Friday Fun: What the Monastery can teach you about business

From “Everything I know about Business I learned in the Monastery” by Kenny Moore.

"When I lived in the monastery as a Catholic priest, 40% of my superiors thought they were Divinely inspired. Now that I’m working in Corporate America, the number’s up to 80%."

Some may think the transition from the Church to Corporate America is a bit strange, but Moore says he learned valuable business skills from his priestly experience.

How to effectively and “virtually” brainstorm with remote employees

Brainstorming is a tried and true method in the business world, helping us create new ideas and discover clever solutions. If you’re trying to hold a brainstorming activity and have a mix of in-house and remote employees, you would probably just include those in the office or toss the activity out the window completely.

But, don’t throw the idea out too quickly or leave out your remote employees, because there’s hope outside the physical confines of the office. Technology has transformed the method and has developed effective brainstorming tools in the virtual world.

Michael Sampson at Effective Collaboration recently reviewed some of the possible ways to hold effective, virtual brainstorming activities using Wikis, integrated conference calls and web-based platforms.

But first, even if you’re not all face-to-face, the general rules of brainstorming still apply:

• Throw all ideas out on the table that you can think of.
• Leave your opinion at the door, no idea is stupid.
• Designate one person to take notes.
• Set a time limit, about 10 to 20 minutes and stick to it.

How to “virtually” brainstorm:

Use a page on a Wiki. Make the rules clear to all involved. Type all of your ideas on one page. Don’t edit yourself and leave ideas out. Your “dumb idea” may trigger another person’s idea later. Read what other people have written on the Wiki, their ideas may help you come up with more as well. Nominate a moderator to track comments and remove negative or opinionated comments.

Use a conference call and shared computer screen session. Designate one person to type up all the ideas that are spoken out by team members. Use the shared screen to show the flow of ideas that come up during the brainstorming session.

Use a Web-based platform. IdeaJam is a new tool designed specifically for idea sharing. Submitted ideas are saved as database entries where collaborators can go in and promote, demote or be indifferent to each idea. The platform creates different views of the ideas based on topic, who posted it, popularity, most recent or completed. It can also alert collaborators when a new idea has been posted.


Whether virtual or in-house, brainstorming is a no-fail way to open up lines of communication and get everyone's ideas flowing. New technology now makes it possible to collaborate with employees working across town or even the other side of the world. Don’t limit yourself and be creative, that’s what brainstorming is all about.

Three things the Wii Fit can teach you about employee performance

Nintendo has long been a supporter of teamwork - multiple game controllers, split screens and the ever famous Mario and Luigi. But, what do they know about employee motivation and performance?

With the release of the new Wii Fit, Paul Hebert at Fistfull of Talent discovered what Nintendo games can teach us about workplace issues, specifically employee engagement and performance.

If you’re unfamiliar, the Wii Fit uses an interactive game and balance board to enhance players’ fitness. The Wii Fit disc and Wii Balance Board are used together for different types of yoga, strength training, aerobics and balance games.

Take a look at Hebert’s post for the full chart of comparisons, but here are three of the most interesting:

1. Wii Fit keeps track of your body mass index (BMI) and weight, providing tips on technique and weight loss.

Establish benchmarks for employee performance and measure against those points. Benchmarks allow you to see where you were and how much you’ve improved.

2. Each minute of activity adds a point to your Fit Bank. You must gather enough points to unlock new activities.

Incentives are the classic reward for activity. Small activities now will lead to greater rewards later.

3. When the program thinks you lost or gained a lot of weight in one day, it will offer tips for healthier fitness and ask you why you think it may have happened (late night dinners, snacking, exercise, etc.). Based on your answer it provides tips and encouragement.

Managers have the responsibility to look for changes in performance and work with the employee to develop a plan, complete with employee input.


Even if you don’t agree with the ideas from Fistfull of Talent, they can be used as great reasons to convince the boss to get a Wii in the office. It’s all for the sake of improving employee performance, right?

Burned out at work or bad day? Know the difference and how to beat it

For many, the dread and excitement that go along with the beginning and end of the workweek are fleeting. For some, just getting through the day is a challenge.

So, how do you know if you’re having a bad day, or are in the midst of a complete burnout? Experts interviewed by those at CareerBuilder.com explain how to identify job burnout and the best ways to attack it.

A few signs of burnout:

Your professional relationships are unimportant. Break room conversations have no part in your day, you eat lunch alone and headphones are glued to your ears.

Your work quality has gone down the tubes along with self-motivation. Getting the job done and doing it well are two separate things.

Your goals have vanished. When your career goals are mainly to get through the day instead of getting through to a new position, you may be looking at some serious burnout.


Here’s what the experts suggest on how to beat work burnout:

Mix it up. Ask for a new responsibility that you’re willing to take on. “New variety and stimulation is vital to overcome burnout.”

Reevaluate goals. “Goals work. Be specific and set deadlines.” Also, make the goals a little challenging and share them with others to increase the motivation to stick with them.

Come up with a plan. Think a new career is the solution? Don’t jump the gun, take the time to plan out your steps. You may discover that a new career is under the same roof you’re working at now.

Lessons in management training from Savage Chickens

Lesson 1: If there’s free food, employees will come...and stay!

Whether it's management training or the monthly data review meeting, add food to the mixture and many will rearrange their plans in order to attend. Who can resist a free lunch?

How to go on vacation and leave work behind, 5 simple tips

Vacations are a key part of a healthy work/life balance, but more often than ever people are bringing work along on personal vacations. According to a recently released CareerBuilder survey, one in four workers will be staying in touch with work while on vacation this year.

Vacation should be a time to catch up with family and friends, and recharge batteries. After a restful vacation, many workers come back to the office more productive than before they left.

Work is best done at work, not on vacation. Follow these 5 tips to make sure work stays at the office and not on the beach ruining your vacation:

1. Plan ahead. Tell everyone on your team the dates you will be out of the office as soon as possible. Finish up as much work as you can before leaving. Give at least one person a copy of important information they may need in your absence. It will be easier to leave the office behind if there are no large projects on your desk and your colleagues are up to date.

2. Leave your work area clear. A messy desk will only add to the stress you feel when returning to the office after vacation. Also, if your desk is tidy, coworkers will be less likely to dump folders or paperwork all over it.

3. Delegate important tasks. If someone will be in charge of your duties while you’re out, set aside training time to be sure they know what to do before you leave. Print out a list of tasks, if that makes it easier.

4. Clear your calendar for the day you return. Like a messy desk, a full calendar on the day you return will only stress you out. Possibly schedule a long meeting with yourself, so no one can sneak in any meetings while you’re gone.

5. Leave the laptop behind. And stash the Blackberry, too. You probably won’t be able to resist the temptation to check your email if you know your laptop is tucked in your bag. Your family and friends will appreciate your time and attention.

It’s best for you and your coworkers that you leave work at the office when you go on vacation. You’ll return re-energized and de-stressed, a benefit for all involved - you, family and friends, and coworkers.

How to hold a productive meeting

Meetings are a dreaded daily event in offices across the world, but are an inevitable fact of corporate life. Meetings are meant to bring a group of people together to discuss an issue or problem and develop a solution.

So, why do most of us leave meetings with the feeling that nothing was accomplished and thinking about all the work that could have been done if we weren’t all stuck in that stuffy board room together.

Here’s a revolutionary idea - let’s make meetings meaningful again.

Stop wasting everyone’s time and follow these guidelines on how to hold a productive meeting or training session:

Prepare an agenda. Type it up, print it out and give everyone a copy. It doesn’t have to be a detailed play-by-play, but show people the time line you expect for the meeting. Everyone likes to know how much of the meeting has passed, and how much longer they have until they can get back to their desk.

Set start, end and break times ... and stick to them. One of the biggest gripes people have about meetings is that they run over the allotted time. Whether it’s because of a late start, or too many off-topic conversations, it’s annoying. No one ever said, “Oh, I am so delighted that meeting ran an extra 20 minutes long.”

Make it clear – No Laptops Allowed. You could also add Blackberrys and any other annoying electronic gadgets to that warning. Allow break times for people to check emails or phone calls. Ask people to politely leave the room if there is an emergency call.

Schedule the people who matter. Your meeting will be more productive if the only people in the room are those who are affected by the topic at hand. If you need certain people for only a short amount of time, have the person show up at a certain time. It will also help move topics along if you know there is a guest coming 20 minutes before the end of the meeting.

Be a fair referee. If you notice a topic branching off and growing in the wrong direction, do you best to pull it back in. If two attendees start chatting about another topic, ask them if it can be discussed at a later time. Quickly move on to the next item on the agenda.

Commit to action. Meetings are usually set up to produce results or resolve a problem. After discussing the issue ask the group what should be done about it. Go a step further and assign tasks and responsibilities with set deadlines.

Remember the last rule - stay consistent and follow these guidelines each and every time you hold a meeting. You never know, people may actually start looking forward to your meetings. If not, bring food, works every time.

Gen Y is changing new hire orientation

The typical new employee orientation process - HR gives you a new name badge, hands you a copy of the benefits package, helps you fill out some tax forms, gives you a PowerPoint overview of the company and makes sure you’re settled in your new cube just in time for lunch.

New hires, especially those from Generation Y, are demanding much more than that if you’re planning on keeping them around for more than a few months.

Millenials and Gen Y employees have a desire to feel welcomed and want to know more about their jobs even before they show up for work, according to a recent article in Minnesota’s StarTribune.

The article, noting that “your grandfather’s orientation program won’t cut it anymore,” outlines a new process companies are using with new hires called ‘onboarding.’

Onboarding: the process companies use to introduce, train, integrate and coach new hires on the company’s culture and method.

Gen Y and Millenial employees entering the workforce have sparked the onboarding trend, because of their special needs in the workplace. This new process involves a more complete welcoming process than companies have practiced before.

With younger employees, companies need to reinforce that the new employee has made the best decision by sharing how valuable their skills are to the company, the assignments they will be working on, and what developmental steps they should expect within the year.

Gen Y expects that everything should be ready when they arrive to work on their first day. This means having a computer ready to go at their desk, completely set up with an email account and all of the programs they will be using.

They also expect constant feedback from their managers. Managers should set up a system with the new hire for regular check-in times on work progress. New Gen Y employees should also be given an office mentor to help ease the transition into the new company culture.

Remember that any new hire orientation won’t fit into the four hours from the time they arrive until lunchtime. Make employee onboarding an ongoing process.

Acclimating a new employee isn’t always an easy process. Some employees, especially members of younger generations, need a little more help than older employees. With a little time and effort, new employee orientation can be a rewarding experience for both employee and company.

Looking for new employee incentive ideas? Listen to Aretha Franklin

Employee incentives like gifts and awards have always been the practiced method for managers to show they care, but there may be a option out there that requires little effort and no money.

While not a employee motivation expert, Aretha Franklin delivered some of the most influential advice with a 1967 hit, singing one little word:

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Experts out there today continue singing Franklin’s words of wisdom by telling managers how respect is one of the best, and least expensive, ways to motivate employees.

One expert and communication coach, Carmine Gallo, explains in a recent BusinessWeek article how showing a little respect can help you encourage employees long after the Starbucks gift card has run out.

The first step to creating a respectful relationship is by showing true concern for employees’ lives outside of work. Instead of focusing completely on workplace goals, encourage managers to discuss life goals with their employees. Managers can explain to employees how achieving workplace goals can coincide with life goals.

Managers who are emotionally invested in their employees will have genuine ties to their employees’ success, inside and outside of the office. Messages will also be delivered more clearly, as people are more inclined to listen when they know the person on the other side of the conversation cares.

With clear communication and respect, company success is a shared goal. Employees who feel recognized and truly cared about will show a stronger desire to do what it takes to help their company succeed.

A small thing managers can do to help boost employee engagement is to simply communicate with employees face-to-face. Put down the Blackberry, step away from the computer and go have a real conversation with employees. We’ve become so dependent on technology that it’s easy to forget a person is only a few doors down.

Communication within a team helps build respect, which is the best incentive out there, according to Gallo. Look at every conversation with an employee as an opportunity to show you care.

“In your next conversation with one of your employees, try speaking as if he or she is the most important person in the room at the moment. Look him in the eye, avoid interruptions, ignore gadgets, and ask questions about his interests. It's the simplest, least expensive, and most effective incentive available.”

Corporate team building: Sing a song, but forget the video camera

Feeling like morale is down? Looking to perk it back up? Why not sing a song?

There’s an energized, soulful trend on the team building scene - choreographed musical numbers.

According to a recent Workforce article, corporate songs have been used by big business for almost 100 years as to motivate teams and enhance motivation. From a new product launch or to support a company’s core beliefs, a corporate song could be all it takes to get your company re-energized.

IBM, Starbucks and Shell have all used corporate songs encouraging employees to sing as a way to build spirit and morale.

Some companies, like Bank of America, create internal corporate songs, but now forbid video or audio recording in order to keep it off the Internet.

Here’s a video from Ernst & Young, that unfortunately landed on YouTube and a good example of how corporate musical videos can go bad.



And, another one from Bank of America on KnowHR is featured in the post "Never, Ever Write an M&A Theme Song." Good advice, at least in this case.

I can't decide which of these two videos is better (or worse?). Take a look, you decide.

How to deliver, and keep delivering constant employee feedback

Like we said yesterday, employee feedback is crucial to a healthy work environment. Employees not only welcome constant feedback on their progress, but thrive on it. Especially with the younger generations now entering the workforce, knowing how and when to give employee feedback is essential to your business.

Here are some tips on how to make employee feedback a part of everyday life in the office.

Make employee feedback a top priority among supervisors.
Supervisors in your organization should come to work everyday thinking about how they can recognize their employees’ work. Encourage supervisors to constantly find new ways to encourage employees and communicate to their team regarding their progress on a regular basis. Stress that employee feedback is an ongoing process that needs constant work.

Give both positive and constructive feedback.
Not all feedback needs to be positive. There should always be room for employees to improve at their job. Along with telling an employee how they are doing a great job, also let them know how they could be doing better. Be specific in your criticism. Give employees specific action items to work on and improve in.

Catch employees in the act.
Try to give feedback in the moment when you see that an employee is excelling. Over due feedback may be seen as an after thought by employees. If an employee is doing something incorrectly, let them know about it right then and there. It will save the employee time and you some frustration.

Keep track of employee feedback.
Depending on how many employees you supervise, it may be difficult to keep track of whether you are spreading the feedback around equally or not. Devise a way to keep track of when you give each employee feedback, possibly in a spreadsheet on your desktop. Mark down when you gave feedback to each employee, what the situation was and refer to the sheet often to make sure you’re on track.

Give scheduled performance reviews on time.
Whether you provide employee performance reviews annually or semi-annually, stick to a schedule. If salary increases are tied to performance reviews, a late review means a late pay increase and you could have some disgruntled employees on your hands. With constant feedback, employee reviews should be easily conducted since there has been an ongoing conversation all year. The performance review is simply a summary of that conversation and how the employee can improve going forward.


As a boss, think of the last time you gave one of your employees feedback. If you can’t remember, or it was weeks ago, step out of your office and talk with your employees. Tell someone today that they are doing a good job and that you appreciate their work. And, keep it up. Make it a daily task to recognize one of your employees. After a while it won’t seem like a task and you’ll be doing it without even thinking about it.

If you’re an employee who feels like your boss isn’t giving enough feedback, simply ask for it. Though it may be tough, ask for feedback on your performance. It’s tough to see when you’re working in the dark.

Employee feedback critical to success

HR.com surveys over the years have found that only 46 percent of employees say they receive frequent and ongoing feedback on their performance. Additionally, half say their annual performance reviews are conducted on time, and fewer than half say the reviews are even useful.

Especially with Generation Y entering the workforce, employee feedback is crucial. All employees, but more in the younger generations, yearn for constant feedback and assurance that they are doing a good job.

With a new headline popping up on front pages across the country about the latest wave of employee layoffs, employees more than ever need the reassurance that they are not in danger of losing their job (or a ‘heads up’ if they are in a dangerous spot).

Positive feedback lets employees know they are on the road to success in the company and can feel good about their work and it gives a little boost to their self esteem.

In a recent article on HR.com, the author outlines what happens when employees don’t receive regular performance feedback. Employees will:

• Lose confidence in work activities
• Become anxious and insecure in their work
• Lose track of priorities
• Fail to complete work properly
• Lose enthusiasm in their position
• Lose a sense of commitment to the organization

Why do supervisors fail at giving proper feedback?

• They don’t think its that important to their employees
• Their employees are doing a good job, why interfere
• A lack of confidence because their boss doesn’t provide proper feedback
• A lack of people skills
• A fear of upsetting employees, possible conflict or difficult situations

What’s the solution? How do you make sure your employees are getting the proper feedback they need to be successful at work? Check back tomorrow for Part 2 on how to deliver, and keep delivering constant feedback to employees.

Employee productivity up in Q1

Despite high gas and food prices, worker productivity increased by a “better-than-expected” amount during the first quarter of the year.

Last week, the Department of Labor (DOL) reported that employee productivity (amount of output per hour of work), rose by 2.2 percent, as reported in an Associated Press article on MSNBC. That figure turned out to be higher than the 1.5 percent expected increase.

Analysts see the rise in productivity along with a small increase in unit labor costs as a good sign that inflation is remaining under control.

How employee performance goals are like New Year’s resolutions

Think about all of the New Year’s resolutions you’ve kept, then compare that number to the amount that you’ve broken. While many New Year’s resolutions are health related, they can still shed light on why we give up on employee performance goals at work.

An article from BusinessWeek shares the top five reasons (and excuses) why we all give up.

Lack of personal ownership. The boss may have a great idea that has everyone excited, but without employee ownership, the idea will never progress. Employees must believe in their goals and have confidence that they are able to achieve those goals.

Lack of time. Why do things always take twice as long than we thought it would? “When the time elapsed in working toward our goal starts exceeding expectations, we’re tempted to just give up on the goal.” The solution - be realistic in when determining the time needed to complete a goal. The author suggests adding up to twice the amount of time you think it would take to complete the task, then add a little more.

It’s too difficult. The goal sounded a lot easier when you described it before, but turns out to be rather difficult. Just like with time, things are usually harder to accomplish than we think at the start. As you’re setting goals, do your best to foresee problems that may arise in the future. When everyone is aware of what may come up during the process, problems will be less of a surprise and employees will be more inclined to keep going.

“More important” things come up. One small distraction can drive you far off course and away from your goal. All of our lives are hectic and distractions are inevitable. Expect something to get in the way of your goal, then plan time to figure out a way around it.

Sticking to it. Once a new goal is achieved, there are certain “maintenance” activities one must stick to. Think of a dieter who has achieved their goal weight. That dieter can’t go straight back to eating junk food, but must keep eating healthy to maintain their new weight.

“Here are the cold, hard truths. Real change requires real effort. The "quick fix" is seldom a meaningful one. Distractions and things that compete for your attention are going to crop up—maybe even more frequently. Changing any one type of behavior won't solve all of life's problems. And finally, any meaningful change will probably require a lifetime of effort.”

Stop e-mailing, increase employee productivity

How often do you check your e-mail? Twice a day? Every hour? Every 5 minutes?

Like most in the corporate world, it’s probably about every few minutes. If you’re a Blackberry owner, make that seconds.

Some business owners are fighting back against the e-mail overload and taking the steps to loosen it’s control over employees’ lives.

Eve Tahmincioglu at YourBiz, recently wrote about an e-mail response she recently received from a tea lounge owner. It basically said that in order to focus on business, he will only be responding to e-mail twice a week, for urgent issues you could give him a call.

Wow.

Eve called the owner to ask about the “e-mail bashing.” His response - “When you’re e-mailing back and forth it’s easy to feel like your doing a lot but at the end of the day it doesn’t help you accomplish your goals.”

Double wow.

In many businesses and careers, this is impossible. Things are happening all day everyday that we need to be aware of and part of. But, maybe we can all learn a lesson from these anti-e-mail warriors. Eve compares it to an alcoholic who suddenly wonders if they’ve been drinking too much.

Though e-mail helps us all get a lot done during the day, there is a point where it starts to take away from the big picture and lowers employee productivity.

If you can’t cut back on e-mail as much as Mr. Tea Lounge, maybe try to set aside some time in the day where e-mails are off limits. Start your day by planning out what you need to get accomplished, and check your e-mail later.

Or, have a full day each week where e-mails are illegal. An article in the USAToday explains how some companies are turning casual Fridays into e-mail-free Fridays.

Less dependence on e-mail encourages more face-to-face communication. Here’s an old-fashioned idea - instead of sending an e-mail to the person two cubes down the hall, roll away from your computer, stand up, take a short walk and have a conversation.

The tea lounge owner had another fancy trick up his sleeve. At staff meetings, employees are not allowed to bring laptops and must take notes on a 1956 typewriter. Just one typewriter for the whole room.

Why the typewriter? “Instead of having a big volume of meeting notes because everyone was typing away on their laptops, they now share that one typewriter and end up with four or five key points.”

Genius.

Apply now for OSHA employee safety training grants

Get ‘em while they’re hot!

Nonprofit organizations only have a few weeks left to apply for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) training grants, available through May 23.

The Susan Harwood Training Grant Program awards grant to provide training and education on health and safety in the workplace. Visit OSHA.gov for details on eligibility, electronic applications and requirements to apply.

OSHA will award close to $7 million in grants to nonprofit organizations including community and faith-based organizations, that are not part of state or local government agencies.

The performance-based employee safety training grants will be awarded for a full year project period. The grants focus on 18 training topics including combustible dust, construction safety and food processing health hazards.

Rising gas prices lower employee productivity

High gas prices are not only draining pockets, but also employee productivity, according to Florida State University researchers.

The more employees must pay out at the gas pump, the more stressed they are at work, says Wayne Horchwarter, the Jim Moran Professor of Management at Florida State University’s College of Business in the release.

With more attention spent on issues like figuring out how they’re going to afford to get to work, employees have less attention to dedicate to their jobs and may be less motivated to make the drive to the office. The FSU research showed that employees were unable to drop the emotional baggage attached to financial issues at the office door. One-third of those surveyed said they would quit their current job for a similar position closer to home.

Research was compiled by interviewing more than 800 full-time employees in a range of occupations around the southeastern United States. All drove personal transportation to work with an average commute of 15 miles each way.

“I spend more time at work trying to figure out what I need to give up to keep gas in my tank than thinking about how to do my job," wrote a factory worker included in the research.

The most outstanding findings:

• 52% have reconsidered taking vacations
• 45% have had to cut back on debt-reduction payments, such as credit cards
• 45% say gas prices have “caused them to fall behind financially”
• 39% agreed with the statement “Gas prices have decreased my standard of living”
• 33% say they would quit their job for a comparable one closer to home

Hochwarter’s research will be published in late summer 2008, but was first shared in an FSU press release.

Warning: Information overload, memory full

While we’re on the subject of brains ... are your employees running out of brian space?

It’s a good chance they are.

Scientific research now shows we’re not forgetful, we physically just can’t store it all in our brains.

The great people at Incentive Intelligence bring a recent MSNBC article to light about how our ability to retain information is shrinking.

It’s been previously thought that we can hold seven things in our short term “working” memory, but that figure is now thought to be closer to four.

The new research explains why we break up phone numbers into three and four number strings and why it’s easier to remember either the first or last half, not the full string.

Our working memory may be smaller when you factor in everything else we have on our minds at any given time - paying the phone bill, remembering the doctor’s appointment you have tomorrow, responding to that email you just opened back at your computer.

Keep these new research findings in mind the next time you plan a training presentation, or come up with goals and objectives for an employee reward program. Your audience only has a set amount of space to store the information you tell them.

Remember - keep it simple. The more information you give, the more they will forget. Keep it short and be repetitive. You may sound like a song on loop, but the more you repeat yourself, the better your audience will remember the information you’re delivering.

Beat the Baby Boomer retirement 'brain drain'

As Baby Boomers move into their retirement years, they may be taking more than just their 401(k)s with them. Insider information and all the ‘tricks of the trade’ will retire with the Boomers, if companies don’t focus on transferring information to younger generations now.

The Baby Boomers are some of our country’s (and your company’s) longest running and most loyal employees. That time and loyalty has added up in the form of valuable corporate knowledge.

It’s estimated that by 2010, more than half of the U.S. workforce will be over 40 years old. In order to give them a little more leeway and delay the knowledge gap, many companies are doing anything they can to hang onto their older employees. More than 60 percent of U.S. companies are bringing back retirees as contractors or consultants, according to a recent AARP study.

A recent SHRM article examines how other companies are babying their Boomers to keep them working a little bit longer with health care benefits, flexible hours and guaranteed salary.

If keeping retirees on the job isn’t an option for your company, do your best to transfer the knowledge now. “How to Beat the Baby Boomer Retirement Blues” from CIO.com examines how some big name companies like Rolls-Royce dealt with the brain drain. Using both a knowledge management system and an employee tracking map, companies can manage the knowledge transfer effectively.

First, develop a knowledge management system. You must be able to tackle two types of knowledge: explicit and tacit. Explicit knowledge can be stored in databases or manuals. Tacit knowledge includes ‘tricks of the trade,’ personal experience, stories and creative business solutions.

Work on documenting explicit knowledge. Do your best to have the retiring employee document all the information someone in their position would need to know. Establish “Standard Operating Procedures” in the form of manuals, stored on your network. These even come in handy when an employee goes on extended leave.

Tacit knowledge can be transferred by experience. Have the employee who will be taking over the retiring employee’s job to shadow that person for a time. More than learning the facts, the younger employee will learn the method.

Going forward, track employees and soon-to-be retirees. Keep a database of all of your employees. Document how long they have been with the company, in what positions or departments, and if known, when they plan to leave or retire. A map like this could help you plan ahead when hit with multiple retirements or if an employee plans to go on extended leave.

Don’t be afraid to pair younger and older generations together, Harvard found that there's a "love fest" going on between the two. Gen Y and Baby Boomers generally like each other and enjoy learning from each other. Many times it is your Boomers who are the most energetic and engaged at work. Get some of that energy and excitement to rub off by pairing Generation Y workers with older coworkers.

Companies should encourage Boomer/Gen Y work relationships, in order to be more proactive than reactive when the retirement rush comes around. Do your best to hang onto the valuable corporate knowledge that has built up over the years in your Boomer employees and don't let it slip down the drain when the go.

Friday Office Humor: Future of the cubicle

Because it's Friday - Savage Chickens: Cubicle Future Cartoon

Legal News Brief: Genetic Nondiscrimination Act pending presidential approval

Yesterday the House of Representatives followed the senate and approved the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) in an almost unanimous vote.

The House passed GINA along to the President’s desk by a vote of 414-1. President Bush is expected to follow suit and sign the bill into law.

Passage of the bill will prohibit employers and insurance providers from discriminating against workers on the basis of genetic information. Anyone with a predisposed genetic condition such as diabetes, hemophilia, sickle cell disease or breast cancer will be protected.

Some lawmakers are calling the bill “the first major civil rights act of the 21st century,” according to the Associated Press. Federal laws already protect employees against gender and racial discrimination, but this would be the first law to address genetic information discrimination.

Emotional deposits same as cash rewards

Stephen Covey now has some hard data to support his “emotional bank account” theory - compliments create the same brain activity as paying someone cash, according to recently released Japanese research.

Now, scientific data proves that having a good reputation and being complimented can give people a “psychological boost,” that has the same emotional effect as receiving a hard reward (money).

In the study, scientists first monitored brain activity in subjects winning money at a card game. Then, they measured brain activity as the person reacted to a stranger reading personal evaluations, including compliments. Both the cash payouts and personal compliments stimulated the same area of the brain associated with rewards.

This research gives Covey’s emotional bank account idea strong scientific backing. Making “deposits” in someone’s emotional bank account, like telling them they’re doing a good job on a project, can have the same mental effect as putting a $5 bill in their piggy bank ($10 for a thank you card).

While you shouldn’t pull out your wallet and start handing out $20 bills at lunch today, just remember that a small compliment or act of kindness has a lasting impact. You’ve got the research, now start making deposits.