technology

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I recently finished reading Haidt’s, “The Anxious Generation”. I was curious about this book as I have struggled to help my teenager with their depression. I am fascinated how their older sister (six years apart) had such a different experience in her teenage years than my younger child. Haidt makes some compelling arguments supported with a ton of data and research. The book’s website also offers additional data and research.

Haidt gives some reasons for depression including:

  • Genes-predisposed to depression
  • Thought patterns (can be learned and unlearned)
  • Social and environmental conditions

But he contends that the biggest difference is how society is focused on a “phone-based childhood vs play- based childhood”. Essentially playing outside and with friends has been replaced with the virtual world. I have definitely seen this difference between my two kids. Another dramatic difference is how parents are overprotective in real life and under protected online.

Haidt explains that the prevailing wisdom of parents today is that kids need to be supervised constantly and parents should not let their kids roam independently like we did when we were children. There is no longer the mantra of “come home when it gets dark.” And laws are even in place to report parents that are seemingly being irresponsible by allowing their kids some freedom. Essentially we have created so many guardrails kids do not experience any hardship or failure which in turn prevents them from developing resilience and grit.

Our phone-based culture has created four harms:

  • #1: Social deprivation -kids are connected to everyone in the world and disconnected from the people around them.
  • #2: Sleep deprivation-there has been tons of research on how our devices disrupt our sleeping patterns.
  • #3: Attention fragmentation-notifications and disruptions happen constantly which leaves us with about five minutes to focus on any task or though before we are interrupted once again.
  • #4: Addiction- “The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for the wired generation”.

This book, its message and all the thorough research really resonated with me. I do agree with Haidt that if we as a society do not address the negative effects of social media and the virtual world, we will create a very different, fragmented world that what we have enjoyed thus far. Certainly putting down the phones, getting out in nature and making more time for real play for our kids can make a difference if we all lean in and make it happen.

What’s Going on in Retail Training

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I was recently asked by a client to do some recent on current retail training methodology.  I did a tremendous amount of research and even connected with some old retail buddies to get a sense of what is going on out there.  I will write several posts in the next few weeks, sharing snippets of what I learned.  Comment back if you have additional insight or questions.

According to the National Retail Federation, almost 30 percent of all retail workers are age 30 or younger, and nearly half of them have college degrees. Today’s employees have been immersed in technology almost since birth, and based on their experiences as students and consumers; they have come to expect technology in the workplace as well. The pervasiveness of social media and social computing is a big part of this expectation, as well as, comfort with technology.  These expectations have to be factored in when trying to recruit, retain, motivate and train younger employees.

Many retailers have empowered their employees with the right mix of tools and information, and have invested in mobility solutions that help them answer customer queries, look up price, confirm item availability and know their customers. In-store associates are using handheld applications not only for information, but also for guided selling, check out and replenishment. Retailers have implemented new features for online chat so that associates can perform sales and support activities to better serve their customers during transactions.

Enhanced features in employee touch points have allowed customer service associates to use real-time information to provide product features, benefits, recommendations, product availability and price information.  Enhancing employee efficiency and customer experience are value drivers to implement mobility solutions at the store front. Concerns like security, infrastructure management and integrated solutions have been the primary reasons for slower adoption of mobility solutions. At the same time, improved technology, along with some killer applications to support functions and infrastructure, has helped faster adoption of mobility solutions. A classic example is Apple which took customer service to a new level by adopting mobile solutions for all business functions in their stores.  Apple offers the Genius Bar, free workshops, personal setup, personal pickup and EasyPay; all of this could not happen unless their staff was trained and trained very well.

 

The Age of Agility

Posted on by Seniye Groff

The May 2012 issue of “Talent Management” has a great article about Unilever’s flexible work model.  Unilever has made a deliberate decision to give its employees the ability to work whenever and wherever they like as long as the work gets done.  I am currently working onsite for a project and when I was hired, I was told I could work remotely as much as I wanted.  I was a bit skeptical but it has turned out to be true.  Although the workplace is extremely flexible, I still need to go in about three days a week.  I need to meet people, test procedures in the lab and ultimately feel connected to the project, the team and the processes. 

Unilever has resolved the disconnect between saying they are flexible with truly being flexible by investing heavily in technology and by eliminating the conventional idea of what an office is and is not.    They build their offices around activities rather than people.  They have three zones:

  1. Focus zones where people come and go and there is no ownership over the work stations.
  2. Connect zones which are spaces for virtual and face-to-face meetings.
  3. Refresh zones are locations stocked with food and gyms.

Unilever has also invested heavily in technology  so that people have great laptops, smart phones and virtual collaboration technology.  Finally, Unilever trained their people on the agile model.  No doubt, some people struggle with the agile model.  I imagine there must be a boss or two that is still “stuck” in the old way of believing face time is best.  For me, disconnecting from work, when my home office is constantly looming is my biggest challenge.  Nonetheless, I applaud Unilever for not just saying they support work/life balance but instead putting together the infrastructure, tools and training to make life/work balance a reality for its employees!

 

Tech Tools of 2012

Posted on by Seniye Groff

November’s  Chief Learning Officer, “Tech Tools in 2012”  caught my eye.   Apparently investment in learning technologies continues to be a priority.  Content development and learning strategy also made the list of priorities.  This means that beyond the LMS, companies want to invest in mobile learning and collaboration tools including social networking tools.  After several years of declining spending, this is good news!

Not surprising, the ability to align all the competing priorities of the organizations is a focus.  CLO’s are focused on the goals of their organization and how to align it with the performance of its employees.  This includes informal learning, leadership training, overall skill development and overall productivity.

Technical tools are still a focus, especially those tools that are more “mainstream” such as learning management systems, elearning content tools and virtual classroom environments.  The jury is still out on how to use social networking, iPads and mobile devices for training.  As these tools demonstrate success and the ability to truly change behavior, I suspect the investment will follow.

Another article that shares the need for training as a continued priority was in Fast Company‘s blog post on training to close the skills gaps that employers whine so often about.  According to the post, many jobs remain unfilled because companies cannot find qualified people.  The old adage “hire for attitude, train for the job” seems to be forgotten.  It is easy to point the finger at our schools, but ultimately companies are going to have to create their own “schools” or universities to address the missing skills that job candidates need.

 

Fourth Graders

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I have gone back to school.  No, it is not what you think…no Ph.D. in my future.  Instead I have elected to volunteer to teach fourth grade technology to 76 fourth graders!  Due to budget cuts, the teaching position was eliminated.  I could not fathom these kids not getting this very important information, though.  Now let me say, that I have no experience or training teaching elementary kids.  All I know is that I have a smart, inquisitive fourth grader that is thrilled to have me in the classroom with her.  She even mentioned “that she would help me out if I fumbled at times.”

So I began creating my lesson plans with all my naiveté.  I figured, “At least kids aren’t afraid of the computer!”  As I began my first class, though, I underestimated the condition of the computers.  Even for adults, if the computers are not working or do have the programs needed, it is disruptive to the learning process.  I spent almost the entire classroom time trying to troubleshoot computer problems.  Beyond that, I did manage to run through a scavenger hunt with the kids.  They were quick to raise their hands or even just shout out the answers.  So, if nothing else, they are engaged, which is a great first step.

It is going to be a fun school year exploring technology with energetic, unfocused, inquisitive kids!  I will keep you posted on my progress.

 kidsThanks for reading!