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| Average hours spent per day in leisure and sports activites, by youngest and oldest populations
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Having Talent Isn't Enough, You Must Leverage It
Bizjournals (10/08/07) ; Nelson, Bob
With talent shortages poised to hinder many industries, companies need to take talent management by the reins and ensure competencies and skills held by workers in the firm continue to expand. Managers play an integral role in talent management because they can provide the support system, resources, and guidance workers need to enhance their work experiences. First, managers must energize their employees, making sure workers have goals to achieve, and those goals should empower workers to take on further responsibility. Secondly, managers need to become the cheerleading section for their workers, providing them with helpful feedback and encouragement. This supportive atmosphere will enable workers to communicate openly with managers about mistakes or procedures they think should be changed. Good managers guide and channel their employee's talents, letting them know it is okay to make mistakes. Finally, experts stress that the most successful managers value effective, one-on-one communication.
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Communication Key to Retaining Staff at 3M
South China Morning Post (10/06/07) , P. 4; Lo, Vanessa
3M has conducted nearly a half-century of successful business in Hong Kong, due in part to its ability to retain staff through its training measures. Although 3M does not have an official management trainee initiative to get in-house candidates ready for promotion to managerial positions, it does have a mentoring program where possible candidates are chosen for coaching by managers or supervisors. The mentors help candidates work on their drawbacks prior to acquiring a position of greater responsibility. The program concentrates on creating character and developing the worker's attitude. While it does not provide position rotations where the worker acquires actual experience in different departments, 3M does possess an internal transfer protocol where colleagues can ask for a transfer to other departments when vacancies appear. Every worker has a unique development plan where their superiors work with them to promote their strengths and reduce their weaknesses over a half-year to a year. In addition, 3M's headquarters conducts a worldwide development initiative to further develop the growth of chosen workers over a two- to three-week period. 3M says it encourages its employees to regard their position as part of their career development instead of only something that earns them a living. |
The Young and the Restless
Governing (09/07) Vol. 20, P. 50; Patton, Zach
While the majority of the American workplace has experienced a shift in growing numbers of Generation X and Y-ers, there are two sectors where that demographic has been slow to seek jobs: at the state and local levels. Generation X, those born between 1965 and 1977, and Generation Y, born between 1978 and 1990, have a drastically different work ethic than their predecessors. They are also generations differentiated by an evolving definition of what they desire from the workplace, in addition to having the desire for constant challenges. In 1972, 26 percent of local government managers were under 30 years-old; by 2000, that population dwindled to 2 percent. Experts say the government needs to aggressively tailor their job outreach to the needs of both generations, underscoring the opportunities for young workers to have a personal impact at work, allowing for flexibility of their time, and rewarding them on pay-based performance. New York University Professor Paul Light says students these days are not as concerned with stable jobs that lead them to a comfortable retirement, while their interests lie within personal growth and development of their skills. Some states, such as Vermont, have had proactive campaigns citing the potential for those of Generation Y to have on honing their professional skills. City of Iowa employee Tanisha Briley, of Generation Y, says that local government needs to explain more about opportunities for upcoming graduates and emphasize that their time in local and state jobs in many ways provide possibilities for directly making a difference in the workplace.
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How to Handle Opposition When Leading the Charge
Presstime (10/07) , P. 1; Olmstead, Larry; Ceppos, Larry
Corporate managers must possess a variety of traits when attempting to institute change at their organizations. One of these traits is "backbone," or the ability to withstand the problems and challenges that occur when trying to create change. The majority of managers realize that resistance in an organization is the result of change; as such, the best way to combat this is by establishing a new environment that encourages employees to ask questions and challenge management's suggestions. Sometimes it is important to allow time for training so employees can become familiar with the changes being implemented. Managing corporate culture is the most ignored--and best leverage--tool for creating changes in a company. Before enacting change, effective managers analyze the firm's attitude toward change and tailor their plans accordingly. Managers cannot implement corporate changes by themselves, and need the assistance of their employees to make their plans work effectively. Change management also mandates continual communication concerning the plan and the reasons behind it. |
If employee engagement is an issue in your organization, consider EDSI | | |
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them"
-— Albert Einstein |
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Developing Skills; Sherman Updegraff
Developing multiple skills makes you better at all of them just as cross-training is good for more than building muscles. It helps the brain find new neural pathways between previously isolated regions and in general, creates a more productive use of time. Doctors at Harvard Medical School have found that if you practice multiple things, you actually get better at all of them.
In its Secrets of Greatness series, Fortune magazine says science is proving what some have felt for a long time, the benefits of cross-training come through repetition. To strengthen neural pathways that aid thinking, a person has to do something repeatedly. The more varied your skills, the more varied are the pathways. They allow you to reach back for insights and apply them to something totally dissimilar. The more reservoirs of knowledge you have, the easier it can be to make decisions. Emerging leaders typically display decision-making prowess.
Your second interest may be a motor skill. University of Michigan researchers found that using joysticks effectively resulted in transferable knowledge in other areas. Since Generation Y has been raised on computers, mp3 players, video games and various other electronic devices, this may actually be their primary knowledge transfer process. Therefore, this generation’s selection of an alternative skill may indeed be totally unrelated to electronics.
Examples of people with more than one career include Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (concert pianist) and Yankee outfielder Bernie Williams (recording jazz guitarist).
Examples from history include Leonardo da Vinci (sculpture, painter, inventor) and Thomas Jefferson (President, violinist, architect). Merely thinking about areas of interest for possible skill development is a satifying endeavor. |
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