KYLE CUPP
Professional Writer Portfolio
A collection of my work that is visible to the general public.
A SAMPLE OF PUBLISHED WORKS
HOW TO DESIGN A POWERHOUSE TEAM
November 2021
Many Americans get their first job working at a fast-food chain. You may have been one of them. If so, you probably remember your first day. Maybe you started at a register. Or perhaps you began in the kitchen. Either way, you had a lot to learn in a short amount of time. Every member of the team was counting on you to help keep the lines moving. Patience isn’t a virtue in this business, after all.
Read more at Mineral.
A TALE OF DISABILITY IN THE WORKPLACE
October 2021
There was a time in my life when I would worry every single day that I had ruined a wedding. The couple didn’t know it, and I would have to tell them.
Read more at TLNT.
WHEN YOU NEED TO HIRE WORKERS, BUT NOBODY LIKES THE WORK
September 2021
Some jobs are just plain unpleasant. You know the type. Monotonous tasks that don’t end until it’s time to clock out. Dealing all day with customers who are unhappy, unappreciative, or rude. Fielding nonstop complaints. Hard labor. Outdoor work in extreme temperatures.
Read more at Mineral.
HR COMPLIANCE: WHAT IT IS AND WHY IT’S SO COMPLICATED
July 2021
Running a business comes with no shortage of perks. You get the freedom to be your own boss, invest in an idea, steer its trajectory, and create wealth. It has its challenges, too. Competition may be fierce. Demand for what you offer may be low. Costs may not be sustainable. But even if everything else is going your way, there’s one challenge that’s ever-present. We’re talking, of course, about HR compliance.
Read more at Mineral.
DARTH VADER VISITS HR
May 2021
HR: The policies outlined in the Death Star’s employee handbook comply with the Galactic Civil Rights Act of a Long Time Ago, which, as you know from the manager workshop training you attended, prohibits discrimination of people belonging to certain protected classes. In this case, religious faith, or rather lack thereof.
Vader: I am altering the handbook.
Read more at Ordinary Times.
BUSINESSES ARE STRUGGLING TO HIRE—HERE’S WHAT THEY CAN DO ABOUT IT
May 2021
Fortunately for employers looking to hire, the problem of people choosing not to work isn’t fundamentally different than the problem of people choosing to work somewhere else. In both cases, the would-be employer has to convince prospective hires that working for them is better than the alternatives, and then they have to live up to those promises... Read more at Mineral.
WHAT EMPLOYERS HAVE TO KNOW ABOUT GRIEF: MY SON'S DEATH DIDN'T COME ON MY COMPANY'S TIMELINE
November 2020
Death doesn’t schedule time on your calendar, and it doesn’t always give advance notice. Sometimes, as it did with our oldest child, it breaks into your world unexpectedly, mercilessly, snatching your attention away from whatever you had thought was important in that moment... Read more at USA Today.
MAKING THE WORKPLACE A SAFE PLACE TO SPEAK UP
July 2020
Employees who report harassment and discrimination, speak candidly to their supervisors, or challenge the status quo often find themselves excluded from projects, denied a promotion, or out of a job... Read more at ThinkHR.
HOW TO HELP EMPLOYEES COMMUNICATE MORE EFFECTIVELY
February 2021
In an ideal world, communication would be easy. We’d immediately know exactly what to say or write. Emails, Slack messages, and reply threads would practically write themselves. And there’d be no confusion about what anyone meant, ever... Read more at ThinkHR.
HOW TO SUPPORT GRIEVING EMPLOYEES
November 2020
Our fast-paced, always-on society isn’t set up to allow time for grief. We’re often pressured to keep our grief private and keep it short. Grief takes us away from our obligations, and our obligations may be impatient for us to return. Households need to be managed. Work needs to be done. Bills need to be paid. Life goes on... Read more at ThinkHR.
HOW LOSING MY DAUGHTER CHANGED MY FAITH
April 2017
On special occasions or whenever the mood takes us, my wife, two children, and I drive down a gravel road north of our church and turn into a flat square drive that surrounds a cemetery. We park the car on the south side, before a sidewalk that leads to a section of grave markers much smaller than the others. Our children usually run ahead of us—they know the way—while my wife and I process solemnly, hand-in-hand, to the ground where our daughter Vivian rests... Read more at The Daily Beast.
HOW TO SUPPORT THE MENTAL HEALTH OF YOUR EMPLOYEES DURING COVID-19
May 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on everyone’s mental health. People have experienced financial hardship, additional challenges with childcare and school cancellations, job loss, reduced hours, sickness, and grief. The future is uncertain, and the present is extra stressful. And to make matters worse, many of the networks and practices that people use to support their mental health are currently unavailable due to social distancing... Read more at ThinkHR.