Posts
One of my ingenious peers summed things up just right this morning.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Pizza by @the_buglet
My genius chef-child is a competition winning pizza maker. This is how she does it.
Okay, so I don't like onions at all! but this pizza is the best ever!
All you have to do is saute 1 to 2 onions of your choice with any herbs you like. Id use a little more butter or Olive oil than normal- makes it so much better.
Then dice tomatoes or use canned, both are good. Mozzarella cheese, shredded, lots of it if you like a cheesy pizza like I do.
You make the pizza dough or have a pre-made one (home-made is the way to go personally)
After baking the pizza dough for a little bit, put the mozzarella on the pizza dough, top with sauteed onions and place diced tomatoes on-top, The tomatoes cook down to create the sauce.
Bake for about 20-30 mins, at the temp recommended for your crust, and enjoy.
No additional sauce required and its a easy and delicious dinner.
Bon Appetit!
Okay, so I don't like onions at all! but this pizza is the best ever!
All you have to do is saute 1 to 2 onions of your choice with any herbs you like. Id use a little more butter or Olive oil than normal- makes it so much better.
Then dice tomatoes or use canned, both are good. Mozzarella cheese, shredded, lots of it if you like a cheesy pizza like I do.
You make the pizza dough or have a pre-made one (home-made is the way to go personally)
After baking the pizza dough for a little bit, put the mozzarella on the pizza dough, top with sauteed onions and place diced tomatoes on-top, The tomatoes cook down to create the sauce.
Bake for about 20-30 mins, at the temp recommended for your crust, and enjoy.
No additional sauce required and its a easy and delicious dinner.
Bon Appetit!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
But I don't want to be the Policy Police - practical application
There have been extensive and lively conversations about HR not being the Policy Police and changing the way HR views itself. There has also been commentary in the blogosphere about the evils of lawyers telling us to not use social media for backgrounds on candidates because it will get us sued. The esteemed thought leaders Laurie Rueittmann, Kris Dunn and Mike VanDervort and many others have weighed in with there own thoughts on these topics.
Combining HR and technology – the next dilemma comes down the pike, wrapping all of these topics into one. North Carolina and 13 other states have banned texting and email while driving. President Obama has signed an executive order banning federal employees from the same practices. The North Carolina law goes into effect December 1, 2009.
So, the HR Professional gut instinct kicks in when I hear this and says “Lovely, another policy to write.” But the progressive, strategic and altogether libertarian and technology friendly idealist in me says “Wait – can we simply make an announcement that the law has been passed, and trust our adult employees to follow the law?”
The trick is the legal concept of respondeat superior – in that an employer may be held liable for injuries to a third person caused by the employee’s negligence.
So my employee is making sales calls, and he receives a text from a client. He responds while driving and in the course of his texting, is involved in an injury causing crash. His texting is found to be the cause of the accident under the new North Carolina law, and suddenly we are liable for the injuries to the person he hit.
How would you advise your senior management in regard to policy stance in this instance? Do you treat your employees as the adults they are, and expect them to follow the rules of the road? Or do you write the policy to include our beloved phrase “violation may result in discipline up to and including termination”?
Combining HR and technology – the next dilemma comes down the pike, wrapping all of these topics into one. North Carolina and 13 other states have banned texting and email while driving. President Obama has signed an executive order banning federal employees from the same practices. The North Carolina law goes into effect December 1, 2009.
So, the HR Professional gut instinct kicks in when I hear this and says “Lovely, another policy to write.” But the progressive, strategic and altogether libertarian and technology friendly idealist in me says “Wait – can we simply make an announcement that the law has been passed, and trust our adult employees to follow the law?”
The trick is the legal concept of respondeat superior – in that an employer may be held liable for injuries to a third person caused by the employee’s negligence.
So my employee is making sales calls, and he receives a text from a client. He responds while driving and in the course of his texting, is involved in an injury causing crash. His texting is found to be the cause of the accident under the new North Carolina law, and suddenly we are liable for the injuries to the person he hit.
How would you advise your senior management in regard to policy stance in this instance? Do you treat your employees as the adults they are, and expect them to follow the rules of the road? Or do you write the policy to include our beloved phrase “violation may result in discipline up to and including termination”?
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Las Acciones Hablan Mas Que Palabras
From ISRI Safety this morning....
Working safely in a multicultural environment, actions really do speak louder than words.
From John Gilstrap, Director of Safety at ISRI
Anecdotal evidence shows that in the recycling industry, Hispanic workers suffer a disproportionate share of injuries. I’ve written in this space before about the importance of communicating safety in a way that is understood by all workers, but in the past, I’ve concentrated on written and oral communication. More recently, I’ve come to realize that cultural differences play a huge role in this communication
challenge.
And when I say huge, I mean huge. Unless and until we get a handle on these differences, meaningful change is going to be slow in coming. “You have to understand Latino culture in order to train them effectively,” said Bob Ramirez, principal consultant for Ramirez Associates, a firm that specializes in helping incorporate Hispanic culture into American corporations.“If you want them to take it seriously, you need to present it seriously. In Hispanic culture, what you say means less than what you show. In Spanish, we call it ‘the big wink’.” And workers are very sensitive to it.
Born in Mexico and raised in the United States before heading back to Mexico to manage manufacturing plants, Ramirez says that the cultural differences between the two countries are startling. And it starts in childhood.
“American kids are born to be independent,” Ramirez said. “They are raised to question authority, to think on their own. In Latino cultures, we depend on our parents to take care of us, for priests to tell us what is right and wrong, and for the police to tell us what is legal and illegal.”
This cultural deference, he says, extends to the workplace as well. “A Hispanic’s worth as a man is based on how we’re perceived as workers,” Ramirez explained. “And
we’re very respectful of authority. So if the boss tells a Hispanic worker to do something, he’ll assume that it’s a safe thing to do.” Even when it’s not.
“We don’t like to say no,” Ramirez says of Latino culture. “It’s considered disrespectful. So when an American boss tells a Latino worker, ‘I need you to X, Y, and Z before you go home tonight,’ the worker is likely to agree, even when he knows that there’s a family commitment that will keep him from fulfilling his promise. He’ll consider it more respectful to tell a ‘little white lie’ than to say no.”
This is a common source of conflict between Latino workers and American managers. “In the United States, people see things in black and white,” Ramirez explains, “with a tiny area in between called the gray area.” Americans quickly lose
patience with people who dwell on the gray area. (Remember wondering what the definition of “is” was?) In Latino cultures, Ramirez explains, the perception is entirely different. “In Mexico, for example, it’s well understood that there’s yes,
no, then a wide freeway called the gray area. Everyone understands this.” What they don’t understand is why their bosses don’t understand. The white lie, they believe, is better than the insult of refusal.
Consider the all-too-common half-hearted safety training class, in which lip service is given to safety, while the real emphasis remains on production. Ramirez explains that a Latino audience culturally prewired for “the big wink.” They expect the nonverbal communication to convey the “real” meaning of what people say and weigh those cues at least as heavily as they weigh the word that are spoken. When safety equipment is provided, but there’s no emphasis on wearing it, everyone understands
that they’re expected not to use it. Come to think of it, that response is
common to all cultures. Still, there is a Latino cultural barrier to wearing safety equipment.
“In general, Hispanics believe that everything has been preordained,” Ramirez said. “If God wants you to die, you’re going to die. Therefore, what’s the use of taking steps that make you appear to be a bad worker?” Add to that the fact that the
Hispanic workforce in the United States is overall quite young, complete with the sense of indestructibility that comes with youth, and it’s easy to see why there might be resistance to hard hats and safety glasses.
In Hispanic culture, it seems that directions are in large measure negotiations. “You need to ask the question the right way,” Ramirez explained. “A fellow Hispanic supervisor might say, ‘We have this job to do, can you stay?’ and then he’ll watch for the [nonverbal] signs. The worker still might not say no,
but if he can’t stay, he’ll hem and haw, and this is the signal. The supervisor will then give him a graceful way out.” Or, if the job is really essential, the supervisor will explain the importance of staying.
I’ve said it before, folks: at the root of every unsafe act is a worker’s self-perceived best interest. When it comes to a multicultural workforce, the title of this column says it all: Actions speak louder than words.
Working safely in a multicultural environment, actions really do speak louder than words.
From John Gilstrap, Director of Safety at ISRI
Anecdotal evidence shows that in the recycling industry, Hispanic workers suffer a disproportionate share of injuries. I’ve written in this space before about the importance of communicating safety in a way that is understood by all workers, but in the past, I’ve concentrated on written and oral communication. More recently, I’ve come to realize that cultural differences play a huge role in this communication
challenge.
And when I say huge, I mean huge. Unless and until we get a handle on these differences, meaningful change is going to be slow in coming. “You have to understand Latino culture in order to train them effectively,” said Bob Ramirez, principal consultant for Ramirez Associates, a firm that specializes in helping incorporate Hispanic culture into American corporations.“If you want them to take it seriously, you need to present it seriously. In Hispanic culture, what you say means less than what you show. In Spanish, we call it ‘the big wink’.” And workers are very sensitive to it.
Born in Mexico and raised in the United States before heading back to Mexico to manage manufacturing plants, Ramirez says that the cultural differences between the two countries are startling. And it starts in childhood.
“American kids are born to be independent,” Ramirez said. “They are raised to question authority, to think on their own. In Latino cultures, we depend on our parents to take care of us, for priests to tell us what is right and wrong, and for the police to tell us what is legal and illegal.”
This cultural deference, he says, extends to the workplace as well. “A Hispanic’s worth as a man is based on how we’re perceived as workers,” Ramirez explained. “And
we’re very respectful of authority. So if the boss tells a Hispanic worker to do something, he’ll assume that it’s a safe thing to do.” Even when it’s not.
“We don’t like to say no,” Ramirez says of Latino culture. “It’s considered disrespectful. So when an American boss tells a Latino worker, ‘I need you to X, Y, and Z before you go home tonight,’ the worker is likely to agree, even when he knows that there’s a family commitment that will keep him from fulfilling his promise. He’ll consider it more respectful to tell a ‘little white lie’ than to say no.”
This is a common source of conflict between Latino workers and American managers. “In the United States, people see things in black and white,” Ramirez explains, “with a tiny area in between called the gray area.” Americans quickly lose
patience with people who dwell on the gray area. (Remember wondering what the definition of “is” was?) In Latino cultures, Ramirez explains, the perception is entirely different. “In Mexico, for example, it’s well understood that there’s yes,
no, then a wide freeway called the gray area. Everyone understands this.” What they don’t understand is why their bosses don’t understand. The white lie, they believe, is better than the insult of refusal.
Consider the all-too-common half-hearted safety training class, in which lip service is given to safety, while the real emphasis remains on production. Ramirez explains that a Latino audience culturally prewired for “the big wink.” They expect the nonverbal communication to convey the “real” meaning of what people say and weigh those cues at least as heavily as they weigh the word that are spoken. When safety equipment is provided, but there’s no emphasis on wearing it, everyone understands
that they’re expected not to use it. Come to think of it, that response is
common to all cultures. Still, there is a Latino cultural barrier to wearing safety equipment.
“In general, Hispanics believe that everything has been preordained,” Ramirez said. “If God wants you to die, you’re going to die. Therefore, what’s the use of taking steps that make you appear to be a bad worker?” Add to that the fact that the
Hispanic workforce in the United States is overall quite young, complete with the sense of indestructibility that comes with youth, and it’s easy to see why there might be resistance to hard hats and safety glasses.
In Hispanic culture, it seems that directions are in large measure negotiations. “You need to ask the question the right way,” Ramirez explained. “A fellow Hispanic supervisor might say, ‘We have this job to do, can you stay?’ and then he’ll watch for the [nonverbal] signs. The worker still might not say no,
but if he can’t stay, he’ll hem and haw, and this is the signal. The supervisor will then give him a graceful way out.” Or, if the job is really essential, the supervisor will explain the importance of staying.
I’ve said it before, folks: at the root of every unsafe act is a worker’s self-perceived best interest. When it comes to a multicultural workforce, the title of this column says it all: Actions speak louder than words.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Motivating Employees
From www.isri.org this morning - How to motivate employees in a slow economy.
Our people are our most important asset. No, they really can't be replaced by cleaper, less experienced labor in the downturn and then brought back in the upturn.
Even when times are tough financially and incentive bonuses are out of the question, we still need to find ways to encourage employees to maintain a safe and healthful workplace. Sometimes, simple recognition for a job well done is all that is needed. Here are some low-cost motivators to help keep workers in the game:
• Write a letter of commendation
• Ask employees for input/advice
• Give verbal praise
• Pass along compliments you received from others
• Write an email to a superior and copy the employee
• Put positive information in the employee’s productivity file
• Provide quick follow up on problems/hazards when recognized
• Post positive achievements on a safety bulletin board or in an employee newsletter
• Say thank you — And MEAN IT
• Allow flexible work scheduling (flextime)
• Designate special parking places
• Give out awards — e.g., plaques, trophies, certificates
• Feature an employee of the month
• Recognize peers who have helped you
• Have a coffee/juice morning to acknowledge accomplishments
• Create group awards to recognize teamwork
• Thank somebody who contributes ideas — regardless of whether you use the idea
• Always give others credit where credit is due
• ASK the employees how they want to be recognized
• Post complimentary letters on a safety bulletin board
• Send employees to special seminars and workshops that may interest them
When workers feel better about themselves, they tend to take an interest in their work and their company. This loyalty leads to longevity. Longevity leads to experience. Experience is an important element in working . . .
SAFELY, OR NOT AT ALL.
Our people are our most important asset. No, they really can't be replaced by cleaper, less experienced labor in the downturn and then brought back in the upturn.
Even when times are tough financially and incentive bonuses are out of the question, we still need to find ways to encourage employees to maintain a safe and healthful workplace. Sometimes, simple recognition for a job well done is all that is needed. Here are some low-cost motivators to help keep workers in the game:
• Write a letter of commendation
• Ask employees for input/advice
• Give verbal praise
• Pass along compliments you received from others
• Write an email to a superior and copy the employee
• Put positive information in the employee’s productivity file
• Provide quick follow up on problems/hazards when recognized
• Post positive achievements on a safety bulletin board or in an employee newsletter
• Say thank you — And MEAN IT
• Allow flexible work scheduling (flextime)
• Designate special parking places
• Give out awards — e.g., plaques, trophies, certificates
• Feature an employee of the month
• Recognize peers who have helped you
• Have a coffee/juice morning to acknowledge accomplishments
• Create group awards to recognize teamwork
• Thank somebody who contributes ideas — regardless of whether you use the idea
• Always give others credit where credit is due
• ASK the employees how they want to be recognized
• Post complimentary letters on a safety bulletin board
• Send employees to special seminars and workshops that may interest them
When workers feel better about themselves, they tend to take an interest in their work and their company. This loyalty leads to longevity. Longevity leads to experience. Experience is an important element in working . . .
SAFELY, OR NOT AT ALL.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Thoughts on a Rainy Thursday
when I really should be contemplating work... but its making me crazy.
Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels.
- Bob Thaves
Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian.
- Robert Orben
The keenest sorrow is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles
Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels.
- Bob Thaves
Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian.
- Robert Orben
The keenest sorrow is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
- Sophocles
Monday, March 9, 2009
The Dumbest Generation
The Carolina Journal did an interview with an Emory professor on his new book titled "The Dumbest Generation"...
read entire interview here
And my response is... spot on.
Education in the US is supposed to be the "best" - except as I have walked this path known as my life, I have encountered far many more well-educated people from places outside the United States.
I play trivia on a semi-regular basis. 10 years ago, the questions were arts and humanities, science and technology and the occasional 'strain your brain' sports trivia question. These contests have morphed into battles of who remembers the lyrics to the last Coldplay CD, track 6. WTF?
Our technological advancements have made us a society of "information now" - with a smattering of "short attention span theater". My daughter has gone through more cell phones, CD players, MP3 players, computers and other gadgets than I've ever owned in my entire life.
Bauerlein comments "If you really want to punish a 17-year-old, all you have to do is say, “Go outside and play, and leave your cell phone and Blackberry at home.” That is exile. That is banishment for them. That underscores the power of these tools. "
I can attest to this fact when raising my own child.
And the sad fact is that I have been given similar chidings from my own less "wired in" friends. I can google an answer to a question no matter where I am (including my favorite secluded hiking spots) I get email and texts on the trail. But the thing I have learned to do is to TURN IT OFF. There is nothing in my world that says I need to be accessible 24/7. None of us do.
So, how do we reintroduce our next generation to the non-technological world? The world of the outdoors, the world of books, the world where Twitter following doesn't exist. The world where we are educated beyond our computers. So much knowledge is being lost in the digital age, where the latest blog opines are taken as fact. Where undocumented sources are gods... (an undocumented source used to be called conjecture or opinion)
Don't get me wrong, I am wired in... more than I want to be, and as much as I need to be.
But I think the EMF has begun to melt my brain.
read entire interview here
And my response is... spot on.
Education in the US is supposed to be the "best" - except as I have walked this path known as my life, I have encountered far many more well-educated people from places outside the United States.
I play trivia on a semi-regular basis. 10 years ago, the questions were arts and humanities, science and technology and the occasional 'strain your brain' sports trivia question. These contests have morphed into battles of who remembers the lyrics to the last Coldplay CD, track 6. WTF?
Our technological advancements have made us a society of "information now" - with a smattering of "short attention span theater". My daughter has gone through more cell phones, CD players, MP3 players, computers and other gadgets than I've ever owned in my entire life.
Bauerlein comments "If you really want to punish a 17-year-old, all you have to do is say, “Go outside and play, and leave your cell phone and Blackberry at home.” That is exile. That is banishment for them. That underscores the power of these tools. "
I can attest to this fact when raising my own child.
And the sad fact is that I have been given similar chidings from my own less "wired in" friends. I can google an answer to a question no matter where I am (including my favorite secluded hiking spots) I get email and texts on the trail. But the thing I have learned to do is to TURN IT OFF. There is nothing in my world that says I need to be accessible 24/7. None of us do.
So, how do we reintroduce our next generation to the non-technological world? The world of the outdoors, the world of books, the world where Twitter following doesn't exist. The world where we are educated beyond our computers. So much knowledge is being lost in the digital age, where the latest blog opines are taken as fact. Where undocumented sources are gods... (an undocumented source used to be called conjecture or opinion)
Don't get me wrong, I am wired in... more than I want to be, and as much as I need to be.
But I think the EMF has begun to melt my brain.
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