Try wikis for online training instead of another video Text-based internal guides, often called "wikis," can be an alternative to endless video meetings for storing essential knowledge or conducting onboarding and other training, writes Margie Meacham, president of LearningToGo. Creating and maintaining a wiki promotes collaboration, new ideas and personal connection, Meacham writes. Full Story: Association for Talent Development (9/2021)
Hire Smart
Seek people who are positive -- most of the time Positivity that inspires people and creates movement is what people and organizations should strive for, even as negativity is part of life and has its necessary moments, writes Nick Nowak, who offers a short quiz on "risers" and "sinkers." Positive-minded people "are committed to doing the right thing, doing what they can and believing that it can be done," Nowak writes. Full Story: SmartBrief/Leadership (9/21)
The Landscape
Productivity didn't decline without offices The expansion of remote work during the pandemic has not affected productivity but has reduced employees' ability or tendency to communicate across working groups, according to a study of Microsoft's employees. "But rather than think of toiling in offices as the good, normal thing to which we'll inevitably return, we should think of it as one of many working arrangements that deserve our scrutiny and skepticism," Derek Thompson argues. Full Story: The Atlantic (tiered subscription model) (9/21)
Fifty-one percent of employees think they are underpaid, despite being compensated at market or above-market rates, and workers who believe they are not being paid fair rates are 49.7% more likely to seek work elsewhere, according to a PayScale study. The research demonstrates that retention and pay transparency are interlinked, writes Amy Stewart, who argues that pay communications are more critical than ever in a competitive talent market. Full Story: Fast Company (tiered subscription model) (9/23)
Balancing Yourself
How to manage anxiety and make it something positive A simple breathing exercise can help you find calm and become centered -- "inhale for a count of four, hold for four, exhale for four, then hold for four again," writes Wendy Suzuki of the Center for Neural Science at New York University. People with anxiety can go beyond simply managing the condition by asking: "How can you turn that around, and make it into a gift that you give to the rest of the world?" Suzuki writes. Full Story: Next Big Idea Club Magazine (9/21)
Pasta lovers might have to learn to live without -- or pay a lot more for -- their favorite dishes. Climate change has already walloped yields of certain staple crops, including the durum wheat needed to produce most of the world's pasta. Full Story: World Economic Forum (9/22)
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