June is National Audiobook Month. If you haven’t heard of it, though, you aren’t alone. This annual celebration of the spoken word was once promoted by the likes of David Sedaris; now it’s hardly even recognized by the Audio Publishers Association. If Audible and the ubiquity of free podcasts are any indication, the spoken word itself is by no means in decline. Perhaps National Audiobook Month, which strategically coincides with summer reading and complements long family road trips seems less exciting, less pertinent, now that we can all listen to, read or watch whatever we want, whenever we fancy. We can entertain ourselves, individually, forever.
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In this article for the Carnegie Council’s magazine, Policy Innovations, we argue that literature—whether a classic play or a contemporary novel—has everything to do with work. And given the chance to read and discuss books in seminars led by university professors, employees will make those connections explicit.
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Often lost in the conversation about what tools, systems and approaches to adopt in order to achieve particular outcomes is the experience of the individual being served. The voice of the beneficiary is a very valuable gauge of a program’s impact. By interviewing participants in Books@Work programs, we learn so much about the impact of the seminar experience, both for individuals and for groups.
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Rather than detracting from higher education’s efforts to define and measure critical thinking skills, the humanities can and should be front and center. Our own experience at Books@Work tells us that this is not only possible but powerful.
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Again and again, at Books@Work we hear from employers that Daniel Goleman’s concept of Emotional Intelligence (EI) is important for creating a positive workplace culture and improving companies’ bottom lines. We also hear that Books@Work can be one part of a toolkit to improving EI among employees. Given a current controversy over the value of EI, we consider the various impacts of EI in the workplace, and the potential for companies to help employees improve EI.
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Labor Day offers an opportunity for politicians and economists to offer their two cents on the state of labor. It’s a good bet that some of that commentary will focus on the so-called “skills gap”—the notion that millions of jobs in highly technical fields remain unfilled while millions of Americans without those skills remain unemployed. The solution according to the pundits? Education and training that focuses on technical skills. If only it were so simple.
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Professional development opportunities are big business. An industry trade organization reports that American corporations spent over $160 billion on workforce training and development in 2012, an average expenditure of over $1000 per employee. Yet how often do those professional development dollars flow to the school bus driver, the warehouse worker, or the shop floor employee of a food services company? Rarely.
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What really happens when employees participate in Books@Work? While participants tell us that getting to know their colleagues and sharing perspectives is the number one reason they enjoy the program, what exactly does this collective reflection have to do with work? New research suggests that not only is collective reflection relevant, it just might make your employees more productive!
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Whereas traditional college students can sometimes find it challenging to relate ideas and concepts to their own views and lives (perhaps due to their youth and inexperience), Books@Work groups are diverse, and the discussion include a rich variety of reactions and inferences about literature. Participants have a lifetime of experiences that give them insight into characters and storylines.
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