News and Views: May 12th 2007

Connecting your values

Do the values that you follow in the workplace and the ones that you use in the rest of your life match up—or even connect? It seems that for 65 percent of Canadians the answer is a resounding “no.” Does that mean that they “turn off” everything that’s most important to them when they go in to work? Or that they willingly compromise their own values in the work situation in return for the money they earn? Either way, it’s a worrying statistic. [link]

Canadian common sense

Canadian columnist P.J. Harston says it’s not just wages that keep businesses competitive and productive. Recent surveys show companies that help employees keep a work-life balance, companies that offer perks, and those that help employees learn new skills while on the job are more likely to retain the best, most productive workers. Seems like common sense. [link]

Eating your way to work/life balance?

Here’s an interesting idea. It seems that Italian workers separate work from the rest of their lives through food. At least, that’s one blog writer’s take on the topic. See if you agree. [link]

The dangerous myth of the dream job

Here’s an interesting contrarian view from Timothy Ferriss. He suggests that converting your passions into your work is the fastest way to kill those passions. He also thinks that we shouldn’t expect too much from our jobs. An interesting point of view, and one that goes against much of the received wisdom from the self-development gurus. [link]

National Clearinghouse on Academic Worklife

if you work in the academic world, you should probably be aware of this new web site. It claims to provide resources to help you understand more about all aspects of modern academic work and related career issues, including tenure-track and non-tenure-track appointments, benefits, climate and satisfaction, work/life balance, and policy development. [link]

Five ways to make career change easier

Are you thinking of changing your career? Before you take the plunge, try reading Penelope trunk’s recent column on Yahoo. It may save you from one or two costly mistakes. [link]

Five ways to boost your employees’ productivity

The title might be offputting, but this post contains a great deal of common sense. I particularly liked the point that most people’s productivity depends heavily on the attitude of their bosses. You don’t want a macho boss, you want a boss who cares. [link]

Negative impact of new CEOs

A study has concluded that the promotion of a CEO internally results in executive turnover of 22 per cent. When a new chief executive is selected from outside the company, turnover increases to 33 per cent. Scary stuff—or not, if you want to clear out the guys at the top and start again! [link]

Do you know what a “slash career” is?

Here’s your opportunity to find out. It seems it’s being a consultant/author, or a teacher/musician, or any other combination of roles with slash marks between them. The intention is to add greater flexibility and autonomy, and more sources of income to secure your (patchwork) paycheck . If one well dries up, you still have the other(s). It seems that The New York Times has launched a column on the topic by Marci Alboher, attorney and author of One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success, [link]

Learning from business

I’m always seeing articles that point to where all the problems are in combining work and business with the rest of life, so here’s an interesting variation. This article looks at lessons from business that you can apply to the rest of your life. Interesting reading! [link]

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