How to Ensure We Drink
Plenty of Water During the Summer

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Amali Messika

Summer is definitely a great time to go outdoors and walk around, enjoy the sun and have fun on the beach, but while we’re having fun, it is important to remember to drink more water, particularly in a weather that makes us lose fluids.

Awareness of the importance of water drinking rises primarily when temperatures outside continue to go up. However, it isn’t always enough to just understand that our body needs water; what really counts is the end result – to actually be drinking.

So how do we make people in general and children in particular not forget to drink water?

Awareness and accessibility

Typically, water intake is a combination of awareness and accessibility. Therefore, even if are aware of the importance of drinking water, we must ensure that water is always nearby, around us during our busy schedule – whether in our beg, on our desk or in the kitchenette.

However, even when many people become aware and informed, and water is just a “sip” away from them, we still hear statements like “I forgot to drink” or “I barely got to drinking water today”. Therefore, it is very important to figure out the best ways to remind ourselves to drink during the day – through digital reminders or perhaps by keeping a water jar within reach on the table

Liquid-saturated foods

Cooking enthusiasts among us will be pleased to hear about a solution they can implement every time they prepare various dishes – another way to increase daily water intake is to simply use more water during food preparation.

How? Through a variety of options – for example, soaking in water or cooking with and over boiling water like various steaming methods that are preferable to frying, as they provide an opportunity to have more water in the end-dish.

Good for the figure

Another good reason to increase water intake is that it may also contribute to weight loss. On top of the fact that water has 0 calories, several studies show that incorporating water into your daily diet may affect your metabolism as well.

Distinguish between hunger and thirst

We often feel thirsty but confuse it with hunger. So how can we correct this mistake?

First and foremost, we must acknowledge that we often eat instead of drink because we misinterpret our sense of thirst as a sense of hunger, so upon returning home from work, or when the children return from educational institutions or a summer day camp, they should first of all drink, and preferably choose the healthiest option of all – water.

Making your children drink more water

So we have understood and internalized things, but what about the children? How do we encourage them to drink more water?

First of all, we should explain to them about the importance of water for proper body functioning, so that they realize what a significant part of our body water comprises – about two-thirds, and understand how easily we lose water during our various daily activities (yes, even as we sit in air conditioned room).

Having achieved understanding and awareness, it is important to create an environment with clear presence of water.

At home, for example:

• If you have a cold/hot water bar (water maker) – remind them to use it and place it with convenient access to children (provided they are old enough to operate it by themselves).

• When the kids leave the house for various summer activities, provide them with plenty of water to drink and remind them to bring back an empty bottle … Don’t forget to refill it each time anew.

• It is important to initiate water-drinking breaks both in and away from home.

And now that you’ve finished reading the post, it’s time to ask yourselves – Have you been drinking enough today?

Talent Management:
A Current Occupation

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Noga Segev Nadir

During one of our family dinners, my brother was once asked by his girlfriend at the time – “What does Noga do in her line of work?”. I raised my ears curiously. After a moment’s silence, he answered – “I really don’t know. Noga, what do you do?”. It is important to understand that by then I have already engaged ten years in my profession, and could explain, though not in detail, the research he was carrying out on the ecology of salamanders …. Talent management is evidently not something that can be defined in two words.

In this post I will try to clarify what “Talent Management” is all about and how it is affected by the goings on in the business and enterprise worlds today.

What is a “talent” and how is it managed?

We’ll start with the evident question – What do we mean by “Talent”? A non- dictionary definition says: “Talent is a person of unique characteristics with critical contribution to the organization”. Talent is defined as a person who applies a wide range of abilities, skills, knowledge, understanding and attitudes, when performing his duties in the organization. These may change with organizational needs and during various periods in the person’s life.

Clearly, talent management pertains to the process that ensures the organization has the right people with appropriate skills, at the right time and in the right positions, to enable the organization implement its strategy in an optimum manner. Using a different perspective, talent management can be looked at as the management of supply and demand of organizational talent in relation to its short and long term assignments. From the perspective of an individual in the organization, talent management is creating the organizational space required for the development and realization of his abilities and potential, while contributing to the achievement of corporate goals.

Talent management in a changing organizational world

Trends and changes in the world in general and in the organizational field in particular significantly affect the management of talents.

Reviewing these trends briefly, we can say that demographic centers of power in the world are changing. People live to an older age and retire earlier. Change is a way of being, not something to be managed until completion and then achieve stability. Over time, the world is increasingly becoming global. Location is no longer an obstacle to work, particularly in a global company specializing in intercultural differences. Technology is cheap, readily available and becoming a promoter rather than inhibitor. People are active in social media and communities. They are used to selecting, influencing, being equal, and treated as partners.

These and other trends affect organizations as well. The boundaries between work – supplier – client – manager are becoming blurred. Formal-hierarchical power is no longer sufficient to impose authority. Formal authority is being replaced by boundless, equitable, empowering and even confusing relations.

The hierarchical, stable and well-defined organizational world no longer applies in the dim, changing business world. Organizations work under a changing and dynamic structure with teams that lack managers …. We apply distant-working, foster remote ties, and meet and part ways from a distance. We operate within multi-generation organizations that have diverse needs and worldviews. Relationships and contracts between employees and organizations keep changing, taking various shapes and forms.

Implications of Changes on talent management

All the changes numerated above, bear four major implications for talent management that can be mapped as four D’s: Deficiency, Diversity, Dialogue and Dynamics.

Deficiency - Talents are becoming scarce, and this significant shortage is expected to grow in the coming years. In order to cope with this shortage, we should apply a broad and open definition of “talent”, focusing on talent flow design plans (who bear potential? Who are successors? What jobs constitute a critical path to development into senior management positions? What are the risks involved?, etc.). Moreover, organizations should prepare infrastructures that facilitate dynamic flow of talent, such as recruiting candidates through innovative concepts, connecting new members to the organization, and transfer of knowledge.

Diversity – Significant diversity typifies both the talent domain and the treatment of existing and potential talent in the organization. Talent can hide where we did not think to look for it. Organizations should understand that diversity and inclusion are an existential need in their ability to benefit from the diverse capabilities found within the population. The globalization process that organizations undergo, expose them to multi-culturalism. Organizations’ ability to connect cultural diversities is a key to creating competitive advantage both in business and on talent management level. Openness and awareness of diversity, be it age, generational gaps, background, location or any other dimension, are critical to managing diverse talent. Awareness in itself is not enough to produce and promote diversity. We must create processes, concepts and mechanisms that facilitate diverse talent recruitment and management.

Dialogue – Today’s talents wish to hold a dialogue and don’t accept organizational authority as a given absolute. They seek to influence, be a partner, initiate, and become part of an organization that makes a difference. Organizations should adapt to expectations of the Y Generation and hold a sharing and flexible dialogue about the added value they provide to their people, including individual adjustments according to personal needs. All these have implications on the ways in which we build and design employment contracts and labor relations, reward and recognize, and develop and grow people.

Dynamics – On top of all the above-mentioned facts, we live in an ever-changing talent world and must maintain a proper balance between short-term and long-term practices; between the structured and orderly and an “open space”. We must perform routine, accurate and focused processes of talent management and review. We must find and train people to be able to change with us as an organization and make the most of these changes. The ability of employees and managers in organizations to learn, change, adapt and maintain professional and personal networks is becoming increasingly critical.

Moreover, given this current dynamics, we must always be willing to examine and challenge our basic assumptions (including those written here).

To sum up the implications of all trends on talent management processes, all processes should take place routinely, remaining focused and accurate. They should also be examined through the prism of diversity, while developing awareness of and inclusion capabilities. We must invest more in talent planning with constant adjustment to strategic processes. Always continue to ask, examine, challenge and wonder.

Is all the aforesaid relevant only if you are human resource manager or engage in organizational development? The answer is “no”. Talent management is an administrative, leadership task. A “real” talent manager of a business unit is its manager. This person is responsible for setting and implementing a strategy, and talent management is one of the tools at his/her disposal to make sure that it does, indeed, materialize.

Noga Segev Nadir

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Noga Segev Nadir

Noga holds a B.A. in psychology and philosophy, and an M.A. in social industrial psychology. She started her career as an organizational consultant at Lotem, then became organizational development manager at Comverse HQ, and two years ago joined Strauss Group.

Noga, married+2, lives in a kibbutz in the Galilee (northern Israel).

Recipe by a Strauss Web Surfer
in Honor of Pi Approximation Day

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Strauss Blog

What is this day about?

Pi Approximation Day is held on 22/7, because this fraction is a common approximation of the mathematical constant “pi” (π). But let’s be honest here: What really interests us about this day is the fact people prepare delicious pies with short-crust pastry and sweet or savory fillings.

So we decided to bring you an excellent recipe for cream & apricot pie, posted by Sigal Peretz Bremer on our Facebook page:

Ingredients-pie filling:

1 sachet instant vanilla pudding (90g)

1 cup sour cream (200ml)

1/2 cup milk

1 tablespoon sugar

1 packet whipping cream (250ml)

Tinned apricots in syrup (400g)

2 tablespoons apricot jam diluted in boiling water (for a glaze)

Ingredients-pie base:

150g butter

11/2 cups self-rising flour

1/3 cup sugar

3 egg yolks

26cm pie tin

To prepare the pie base:

1. Mix all ingredients together with a fork to form crumbles (don’t knead a dough with your hands)

2. Spread over a pie tin and press tightly

3. Freeze for 4 hours

4. Take the tin out of the freezer and bake in the oven on 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes until golden brown.

5. Remove from the oven and let cool for a while.

To prepare the filling:

1. In a mixer bowl, place whipping cream, milk and instant pudding and whisk until a soft cream is formed

2. Add sour cream and 1 tablespoon sugar, and keep whisking until all ingredients combine together.

3. Store in the refrigerator.

To assemble the pie:

1. Cut the apricots into thin slices and spread over the cool pie base.

2. Pour half of the vanilla cream over the apricots and spread evenly.

3. Spread another layer of apricot slices on top, around the pie edges.

4. Insert the remainder of the cream into a cake decoration nozzle and drip-on flowers in a circular motion

5. Prepare the glaze: Mix the apricot jam with 2 tablespoons of boiling water and gently brush the top layer of apricots. This will give them a glossy look.

6. Store in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours (letting all flavors blend well).

Family on a Holiday

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Brigit Kochavi

Hello,

The long summer school-break is here, and as parents we will soon find ourselves racking our brains trying to figure out how to have a pleasant holiday, while staying active and eating right.

This is the first in a series of three posts that will address the issue of nutrition for infants during the summer holiday.

As I mentioned, the summer break provides us with a great opportunity to spend quality time with our children, and instill in them the foundations of a healthy, sensible diet, with the keyword being organization – Parents should make sure to stock the house with quality products which their children will embrace as their food of choice.

I listed below 10 tips that will help your children grow accustomed to quality nutrition in the summer holiday:

1. Be sure to keep a fixed framework of meals:3 main meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and 2 in-between meals that will grant the children a sense of satiety and prevent them from searching for snacks or sweets.

2. Be sure to incorporate all food groups in every meal. Children spend most of their time in a summer day-camp or similar facilities, and their instructors don’t always watch what they eat as regards dairy products, fresh vegetables, etc. This should be taken care of once they return home.

3. Children on holiday engage in extensive physical activity outdoors, and since its hot outside it is important to make sure they drink water between meals.

4. Parents are advised to always fill the refrigerator or the kitchen table with available, ready-to-eat vegetables, cut into cubes or cute shapes that catch the eye and make you want to taste them. You can also add tahini dip on the side.

5. Share your food preparation assignments with your children. Even small children can help prepare a salad and set the dinner table.

6. Today’s healthy candy suggestion: natural fruit based ice cream. You can freeze flavored yogurt and eat it like ice cream, or you can, for instance, make skewers with dried and fresh fruits.

7. Be creative, don’t be tempted to make fast food such as pizza or a burger with fries become a routine.

8. Choose at least one yogurt or yogurt drink a day, which is both nutritious and thirst-quenching.

9. Your days-off provide an opportunity for engaging in physical activities as a family. You can utilize the cool evening hours for a joint bicycle ride, spend some free time in fun water activities, go out to the park with a ball or just play in a playground.

10. Don’t forget that parents are always a role model, so be sure to have one meal together with your children every day.

In conclusion, the summer break evidently sets a challenge not only to children but also to parents, who can channel these free days toward positive impact on their children’s diet.

Let me know whether my tips were useful to you. If you have recommendations that always work, please don’t hesitate to share them with us!

Brigit Kochavi

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Brigit Kochavi

Brigit holds a B.Sc. in Nutrition and Biochemistry from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She works as a dietician in the department of eating disorders in adolescence, teaches children’s nutrition in a nursing school, and lectures fourth-year nutrition students. Brigit is a graduate of cognitive behavioral therapy studies at Bar Ilan University, and a member of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN). Areas of expertise: childhood obesity, children and infants’ nutrition, inflammatory bowel disease, cystic fibrosis and eating disorders.

Brigit is the clinical dietician involved in several Strauss Facebook pages.

Starting from Alpha: A Project Promoting
Advanced Food Technologies

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Dagan Eshel

Hello,

My name is Dagan Eshel, Director of Innovation at Strauss Israel and Strauss Group. In this post I will tell you about an innovative initiative known as the “Alpha Project”, which incorporates advanced technologies in the food world (FoodTech).

As food consumers we all share several common desires. We all want delicious and indulging food which is also healthy, environmentally-friendly if possible, and, of course, cost-saving.

Technology – a tool for continuous improvement

One concept that can fulfill our desires, when used wisely, is FoodTech. While we all eat food and enjoy it, most of us don’t have any idea how to improve its quality and streamline its production process through technology. New technologies can help create healthier, higher-quality products with improved flavors, textures and traits, facilitate regular, efficient and safe production of food products, and even minimize environmental impact.

Why is it important to develop advanced technologies?

FoodTech pertains to technologies with food-related applications along its entire value chain – from growing agricultural raw materials, through to various processing phases, and finally the packaging phase. Companies that are wise enough to implement such new and advanced technologies will be able, as mentioned, to manufacture improved-value products for consumers, and thus gain a competitive edge.

Indeed, everyone is looking for a better technology. It is no wonder, then, that international giants hold R&D centers with hundreds of scientists, and smaller companies buy technologies from suppliers.

Israel and a potential FoodTech superpower

When we thought at Strauss where we could get better technologies, we reminded ourselves that we live in a country that has always addressed its challenges through technology, knew how to convert superb defense industries to successful high-tech industry, and has transformed from an agricultural superpower to a Biomed superpower as well.

We realized that Israel has clear potential to become a FoodTech superpower. To make this vision a reality, we established the Alpha Strauss project. By doing so we undertook to establish the FoodTech community of Israel, with the understanding that a large industrial body was needed to connect all the numerous R&D institutions, researchers, inventors and entrepreneurs to the market.

Mutual contribution

Today, after more than one year of working under the radar, we begin to enjoy the fruits – the number and quality of the technologies we have seen is amazing, we feel that through collaboration with entrepreneurs we give them just as much as they give us in return, and know that our joint work will result in flourishing food technologies in Israel.

Clearly, promoting this issue further involves more time and resources. To this end, we defined the Alpha initiative as a long-term strategic process at Strauss Group, managed from Group HQ. The proof still rests with us, but thanks to this new project, we believe that the moment in which breakthroughs food technologies originating in Israel will appear in products on shelves at retail chains is not far away, and such representation – we hope – will not be a one-time practice and in Israel only.

I will be happy to keep you up-to-date with developments and progress in my next posts.

Dagan Eshel

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Dagan Eshel

Dagan Eshel is Innovation Manager at Strauss Group and the Strauss Alpha project leader.

He joined Elite (before its merger with Strauss) in 2000, when the company acquired De La Paix cake plant under his ownership. Since then he has filled various innovation- management positions in Elite’s bakery and confectionery divisions, and later on at Strauss Israel.

Dagan, 48, is married + 3 children.

Run it Forward: How Does Coffee Improve Sports Performance?

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Zion Cohen

Hello,

This time I appeal to the sports enthusiasts among you, those who work out only occasionally, and particularly those who engage in fitness training on a regular basis. Every person who engages in physical activity aims to improve results and enable the body to begin the session filled with energy, from start to finish. In this post I will tell you about the interesting connection between drinking coffee before exercising to improving our sports performance.

One of the ingredients most identified with coffee is, of course, caffeine, which affects all body systems, especially the central nervous system. So what is it about caffeine that makes it a substance we should put into our body before working out?

Coffee drinking is recommended before which types of training?

Many studies indicate that caffeine is an ergogenic substance, namely a performance-enhancing substance, and therefore, it is often recommended that those engaged in a sporting activity sports should have a cup of Turkish (black) coffee before exercising.

These qualities of caffeine have been tested with athletes whose sports activities involve various effort levels and durations, and they showed that caffeine helps those engaged in athletic activity that requires prolonged effort.

Though caffeine has greater effect on sports that require sustained effort, a positive effect was found in both cases, with the level of improvement varying, of course, from one person to another and from one sports branch to another.

The link between caffeine and improved fitness and stamina

For those of you wondering what’s making caffeine so that effective with fitness and stamina – I should note that while the mechanism itself may not be completely clear, most studies suggest three possible reasons:

First and foremost, caffeine enhances alertness and therefore increases mental ability and the desire to sustain the effort over time. This phenomenon is explained, in part, from by fact that caffeine is known as a material that prevents contact between Adnosin – a substance that makes us feel relaxed and calm – and its unique receptor (point of “contact”). It also increases dopamine activity, a substance responsible for increasing awareness.

The second reason for which caffeine improves prolonged sports stamina, is that caffeine increases utilization of energy sources from triglycerides (organic fat compound comprised of fatty acids and glycerol) and reduces utilization of energy from glucagon .

Moreover, because caffeine increases the level of calcium in skeletal muscle, it enhances their mechanical ability, namely affects the contraction and stretching of the muscles.

We have a training session. When and how much coffee should we drink?

Having understood how caffeine works and why you should drink coffee before a workout, let’s talk about dosages and times.

You are invited to write down the following figures – Studies show that the recommended caffeine consumption before exercise is 150 to 300 mg.

Since caffeine concentration in the blood after coffee drinking reaches its peak after about 60 minutes, consuming up to two cups of Turkish coffee, one hour before a physical activity enhances performance and increases ability and stamina over time.

So what are you waiting for? Indulge in a cup of coffee and then exercise.