Nothing short of inspiring

When I found out Stroll made the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies again this year -- the sixth time in a row -- my first thought was, wow, we're really on a roll. And that "we" is the lynchpin. Our team has fueled our growth year after year, pushing us higher on the Inc. 5000 to now sit at #1,014 overall. Stroll was also ranked #15 in education, #20 in Pennsylvania, and #20 in the Philadelphia Metro area.

Local charter school students are China-bound for language learning

Thirty-five students at Tacony Academy Charter School in Philadelphia will soon be on their way to China as part of their Mandarin language education program. Stroll is helping them get there by donating $10,000 to fund their trip.

We made it official the other week with a fun ceremony at our offices for the students and faculty. It was great to see the excitement and anticipation of the students, who are dedicated to learning a second language and preparing themselves to become part of our global economy. Here are some photos from the event.

Forced ranking: Doing it right, doing it wrong

General Electric CEO Jack Welch made the practice of "forced ranking" famous when his company championed it in the 1980s -- or maybe that would be infamous … but more on that later. What is forced ranking? It's the system where companies group employees into certain categories according to their performance. Welch's approach divided employees into three groups -- the top 20 percent, the middle 70 percent, and bottom 10 percent.

The purpose of such a system is to reward and retain top performers, help middle performers become top performers, and replace the company's bottom performers to improve the overall results of the organization and drive new growth.