(Radio Iowa) – If you find yourself getting bored at work, an expert on the workplace at the University of Iowa says don’t immediately jump to another job but find ways to make your current position more challenging — and fulfilling. Amy Colbert, a professor of management and entrepreneurship at the U-I’s Tippie College of Business, says bored workers can impact everyone’s productivity and bring the whole office down. “The biggest impact is to morale,” Colbert says. “The experience of being bored at work means that people just aren’t engaged and that’s not enjoyable. We want to do interesting, important work, and so, when people are bored at work, they’re much more likely to leave the organization in search of something that is more engaging.”

Younger workers in particular might find themselves disenchanted in their first job out of school, she says, if they don’t feel like they’re making a difference in the world. Colbert says we sometimes need to remind ourselves that the work we’re doing matters, even if it is routine and mundane. “That comes from just keeping purpose front of mind,” Colbert says. “Why did you take the job in the first place? What is it that you’re hoping to accomplish? Even if the job for today is filing or writing reports, something that’s not as exciting, keeping that ultimate purpose in mind can help you remember why you’re doing those tasks.” Jump starting that process is hard to do by yourself, and she says you may have to look to your boss for inspiration.

“This is where I think leaders come in and play a big role, helping everyone understand ‘the why’ of the work that they’re doing,” Colbert says. “So from the frontline employees, all the way up the organizational ladder, everybody should see that connection between the work that they’re doing and the broader purpose of the organization.” Before abandoning our current jobs in search of greener pastures, she says there are likely things we can do to advocate for an expansion of our existing roles, finding new duties and opportunities.

“You could try to learn something that might set you up for a promotion, so I call that ‘job crafting,'” Colbert says. “What can you do in your current role to make it a little bit more engaging and to potentially set you up for a more engaging role in the future?” A Gallup survey last year found only 32-percent of employees said they were engaged in their work, a drop from 34-percent in 2021 and 36-percent in 2020.

(Radio Iowa) – The rolling city on spoked wheels known as RAGBRAI is entering its second day this (Monday) morning, as between 25- and 30-thousand bicycle riders pedal the 57 miles from Storm Lake to Carroll. Carroll Chamber of Commerce program director Ashley Schable says an exceptionally busy day is ahead and they hope to limit the impact on local residents. “We hope people just are prepared. There are going to be bikers everywhere, and vehicles that you’re not used to seeing,” Schable says. “I think the big thing is just encourage people to be patient. Know that things are going to be a little slower to get to where you normally go, but hopefully it goes as smoothly as possible.”

The first cyclists should start rolling into Carroll around midday, and dozens of vendors are in place along with a host of live music. “11 am on Main Street, we’ll have inflatables down there, there’s a big waterslide, and then music starts at the Barrel Stage around 1, there’s three acts that will go on there,” she says, “and then the main stage, four o’clock, Piano Palooza will start and then the big act, the Pork Tornadoes will take the stage at 7:45.”

A Carroll handbook is available for riders at www.carrollragbrai.com that includes maps of the town and festival area, schedules, ATM locations, emergency contacts, and more. The 50th Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa is headed for Ames tomorrow, about 86 miles from Carroll.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Red Oak Police report two recent arrests. Friday afternoon, 30-year-old Stephanie Rose Eggleston, of Red Oak, was arrested at the Family Dollar Store, for Theft in the 5th Degree. Her bond at the Montgomery County Jail was set at $300. And, 51-year-old Wendi Jo Latus, of Red Oak, was arrested Friday in the 1200 block of N. Broadway, for Theft in the 4th Degree. Her bond was set at $1,000.

(Oakdale, Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Corrections, late Saturday, said a man serving a prison sentence for the Harrison County crimes of Sex Abuse in the 2nd Degree, and Lascivious Acts with a Child – has died. 72-year-old James Robert McDuffie was pronounced dead due to natural causes at 5:50 p.m. on Friday, July 21, 2023 in a hospice room of the Iowa Medical and Classification Center where he had been housed due to chronic illness.

McDuffie had been serving a 25-year maximum term on the charges with a Lifetime Special Sentence. His sentence began on August, 30th 2016.