knowledge

The retention of highly skilled knowledge workers is one of the major challenges today for all organizatons. Knowledge workers are those whose work primarily requires the use of “mental power rather than muscle power.”

For example, they are the developers and caretakers of the computer networks that keep your business running. They are also the producers of the dazzling graphics presentations that help your sales force land new customers. And they are even the account reps who look into data bases to decide whether to grant a bank loan request or explain investment options to potential customers.

Knowledge workers are therefore extremely valuable because they keep the factories churning, the customers satisfied, the new products coming out the door—they are the backbone of your company. So how do you keep these highly skilled and valuable workers from jumping ship—from going to a competitor? Here are four ways to motivate this unique group of workers.

Support training and development.

What highly skilled, quality workers realize that in a fast changing world, those who snooze will soon lose their marketable skills. The latest technology, or software package, or self-development program not only can lure knowledge workers, but can also induce them to stay on board.

Provide special assignments.

Knowledge workers will more likely remain if they know they are learning new things, gaining exposure to ‘hot areas’ or increasing their visibility inside the company. Some examples of short-term developmental projects include leading a task force on a pressing business problem, handling negotiations with a customer,, integrating systems across units, supervising product or equipment purchase or presenting a proposal report to top management.

Rotate jobs and responsibilities.

The movement of workers to different tasks at specified intervals enables them to develop and practice new skills and determine areas in which they can best use their talents. Also, a staff that is prepared to function in a variety of capacities and to perform a variety of duties, will bring breadth and depth to your team or department As a side benefit, rotation of people to different areas can result in better communication and work relations.

Show genuine interest.

Ask your valued workers how they are doing, what’s going well and what’s not. Don’t wait for yearly performance review time to recognize good work. Do it on a regular basis. As with most people who take pride in their work, knowledge workers value recognition, nearly as much as good pay.

The organization that is able to recruit, motivate, and retain the best workers is going to have a huge strategic advantage. Therefore, companies that offer comprehensive training with planned, on-the job experience, complemented by enlightened supervision and opportunities for ongoing professional development, will be more successful in retaining their valued and highly skilled people. In other words, give knowledge workers room to grow—or someone else will.

Marcia Zidle, the ‘people smarts’ coach, works with business leaders to quickly solve their people management headaches so they can concentrate on their #1 job

Tags: employee motivation, employee retention, employee turnover, knowledge workers, reduce turnoveremployee motivation, employee retention, employee turnover, knowledge workers, reduce turnover

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Self knowledge means more personal power. You can more effectively use a computer when you know more about it, and in the same way, you can more effectively use your own brainpower, mind and body when you understand them better. There is, however, one big stumbling block to learning more about ourselves. It is our tendency to rationalize, as demonstrated in the extreme in the following true story.

Jack, while hypnotized by his therapist, was given the post-hypnotic instruction to get up and put on his coat whenever the doctor touched his nose. Once out of the trance, he and the doctor talked. During the conversation, the doctor scratched his nose, and Jack immediately stood up and put on his coat.

The doctor asked why. Jack said “Oh, I thought we were finished,” and he took off the coat. A few minutes later, the doctor touched his nose again, and Jack again immediately stood up and put on his coat. “It’s getting cold in here,” he explained. By the third time, it was getting more difficult for Jack to explain his behavior, yet he still tried to.

Now, is this scenario really unique to hypnosis? I don’t think so. We are often just assuming that we know all that goes into our decisions and actions. Like poor Jack, we feel compelled to explain ourselves, and to believe our own explanations. Of course, this isn’t self knowledge, but self explanation, or rationalization, and it is one of our strongest human habits.

Self Knowledge Versus Self Explanation

When a child throws a book at his brother, and his mother demands “Why would you do that!?” What usually happens? The child answers, “I don’t know,” which is true, but entirely unacceptable. With five seconds to come up with an answer, the best psychologists couldn’t understand the child’s action with certainty, yet a five-year-old is expected to do just that.

Though he may not understand, he learns quickly how to explain himself. With this pressure to explain, it is no wonder that by adulthood, we rarely say “I don’t know” when asked about our behavior. Instead, we simply create an explanation. Isn’t this a problem if we want true self knowledge? How do we learn the true causes of our behavior if we already have our explanations?

Self Knowledge - I Don’t Know

A better approach is to say “I don’t know.” If it helps, follow it with “Maybe it’s because of…” and let the explanations spill out, but don’t be too quick to accept any of them. It isn’t always necessary to explain.

For example, suppose you are avoiding a certain person. If you never know why you are avoiding them, isn’t it better to leave the question open than to accept a false explanation based on a habit of self-justification and rationalization? When you leave questions unanswered, you may someday have a better understanding. A quick answer just means a quick stop in your thinking, and less self knowledge.

Why not just say, “I don’t know.” Isn’t it better to learn to accept your ignorance, and to keep observing yourself? Don’t let self-explanation get in the way of of self knowledge.

Steve Gillman has been studying brainpower and related topics for years. For more on How To Increase Brain Power, and to get the Brain Power Newsletter and other free gifts, visit: http://www.IncreaseBrainPower.com

Tags: brainpower, self, self knowledgebrainpower, self, self knowledge

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This article takes a look at how one badly injured man survived a day and night in a wild life park where he was surrounded by lions, elephants and hyenas. I, for one,learned a lot from his experience. I hope you will too.

In 2004, Greg Rasmussen, a British born pilot, was tracking a rhino in a Zimbabwe national park. He was using a light plane which went into a wind spin and hit the ground.

He could not shelter in the plane because petrol fuel was leaking and there was risk of explosive fire. His goal was to survive until help could reach him. Greg told the story of how he achieved that goal to Richard and Judy of ITV Channel 4.

Greg was severely injured but not dead. He was also dehydrated; he had not been able to get a drink at his last petrol stop because the pumps were not working properly. He was like a thirsty man alone in an ocean of salt water and sharks.

But his ‘ocean’ was a wild life park full of wild animals including lions, hyenas and elephants. The sun set at about 6 p.m. Greg faced a long night. No rescue attempt would happen until daylight.

Fortunately, he had some experience of wild animal behaviour and knew that animals in the wild have a special form of self-defence.

They wait until the attacker gets close and then make a sharp, sudden noise. This can, if they are lucky, frighten the predator away.

The timing must be correct. If the noise is made too early it will not frighten the attacker. If it is made too late, you will probably be already half-dead.

As Greg lay in great pain on the ground near his plane, he heard the sound of the footfall of a lioness moving towards him with her cubs through the brush. A lioness who has her cubs with her is far more dangerous than a lioness on her own.

The soft coughing sound of the lioness came closer - ooogh! ooogh! ooogh!.

The lioness moved to within about a metre and a half of the terrified Greg - the length of a sofa away. He could see her silhouette.

At this point, he hammered on part of the broken wind screen of the crashed plane with other parts of the plane that he had been collecting for this purpose.

The lioness was startled and took off.

Greg’s knowledge of animal behaviour had probably saved his life and the fact that he was thinking all the time: “What can I do to deal with the problems I face?”

He later used the same strategy to frighten off some elephants who could have trampled him to death. There were also hyenas about!

Greg needed belief and a passion for life to keep him from giving up:

“Mentally, to stay alive, I had to tell myself all sorts of lies that they are going to find me. You’ve got to be so positive in this situation. However hopeless the situation seems, you’ve really got to say ‘They are going to find me’ because otherwise I’ll give up.”

Greg had to make a decision early in the incident whether he wanted to live or die. He thought about his passion for preserving the African painted dog and his program to educate children about
conservation which was just about due to start.

This passion helped him achieve his survival goal by giving him a powerful reason to live. An exciting goal in life can help the old and injured to stay alive.

Two hours after sunrise, the next day, his luck changed and he heard the sound of airplanes and then of human voices. He had survived.

Knowledge, positive thinking, belief (even if it was based on ‘lies’) and his passion for the survival of the painted dogs had helped him achieve his own survival. The same qualities can help any of us achieve our own most prized goals.

About the author

John Watson is an award winning teacher and fifth degree black belt martial arts instructor. He has recently written several books about achieving your goals and dreams.

One of these can be found on his website at http://www.motivationtoday.com/36_laws.php

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Tags: belief, goal achievement, greg rasmussen, hyenas, knowledge, lioness, passion, positive thinking, survivalbelief, goal achievement, greg rasmussen, hyenas, knowledge, lioness, passion, positive thinking, survival

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