Top Ten

*IImage  extracted  from  Google

Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News – February 18, 2014

Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on emailShare on pinterest_shareMore Sharing Services

Veterans! Here’s your Top 10 News stories of the day compiled from the latest sources

We encourage you to browse our list so that you can take what you want and keep what you need

1.   Dempsey seen as slow to respond to ethics issues roiling military.  The Pentagon’s response to the recent spate of ethical lapses rocking the entire U.S. military has been devoid of the kind of dramatic moves that Washington craves.
 
2.   UN panel accuses North Korea of crimes against humanity.  Torture, deliberate starvation and other abuses carried out by North Korean authorities — possibly on the orders of supreme leader Kim Jong Un himself — constitute crimes against humanity and should be referred to an international court or tribunal for prosecution, United Nations investigators said Monday.
 
3.   W. Va. bill would require flying of POW/MIA flag at courthouses.  HB 2895 would require all 55 counties to fly a standard-sized POW/MIA flag — along with the already required U.S. and West Virginia flags — each day above their courthouses.

4.   Army is forcing out more soldiers for misconduct, data show.  Military.com/The Associated Press  The Army last year forced out nearly twice as many soldiers for misconduct as it did in 2007, according to data obtained by The Associated Press. The end of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and several recent scandals have contributed to the Army’s renewed focus on character issues, officials say.

5.   Program Vancouver man developed recognized by VA.  Hyperlink to Article The Columbian:  A veterans-benefits program developed by Bill Allman of Vancouver received national recognition this week in a ceremony at the White House.

6.   China Spying on US Veterans, Active Service Members.  Hyperlink to Article Epoch Times:  China is spying on U.S. veterans and military service members through a breach of the largest veterans’ organization. The attack was uncovered by security researchers at FireEye, who have dubbed it “Operation SnowMan” due to its strategic timing when government workers may be distracted by winter storms and a national holiday.
 
7.   After 42 years, Robert Haley still has a passion for tackling medical mysteries.  dallasnews.com   Look behind an epidemic and there’s a good chance you’ll find Dr. Robert Haley crunching numbers to find the causes and cures.  Most physicians advise patients how to avoid or treat illness based on “the medical literature.” Haley, the pre-eminent epidemiologist in North Texas, writes the literature.  His is not a household name. Most people will …

8.   Veteran’s lawyer talks role of PTSD in Reseda shooting. Hyperlink to Article KABC-TV: A lawyer for an Iraq War veteran accused of murdering his neighbor in Reseda spoke out on Monday. He claims his client, Ricardo Tapia, suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder and sought help from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

9.   Money better spent caring for veterans.  Hyperlink to Article Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:  William Nicklas was a loving husband, father and grandfather. A proud and loyal veteran from Hampton Township, he served his country honorably in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Mr. Nicklas survived war but fell victim to Legionnaires’ disease because of systemic failures at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS).

10. Web of frustration for veterans affected by tainted water. Hyperlink to Article Sarasota Herald-Tribune:  After providing a measure of relief to some retired U.S. Marines, the Department of Veterans Affairs continues to frustrate others seeking compensation for exposure to contaminated water while stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Related Posts:

• The Cost of Freedom and SDVOSB
• Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News – February 15, 2014
• Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News – February 06, 2014
• Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News – February 05, 2014
• Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News – January 28, 2014

Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=289237

Image extracted from Google

Are Your Top Performers Picked On?

Sebastian Bailey, Contributor

New research suggests that top performers often feel hidden abuse.  If you’re trying to attract or retain great people, whether in a start-up or established business, this is troubling.

A study in a US financial services company asked supervisors to rate their employees’ performance. Meanwhile employees reported how often they’d been a target of various types of victimization over the last 30 days. The results revealed that when there were big differences between team members’ performance scores, those at either end of the performance spectrum were more likely to be victimized. Low performers were more likely to experience overt forms of victimization like aggression, swearing and hostility, while high performers were more likely to report covert victimization like sabotage, withholding information or the silent treatment. This wasn’t the case in teams without such marked performance differences.

Jaclyn Jensen, a professor at DePaul University,  reasoned that teams have norms about expected levels of performance – if individuals violate these norms, they are punished. Low performers are seen as free-riders and might jeopardize the team’s overall success, so become the target of overt bullying. Supervisors, also frustrated with these individuals’ performance, turn a blind eye. And although star performers contribute more to the team’s success, they also trigger ‘tall Poppy syndrome’, making their mediocre peers more aware of their own shortcomings. They’re seen as a threat, so must be brought down. But because of top performers’ high prestige, perpetrators opt for covert victimization which is less likely to be detected and easier to shrug off.

Researchers also found that overt victimization lead to poorer performance, indicating a downward spiral: low performers are picked on so their performance becomes even worse. Covert victimization wasn’t associated with a drop in performance, although the victims of covert behavior tended to be high performers anyway. It’s easy to imagine high performers downplaying or camouflaging their achievements in an attempt to stop themselves becoming a target. So whilst high perfomers’ results weren’t affected, it’s not a huge stretch to imagine that they’d want to be part of a different, higher-performing team.  This may be one of the reasons why high performers’ intent to stay with an organization is often reported to be lower than their less effective peers.

The solution clearly isn’t to encourage mediocrity. We need to differentiate between high and low performers, but such differentiation makes concerns about free-riding and feelings of envy stronger. The answer lies in constructive conversations about performance which focus on individual strengths and weaknesses, rather than encouraging social comparisons.

Leaders need to be honest about the culture they set around high performance. What ‘norms’ of performance do they encourage? Do they tend to give high performers a low profile? By setting an expectation of ‘exceptional’ performance, leaders can build a culture where everyone is supported to reach the peak of their potential, rather than shot down when they get there.