Check Out Animal Biotechnology: The Movie
The Animal Science Monitor would like to thank Alison Van Eenennaam, Ph.D., Cooperative Extension Specialist in the Department of Animal Science at the University of California, Davis. Alison recently sent in a link for an animal science video clip.
Usually, our video clips are humorous. However, this clip, titled Animal Biotechnology: The Movie, is designed to make you think rather than laugh. Unfortunately, the field of animal biotechnology has received a “bad rap” in recent years, due in part to the controversy surrounding animal cloning. Animal Biotechnology strives to put cloning and genetic engineering into the proper perspective within the field, while also focusing on specific biomedical and agricultural applications. In addition, the movie includes interviews with leading academic and industry scientists.
In order to watch Animal Biotechnology, click here. (Please note that your computer will need Windows Media Player 9 or better in order to view the movie.)
And like Alison, we’d like you to send us your favorite animal science video clips. Send an email, with your link included, to matt@animalsciencemonitor.com, and your clip might be featured in a future issue of the newsletter. If your clip is included, we’ll also publish your name as its contributor.
SUCCESSion Planning
(By Dan Simmons)
Here’s your case study for today… Nathan joined your team as a supervisor at the age of 32. Over the past 30 years, he has been a steady contributor. He’s now the number-two person in his group of 30 people. Nathan has helped group leaders be successful as they’ve come and gone. Every time he’s applied for the top job, he’s always been considered, but he usually ran second or third in the race. He accepted these decisions graciously. He helped the new leader get ramped up and encouraged the team to follow his/her leadership. Nathan turned 62 today. The group threw him a small party at lunch. You think about the day Nathan will retire from this team. Then it occurs to you that day could be today.
Retirement is a function of wealth/revenue streams and priorities/family concerns, not age, although age usually impacts the other factors. Nathan has 30 years with your company and is 62. He could retire on the company plan. Nathan seems to manage his life well and probably manages his finances well. He and his wife have been married since before he joined the company, and his children (and grandchildren) all live out of town. Nathan could be sitting on quite a nest egg. Nathan appears healthy and seems to enjoy his work as much as ever. But do you know what he’s thinking?
You’re the big boss in this case study. You’re responsible for Nathan’s group and four similar groups. You pride yourself on being prepared. What should you be considering at this point? Below is my list. Feel free to email yours to me; I’d like to compare notes.
- Nathan has 30 years of corporate intelligence. How can I begin a knowledge transfer so that if/when he decides to leave, he leaves the bulk of his information with us?
- I should take Nathan to lunch and see if he has begun to think about his retirement. I should talk with him about any ideas he might have to help us transition when that day comes.
- Who should Nathan be mentoring and which supervisors should he be working with (outside of direct reporting) to help them learn from his experience and to groom them to be better performers?
Extra credit
So you invite Nathan to lunch a few days after his birthday, and you’re about to begin this discussion when he says, “I’m glad you invited me, we need to talk. My wife and I reached an important decision last weekend, and I think I want to retire at the end of the month. I wanted to tell you before I went to Human Resources. I have an appointment with them in the morning.”
Suddenly the sense of urgency on this matter reaches a critical level. This is unexpected, and as your organization is lean, you don’t have a spare manager to put in this role without creating a vacancy somewhere. What do you do? Below is what comes to my mind. Send me an email, and we’ll compare notes.
- Determine why Nathan has decided to make this decision. Is it a health issue for himself or a family member? Is he unhappy with something at work? Knowing the motivating factors will help to determine the possible outcomes.
- See if you can persuade Nathan to stick around until a replacement is recruited and trained. Consider a retention bonus of a month’s salary if he stays on 120 additional days and trains his replacement.
- Ask if he would like to retire and come back as a part-time consultant for the next year or two to help transition, mentor, and mange through the busiest seasons. Knowing his motivation will be important here. If flexibility is one of his concerns, this could really be mutually beneficial.
- Immediately put him into a mentoring role. Meet with Nathan and his direct supervisor to create a plan. There’s no sense having Nathan leave at the end of the month without draining his brain.
I’m not a retention expert. I’m a recruiting expert, and I see clients in situations such as this more and more frequently. This article is not meant to teach you how to deal with this as much as it’s designed to make you think about an issue that you’ll probably soon face. If you have ideas or have had success with situations such as this one, I welcome your thoughts. If you have a plan that you would like to share, there is a guest spot in this column for you. Send your comments, thoughts, and ideas to dan@consearch.com. |
