a more engaged, healthier, and more productive workforce.

These case studies illustrate the significant impact of team building activities on employee engagement. Whether it's through mindfulness exercises, adventure activities, creative workshops, social responsibility initiatives, virtual games, or fitness challenges, team building can effectively foster a sense of unity and engagement among employees.

8 Case Studies on Employee Engagement Initiatives in Large Corporations

As we delve deeper into the subject of employee engagement, it's essential to consider the unique challenges and opportunities presented by large corporations. These behemoths of the business world often have thousands, if not tens of thousands, of employees spread across multiple locations, sometimes even spanning continents. Given this, fostering a sense of engagement and connection amongst employees can be a daunting task. However, numerous large corporations have successfully implemented innovative engagement initiatives. Let's look at eight such case studies.

1. Google's '20% Time' Policy

Google, known for its innovative work culture, introduced a '20% Time' policy. This initiative allows engineers to spend 20% of their working hours on any project they choose. This policy has not only boosted engagement but also led to the creation of some of Google's most popular products, including Gmail and Google News.

2. Microsoft's 'Hackathon'

Microsoft hosts an annual Hackathon, where employees from all over the world come together to work on passion projects. This event fosters a sense of camaraderie and engagement amongst employees, while also promoting innovation and creativity.

3. Ford's 'Employee Resource Groups'

Ford has established multiple Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to promote diversity and inclusion. These groups, which include Women at Ford and Ford Employees Dealing with Disabilities, provide support, encourage engagement, and foster a sense of belonging amongst employees.

4. Apple's 'Blue Sky'

Apple introduced the 'Blue Sky' program, which allows a select group of employees to spend a few weeks on a project outside their usual work scope. This initiative boosts engagement by allowing employees to explore new areas and bring fresh ideas to the table.

5. Amazon's 'Peculiar Culture'

Amazon has created a 'peculiar culture' that encourages employees to be innovative and think outside the box. This culture, which includes practices like writing six-page memos and banning PowerPoints, keeps employees engaged and invested in the company's success.

6. Starbucks' 'Bean Stock'

Starbucks offers a program called 'Bean Stock', which gives eligible employees company shares. By making employees part-owners, Starbucks not only boosts engagement but also ensures that employees have a vested interest in the company's performance.

7. Salesforce's '1-1-1 Model'

Salesforce follows a unique '1-1-1 model', where it contributes 1% of its equity, 1% of its employee's time, and 1% of its products to philanthropic efforts. This initiative fosters a sense of purpose and engagement amongst employees, who take pride in their company's commitment to social responsibility.

8. Unilever's 'Sustainable Living Plan'

Unilever has implemented the 'Sustainable Living Plan', which aims to halve the environmental impact of its products by 2030. This initiative has boosted employee engagement by aligning the company's goals with the personal values of its employees.

In conclusion, these case studies highlight the innovative strategies large corporations are using to boost employee engagement. While the specifics vary, the underlying theme remains the same: when employees feel valued, supported, and part of something bigger, they are more likely to be engaged.

Conclusion on Employee Engagement Case Studies

In a rapidly evolving business landscape, these employee engagement case studies serve as a testament to the power of effective engagement strategies. They highlight how various organizations, regardless of their size or industry, have successfully harnessed the potential of their workforce by fostering a culture of engagement.

It's clear that employee engagement is no longer a luxury, but a necessity for businesses aiming for long-term success and sustainability. From leveraging technology to facilitating remote work, fostering diversity, and implementing team-building activities, businesses are exploring innovative ways to keep their employees engaged and motivated.

The case studies we've explored have demonstrated that employee engagement is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Each organization has to consider its unique circumstances, workforce dynamics, and strategic objectives to shape its engagement initiatives. However, the common thread running through all these case studies is the positive impact of genuine and consistent employee engagement on overall organizational performance.

As we move into 2024, the importance of employee engagement is only set to increase. With the rise of remote work and the increasing emphasis on diversity and inclusion, businesses will need to continue innovating and adapting their engagement strategies to meet the changing expectations of their workforce.

In conclusion, these case studies underscore the transformative power of employee engagement. They serve as a powerful reminder that when employees feel valued, heard, and engaged, they are more likely to contribute their best work, leading to increased productivity, improved employee satisfaction, and ultimately, heightened business success. As such, employee engagement should be at the forefront of every business leader's strategy moving forward.

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Skills-based success: 10 recruiting case studies

The working world has been turned on its head with the pandemic, the Great Reshuffle, and the resulting skills shortage. Companies are searching for a powerful, sustainable way to recruit and retain talent, and 81% of them are now opting for skills-based hiring practices.

Skills-based recruitment practices are for everyone. Don’t believe us? We've put together 10 recruiting case studies that demonstrate how different individuals, industries, and regions have successfully implemented skills-based hiring.

Table of contents

What's the purpose of a recruiting case study, 3 personal recruiting case studies, 3 recruiting case studies by industry, 4 recruiting case studies by region, looking for more recruiting case studies, the state of skills-based hiring 2024.

Read TestGorilla's annual report to discover why over 81% of companies are choosing to adopt skills-based hiring methods in 2024.

In recruitment, case studies are helpful tools for employers seeking to build, develop, or optimize their recruitment processes. They can be great sources of information and inspiration. By understanding the successes and failures others have had with their hiring processes, hiring managers can take any relevant learnings without having to make the same mistakes that others have.

To make these recruiting case studies relevant for as many people as possible, we've divided them into personal case studies, case studies by industry, and case studies by region. Let's dive in.

Let’s first look at the personal stories of some stellar individuals who were recruited into their ideal industries using skills-based practices. These people didn’t have traditional backgrounds, but because of their unique skills, they got into amazing roles. All that was needed was a chance to prove those skills during recruitment.

1. Justin Hutchinson

Justin Hutchinson wanted a future in football, but he was faced with a hard choice at age 14: Focus on his career prospects or take care of his father with cancer.

Justin, of course, chose his father and has never regretted that choice, but it did mean giving up the chance of achieving his dream job.

After his father’s passing, Justin attended a community college to fulfill his father’s wish for him to get a degree. To pay rent and living expenses, Justin got a job at a smoothie franchise.

His aim was to simply support his cost of living by making fast food – but it turns out Justin’s real skill was people and communication.

Justin would study the cars that drove up, memorize their orders, and have them ready so he could spend time talking and getting to know the customers instead of making drinks.

One of Justin’s customers was a chief executive of a marketing company and was so impressed with his people skills, he offered Justin an internship.

It wasn’t long before Justin used his soft skills to turn that internship into a full-time position. He dropped out of college, poured his heart and soul into the role, and attained the role of Director of Business Development.

Justin attributes his success to his best skills:

Workplace empathy

Strategic and critical thinking

Sales management

Justin didn’t have a typical marketing background – his experience was a partial college education with no degree, on-the-job experience (and not a traditionally “relevant” job), and his internship.

Not everyone can find the perfect marketer in a charismatic smoothie server, but online skills testing holds the same principles: Look at abilities first and ask questions later.

Sales and marketing are industries that are uniquely dependent on soft skills, which makes skills-based hiring an obvious choice for recruiting. For information on how it helps with the tricky subject of ramp time, read our article on skills-based hiring and ramp time.

2. Latisha Carter

Latisha Carter had a dream of excelling in corporate America, but she never got the opportunity to attend college.

At age 17, Latisha became a single mother. This put her dreams of college on hiatus for the foreseeable future.

Three years later, after having another child, Latisha got a job as a nursing assistant. But she still couldn’t shake her desire to make it in the corporate world.

She secured a call center job with NCR, a software company, driven by their offer of extensive employee training. 

Offering extensive upskilling and reskilling is one of the best things you can put on the table for potential candidates. A study by Lorman showed that 59% of Millennials believe that development opportunities are extremely important when deciding whether to apply for a position.

Latisha used her experience at NCR to get a role in customer service at the software company Sage.

With determination and hard work, she continued to work her way up for 20 years until she became a director at Xero, an accounting technology company.

Latisha is now proudly a director in corporate America with no college degree. Her company is reaping the benefits of her presence and skills. 

In the second half of 2021, Xero’s approach to skills-based hiring and its emphasis on diversity pushed a 7% increase in racial and ethnic diversity.

Jana Galbraith, the executive general manager for people experience partnering for Xero, says: “ [H]istorically, hiring based on degree exclusively has perpetuated discrimination .”

This boost is great news for Xero because the benefits of diversity are broad and include increased productivity, innovation, and financial performance.

Latisha’s struggle to succeed is unfortunately common for working mothers. To learn more about this, read our article on the motherhood penalty .

3. Cindy Veach

Cindy Veach didn’t have a traditional background. She had all the tech know-how, but she only had experience involving massage therapy and social services.

But she had the skills and she knew it. Cindy says it was a happenstance that she stumbled upon her perfect role; she just wanted a role where she could use her best talents.

“I was looking for jobs I had the right skills for, organizational skills in particular,” said Cindy.

She happened upon a tech administration apprenticeship program at IBM. Before then, she saw her tech skills as just a hobby and never imagined herself in the tech industry – but she applied and was accepted.

Cindy had a steep learning curve ahead of her. She possessed the base tech skills but needed the training to reach the right level.

She attributes much of her success to the flexibility of her mentors. They continually told her that if a path “didn’t feel right,” she was welcome to experiment and try something new.

At the end of the apprenticeship, she applied for a network operations technician role and was hired. She took a position with flexible work options so she could still care for her two children comfortably. 

Skills-based hiring made this outcome possible. Cindy’s communication skills, digital expertise, and problem-solving abilities helped her secure her role, and the focus on continuous improvement is helping her develop it .

She says that the combination of her appetite for learning and her employer’s support for her success is the perfect duo for creating limitless growth.

We’ve heard plenty of people say “skills-based hiring doesn’t work in my industry.” But that’s just yet another myth we’ve debunked . Let’s take a look at a handful of case studies about how companies within certain industries have succeeded with skills-based recruitment initiatives.

4. Healthcare

Healthcare administration is an industry that’s notoriously difficult to get into. Between receiving a bachelor’s degree and completing a master’s program, it can take six to eight years of rigorous commitment.

However, more opportunities are arising that allow equally qualified candidates to get in without obtaining specific educational requirements.

Sam Saucedo-Hernandez had a tumultuous life, but she only ever wanted a solid career. As a child of parents who emigrated from Mexico, she wanted to be the first generation in her family to attain a degree.

Sam watched her parents struggle with low-wage jobs and promised herself she would do better for herself.

Her first attempt was at law school where she spent several years studying hard. Sam was ecstatic to get her degree and begin a career in law.

But two weeks after she got her associate of science degree, the school got shut down for fraud, leaving Sam jobless and $60,000 in debt.

Sam faced many challenges, but the turning point in her story was the day she received a letter promoting a no-cost medical administrative assistant job training program from JVS.

JVS is a program that helps people build skills and find solid career connections – particularly in the healthcare industry.[1]

JVS has seen amazing success with over 500 employer partners and an emphasis on promoting diversity: 88% of their participants are Black, Hispanic, Asian, or a wide range of other ethnicities.

Sam applied for the program and was accepted. She secured a position as a medical administrative assistant, but her training has led her to her current role in the audiology department.

Though she’s fortunate for her position, Sam says she’s still looking forward, wondering where her skills can take her from here. 

Programs like JVS are working tirelessly to make more stories like this possible. With a focus on skills over experience, they bring in valuable candidates to industries that may otherwise be restricted to them.

5. Manufacturing

Steelcase, a furniture manufacturing company, wanted to build a fairer place for employment opportunities and encourage better representation for employees of color. So they adopted skills-based hiring practices.

They’re far from the only ones. According to TestGorilla’s State of Skills-Based Hiring report, 85% of businesses in 2023 had the goal to increase diversity.

And companies are succeeding at this by implementing skills-based hiring: 91% of organizations saw an increase in diversity due to skills-based hiring.

Steelcase realized that if they truly wanted to boost their DE&I initiatives , traditional hiring methods wouldn’t do.

They decided their hiring processes needed to be revamped for the better, so they adopted some new practices:

Prioritizing skills over resume and pedigree

Removing experience requirements wherever possible

Favoring continuous improvement over perfection

Revamping job descriptions to reduce biased language

Prioritizing diversity among equally qualified candidates

Steelcase decided that practices like these would enable them to reach diverse talent organically, and it worked. Since the program started, Steelcase’s new hires are 55% women and 30% racial or ethnic minorities.

Steelcase’s initiatives are amazing, so we encourage similar active moves to boost diversity. To read more about this topic, read our blog on why being intentional about workplace diversity is non-negotiable .

6. Software

ADP, an HR management software company, adopted a recruiting strategy to focus on skills , rely less on credentials, and make an effort to provide opportunities for candidates with nontraditional backgrounds.

This strategy included training talent acquisition professionals on best practices, hiring specific diversity recruiters, removing degree requirements from high-volume recruiting roles, and leveraging better training and mentorship for new hires.

What were the results? ADP saw great success in one year:

An increase in the number of candidates with no college degree

An increase in Black representation in the candidate pool

An increase in Hispanic representation in the candidate pool

This program was heavily inspired and backed by Maria Black, the chief executive of ADP, and her strong belief in corporate social responsibility.

She has a strong passion for supporting working women, veterans, and other underrepresented talents.[2]

Maria is an excellent example of the power of leading from the top. When your company’s leadership supports a great cause, it benefits both employees and company alike and builds a better organizational culture .

Next, let’s take a look at some case studies about the regions and countries that are taking on skills-based recruitment practices. For more on this subject, check out our post on skills-based hiring around the world .

7. Maryland, USA

In 2022, the state of Maryland dropped four-year degree requirements for thousands of jobs in the government sector.

The aim of this initiative was to draw attention to the value of alternative credentials and experience. State officials want to give people a better shot at securing a stable, fulfilling job.

Governor Larry Hogan was quoted as saying:

“[W]e are ensuring qualified, non-degree candidates are regularly being considered for these career-changing opportunities.”[3]

Over 38,000 people work for the state of Maryland and it’s estimated that more than half of those jobs can be performed by people whose alternative skill routes can easily substitute for a college education.

These alternative routes include:

Life experience

Non-relevant job experience

Hobbies and volunteer work

Alternative training

Community college education

Maryland estimates that about 47% of its working population are STARs (skilled through alternative routes). That’s 2.8 million workers, and these people need solid opportunities – opportunities that they can access through skills-based hiring.

To learn more about how unnecessary degree requirements are holding top talent back, read our blog on degree inflation .

8. Indiana, USA

Indiana’s tech leaders are struggling to attract and retain great talent. They’re facing a major skill shortage and they can’t solve it with the “usual” hiring methods.

Traditional recruiting methods exclude over 95% of Indiana’s workforce.

Indiana has a workforce of 3,332,239 people, but consider this:

A four-year degree requirement removes 75%

Biases can eliminate up to 30% of the pool

Requiring specific past experience removes 93% of the talent pool

With all of that in mind, a pool of more than three million candidates is reduced to just over 42,000.

Indiana’s Office of Technology (IOT) realized that skills-based hiring practices could fix this problem and solve their shortage.

They started by removing degree requirements from most job descriptions, then took the next step and started offering reskilling opportunities to workers from alternative industries, such as line cooks and truck drivers.

Tracy Barnes, IOT’s chief information officer, said that the results of the program have been positive and they’re “very pleased” so far. She also said that she’s equally excited to see the positive life impacts for the candidates involved.

9. Asia-Pacific

Skills-based hiring is quickly gaining traction in the Asia-Pacific area.

One study showed that 79% of businesses in the Asia-Pacific area look for skills when hiring versus the 21% that prioritize education and experience.[4]

The same study found that internal mobility is more important than ever and that companies want to prioritize gender equality and disability inclusion . These points can also be accomplished by adopting skills-based hiring.

Asia-Pacific is looking to skills-based practices to improve the future of their recruitment processes, but Singapore-based TruTrip is already reaping the benefits .

TruTrip is a business travel management company that needed help assessing candidate skills and hiring the best candidates, so they gave TestGorilla a try.

Here are a few ways that TestGorilla’s pre-employment skills testing helped TruTrip’s recruitment processes:

Gives them a way to objectively assess applicants’ skills and knowledge

Helps them eliminate bias from the hiring process

Enables them to consistently make better hiring decisions

Reduces their reliance on resume screening

Enhances teamwork and communication

Improves the employee experience of new hires

According to Hugh Batley, the founder of TruTrip, their new hires are a better fit. These employees become great contributors and have a better initial experience with the company.

TestGorilla also helps TruTrip save thousands of dollars by reducing the chances of a costly mis-hire. 

This isn’t unusual. According to TestGorilla’s State of Skills-Based Hiring report, 92.5% of organizations using skills-based practices saw a reduction in mis-hires in 2022.

10. The UK and the EU

The UK and the EU have developed a strong focus on skills over the past few years.

Interest in skills-based hiring in the UK rose 63% from 2021 to 2022 . This drastic increase is due to employers wanting a wider talent pool and candidates prioritizing and valuing their alternative experience.

This move is helping job opportunities reach the 73.6% of people in the United Kingdom who don’t possess a four-year degree. [5]

As for the European Union, they developed the “Pact For Skills” program in 2020. This program was created to encourage and fund better upskilling and reskilling while also promoting greater diversity and gender equality.[6]

A good example from both areas is the British-Lithuanian bank, Revolut.

Revolut adopted skills-based hiring by using TestGorilla’s skills tests and, as a result, improved their time-to-hire by 40% .

Among many other benefits, Revolut found TestGorilla’s language tests life-saving. Assessing language proficiency is essential for a multinational company, but traditional methods are time-consuming and laborious.

TestGorilla’s language tests help Revolut to quickly and easily evaluate their candidates’ reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. This helped them to nearly fully automate their screening process, improving time-to-hire greatly.

To read more case studies and success stories about skills-based hiring, check out our 10 stories that demonstrate the power of skills-based hiring or our collection of customer case studies .

Here are 3 top picks from our case studies:

Revolut improves time-to-hire by 40% using TestGorilla

Design Pickle uses TestGorilla to boost application completion rate by 25%

TestGorilla helps TruTrip to save money and improve employee experience

If you’d like to acquaint yourself with a solid skills-based hiring practice, browse our test library and review our skills tests.

“JVS 2022 Impact Report”. (2022). JVS . Retrieved March 6, 2023. https://impact2022.jvs.org/

“Maria Black, president and CEO”. (n.d). Business Roundtable. Retrieved March 6, 2023. https://www.businessroundtable.org/about-us/members/maria-black-president-and-ceo-adp

McGraw, Mark. (April 4, 2022). “Dropping Degree Requirements: Do Employers Still Care About Education?”. World at Work . Retrieved March 6, 2023. https://worldatwork.org/resources/publications/workspan-daily/dropping-degree-requirements-do-employers-still-care-about-education

“The Future of Talent”. (2021). LinkedIn . Retrieved March 6, 2023. https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/business/en-us/talent-solutions/resources/pdfs/future-of-talent-whitepaper.pdf

“Overview of the education system”. (2022). Education GPS . Retrieved March 6, 2023. https://gpseducation.oecd.org/CountryProfile?primaryCountry=GBR&treshold=10&topic=EO

“Pact for Skills”. (November 10, 2020). European Commission . Retrieved March 6, 2023.  https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1517&langId=en

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The Case of the Encumbered Employee

Hacking the Case Interview

We’ve compiled 50 case interview examples and organized them by industry, function, and consulting firm to give you the best, free case interview practice. Use these case interview examples for practice as you prepare for your consulting interviews.

If you’re looking for a step-by-step shortcut to learn case interviews quickly, enroll in our case interview course . These insider strategies from a former Bain interviewer helped 30,000+ land consulting offers while saving hundreds of hours of prep time.

Case Interview Examples Organized by Industry

Below, we’ve linked all of the case interview examples we could find from consulting firm websites and YouTube videos and organized them by industry. This will be helpful for your case interview practice if there is a specific consulting industry role that you are interviewing for that you need more practice in.

Aerospace, Defense, & Government Case Interview Examples

• Agency V (Deloitte)
• The Agency (Deloitte)
• Federal Finance Agency (Deloitte)
• Federal Civil Cargo Protection Bureau (Deloitte)

Consumer Products & Retail Case Interview Examples

• Electro-light (McKinsey)
• Beautify (McKinsey)
• Shops Corporation (McKinsey)
• Climate Case (BCG)
• Foods Inc. (BCG) *scroll to bottom of page
• Chateau Boomerang (BCG) *written case interview
• PrintCo (Bain)
• Coffee Co. (Bain)
• Fashion Co. (Bain)
• Recreation Unlimited (Deloitte)
• Footlose (Deloitte)
• National Grocery and Drug Store (Kearney)
• Whisky Co. (OC&C)
• Dry Cleaners (Accenture) *scroll to page 15
• UK Grocery Retail (Strategy&) *scroll to page 24
• Ice Cream Co. (Capital One)

Healthcare & Life Sciences Case Interview Examples

• GlobaPharm (McKinsey)
• GenCo (BCG) *scroll to middle of page
• PrevenT (BCG)
• MedX (Deloitte)
• Medical Consumables (LEK)
• Medicine Company (HackingTheCaseInterview)
• Pharma Company (Indian Institute of Management)

Manufacturing & Production Case Interview Examples

• Aqualine (Oliver Wyman)
• 3D Printed Hip Implants (Roland Berger)
• Talbot Trucks (McKinsey)
• Playworks (Yale School of Management)

Social & Non-Profit Case Interview Examples

• Diconsa (McKinsey)
• National Education (McKinsey)
• Conservation Forever (McKinsey)
• Federal Health Agency (Deloitte)
• Robinson Philanthropy (Bridgespan)
• Home Nurses for New Families (Bridgespan)
• Reach for the Stars (Bridgespan)
• Venture Philanthropy (Bridgespan)

Technology, Media, & Telecom Case Interview Examples

• NextGen Tech (Bain)
• Smart Phone Introduction (Simon-Kucher)
• MicroTechnos (HackingTheCaseInterview)

Transportation Case Interview Examples

• Low Cost Carrier Airline (BCG)
• Transit Oriented Development (Roland Berger)
• Northeast Airlines (HackingTheCaseInterview)
• A+ Airline Co. (Yale School of Management)
• Ryder (HackingTheCaseInterview)

Travel & Entertainment Case Interview Examples

• Wumbleworld (Oliver Wyman)
• Theater Co. (LEK)
• Hotel and Casino Co. (OC&C)

Case Interview Examples Organized by Function

Below, we’ve taken the same cases listed in the “Case Interview Examples Organized by Industry” section and organized them by function instead. This will be helpful for your case interview practice if there is a specific type of case interview that you need more practice with.

Profitability Case Interview Examples

To learn how to solve profitability case interviews, check out our video below:

Market Entry Case Interview Examples

Merger & acquisition case interview examples.

Growth Strategy Case Interview Examples

Pricing case interview examples.

New Product Launch Case Interview Examples

Market sizing case interview examples.

To learn how to solve market sizing case interviews, check out our video below:

Operations Case Interview Examples

Other case interview examples.

These are cases that don’t quite fit into any of the above categories. These cases are the more unusual, atypical, and nontraditional cases out there.

Case Interview Examples Organized by Consulting Firm

Below, we’ve taken the same cases listed previously and organized them by company instead. This will be helpful for your case interview practice if there is a specific company that you are interviewing with.

McKinsey Case Interview Examples

BCG Case Interview Examples

Bain Case Interview Examples

Deloitte Case Interview Examples

Lek case interview examples, kearney case interview examples, oliver wyman case interview examples, roland berger case interview examples, oc&c case interview  examples, bridgespan case interview examples, strategy& case interview examples, accenture case interview examples, simon kutcher case interview examples, capital one case interview examples, case interview examples from mba casebooks.

For more case interview examples, check out our article on 23 MBA consulting casebooks with 700+ free practice cases . There additional cases created by MBA consulting clubs that make for great case interview practice. For your convenience, we’ve listed some of the best MBA consulting casebooks below:

• Australian Graduate School of Management (2002)
• Booth (2005)
• Columbia (2007)
• Darden (2019)
• ESADE (2011)
• Fuqua (2018)
• Goizueta (2006)
• Haas (2019)
• Harvard Business School (2012)
• Illinois (2015)
• INSEAD (2011)
• Johnson (2003)
• Kellogg (2012)
• London Business School (2013)
• McCombs (2018)
• Notre Dame (2017)
• Queens (2019)
• Ross (2010)
• Sloan (2015)
• Stern (2018)
• Tuck (2009)
• Wharton (2017)
• Yale (2013)

Consulting casebooks are documents that MBA consulting clubs put together to help their members prepare for consulting case interviews. Consulting casebooks provide some case interview strategies and tips, but they mostly contain case interview practice cases.

While consulting casebooks contain tons of practice cases, there is quite a bit of variety in the sources and formats of these cases.

Some practice cases are taken from actual consulting interviews given by consulting firms. These are the best types of cases to practice with because they closely simulate the length and difficulty of an actual case interview. Other practice cases may be written by the consulting club’s officers. These cases are less realistic, but can still offer great practice.

The formats of the practice cases in consulting casebooks also vary significantly.

Some practice cases are written in a question and answer format. This type of format makes it easy to practice the case by yourself, without a case partner. Other practices cases are written in a dialogue format. These cases are better for practicing with a case interview partner.

MBA consulting casebooks can be a great resource because they are free and provide tons of practice cases to hone your case interview skills. However, there are several caveats that you should be aware of.

• Similarity to real case interviews : Some cases in MBA consulting casebooks are not representative of actual case interviews because they are written by consulting club officers instead of interviewers from consulting firms
• Quality of sample answers : While consulting casebooks provide sample solutions, these answers are often not the best or highest quality answers
• Ease of use : Consulting casebooks are all written in different formats and by different people. Therefore, it can be challenging to find cases that you can consistently use to practice cases by yourself or with a partner

Therefore, we recommend that you first use the case interview examples listed in this article and wait until you’ve exhausted all of them before using MBA consulting casebooks.

Case Interview Examples from HackingTheCaseInterview

Below, we've pulled together several of our very own case interview examples. You can use these case interview examples for your case interview practice.

1. Tech retailer profitability case interview

2. Airline profitability case interview

3. Ride sharing app market entry

4. Increasing Drug Adoption

How to Use Case Interview Examples to Practice Case Interviews

To get the most out of these case interview examples and maximize your time spent on case interview practice, follow these three steps.

1. Understand the case interview structure beforehand

If case interviews are something new to you, we recommend watching the following video to learn the basics of case interviews in under 30 minutes.

Know that there are seven major steps of a case interview.

• Understanding the case background : Take note while the interviewer gives you the case background information. Afterwards, provide a concise synthesis to confirm your understanding of the situation and objective
• Asking clarifying questions : Ask questions to better understand the case background and objective
• Structuring a framework : Lay out a framework of what areas you want to look into in order to answer or solve the case
• Kicking off the case : Propose an area of your framework that you would like to dive deeper into 
• Solving quantitative problems : Solve a variety of different quantitative problems, such as market sizing questions and profitability questions. You may also be given charts and graphs to analyze or interpret
• Answering qualitative questions : You may be asked to brainstorm ideas or be asked to give your business opinion on a particular issue or topic
• Delivering a recommendation : Summarize the key takeaways from the case to deliver a firm and concise recommendation

2. Learn how to practice case interviews by yourself 

There are 6 steps to practice case interviews by yourself. The goal of these steps is to simulate a real case interview as closely as you can so that you practice the same skills and techniques that you are going to use in a real case interview.

• Synthesize the case background information out loud : Start the practice case interview by reading the case background information. Then, just as you would do in a live case interview, summarize the case background information out loud
• Ask clarifying questions out loud : Just as you would do in a live case interview, ask clarifying questions out loud. Although you do not have a case partner that can answer your questions, it is important to practice identifying the critical questions that need to be asked to fully understand the case
• Structure a framework and present it out loud : Pretend that you are in an actual interview in which you’ll only have a few minutes to put together a comprehensive and coherent framework. Replicate the stress that you will feel in an interview when you are practicing case interviews on your own by giving yourself time pressure.

When you have finished creating your framework, turn your paper around to face an imaginary interviewer and walk through the framework out loud. You will need to get good at presenting your framework concisely and in an easy to understand way.

• Propose an area to start the case : Propose an area of your framework to start the case. Make sure to say out loud the reasons why you want to start with that particular area
• Answer each case question out loud : If the question is a quantitative problem, create a structure and walk the interviewer through how you would solve the problem. When doing math, do your calculations out loud and explain the steps that you are taking.

If the question is qualitative, structure your thinking and then brainstorm your ideas out loud. Walk the interviewer through your ideas and opinions.

• Deliver a recommendation out loud : Just as you would do in a real case interview, ask for a brief moment to collect your thoughts and review your notes. Once you have decided on a recommendation, present your recommendation to the interviewer.

3. Follow best practices while practicing case interviews :    

You’ll most likely be watching, reading, or working through these case interview examples by yourself. To get the most practice and learnings out of each case interview example, follow these tips: 

• Don’t have notes or a calculator out when you are practicing since you won’t have these in your actual interview
• Don’t take breaks in the middle of a mock case interview
• Don’t read the case answer until you completely finish answering each question
• Talk through everything out loud as if there were an interviewer in the room
• Occasionally record yourself to understand what you look like and sound like when you speak

4. Identify improvement areas to work on

When the case is completed, review your framework and answers and compare them to the model answers that the case provides. Reflect on how you could have made your framework or answers stronger.

Also, take the time to reflect on what parts of the case you could have done better. Could your case synthesis be more concise? Was your framework mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive? Could your math calculations be done more smoothly? Was your recommendation structured enough?

This is the most important part of practicing case interviews by yourself. Since you have no partner to provide you feedback, you will need to be introspective and identify your own improvement areas.

At the end of each practice case interview, you should have a list of new things that you have learned and a list of improvement areas to work on in future practice cases. You’ll continue to work on your improvement areas in future practice cases either by yourself or with a partner.

5. Eventually find a case partner to practice with

You can only do so many practice case interviews by yourself before your learning will start to plateau. Eventually, you should be practicing case interviews with a case partner.

Practicing with a case partner is the best way to simulate a real case interview. There are many aspects of case interviews that you won’t be able to improve on unless you practice live with a partner:

• Driving the direction of the case
• Asking for more information
• Collaborating to get the right approach or structure
• Answering follow-up questions

If you are practicing with a case partner, decide who is going to be giving the case and who is going to be receiving the case.

If you are giving the case, read the entire case information carefully. It may be helpful to read through everything twice so that you are familiar with all of the information and can answer any question that your partner asks you to clarify.

As the person giving the case, you need to be the case expert.

You should become familiar with the overall direction of the case. In other words, you should know what the major questions of the case are and what the major areas of investigation are. This will help you run the mock case interview more smoothly.  

Depending on whether you want the case interview to be interviewer-led or candidate-led, you will need to decide how much you want to steer the direction of the case.

If your partner gets stuck and is taking a long time, you may need to step in and provide suggestions or hints. If your partner is proceeding down a wrong direction, you will need to direct them towards the right direction.

Where to Find More Case Interview Examples

To find more case interview examples, you can use a variety of different case interview prep books, online courses, and coaching. We'll cover each of these different categories of resources for more case interview practice in more detail.

Case Interview Prep Books

Case interview prep books are great resources to use because they are fairly inexpensive, only costing $20 to $30. They contain a tremendous amount of information that you can read, digest, and re-read at your own pace.

Based on our comprehensive review of the 12 popular case interview prep books , we ranked nearly all of the case prep books in the market.

The three case interview prep books we recommend using are:

• Hacking the Case Interview : In this book, learn exactly what to do and what to say in every step of the case interview. This is the perfect book for beginners that are looking to learn the basics of case interviews quickly.
• The Ultimate Case Interview Workbook : In this book, hone your case interview skills through 65+ problems tailored towards each type of question asked in case interviews and 15 full-length practice cases. This book is great for intermediates looking to get quality practice.
• Case Interview Secrets : This book provides great explanations of essential case interview concepts and fundamentals. The stories and anecdotes that the author provides are entertaining and help paint a clear picture of what to expect in a case interview, what interviewers are looking for, and how to solve a case interview.

Case Interview Courses

Case interview courses are more expensive to use than case interview prep books, but offer more efficient and effective learning. You’ll learn much more quickly from watching someone teach you the material, provide examples, and then walk through practice problems than from reading a book by yourself.

Courses typically cost anywhere between $200 to $400.

If you are looking for a single resource to learn the best case interview strategies in the most efficient way possible, enroll in our comprehensive case interview course .

Through 70+ concise video lessons and 20 full-length practice cases based on real interviews from top-tier consulting firms, you’ll learn step-by-step how to crush your case interview.

We’ve had students pass their consulting first round interview with just a week of preparation, but know that your success depends on the amount of effort you put in and your starting capabilities.

Case Interview Coaching

With case interview coaching, you’ll pay anywhere between $100 to $300 for a 40- to 60-minute mock case interview session with a case coach. Typically, case coaches are former consultants or interviewers that have worked at top-tier consulting firms.

Although very expensive, case interview coaching can provide you with high quality feedback that can significantly improve your case interview performance. By working with a case coach, you will be practicing high quality cases with an expert. You’ll get detailed feedback that ordinary case interview partners are not able to provide.

Know that you do not need to purchase case interview coaching to receive a consulting job offer. The vast majority of candidates that receive offers from top firms did not purchase case interview coaching. By purchasing case interview coaching, you are essentially purchasing convenience and learning efficiency.

Case interview coaching is best for those that have already learned as much as they can about case interviews on their own and feel that they have reached a plateau in their learning. For case interview beginners and intermediates, it may be a better use of their money to first purchase a case interview course or case interview prep book before purchasing expensive coaching sessions.

If you do decide to eventually use a case interview coach, consider using our case coaching service .

There is a wide range of quality among coaches, so ensure that you are working with someone that is invested in your development and success. If possible, ask for reviews from previous candidates that your coach has worked with.

Summary of the Best Consulting Interview Resources

Here are the resources we recommend to land your dream consulting job:

For help landing consulting interviews

• Resume Review & Editing : Transform your resume into one that will get you multiple consulting interviews

For help passing case interviews

• Comprehensive Case Interview Course (our #1 recommendation): The only resource you need. Whether you have no business background, rusty math skills, or are short on time, this step-by-step course will transform you into a top 1% caser that lands multiple consulting offers.
• Case Interview Coaching : Personalized, one-on-one coaching with a former Bain interviewer.
• Hacking the Case Interview Book   (available on Amazon): Perfect for beginners that are short on time. Transform yourself from a stressed-out case interview newbie to a confident intermediate in under a week. Some readers finish this book in a day and can already tackle tough cases.
• The Ultimate Case Interview Workbook (available on Amazon): Perfect for intermediates struggling with frameworks, case math, or generating business insights. No need to find a case partner – these drills, practice problems, and full-length cases can all be done by yourself.

For help passing consulting behavioral & fit interviews

• Behavioral & Fit Interview Course : Be prepared for 98% of behavioral and fit questions in just a few hours. We'll teach you exactly how to draft answers that will impress your interviewer.

Land Multiple Consulting Offers

Complete, step-by-step case interview course. 30,000+ happy customers.

What Is a Case Study?

What is a case study interview, how to prep for a case study interview, case study interview example questions, during the case study interview.

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Forage puts students first. Our blog articles are written independently by our editorial team. They have not been paid for or sponsored by our partners. See our full  editorial guidelines .

Table of Contents

A case study interview isn’t your average interview. While most interviews ask you to give examples of how you use your skills on the job, in a case study interview, you’ll use those skills in front of the interviewer to solve a real-life problem.

It’s like auditioning for the school play. But instead of showing you can sing and dance, you’re using a case interview to show how you provide innovative solutions to pressing business problems. Not sure how to get ready for this kind of interview? We’ve got you covered. This guide explains how to prep for a case study interview.

Case studies are used across a variety of industries — everything from business to medicine. They are an in-depth examination, analysis, and critique of a real-world scenario the company experienced. People discuss the situation and explore what they learned while forming new solutions to try when they face a similar situation in the future and hope to improve their performance.

For example, doctors and nurses use case studies to improve how they diagnose and treat patients. Using real patient information, the medical team analyzes the case to see what the team may have missed and why they missed it. Learning from these errors helps the team better prepare for similar cases in the future to improve patient care.

While many industries use case studies to iterate and improve their performance, not every company uses case study interviews. This type of interview is very common at consulting companies (no matter what kind of consulting it is). But it’s not unusual for companies outside of consulting to use case interviews for marketing or operations roles.

In a case study interview, you’re given a real-world situation the company has faced and are tasked with analyzing it and suggesting a course of action.

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Skills you’ll build: Prioritizing, planning, data analysis, error spotting, communication, strategic thinking

Businesses use case study interviews to assess your abilities in real-time. While you’ll probably draw on a variety of skills, most case study interviews assess:

• Strategic thinking
• Analytical skills
• Common sense

The advantage of a case study interview is that the interviewer can evaluate your ability in each of these areas and see how you’ll actually use them on the job.

What Is a Fit Interview?

Some people use “case study interview” and “fit interview” interchangeably. While a fit interview and a case study interview both ask behavioral interview questions , they are not the same thing.

A case study interview assesses your ability to do the job. It primarily evaluates how you approach business problems and use your skills to solve them. A fit interview is about company culture fit. The interviewer asks questions that assess how well you’ll fit into the company, like asking you questions about what motivates you or how you lead .

Fit and case interviews are important parts of the evaluation process. Getting the job done is just as critical as getting along with coworkers and supporting the company’s mission. Depending on where you interview, you may have one fit interview and one case study interview, or the fit interview may be a smaller part of the case study interview.

What You’ll Learn in a Case Study Interview

A case study interview allows the hiring manager to see your skills in action and how you approach business challenges. But it also teaches you a lot about the company (even if you’re doing most of the talking).

In a sense, you’re behaving as an employee during a case study interview. This gives you a peek behind the curtain, allowing you to see the company’s inner workings, like how they approach business problems and what they expect from you and your performance.

For example, you may offer a novel approach to solving a problem during a case interview. How does the interviewer react to it? Are they impressed? Surprised? Is there a scowl or frown on their face? Their reaction gives you insights into how the company will likely receive your solutions.

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Skills you’ll build: Critical thinking, creativity, brainstorming

Depending on the specific company, you may have the case study interview questions in advance, but you may not. Whether you do or don’t, here’s how to prepare for a case study interview.

Conduct Deep Research

Good interview prep for any interview means researching the company. That includes things like learning more about the company’s mission and the challenges the industry faces. But when you’re preparing for a case study interview, your research needs to go deeper. 

When you answer a case study question, your answer has to be specific to the company’s clients or business objectives. For example, if you’re interviewing for a role in strategy consulting , your answer shouldn’t focus on aspects of human resources consulting (unless it’s particularly relevant).

Your research needs to include the kinds of clients the company works with and what types of problems the company solves. For example, the company may only consult for Fortune 100 companies that need accounting advice. Keep these facts in mind as you prepare for the interview.

Case Study Interview Formats

There are four types of case study interview formats:

• Candidate-led: The interviewer asks you a specific question (or gives you a prompt), and you walk the interviewer through a detailed answer.
• Employer-led: The interviewer leads you through a series of specific (and predetermined) prompts and questions, no matter your answers.
• Presentation: You’re given a problem in advance to create and present a detailed case study.
• Video: Similar to a presentation case study interview, you’ll create a video presentation of the case study.

Most companies will tell you in advance which style of case study interview you should prepare for. But if they don’t, reach out to your recruiter or check the company’s website. Many include the essential details you need to prepare for the case study interview.

Seek Out Company-Specific Tips

Speaking of companies and their websites, not only do many companies that use case study interviews tell you the format, they often include helpful tips and tricks to help candidates prepare. This includes what to expect, what the company is looking for skill-wise, and what kinds of responses they want. They may even have a few practice questions and videos you can use to help you prep.

Unlike other common interview questions , it’s not as easy to prepare an answer to case study interview questions. Even though you know it’s a case study interview, you don’t necessarily know the specifics of the case or what problems you’ll be asked to solve.

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That said, it’s likely your case study interview questions will cover one or several of these concepts:

• Entering new markets
• Increasing profits
• Cutting costs
• Turnarounds
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Pricing strategy
• Developing new products
• Industry analysis
• Competitive response

While there are many ways to answer case study interview questions, a few basic prep tips can help you get ready for every question.

In addition to what you usually bring to a job interview , make sure you bring a notepad and pen or pencil to a case study interview. Taking notes will help you better understand the questions and formulate your answers. It also gives you a place to calculate numbers and figures if you need to. Not every case study interview allows calculators, so you’ll need to be ready to do your calculations manually.

Ask Specific Questions

As you’re working through the case study, you can and should ask any clarifying questions you need. The interviewer wants to hear specific, detailed answers that solve the problem. So, whenever you’re unclear, ask a follow-up question to not only get what you need but to give the interviewer what they need. 

That said, your question(s) should be very specific. You need to verify exactly what the interview is asking so you can create an appropriate answer. Say the interviewer gives you a broad question: The client’s revenue is falling. How do you help them increase it? You can follow up with a very specific question or two to make sure you understand what the interviewer is asking:

You’re asking how I would help the client raise revenue, correct? Are you also asking how I would help them increase their profit and cut costs?

>>Related: 5 Top Questions to Ask in an Interview (and Why You Should Ask Them)

Talk Them Through It

A big part of the case study interview is seeing you in action. However, in this case, “see” really means “how you think.” Since the interviewer can’t hear your inner monologue, you’ll need to practice thinking out loud.

While the interviewer wants to hear your solution, they also want to hear how you got there. That means talking through your entire thought process. Instead of saying, “I’d do X,” you have to explain how you arrived at your decision while you’re getting there.

Because not everyone thinks out loud, it may feel unnatural to you, and you likely won’t be expected to do it on the job. But it’s crucial to practice this skill — and it is a skill — because the interviewer is expecting you to do it in a case study interview.

Want to give a case study a shot? Try out a Forage consulting virtual simulation program and gain the skills you’ll need to ace a case study interview.

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Employee engagement stands as a pivotal factor in the success and resilience of organizations. Conducting employee engagement surveys is an excellent way for management teams to measure job satisfaction, productivity, and retention rates. Engaged employees are not just present.

The Neuroscience of Employee Engagement

FEBRUARY 6, 2018

Job satisfaction is at the heart of employee engagement . Today, neuroscience (the study of the nervous system) can explain the fundamentals of human motivation at a molecular level. This makes me question: how can we leverage neuroscience findings to help optimize employee engagement initiatives? Let’s explore ….

Learning Management Case Study: Gerber Poultry

DECEMBER 6, 2019

Specifically, they needed a tool to deliver personalized training courses to employees , track completions for compliance purposes and eliminate the manually-intensive work that was required for Gerber’s HR team.

DOES EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT MATTER TO ORGANIZATIONS WITH HIGH TURNOVER? - DecisionWise

FEBRUARY 9, 2018

Recently, we have had several organizations come to us with the same basic question: What can we do to improve employee engagement if 90% of our employees stay less than 6 months? It might be tempting to think that employee engagement simply doesn’t matter in these types of scenarios. ACME Cleaning Services, Inc.,

What is HR Analytics? All You Need to Know to Get Started

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

The company encourages employees to take at least one longer period of time off per year, as well as multiple shorter breaks. For more real-world HR analytics examples, you can refer to the case studies we published in the past. This engaging , in-depth course is 100% online and self-paced.

Case Study: Meeder Investment Management

JANUARY 17, 2020

Adding Paycor Recruiting , Onboarding and Learning Management to their HR process helped Meeder Investment Management save time and increase employee engagement . “I Paycor’s LMS helped increase productivity across the workforce by offering a consistent training experience for employees , including onboarding courses for new hires.

New Case Study: Recognition Builds Community at Chelsea Groton Bank

DECEMBER 2, 2019

Download the full case study . Terryberry is a provider of employee rewards and recognition programs, serving thousands of clients in North America and the UK. The post New Case Study : Recognition Builds Community at Chelsea Groton Bank appeared first on Terryberry. The Solution.

7 seamless ways to make your workforce adopt new technology. (+ case studies) | HR Cloud

MARCH 1, 2023

However, getting your workforce to adopt new technology poses many hurdles that management and employees must overcome to achieve the desired results.

Employee Engagement Strategy: “3 Ways to Improve Employee Engagement in Your Organization” by Marie Johnson

The Incentive Solutions News blog

JUNE 26, 2020

Employee Engagement Strategy: Improving Work with Marie Johnson. Our eBooks, FAQ’s and case studies are packed with information about deploying an incentive program that best suits your needs. Incentive Rewards. Our Incentive rewards inspire motivation in your participants and produce the most ROI for your brand.

The Talent Slow Fade: A Case Study of Motley Fool’s Approach to Engagement

JULY 6, 2017

Note: As in all case studies and stories of successful talent approaches, I don’t advise copying any of the firm’s policies or approaches and trying to integrate them into your workplace without first considering the cultural elements necessary for success and what this would look like applied to your unique culture.

The Great Resignation’s Achilles Heel: Employee Engagement

Semos Cloud

FEBRUARY 4, 2022

The Great Resignation’s Achilles Heel: Employee Engagement . The lack of Employee Engagement is the basic issue you should tackle when trying to battle The Great Resignation in your organization. Read case study : Our Client Increased Employee Engagement Through Recognition. All, Best Practices.

13 Employee Engagement Trends for 2020

Vantage Circle

DECEMBER 5, 2019

Employee engagement is a very abstract concept. It is the “emotional connect” that an employee feels towards its organization. Same goes for employee engagement . With every new generation in the workforce, employee engagement trends change drastically. 13 Employee Engagement Trends for 2020.

Case Study – Zoos Victoria

NOVEMBER 30, 2020

Each of these key actions areas has key objectives linked to them, providing Zoos Victoria with the ability to align employees ’ individual responsibilities to the organisations strategy, through clearly defined objectives. Achieving the business strategy is the key success factor for Zoos Victoria.

Vaco Case Study – The Journey of a Performance Culture

SEPTEMBER 14, 2020

Webinar Overview: To be prepared and positioned for the future, study the past. The post Vaco Case Study – The Journey of a Performance Culture appeared first on Performance Culture. Living in the COVID world presents challenges most people leaders never considered.

The Importance Of Employee Engagement In Healthcare

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

The global pandemic has now led to an increase in demand for healthcare, and it has become very vital to drive employee engagement , now more than ever. Engaged healthcare professionals tend to attend their patients with genuine smiles and put an extra effort to help them with their questions and concerns. Patient Satisfaction.

Navigating Uncertainty: The Strategic Imperative of Investing in People and HR Tech

FEBRUARY 7, 2024

UAE businesses are increasingly recognizing the pivotal role of HR tech in streamlining operations, enhancing employee engagement , and fostering a culture of innovation. This collection of case studies showcases success stories where savvy UAE companies harnessed the power of HR tech to drive out of the box results: 1.

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Career Coaching: A case study in evaluating impact

As the volume of workplace coaching has increased, so too has the research literature on coaching outcomes for both individuals and employing organisations, and how to measure these. However, much of this evidence relates to leadership coaching, coaching for job performance and, to some extent, coaching to improve wellbeing at work.

Much less has been done to help employers articulate the value of career coaching in their workplaces or to establish robust measures of its success. Yet effective evaluation of career coaching is crucial when introducing such interventions or refining existing ones. 

In this paper we explore the evaluation of employer-sponsored career coaching through the lens of one career coaching programme as a case study to shed light on some questions relevant to employers:

• What might be the short-term and longer-term effects of an employer-sponsored career coaching programme?
• How can the results be evidenced?
• What can we share about evaluating career coaching that may be helpful to other employers and career coaching providers?

Overall this case study should help other employers and coaches feel that the evaluation of workplace career coaching is both possible and worth doing. The positive findings should also encourage employers to invest in a sustained way in supporting the career development of their employees. Many feel this is worthwhile, but few have attempted to evidence this.

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• Do star performers need to network? (C): The case of the high-potential: Yvonne Benkert

Networking had been central to Yvonne Benkert’s career – helping her to get her first job out of university, and then taking her to head of HR for MAN. As a high potential, Yvonne began an Executive MBA program. In November 2009, the management board was restructured. Everyone was replaced except for Yvonne’s mentor. He offered her the job of Head of Corporate Responsibility, reporting to the board member responsible for HR. Yvonne’s new job required greater contact internally with different functional disciplines (compliance, risk management, etc), geographies, divisions and also with the outside world. She took stock of all her different networks – both internal and external.

Maintaining different types of networks is important, as high potentials progress through their career. Different networks can serve different functions, and can be useful over time. As such it is worth investing in keeping networks diverse, from a functional and geographical point of view. Participants are encouraged to consider what internal and external networks would be useful for them to invest more energy in, as they move through their career.

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IMD retains all proprietary interests in its case studies and notes. Without prior written permission, IMD cases and notes may not be reproduced, used, translated, included in books or other publications, distributed in any form or by any means, stored in a database or in other retrieval systems. For additional copyright information related to case studies, please contact Case Services .

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• Do star performers need to network? (A)
• Do star performers need to network? (B): Re-entry & visibility: Bénédicte Foucart
• Do star performers need to network? (D) at a mid-career crossroads: Natasha Nowak

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Development of a Block-Scale Spatial Flood Vulnerability Index. Case Study: Morelia, Mexico

27 Pages Posted: 5 Sep 2024

Claudia Ximena Roblero-Escobar

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Jaime Madrigal

Sonia tatiana sánchez-quispe, julio césar orantes-avalos.

The study of urban floods is increasingly crucial due to their growing frequency and impact on densely populated areas, often characterized by inadequate drainage and located in flood-prone zones. The consequences extend beyond physical damage, significantly affecting economies and livelihoods, necessitating substantial economic resources for recovery and infrastructure rebuilding. Urban planning now must integrate flood risk management, emphasizing not only infrastructural resilience but also comprehensive policies that address environmental and social vulnerabilities to better prepare and protect urban environments against future flood risks. This study addresses the critical issue of urban flood vulnerability through a focused analysis of Morelia, a city known for its susceptibility to flooding due to its geographical and hydrological characteristics. Employing a multifaceted approach that integrates hydrological, socio-economic, and land use data within a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) framework, the research develops a Spatial Flood Vulnerability Index (SFVI). This index is meticulously applied at the urban block level, offering a precise mapping of flood risks across the city. By correlating the SFVI results with historical flood data, the study identifies the most vulnerable areas in Morelia, which are primarily impacted due to their proximity to water bodies, economic density, and infrastructural settings. The methodology not only highlights immediate flood risks but also aids in strategic urban planning to enhance resilience against future flooding events. This paper contributes a novel approach to flood risk assessment, providing a replicable model for similarly affected cities worldwide, aiming to balance structural measures with strategic planning tailored to local needs.

Keywords: Spatial flood vulnerability index, Spatial analysis, Urban resilience, Urban risk assessment, Block-scale.

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

Jaime Madrigal (Contact Author)

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