Boeing has identified and fired an employee who hung a noose at a manufacturing plant in South Carolina. Boeing has condemned the employee's actions, saying they violate the company's values and behaviors.

The growing number of restaurants and declining unemployment are creating a tight labor market, spurring restaurants to experiment with new hiring and retention practices. McDonald's recently partnered with an artificial intelligence-based text-writing company to improve its recruitment emails, and several chains are playing up education perks to encourage employees to stay.

Transamerica has launched the Transamerica Secure Retirement Index II Annuity contract, which offers access to several indexes including the NYSE Expanded Opportunities Index. Separately, the insurer revised its optional Transamerica Income Plus lifetime income benefit to provide lifetime income that increases by 10% a year for the first 10 years of the contract.

Some schools are connecting their IT needs with career and technical education by having students lend their expertise to help with school technology. A high school in New York state, for example, has an in-house team of students who troubleshoot and assist with tech installation, including printers, laptops, desktops and upgraded devices.

Our underlying biases and our desire to talk can make us less effective listeners, writes executive coach Fred Halstead. "When you find yourself shutting another person off, instead become curious and listen for the kernel of truth or insight that the person may have for you," Halstead writes.