(From The Wall Street Journal) Because so many people in their teens and early 20s are in this constant whir of socializing—accessible to each other every minute of the day via cellphone, instant messaging and social-networking Web sites—there are a host of new questions that need to be addressed in schools, in the workplace and at home. Chief among them: How much work can "hyper-socializing" students or employees really accomplish if they are holding multiple conversations with friends via text-messaging, or are obsessively checking Facebook?

Some argue they can accomplish a great deal: This generation has a gift for multitasking, and because they've integrated technology into their lives, their ability to remain connected to each other will serve them and their employers well. Others contend that these hyper-socializers are serial time-wasters, that the bonds between them are shallow, and that their face-to-face interpersonal skills are poor.

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Tags: generational issues, workplace, gen y, web 2.0, social networking

Categories: News

Tags: workplace, stress, health, collaboration, flexibility

Categories: News

U.S. President Barack Obama says innovation will be the key to creating the jobs of the future.  Mr. Obama says he is looking for new ways to recoup the jobs lost during the economic recession.

With a new round of dismal job loss figures expected later the week, President Obama says he is searching for ways to create new employment opportunities.

"This is my administration's overriding focus," said President Obama. "Having brought the economy back from the brink, the question is how are we going to make sure that people are getting back to work and able to support their families."

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Tags: innovation, jobs, new economy, federal government

Categories: News

Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) -- With the economy cautiously turning the corner, senior leaders are focused on hiring and developing talent, according to a survey of more than 450 senior executives on LinkedIn® by Right Management. 94 percent of executives said talent management is a top priority for 2010. Right Management is the talent and career management expert within Manpower, the global leader in employment services.

The findings present good news for employees and job seekers. Employers are preparing themselves for growth opportunities as the economy rebounds and are looking for ways to enhance performance and productivity. One-third of the senior executive respondents will be hiring new talent in 2010, while 36 percent will focus on developing current talent. Twenty percent reported that increasing employee engagement is a top priority. Career development opportunities and efforts to increase engagement typically improve retention, which may explain why only 4 percent of senior leaders indicated they would be focusing efforts on retention.

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Tags: talent management, employee retention, career development, executives, new economy

Categories: News | Research

Women have come a long way in the workplace, helped by legislation and the recognition by many companies that diversity and gender is something they should "get." But diversity's move into the mainstream corporate world has its disadvantages. It can make more subtle discrimination harder to spot and tougher to deal with.

And news about gender often tells a different story to the happy corporate spin about progress for women at work.

News outlets reported on Monday for example that two guardians of Britain's historic Tower of London have been suspended after the first woman warden or "Beefeater" in the Tower's 524-year history accused them of harassment. "If you talk today to people in the workplace they construct the workplace as gender neutral," said Elisabeth Kelan, author of a new book, "Performing Gender at Work."

"They assume that gender no longer matters in 2009 because the issue has long been solved."

Kelan calls this phenomenon "gender fatigue," which she says will make it more challenging to tackle the discrimination that still happens in the workplace but in more subtle ways.

"Gender fatigue actually refers to the phenomenon that people lack the energy to construct the workplace again and again as gender neutral despite the fact that discrimination continues to exist."

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Tags: london, gender issues, workplace, diversity

Categories: International | News

(From abcnews.com) Sigmund Freud thought dreams were a window into our unfulfilled sexual desires. But the dreams of video game players suggest they have a more practical role: helping us to learn new skills.

"It really looks like if you're not dreaming about it, you're not getting better," says Robert Stickgold of Harvard Medical School, who carried out one of the video game studies.

The studies don't prove that dreaming about games makes players better. But they strongly suggest that dreaming and learning are intertwined.

That sleep can help with learning and memory is well established. What's more, the more people dream during the light sleep characterised by rapid eye movements (REM), the better they recall memories. But whether the specific content of dreams plays a role in this sleep-learning process wasn't clear.

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Tags: learning, cognition, research, psychology, gaming

Categories: News

(From the Salt Lake Tribune) Marta, 59, had hoped to be retired by now. But during a "downsizing" two years ago, she lost her job as a mental-health counselor. Since then, all she has found are "demoralizing" temporary jobs, leaving her with little savings or income.

Tags: generational issues, workplace, careers, jobs

Categories: News

Some companies are helping. In May, the Edelman public relations firm rolled out an interactive desktop system that trains employees in social networking online -- at their own pace.

"In our industry, it's quite critical today," said Laura Smith, managing director of U.S. human resources at Edelman in the District. Those who advance in hands-on use of LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook are elevated to another rank in the training system.

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Tags: technology, skills, social learning, web 2.0

Categories: News

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Communications, Inc. (HCI) today announced that eTIPS, an online training and certification program for servers and sellers of alcohol, was approved by the District of Columbia's alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA). The District of Columbia's liquor code requires all managers of a licensed establishment to be certified in an alcohol training and education program that is conducted by a Board-approved provider. The addition of eTIPS will greatly expand the training options available for managers in the District of Columbia. Immediate benefits include tools to reduce underage drinking, intoxication, and drunk driving, as well as new flexibility in extending such benefits toestablishments large and small.

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Tags: e-learning, business news

Categories: News

Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) October 30, 2009 -- A personal commitment to an employer's core values is the top driver of employee engagement among 91 possible factors analyzed by Right Management in a new global study. The top three factors also include pride in the company's products and services, as well as a belief that an employee's opinions count. Right Management is the talent and career management expert within Manpower, the global leader in employment services.

Right Management surveyed over 28,000 employees across 15 countries to determine the relative correlations between high engagement and a wide range of what are considered key dynamics or influencers.

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Tags: engagement, workplace, values, organization development

Categories: News