Good news stories

I’m not really sure whether this is the sort of survey that should be taken seriously. 

According to research done over the last few weeks, one-third of Kiwi workers have perfromed a sexual act during a lunch hour. 

And, to boot, 70% of all workers claimed to have had some form of “sexual experience” during their lunch time (regrettably, the difference is between a sex act and a sexual experience isn’t spelt out). 

I am always suspicious about these surveys – and one’s eyebrow should probably be firmly raised in the case of a survey commissioned by a pizza delivery company!

Here is a cheery thought for you at end of the week:  there may actually be some workplace advantages associated with aging! 

Two posts from different sites this week offer some food for thought. 

The first is from the Workplace Prof blog, reporting on a recent study in the United States (which you can link to from the post if you like). 

The study involved experimentation with 2000 subjects, querying what features of a Chief Executive’s image caused them to perceive that he or she was “competent”.  It turns out that being “baby faced” causes people to think that you may not have the correct competencies to be in a position of leadership.  On the other hand, however, not appearing so youthful is likely to cause people to think that you are “mature” and therefore more competent. 

What great news! 

Meanwhile, over at Beverley Main’s HR blog you can read about six gains that your organisation may make by hiring an older worker.  My favourite is the last – namely, that they are more likely to have learned the proper rules of grammar and spelling at school!

Here’s one for you:  what would happen if you ran a “stupid rules” contest in your workplace? 

A recent blog post from an American commentator, Bob Sutton, suggests that Stanford University might benefit from a competition of this type.  The idea is that you get your employees to give feedback about the silliest workplace rules that exist within your environment. 

Often, the idea results in positive feedback to the employer about changes that can be made to benefit the workplace.   

What do you think would happen if you ran this in your place of work? 

Take three minutes and watch this video posted this week on BNET.  It is the most amusing - and effective - statement about leadership that you’ll enjoy this year!

Congratulations to Gordon Anderson for joining the blog community with his excellent New Zealand Employment Law blog.

Gordon posted last week about the “Ghost of Blackball”, and its potential relevance to the recent legislative amendments around meal breaks.

The post - and blog -is well worth a read.