Making a Difference: Disney Studios Makes a Major Contribution

We all have our favorite children’s and family movies that Walt Disney Studios has created over the years. Now Disney is pointing in a new direction with a focus they call “Disneynature.” The purpose of the new production unit is to produce films that spotlight the realities of nature. The first of the films in this direction is the incredibly moving documentary called “Earth.” Originally released internationally in 2007, the American version of “Earth” premiered on April 22, a day also known in the U.S. as Earth Day.

“Earth,” narrated by James Earl Jones, follows the lives of three non-human families, polar bears, elephants, and humpback whales, for a one-year cycle in their very precarious and difficult lives.

In addition to distributing this film that documents the fragility of all life, Disney has pledged to plant one tree in the endangered Brazilian rainforest for every person who saw the movie during its first week. The trees are being planted by the Nature Conservancy, whose slogan is “Protecting Nature. Preserving Life.”

Disney has announced that the box-office receipts for the first week totaled $16.1 million, which translates to their funding 2.7 million trees for the Conservancy to plant.

So the challenge here is to respond to the meaning of this new direction by Disney:

Did you see the film? If yes, what did you think?

If you haven’t seen it, are you interested in doing so?

Do you have any thoughts to share on the issue of the fragility of all life on Earth?

Or on the issue of planting trees in the Brazilian rainforest as opposed to here in the U.S.?

We look forward to hearing what you think!

Military Veterans: Disability & Homelessness

One estimate from the Veterans Administration is that since 2003, more than 60,000 U.S. military personnel in Iraq have been wounded or struggle with psychological disorders. The percentage of veterans who are amputees is said to be the highest since the Civil War, and at least one-third of military personnel who have served in Iraq struggle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Returning service personnel with a disability are required to submit an application for a Disability Compensation claim. While the time required to transition from submission of an application to being declared eligible for treatment or compensation varies by region, it is presently stated as approximately six months.

In terms of homelessness, as of November 8, 2007, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans indicated there were 195,827 homeless veterans in the U.S., and 2,784 of those were in Pennsylvania.

Individuals interested in how our returned military personnel are faring might research any of the following:

· U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

· National Coalition for Homeless Veterans

· Iraq War Veterans

For those interested in learning more about how to assist returned military, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans provides a “Locate a Community-based Organization” link (under “Homeless Veteran Service Providers”). A search for “Philadelphia” lists six agencies in the area that provide assistance and services especially for homeless veterans.

· What ideas do you have in respect to how our returned Iraq veterans are treated?

· Do you have any ideas to share on what we can do to assist?

· Do you know of any employment opportunities for returned veterans?

· Is your workplace cognizant of returned veterans issues? If so, do you have any ideas to share in respect to your workplace?

A 10-Point Survival: How to Keep Your Job!

A 10-Point Survival Guide: How to Keep Your Job &
an Interesting Note on Women in the Job Market

Anne Fisher is a Senior Writer on workplace and management topics for Fortune magazine. She also writes a weekly career-advice column called “Ask Annie” for CNN.com. In the January 7, 2009, Ask Annie column, she wrote “Keep your job: a 10-point survival guide.”

1. Create successes for yourself
2. Set 30-day and 60-day goals
3. Watch your attitude
4. Keep your network active
5. Update your skills
6. Make sure your work serves the larger goals of the organization
7. For now, forget about work-life balance
8. Take a hard look at your finances
9. Never badmouth anyone
10. Remember, in the knowledge economy, you are the product

You can find the column on the web at http://www.askannie.com/ or click here for the entire article.

Also on the state of the economy, a new article by Barbara Hagenbaugh of USA Today states, “Women are holding onto their jobs more than their male counterparts in the recession as the types of jobs women hold generally offer more stability, albeit at less pay.”

How can the “Survival Guide” help you keep your job? How are you surviving the economic changes effecting employment? What would you add or change on the list? How secure do you feel about your job in the current market in light of the information about women workers?

Destroying Wilderness

Destroying Wilderness

The Wilderness Society was established in 1935 for the expressed purpose of protecting wilderness areas in the U.S. The Society was responsible for the passage of the landmark Wilderness Act of 1964 that remains, still, the law of the land.

Specifically, the Wilderness Act put under protection 107 million acres of wilderness in the continental U.S., and an additional 56 million acres in Alaska.

Recently, the Wilderness Society sent its members an email alerting all to the effort of the current administration to convert more than 2 million acres in the forests of Western Oregon to commercial logging.

To learn about the specific of the pristine and critically essential Oregon forests (as well as specifics on the Alaskan acreage) visit the Society's web site.

What is important here is to hear your opinion of the wilderness versus logging issue. Let us know, pro or con, what you think. Do you agree with the current administration’s plans? What course should the incoming administration take in this issue?

The College Student's Guide to the New Millennium

"The College Student's Guide to the New Millennium"

At CEC Associates, we focus on workplace issues. Recently we wrote about generational differences (see our blog, "It's All About Engagement," December 6, 2007), especially as they arise in the workplace between "Baby Boomer" bosses and "Millennial" new/recent hires.

We have been working from Cam Marston's "Motivating the "What's In It for Me" Workforce: Manage Across the Generational Divide and Increase Profits.” Marston (and others), delineates the generations as:

· Matures: born before 1946 (including "Lost" Generation, 1883-1900; "Greatest," 1901-1924; "Silent," 1925-1945)
· Baby Boomers: 1946-1964
· Generation X: 1965-1981
· Millennials: 1982-2000

Many sociologists believe that the "Millennials" are faced with critical realities and issues that were not present for earlier generations. The differences between the serial generations of Americans are significant, and we all, whether from earlier generations or the Generation Millennials themselves, really need to understand the differences to develop the compatibility required for productive harmony. The difficulty, of course, is defining who the Millennials are and in what respects they are different from foregoing generations.

Fortuitously, as relevant ideas are want to happen, we became aware of an elegantly written article by Emma Raviv that made, for us, the intellectual connection we needed. Raviv's article, "Welcome to Your World: The College Student's Guide to the New Millennium," explores the specific themes that focus on the consequential problems our youths and college students face. Raviv explores the themes of science and technology, sex and gender in the new world, globalization, war on terror, and racial politics.

Simply reading the issues makes it clear that the generational differences are significant and need to be taken into account as we go about managing the emerging workforce. It should be noted that Raviv doesn't develop her thesis in terms of the workforce; that is our twist to the information she advances.

Click here to view the Raviv article. What are your thoughts on generational differences? Do you agree with Raviv's theses?

No More Gloom and Doom

No More Gloom and Doom


All those Safety and Wellness programs that employers implemented over the past several years are finally paying off, big time. Disability Management programs are cost effective, and the statistics are proof.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics* reports that the:

Nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses among private industry employers in 2006 (last full year of reporting) occurred at a rate of 4.4 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers –a decline from 4.6 cases in 2005. The rate of such injuries and illnesses in 1997 was 7.1 cases per 100 workers.

The difference between 7.1 cases and 4.4 cases is a very dramatic difference and one that should convey a significant message to employers.

One other key statistics in the report cited above is that the number of total cases of injury and illness was highest among mid-size companies (employing between 50 and
249 workers), higher than the rate in large-size companies. Larger companies (over 250 employees) are most likely to have intensive Disability Management programs in place and staffed accordingly. Large-size companies generally have in-house resources such as Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) available to address employee health issues in a timely or even preventive way. As a consequence, these companies do better than mid-size companies in terms of their injury/illness rates.

Major sports teams, for example Major League Baseball, have long since learned to manage on the basis of raw statistics. If mid-sized companies were to do the same, these statistics on the value of Disability Management would yield significant and cost-effective results.


____________________
* United States Department of Labor/Bureau of Labor Statistics: “Workplace Injuries and Illnesses in 2006”

When the Wounded Return

When the Wounded Return

Whether you are for or against the war, we all respect the service of the men and women fighting overseas. They face immense hardships, and they all certainly look forward to a peaceful and easy transition back to their lives at home. But what happens when, after being injured, soldiers aren’t cared for as they should be, staying in treatment facilities with less than optimal conditions?

An August 18, 2008, article in USA Today details the conditions of one establishment for wounded soldiers, Fort Sill. Author Gregg Zoroya wrote, “Mold infests the barracks that were set up here a year ago for wounded soldiers after poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center triggered a systemwide overhaul, soldiers say.”

He continued, “Images of mold growing on walls of wounded-soldier bedrooms at Walter Reed last year, along with issues of bureaucratic delays in health care, led to an overhaul of the Army’s wounded-care system.” While measures were taken to expedite the treatment process for soldiers, many items still need to be addressed.

You can read the whole USA Today article here.

Do you think there is a better way to handle the return of our wounded soldiers? Is the government doing enough to assist the men and women who have bravely served our country? Which of the two political parties do you think is best suited to accomplish these tasks?