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Preventing Job Turnover By Identifying What Makes People “Seekers” or “Stayers”
The days of having employees who stick with one job for their entire career may be over. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American employee will stay in their current job for around 5 years and will hold an average of 11 different jobs by the time they’re in their fifties. But replacing employees is often time consuming and expensive for organizations. One strategy to help cut down on employee turnover is to better identify the factors that influence an employee’s decision to stay put or look for greener pastures elsewhere. In a recent study published in the Journal of Business and Psychology, psychological scientists Sang Eun Woo of Purdue University and David G.
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The Unfulfilled Potential of Diapers
The Huffington Post: The baby diaper market -- led by Proctor & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark -- is projected to reach USD 52.2 billion by 2017. As the market grows, so does the investment in technology. In a recent article about the industry, Lauren Coleman Lochner paints a portrait of scientists in lab coats using saline solution to identify 'pee-points' on the quest for a perfect diaper. No leaks, no rash. As fathers, we appreciate this commitment to excellence, but we also have a simple, inexpensive, low-tech request to the CEOs of the leading diaper producers -- help us remember to talk to our babies.
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How Your Boss’s Ethics Can Hurt Your Career
LiveScience: Professionals may believe they can maintain an ethical reputation by merely refraining from morally questionable practices: Don't steal, cheat, or bully others. But this alone is not enough. If a higher-up in your organization is found guilty of unethical behavior, your reputation can become tainted merely because you work at the same place. Take Enron. The fraudulent business dealings of top executives led to one of the biggest scandals of the decade. Rank-and-file employees lost their jobs, health care and life savings.
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The Case Against Positive Thinking
The Wall Street Journal: Blame it on Oprah. Positive thinking is touted as the key that unlocks success (remember “The Secret”, which the Oprah Winfrey‘s show helped make an international best-seller?), but it turns out that an overwhelmingly rosy outlook can keep us from achieving our goals, according to psychologist Gabriele Oettingen. At the physiological level, positive thinking—measured by its effect on blood pressure—relaxes us and drains us of motivation. In one of Dr. Oettingen’s studies, obese participants who fantasized about successfully losing weight lost 24 pounds less than those who refrained from doing so.
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Is There a Link Between Mental Health and Gun Violence?
The New Yorker: On Friday, October 24th, during the busy lunch hour in the school cafeteria of Marysville-Pilchuck High School, in Marysville, Washington, Jaylen Fryberg opened fire on his classmates, killing one student and wounding four others, three of whom later died from their injuries. Then he killed himself. Just a week earlier, Fryberg had been crowned prince of the school’s homecoming court—he was a community volunteer, student athlete, and all-around “good kid.” But within hours of the shooting, that picture had changed. Quickly, media outlets analyzed his tweets, Facebook page, Instagram account, and his text and Facebook messages.
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Psychological Science Debuts New Article Metrics
Congratulations! You have just published your research in a well-respected academic journal. But now what? Are people looking at your article? Are they talking about it and sharing it with others? When researchers want to see the reach or impact of an article they have written, they often look to see how many people have cited their paper. Although citations are an indication of how an individual article is used by the research community, they do not indicate interest in the article that comes from nonresearch sources or the public.
