Motivating Your Workforce

This column reinforces Automation World's editorial focus on the automation team, which brings together engineering, management and information technology (IT). As with most teams, leaders are needed to provide a vision, identify objectives and navigate project waters. Our December issue focus is on the workforce. In the September 2010 issue, the Automation Team column/primer tackled the topic of how leaders motivate their workers. The September article is the most read online column/primer over the last three months (as of this writing), and it provides some surprising observations on the best way to motivate knowledge workers. See below.Automation Team: Motivating Knowledge Workershttp://bit.ly/awprimers_001Related Workforce feature: Operator Training Simulators to the Rescuehttp://bit.ly/awfeature_006Grant GerkeDigital Managing EditorNEW! White Papers on AutomationWorld.comFor more White Papers, visit www.automationworld.com/White_PapersAchieving Next-Generation ConnectivityVisit http://bit.ly/awwp_010Implementing Mission Critical Data Connectivity with OPCVisit http://bit.ly/awwp_011Industrial Network Management: Finding the Perfect SolutionVisit http://bit.ly/awwp_012

Topic – ConferencesMintchell Video Report: Automation Fair RecapGary Mintchell, Editor in Chief, provides an update on Rockwell Automation's most recent path, integrated control, redundant networks and his interviews with Rockwell Chief Executive Officer Keith Nosbusch and Chief Technology Officer Sujeet Chand. Visit http://bit.ly/awvid_009Topic – Smart Phone AppVideo: OpsManage'10: SmartGlance Demo and InterviewWes Iversen, Managing Editor, reports from the OpsManage'10 Conference and talks with Bimal Mehta, Director, Invensys Application Management, for Invensys Operations Management, about the new SmartGlance app. Visit http://bit.ly/awvid_010

2010 Fall Conference Coverage:Catch up on Automation World's conference coverage for Emerson Exchange, www.emersonexchange2010, and Invensys OpsManage, www.automationworld.com/opsmanage2010Topic – SafetyOn-Demand Webcast: Functional Safety: What It Is, Why It's Important, and How to ComplyWebcast speakers provide an overview of testing and certification programs available from Underwriters Laboratories (UL), including a new Functional Safety Mark. Visit http://bit.ly/awcast010Top 5 on AutomationWorld.com for 2010
Automation Gear Blog Posts:Video with Your SCADAhttp://bit.ly/awblog_005Fingerprint-Recognition Switch Designed for Factories and Plantshttp://bit.ly/awblog_010Wastewater Plants: New iPad App for Operatorshttp://bit.ly/awblog_011PLC Functionality in PChttp://bit.ly/awblog_012FDT Configuration Toolhttp://bit.ly/awblog_013