Heavy, Performance Appraisals, Training, Presentations, & Ethics

Holding heavy objects makes us see things as more important - Not Exactly Rocket Science

Want your learners or team to think more deeply about a task? Then use heavy paper stock or a heavy clipboard:

Gravity affects not just our bodies and our behaviours, but our very thoughts. That's the fascinating conclusion of a new study which shows that simply holding a heavy object can affect the way we think. A simple heavy clipboard can makes issues seem weightier - when holding one, volunteers think of situations as more important and they invest more mental effort in dealing with abstract issues.

Performance Appraisals Positively Affect Employee Attitudes - CLO

Receiving an evaluation has a significant influence on an employee's engagement level and views of their immediate manager and organizations. Employees who are given a performance appraisal are more engaged and are more satisfied with their job and the company overall. The research indicates that receiving a performance appraisal has a significant, favorable impact on how employees rate their pride in the organization and their willingness to recommend it as a place to work. Furthermore, those employees who receive a performance appraisal are more likely to say they intend to stay relative to those who have not received a performance appraisal.

Applications training: teach the good stuff first - Dave's Whiteboard

I'd worried so much about the size and complexity of the Legion software that I overlooked the point I keep harping on here: the training isn't about using software, it's about doing work.

Find Your 20% - Jane Bozarth

Closely related to the Dave's post is Jane's post:

Rather than starting from a lot of information and finding a way to deliver it in the available time (the result: lecture + bulleted slides), find your critical "20%". What are the 2 or 3 key takeaways? If I ran into your attendee 2 weeks from now, what would they say were your 2 key points?

Why Be an Ethical Company? They're Stronger and Last Longer - Business Week

Witness Costco. Wall Street analysts have long chastised Costco's management for paying high wages and keeping employees around for a long time, resulting in higher benefits costs. Costco CEO Jim Sinegal has responded by saying that keeping good employees is strategic for the long-term success and growth of Costco. To date, he has backed up this assertion with per-employee sales that are considerably higher than those found at key rivals such as Target (TGT) and Wal-Mart (WMT).