How to reduce turnover by creating a positive work climate

Despite company attempts to reduce employee turnover by offering attractive salaries and benefits, Kushell notes that attrition continues at an alarming rate. He states that more than one of every three employees will change jobs over the next five years, a transition that will take its toll on company morale and productivity. The underlying factor, according to the author, is the quality of the working environment. A 1969 University of Michigan survey of 1,533 workers, at every occupation level, reported that all respondents ranked interesting work and authority to get the job done far ahead of good pay and job security. Sources of employee frustration include a stifling bureaucracy, excessive job expectations, and unsuitable jobs. The author suggests that top managers ask themselves whether they are missing out on or losing talented employees. If this is the case, there are several guidelines management should follow: improve communication between employees and top management; define expectations of the employee; and promote candor in the job interview. Kushell concludes that top executives can have an impact on turnover by paying attention to what employees really want rather than what management thinks they want.     

Has Basismo Disappeared?1

Abstract – In Brazil basismo has evolved from a libertarian discourse encouraged by the Church to a more institutionalised activity centred on local and international NGOs, with their increasingly managerial priorities.     

America's “Maginot Line” Defense Against Terror

Though anti‐American terrorism springs these days as much from Yemen and the “virtual ummah” as from Afghanistan, President Obama has nontheless further committed US troops to stabilizing a country well‐known as the graveyard of empires. What can the only Muslim country that belongs to NATO offer by way of advice? How best can the US keep its focus on the terrorist threat despite its diversion in Afghanistan? Turkey's former envoy to Afghanistan and two of Europe's leading experts on Islamist terrorism offer their views.