Via the Washington Post - "Lockheed and Marines turn military jet into Santa's Sleigh"

The sleigh, a C-130 cargo plane, was bringing $50,000 worth of toys to be delivered to the families affected by Hurricane Sandy, an estimated 10,000 children are part of the overall operation.

“Many companies can make in-kind donations like computers or toys,” said Emily Simone, director of Lockheed’s global community outreach. “We can’t donate a jet or cargo plane. So the partnership with Blue Angels is perfect.”

 So while some of these kids are hoping for games or a bike under the Christmas tree - Lockheed an other high-tech companies are hoping Santa fills their stockings with engineers. Lockheed, Siemens and Raytheon invest in youth programs that focus on math, science and technology because they depend so heavily on engineers for their programs.  Lockheed spends 20 percent of its annual $25 million philanthropy budget on community projects, 30 percent on supporting the military and 50 percent on STEM education.

Daniel Goleman, Co-Director of Consotrium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations, had a great LinkedIn post on the reasons why monetary incentives just don't work for encouraging employee creativity. Bottom line, as Goleman says: "The primary motivation for people to do their most creative work is intrinsic. It's passion!"

So, if you're offering a cash reward for your staff to come up with the most creative idea, you might want to reconsider. What can you do instead? Focus on creating a positive work environment that helps employees feel motivated and energized.

This can take on many different aspects, but helping employees feel valued goes a long way. Do employees feel like their contributions matter? Do they feel like they are treated well?

Business culture is an intangible quality that can be hard to defineand even harder to improve, but as 2012 draws to a close, it can't hurt to take a look at the environment within your company walls, consider what you'd like it to be, and thinking of the ways to get it there.

GE's new collaborative program, Get Skills to Work, joins major manufacturers and educators to prepare and place veterans in long-term careers. With an estimated 600,000 open advanced manufacturing jobs across America, this program is committed to closing the gap and creating new futures for those who worked to make ours better.   You can read the complete Press Release

AMT has been talking about the Skills Gap/Smartforce Gap and the industry's desperate need for skilled workers. This seems like a fantastic program to bring qualified workers into our industry. What are YOU doing at your facility?

Deserved or not, manufacturing hasn't exactly had a reputation as the most female-friendly career choice. But research has shown that it's financially beneficial for a company to bring women into the fold, and more importantly, to give them the opportunity to succeed. Is your company taking steps to attract -- and retain -- female employees?

Fast Company featured an article on this topic that talks about thinking in terms of all employees, not just women, as a means for bringing in the best talent. While some of the policies outlined might not be suitable for a shop floor environment (working remotely, for example), they can certainly work in other areas of any company's operations.

If you encountered any of the students who took part in the NIMS Student Skills Summit, you may have noticed that there were more than a few girls in the mix. (Watch this IMTSTV video about the Student Summit to get a first-hand account.) With excited young minds not being exclusive just to boys, and with the skills gap and worker shortage not going away anytime soon, it's important to make sure girls are also encouraged to explore manufacturing as a career path, and that companies are taking steps to recruit and retain the top talent already in the work force - regardless of gender.