Greetings Central Chapter!

As the snow and ice rain fall on several inclement weather days, I think of the many

challenges we, as leaders, are faced with every day. Will we have enough volunteer coverage

to provide well needed services within the hospital, will Volunteer Office staff be able to arrive

safely to keep our well oiled wheel rolling, and do we call off volunteers to prevent them from

having a dangerous drive in? These questions, among the other daily challenges we face, make

our jobs difficult.

All of us, within Central Chapter and our colleagues throughout the State Membership,

turn to each other for support and guidance and look forward to our quarterly meetings to

receive education on how we can better answer these and many other challenges. This year we

have a brilliant contingent of women on the Central Chapter board of whom have worked

together to develop an educational year along with creative ways of reaching members who are

not able to get away from the office.

A common thread among many in Central Chapter is handling difficult conversations.

We are all faced with situations in which we need to address volunteers unable to continue their

current volunteer role, poor hygiene, developing customer service skills, office staff challenges

and more. Having those conversations in a diplomatic manner can be difficult. Our March

meeting will help us evaluate our current skills and help us learn new ones.

Another noticeable trend is to do more with less. Each of us has or will face this challenge. How

do we, as leaders, continue to provide quality volunteer programs, continue to participate with

Central Chapter and balance our personal responsibilities. This year we are incorporating Video

Conferencing to help you maintain a healthy balance. Stay tuned to the meeting schedule to

participate with Central Chapter from a distance.

In addition to developing an educational year, Alice Clark continues to chair the

Conference Committee to provide us with a tremendous State Conference at Penn State.

Alice has a long history of event planning and many connections within the Penn State area,

allowing us to provide an affordable and educational conference.

This year will truly be an exciting year built on camaraderie, talent

and respect developed over the years. Please join us this year as YOU are

what makes our membership meaningful!

Message from President — Georgina Winfield

N E W S L E T T E R CCPSDVS Newsletter

CCPSDVS Newsletter CENTRAL CHAPTER

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT: Georgina Winfield—St. Luke’s Hospital (Allentown & Bethlehem)

VICE PRESIDENT: Kristi Ondo—Holy Spirit Hospital (Camp Hill)

SECRETARY: Dawn Rissmiller—Lancaster General Hospital (Lititz)

TREASURER: Sue Espenshade—Hershey Medical Center (Hershey)

COMMITTEE CHAIRS

MEMBERSHIP: Karla Bachl—Lehigh Valley Hospital & Health Network (Bethlehem)

NEWSLETTER/ HISTORIAN: Alice Clark—Mount Nittany Medical Center (State College)

EDUCATION & COMPLIANCE:

Lois Kellet—Sacred Heart Hospital (Allentown)

PAST PRESIDENT & NOMINAT-ING: Joyce Malicky—Wayne Memorial Hospital (Honesdale)

CONFERENCE: Alice Clark—Mount Nittany Medical Center (State College)

NOTE:

The Professional Development position has been redistributed. Kristi Ondo developed a “Host Guide” that will be provided to

meeting hosts and the Secretary will keep track of the RSVPs for

each meeting.

2011

Meeting

Dates—

See

Page 2

Page 2

CCPSDVS Newsletter

MARCH 11, 2011

Location: Good Shepherd Rehab Network, 850 S. 5th Street, Allentown, PA 18103

Host: JoAnn Frey (Office: 610-776-3125 / jfrey@gsrh.org)

Education Session: Crucial Conversations, presented by Fred Ackler, Administrator Director for Lehigh Valley Anesthesia Services.

“We face crucial conversations all the time. We find ourselves “stuck” in chronic problems in relationships, teams, or organizations (e.g. strained relationships, negative conclusions about another person, work-arounds, chronic inability to meet organizational goals, etc. Learn how to get to the root cause of these and other problems and change your life forever.”

Based on the book Crucial Conversations—Tools for Talking When Stakes are High, by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler.

JULY 8, 2011

Location: Mount Nittany Medical Center, 1800 East Park Avenue, State College, PA 16803

Hosts: Alice Clark & Vickie Morgan (Office: 814-234-6170 / aclark@mountnittany.org)

Education Session: Risk Management - Volunteer Programs—Community Service (presented by Jens Holger Thorsen, Partner, Hartman Employee Benefits, Inc. and John Baker, Attorney.)

SEPTEMBER 29, 2011 (Thursday!)

Location: Mercy Hospice, 746 Jefferson Avenue, Scranton, PA 18510

Host: Rita Harris (Office: 570-348-7372 / Rita.harris@health-partners.org)

Education Session: Book review on “From the Top Down” presented by Kristi Ondo.

PSDVS CONFERENCE — HOSTED by CCPSDVS

OCTOBER 19-21, 2011: PSDVS State Conference at The Nittany Lion Inn in State College, PA.

To make a reservation—Conference ID # PASJ11D. $119.00 (single + double occupancy). Phone: 800-233-7505. Conference Information — Coming Soon!

DECEMBER 9, 2011

Location: Hershey Hospital (meeting) — Details to follow.

Host: Sue Espenshade

9-10 am: Board Meeting / 10-11:30 am: General Meeting / 11:30-12:30—LUNCH /

12:30-2:30: Presentation

Lunch & Program

are $15.00!

Welcome to our newest member (whose name

and photo will be added to the directory and sent to

members later this year along with updates for all members).

Sherry K. Fair—Director of Volunteer Programs—

Lutheran Social Services (South Central PA)—LSS Foundation—

1050 Pennsylvania Avenue, York, PA 17404 — Phone: 717-

854-4425 or 888-404-3500 / FAX: 717-854-4709.

Email: sfair@lutheranscp.org. Www.lutheranscp.org.

Page 3

CCPSDVS Newsletter

2011 Board Members (Ascending Order on Steps): Georgina

Winfield, President; Dawn Rissmiller, Secretary; Sue Espenshade,

Treasurer; Kristi Ondo, Vice President.

2010 Board & Committee Members (Ascending Order on Steps): Betty Anton, Education & Compliance; Joyce

Malicky, President; Georgina Winfield, Vice-President; Sue Espenshade, Treasurer; Karla Bachl, Membership,

Kristi Ondo, Professional Development; Alice Clark, Newsletter & Historian.

WELCOME

MEMBERSHIP Please remember to renew your

membership dues as soon as possible!

Also think about others who would benefit from

membership. To date, we have no members from the

following counties who represent the Central Chapter of

PSDVS: (western end): Potter, Clinton, Huntingdon, Fulton,

Perry; (central area): Montour, Northumberland, Sullivan,

Schuylkill; (eastern end): Pike, Carbon, Northampton).

Invite non-member personnel to accompany you at one of

the upcoming CCPSDVS meetings (see page 2).

Page 4

CCPSDVS Newsletter

Celebrating the next chapter of their lives: Phyllis Paulus, Betty Anton & Barbara

Burger. Thank you for your outstanding contributions to our organization!

Karla Bachl—Celebrating her birthday in style!

Three Amigos: (left to right) Vonnie Kain, Dawn Rissmiller, Sue Espenshade

Making Beautiful Music: Parkland High School Chorale (Allentown, PA)

Page 5

CCPSDVS Newsletter

Give the publication The Non-Profit Times a look. The magazine is published 24 times a year (also available in an electronic format) and provides a high level, big picture view of the non profit sector. Once a month, Susan Ellis writes a column on volunteer manage-ment issues. Written for non profit executives, The NonProfit Times highlights the impact political issues have on non profit agencies and also has many resources for fund raising, grant writing and donor culti-vation. The NonProfit Times and the monthly e-newsletter are free. The website, www.nptimes.com

offers a wealth of nonprofit

management information –

articles, webinars, podcasts and

links to other sites. An

Interesting current posting is a

podcast featuring short videos

from speakers from the National

Conference on Volunteering and

Service .

From the January 2011 PSDVS

Education Email (information

provided by Lois Kellet).

For me, the most important things that have helped me in my

career as a DVS have been these:

Always try to have empathy for those you work with - whether it is

your volunteers or your employees - ALWAYS try to put yourself

into their shoes and appreciate what they are going through in

their lives. Support them in the best way that you can…..it is not

always easy to do….but try your best.

Put the PATIENT first - as you create or learn about programs

that others are doing - think of how the program can benefit the

patient or their family. Be creative and always on the watch for

ways in which the work of volunteers can fill that gap that may

exist in patient satisfaction.

Promote the work that your volunteers do everyday - whether it be

with your hospital administration, hospital staff, or in the

community. They do amazing things all the time, but are

sometimes treated very differently than "paid staff" because

perhaps they are older (or younger) than the people they

support. People think that because they may be older, that they

cannot think any longer - WRONG!

While doing this, however, remember that volunteers are here to

support the hospital….not run it. They must work within the

framework of the policies of the institution.

Promote our profession by working with your chapter, state, local

and community organizations that train people to do what we do

and how work with volunteers. You will ALWAYS learn something

new while sharing with others…….and that is what makes us so

different.

Betty Anton

Elizabeth Anton [Elizabeth.Anton@lvhn.org] - email through March

bbanton@dejazzd.com—email starting April 2011

Barbara Burger‘s new email is: Barbarareadburger@gmail.com

Long-time volunteer directors who are pictured on page 4 were asked about

what made them successful in their careers. Spokesperson Betty Anton‘s

response is:

CCPSDVS General Membership Meeting Minutes

December 10, 2010 – Quarterly Meeting – 11 a.m.to 2 p.m. / 2 pm-3 pm

Conference Committee Meeting Location: Lehigh Valley Health Network (Host: Karla Bachl)

Present: Joyce Malicky, Georgina Winfield, Sue Espenshade, Karla Bachl, Kristi Ondo, Alice Clark (took notes for Kimberly Golden), Phyllis Paules, Fran Braun, Dawn Rissmiller, Angie Bly, Vonnie Kain, Pattie Longenecker, JoAnn Frey, Camille Fjeld, Lois Kellet, Sara Atkinson, Betsy Laylon, Barbara Burger, Connie Klunk, Sherry Fair

Joyce Malicky called the meeting to order. Each attendee (21) did self introductions; Sherry Fair was introduced as a guest. Minutes were approved.

Financial Report (Sue Espenshade):

$7,967.58 is the amount in CCPSDVS‘s budget (as of 12/10/10).

It was requested that members receive a Treasurer‘s Report with budget line items in it; also that this information is placed in the newsletter so all members can see a summary.

An audit of the books needs to be conducted by the end of the first quarter. Sue Espenshade will present the budget information to the review committee, comprised of Dawn Rissmiller (Chair), Vonnie Kain, and Kristi Ondo.

Membership & Marketing Report (Karla Bachl):

A FaceBook page has been established with a small fan page that has photographs and meeting date information. Members currently on that page are Karla Bachl, Kristi Ondo, Dawn Rissmiller, Betty Anton. If anyone else wishes to join them, they can join one of their pages by becoming a friend.

There are 39 members of CCPSDVS with 5 honorary members.

Newsletter/Historian (Alice Clark)

The goal of the newsletter this year is to group information into one document to make it convenient for members to have useful information in one place.

The next newsletter will come out after the board/committee transition meeting. It will contain meeting information for the year.

Conference (PSDVS) – (Alice Clark)

Hosted by the Central Chapter of PSDVS on October 19-21, 2011 at the Nittany Lion Inn. Committee members are in place; others welcome and encouraged to join a committee.

CCPSDVS Newsletter Page 6

CCPSDVS GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES of DEC 10, 2010 (Continued)

Education & Compliance (Betty Anton):

Went to a PSDVS meeting on PA volunteerism (Susan Ellis, Temple Intergenerational center, COMPACT [college stu-dents care]/Philly Cares) etc. Realized there is no place for some affiliated groups to meet to get education. Suggested we consider inviting them (firefighters, EMTs, arts groups, etc.) to our PSDVS conference in Oct. 2011. Joyce agreed to take this issue (about the other community volunteer groups possibly being invited to the Conference) to the State Board Meeting.

Susan Ellis: Intl. Year of the Volunteer + 10 (theme). Suggested incorporating this theme into the PSDVS conference Oct. 2011.

Suggested getting the book Volunteer Administration Professional Practice (ISBN 978-0-433-4622-4), Editor: Keith Seel, CCVA (Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration), Lexis Nexis.

Karla Bachl: In honor of the three retirees in attendance (Betty Anton, Barbara Burger and Phyllis Paules), the Parkland High School Chorale from Allentown, PA sang holiday, Billy Joel and other songs for our group and then on the steps in the lobby for us and for others in the hospital.

Betty Anton: Introduction of Guest Speaker –

Jan Trotter, Vice President of Programs, Coordinator of programs like: Project Blueprint – trains minority community members to serve on boards; Spirit of Volunteerism – event to recognize corporate volunteers; RPMS – Volunteer Pro-gram Management Series – trains new volunteer administrators in the basics of volunteer management. Barbara Bur-ger, Betty Anton have bee on the faculty for VPMS for several years. Board Training for corporate and community members to know what they need to effectively serve on boards.

Handouts: Share Your Skills; Assessment; Volunteer Opportunity Guide

There was discussion among members about some of their programs

Kristi Ondo: ESL person – helps people fill out forms

Sue Espenshade: gets people with clerical skills (as volunteers)

Angie Bly: virtual volunteering/mentoring

Jane Trotter: Philly Cares / New York Cares

Betty Anton: Gift Shop – business person / point of sale analyses

Lois Kellet: booklet of where youngsters can volunteer

Newsletter / Historian Report (Alice Clark)

Glad to hear people like the newsletters. Next one will be sent following the officer/committee transition meeting in January.

Suggest separating these two areas and having two separate cover them: 1) Newsletter, 2) Historian. Joyce discussed the separation of the two areas (which had been done that way earlier in CCPSDVS‘s history).Discussion among members resulted in keeping the Membership position (Karla Bachl) as one entity and having the Marketing position become one position (Alice Clark) with oversight of the newsletter, Facebook page, and information to go to the PSDVS web site.

Page 7

CCPSDVS GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES of DECEMBER 10, 2010 (Continued)

Professional Development Report (Kristi Ondo)

Members agreed that a $20 gift is appropriate to give to presenters. Alice Clark agreed to check with a business acquaintance in State College to determine if there is a nice pen in a box we could get with a PSDVS logo for $20 each.

Joyce Malicky: Said it will be important to determine job descriptions for the transitional meeting.

Request: each job description list responsibilities as bullet points rather than in paragraph form.

Discussion: Whether or not the Vice President position should reflect PSDVS‘s officer positions (i.e., both President-Elect and Vice President). After much discussion Betsy Laylon suggested that the positions remain as they are (President, Vice President) and that half way through the year the Nominating Committee takes the name of President-Elect to the membership and moves that person into the President-Elect position at that time. Betsy Laylon agreed to send an outline of her suggestion to Georgina Winfield for discussion at the transitional meeting of officers in January 2011.

Fran Braun: Honored today‘s three attending retirees (Phyllis Paules, Betty Anton & Barbara Burger / NOTE: Lynn Rockwell is also retiring but was not able to attend this meeting) by talking about what they brought to the organization over the years and how they were instrumental in many positive changes. Fran prepared the booklet ―Legends in Their Own Time‖ to give to them and all attendees.

Discussion that took place regarding Honorary Membership was taken to the State to determine how to proceed.

Georgina Winfield:

Said the state by-laws are being revised and once approved, CCPSDVS can then realign their own by-laws to come in line with PSDVS‘s. Connie Klunk was in charge of reviewing the state by-laws and passed them along to Georgina Winfield for review at the Chapter level to see if there was anything that needed inclusion from the Chapter level. The last time CC‘s were reviewed & revised was 2005, so what is in there is in need for a revision which cannot be done until the State has passed the State by-laws. Kristi, as the incoming VP, will be the person to convene a committee, review and revise the chapter by-laws, if/when the state are complete.

Since Krista DiRienzo is ill today and therefore not able to make the meeting, Connie Klunk moved that the following officers be approved for 2011: President (Georgina Winfield), Vice President (Kristi Ondo), Secretary (Dawn Rissmiller), Treasurer (Sue Espenshade). 1st motion made by Camille Fjeld, 2nd motion by Fran Braun, approved by attending members.

Minutes - Alice Clark - Revised after input from board/committee members1/3/11

Page 8

Page 9

CCPSDVS Newsletter

CCPSDVS Members at 12/10/10 Meeting @ Lehigh Valley Hospital & Health Network

(L to R From the bottom of the stairs to the top):

Alice Clark, Patricia Longenecker, Phyllis Paulus, Fran Braun, Barbara Burger

Betsy Laylon & Joan Line

Georgina Winfield & Joyce Malicky

Connie Klunk, Karla Bachl, Betty Anton, Dawn Rissmiller

Sherry Fair, Sue Espenshade, Lois Kellet, Kristi Ondo

Top Row: Vonnie Kain, JoAnn Frey, Angie Bly

PSDVS CONFERENCE

COMMITTEE

MEMBERS

The 2011 PSDVS (Pennsylvania Society of

Directors of Volunteer Services in Health Care)

ANNUAL CONFERENCE will be held

October 19-21, 2011 at the Nittany Lion Inn in

State College, PA.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:

Finance/Registration: Sue Espenshade (chair) /

Karla Bachl, Lois Kellet, Kristi Ondo.

Education: Alice Clark (chair), Connie Klunk,

Krista Liparulo, Dawn Rissmiller.

Vendors: Lois Kellet (chair), Joanne Frey, Joyce

Malicky.

Marketing/Communications: Joyce Malicky

(chair), Angie Bly, Deb Yingling.

Meals/Special Event Planning: Dawn Rissmiller

(chair), Cindy Smith, Fran Braun.

Miscellaneous: Kristi Ondo (chair), Alice Clark.

You are welcome to join a committee:

Contact Alice Clark /

aclark@mountnittany.org / 814-234-6170

Peek inside any one of design firm Ideo's conference rooms, which speckle the globe from Silicon Valley to Shanghai, and you will see what looks like the Ten Commandments of brainstorming etched onto the walls.

"Defer judgment!" reads one stencil, admonishing the room's occupants to think twice before shooting down a

seemingly wild idea.

"Be visual!" screams another one, amid ample whiteboard space and oversized sketchpads, which have spawned prototypes for some of the most innovative products of the decade, including the Apple mouse and the Palm V.

Brainstorming is so ingrained in Ideo's culture that "we actually put these rules on our business cards and give them to everyone," says Brendan Boyle, a partner at the firm who also teaches creativity and design classes at Stanford University. "It's almost like we evangelize brainstorming."

Each day, Ideo's staffers spit out hundreds of ideas, and probably burn through just as many PowerBars. Here's how

they spark good ideas during brief sessions in the office, and how your company can, too:

Running a Brainstorming Session: A Meeting of Different Minds Boyle recommends inviting a mix of senior and

junior staffers from a range of disciplines—from finance to design to engineering—that would suit the end goal of the

session. In other words, he says, "make sure you get the chemistry right."

Keith Sawyer, a professor of psychology and education at Washington University in St. Louis, calls it "group genius," or the idea that innovation requires cross-pollination from seemingly unrelated fields. But in his book of the same name, he stresses that the people in the group must have enough in common to share the same vision.

"There needs to be that feeling of, 'we're in this together, we're doing something that's really important, and we really need to pull together and get this done,'" he says. "Without that sense of ambition, diversity can actually be a challenge and Dig Deeper: Rounding Up Staff Ideas

Running a Brainstorming Session: Set up the Space

"The worst way to do brainstorming is to just sit around and talk," says Sawyer, who recommends holding the session in

a bright, spacious room that allows for standing up and walking around.

Make sure there are plenty of ways for people to externalize their ideas. Provide materials that people can manipulate,

he adds, such as markers, bulletin boards, or even modeling clay.

Ideo uses easel-sized Post-it Notes to sketch out ideas as they flow. The method has led to many successful products,

including that for the Jumperoo by Fisher-Price, which is similar to a doorway jumper for infants and toddlers but has a

freestanding base.

How to Run a Brainstorming Session

Line up the white boards and ditch the judgment. Here’s how to encourage an open flow of ideas and spur

innovation. By Venuri Siriwardane, From: November 30, 2010, INC.

Page 10

CCPSDVS Newsletter Page 10

Moms hated the jumper that hung from doorways because it blocked key passageways and they were scared it

would fall down," says Boyle, who called a brainstorming session to solve the problem. "One thing we love to do is

quick sketches, and out of that session was a quick sketch of the prototype that we made for the Jumperoo." The product, now five years old, sells about 1 million units a year and has become something of a YouTube sensa-tion. With more than 6,000 videos of babies bouncing around in Jumperoos on YouTube, Boyle says, "people love that product—it was a tremendous success." Dig Deeper: Ready, Set, Innovate!

Running a Brainstorming Session: Check Your Title at the Door

Nothing kills a brainstorming session—or encourages brownnosing—like an intimidating authority figure, says

Boyle, who recalled a meeting at his first job out of college, during which the boss came in and hijacked the brain-

storming process. "Of course everyone sat back and agreed with him," he says.

That doesn't mean the boss shouldn't attend, adds Boyle. He or she just shouldn't sit at the head of the table and

assume control.

That said, it's usually a good idea for someone to assume the role of facilitator, he advises, whether that means just

standing in front of a whiteboard and jotting down ideas, or keeping staffers from dwelling on one idea for too

long.

Dig Deeper: Unleashing Employee Creativity Running a Brainstorming Session: It's all About the Quantity

The goal of the brainstorming session should be to generate as many ideas as possible. Boyle notes that many

brainstorming newbies make the mistake of trying to come up with the best idea, which encourages too much

judgment.

"You certainly don't want ideas being judged negatively, like, ‗Oh, that idea's terrible. We've tried it before,'" he

says, since it can kill confidence and keep people from voicing less conventional ideas.

At Ideo, about 75 to 100 ideas are generated per brainstorming session. Have the facilitator keep the momentum

going by pushing for more ideas, similar to the way an auctioneer would push for a higher bid. "Tell them, ‗All

right we just got to 50, let's get to 60, let's get to 75,'" says Boyle. "Once you reach your goal number, then you can

go back and be ruthless and evaluate everything. Because you have more ideas, chances are that you'll probably

arrive at a better idea."

How to Run a Brainstorming Session (continued)

CCPSDVS Newsletter Page 11

Running a Brainstorming Session: Make Generating Ideas a Part of the Culture

"A brainstorming session is almost like a band-aid—a quick fix," says Sawyer. "It's not necessarily going to happen on

Friday at 2 p.m., when we've got the brainstorming meeting scheduled." The best way to brainstorm, he says, is to infuse the process into your company's culture. In his book, he lauds the Delaware-based firm W.L. Gore & Associates, which makes waterproof fabric. Calling it "dabble time," the company asks its staffers to spend 10 percent of their week working on whatever they want. "All of their new innovations emerge during this dabble time," adds Sawyer. "The idea is that new products emerge from

the bottom up. They don't come from an R&D lab and they don't come from marketing surveys. They come from

individual employees independently deciding how to pursue their time."

How to Run a Brainstorming Session (continued)

CCPSDVS Newsletter Page 12

Coming

Soon —

Spring &

Summer!

According to numerous

studies done recently by

the Corporation for

National and Community

Service, volunteering can

lead to lower rates of

depression and heart

disease, better health, a

longer life span and

greater life satisfaction.

Thanks to Joyce Malicky for this article.

A THANK YOU SPEECH FOR VOLUNTEERS Written and submitted by DJ Cronin

http://www.energizeinc.com/reflect/poem.html

You make a difference in the dash.

Life is short. In the scheme of things this oft quoted saying must be true. Our planet has been here for mil-

lions of years - our universe billions.

On our headstones will be the etching of when we were born and the date when we died. For example

1960 - 2050.

What matters to me are not the two years mentioned. It is the dash. That little dash. That's our life. That

represents to me the short time we have, here, to make a difference, or not.

And making a difference means so many different things to so many people.

But for you, the volunteer, what you do during that dash is most significant.

You can give me money for my cause. Sure. But I may pay that back to you. Say you give a dollar a month.

It is appreciated without doubt. It is your dollar. However you may pick it up elsewhere. Something extra

you do. Some other way of earning that buck. But how do we give back time?

As a volunteer you give time. Time. The most precious resource in our lives.

Look at the dash. How many hours are in there? It's not billions. It's not infinite. Money can be printed.

Time cannot.

Once you give an hour of your time it is lost forever. That hour you just gave volunteering will never be

replicated.

Your time volunteering must be valued but we can never put a value on that time. How can you value

something that is priceless?

As a volunteer you bring much to this organization. Skills, advice, experience, friendship, vision, leadership,

inspiration etc. That you bring. But time you give. In our time poor world you bear the gift of time. You

choose to donate the most precious commodity in the known universe.

We may count your time in numbers. We may attempt to count your time in cash value. Though such

methods have their reasons we will all be poorer if we don't realize that the giving of your time is simply and

utterly magnificent.

Provided by Lois Kellet by way of Kathy Stocker from the PSDVS Education Blast of February 2011.

Page 13

CCPSDVS Newsletter

The Value of Multi-Generational Workplaces

By Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, PhD—Director, The Sloan Center on Aging and Work at Boston College (from The Huffington Post)

If you're reading this post at work, I'd like you to stop, look around you, and identify the four co-workers you collaborate with most often.

Got 'em? Now let me ask you -- how do these four co-workers compare to yourself in terms of age and on-the-job experience? If you're like most of us, you'll notice that, as the population rapidly ages, today's workplaces are more age-diverse than ever before. Your col-leagues may no longer be close to your own age group and experience level. Does this hinder your collaboration? Probably not. But there is still widespread speculation that multiple generations in the workforce is a recipe for segregation or conflict. Why?

Some of it has to do with expectations and career progression in corporate culture -- employees want to move up to management, management to VP, VP to executive, and so on -- and the idea that one generation of workers may be holding up the advancement of the next. Then there are also stereotypes of older and younger workers, and the common assumption that these groups are inclined to clash in the workplace; that they simply don't work well together.

However, the Sloan Center on Aging and Work's pilot project called the "Executive Innovation Lab" has shown exactly the opposite -- when younger workers and older workers collaborate, it can be good for business. Unfortunately, most employers have not yet adapted their practices to harness the power of multi-generational workplaces to identify innovative business solutions.

To jumpstart this process we created the Lab. We invited a group of companies to come together who were interested in exploring how multi-generational teams of employees work together. We reached out to executives from various industries and asked them to handpick teams of employees to participate, taking care to select people from different age groups and experience levels. The teams then engaged in a rapid prototyping exercise where they were tasked with finding a solution to a pressing workplace problem in a rigidly structured amount of time.

What we found may surprise you. When these age-diverse teams were taken out of their normal work situations and tasked with quickly solving a challenging problem, they came up with very viable solutions in just a few hours. Brought together on teams different from what they were used to, these groups quickly found the type of innovate, creative solutions that are so hard to come by in the workplace.

What we saw in the Lab, across the board, is that when older workers, younger workers and executives can put myths and misconcep-tions behind then. And, when given supportive, creative opportunities to collaborate, their collective innovation is a real outcome.

Employees who participated in the Lab noticed this, too. At the end of the Lab, participants' perceptions of colleagues 10 or more years older than themselves actually changed. They reported seeing their older counterparts as more creative, more willing to learn, and more innovative than they had expected them to be. The employees were enthusiastic about their new teams, noting an injection of energy. Team members would grab their leaders in the hall and ask, "When are we going to have that meeting again?"

In addition, the executives expressed positive assessments of age-diverse teams; specifically, that they were able to get started working quicker, were more likely to push beyond difficult parts of their work, and had a new ability to reach quality results in a shorter period of time. Many of the organizations that participated in the lab are planning to implement the process for other projects. It would behoove other businesses to follow their lead.

Every employee comes to the workplace with a different set of life experiences. The veteran worker who has been in the same job for 30 years, the middle-age career changer and the 22-year-old just starting out may seem like they have irreconcilable outlooks, but in reality these contrasting perspectives are just what workplaces need to thrive.

Instead of adhering to the age-old myths that older workers are bad for business, today's corporate leaders must learn to take advantage of their age-diverse workforces. Today's workforce is aging more rapidly than ever before, and employers who act now to leverage the creativity of age experience and diversity will have an immediate competitive advantage over their peers. As the American economy starts to find its way out of the recession, we need innovative and creative workplaces more than ever before. Companies can make this happen, but only by creating conditions that leverage the strengths of the age diverse workforce.

Information provided by Lois Kellet by way of Kathy Stocker—PSDVS.

CCPSDVS Newsletter February 2011

Page 14