How not to motivate employees in 2009

With the recession, layoffs and mounting financial stress, motivating employees in 2009 may seem like an uphill battle. However you choose to motivate your employees, just remember to keep Terry Tate out of your plans (You can see why in the video below).

It's an oldie, but a goody ...





Have a happy and safe New Year.

Training budgets, just another victim of the recession

As the economy continues to slide downward, more and more corporate training budgets are taking a big hit.

Most HR departments won’t be surprised by the results of a new survey providing confirmation that in tough economic times, employee training is many times the first thing to be eliminated from budgets.

Expertus, a learning-services firm, surveyed over 80 corporate and government training professionals from organizations of varying sized in 19 different industries and found that:

• For 2009, more than twice as many respondents expect budget decreases rather than increases.
• Almost half (48%) expect decreased training budgets in 2009, up from 41% in 2008.
• Only 17% expect a training budget increase next year.

From the HR Executive Online story:

The findings didn't surprise Trellis Usher-Mays, president of Atlanta-based T.R Ellis Group, a management consulting firm that provides training services.

"Most companies are cutting training budgets," Usher-Mays says. "In learning organizations today you have to show a clear line of sight between training and positive business impact. Now is not the time to ask a C-suite executive to 'just trust us to use training money wisely.' "

Usher-Mays says now, more than ever, HR leaders need to fully understand the strategic business objectives of the organization to ensure that training dollars get approved -- and to make sure those dollars deliver the best return on investment.

"During times of plenty, you could get away with what I would call non-essential training," says Usher-Mays. "Not anymore."

But, according to Usher-Mays, there’s an upside to training budget cuts. With the focus on budget cuts, HR leaders are able to highlight the value of employee training, especially when it comes to compliance issues, forming a competitive business advantage and keeping employees engaged and growing professionally.

Among the training trends in a down economy, e-learning is making a strong appearance. For companies looking to save money without affecting quality, online and virtual training resources can be the best alternative to an in-person instructor.

Consider these cost-saving training options:

• Video training. Rather than sending a group of employees to an outside training course that will include expensive travel costs, find a comparable video training program to bring in-house. For the cost of one ticket, you can train an entire room full of people.
• Online training. Similar to video training, online employee training allows you to train many for the cost of a few and eliminates any travel expenses.
• Shop smart. Use tools like TrainingTime.com to find and compare employee training programs that will work with your budget.

How to be productive when business is slow

So, you're stuck working this week. For many, the week between Christmas and New Year's is one of the slowest of the year and one where not very much gets done. Whether it's because nobody is in the office or nobody is buying, now is not the time to sit around and waste the week away.

Instead, be productive when business is slow and get a head start on 2009. Use a few of these tips to get things done and not waste any time:

• Plan ahead. What would you like to accomplish in 2009? Sit down this week and write out your goals for 2009. Take it a step further and schedule a meeting to share those goals with your boss.


• Catch up. Make it a point this week to catch up on all of the industry news and trends you haven't had time to read during the year. Buy a book or two on a topic that would help you improve the way you work.


• Get organized. Attack that stack of papers on your desk and clean out your email inbox. If you don't do it before 2009, it probably won't get done. Use this slow time to get organized and put it all away.


• Connect. Have lunch or plan a meeting with that one business contact you didn't have time to meet with during the year. Get to know that person a little better and strengthen a valuable business relationship over lunch this week.


• Learn. Have you ever wondered how another department in your organization got things done? Make it a point this week to learn something new about how other departments function in your business.

Tips for the holidays, HR-style

Tomorrow is Christmas and all of us at TrainingTime would like to wish all of you a very merry holiday and a happy New Year. Here’s a short list of the best holiday-related posts from a few of our favorite blogs:

Have a mixture of religions in your organization and don’t wan to offend anyone? Take Kris Dunn’s advice and wish them a Happy Festivus. Check out today’s post at The HR Capitalist, complete with a classic Seinfeld video.

‘Tis the Season … to start thinking about next year. Today, Tim Tolan at Fistful of Talent is offering a friendly reminder to get started on your plans and goals for 2009 before the ball drops on New Year’s.

Yesterday, Laurie Ruettimann gave some valuable Punk Rock HR advice on company holiday parties and corporate giving. Just remember, whether you’re having a swanky holiday party or an ugly Christmas sweater event, don’t call her to plan it.

From rigorous training to dealing with thousands of dissatisfied customers, Santa has his work cut out for him. From all of the clips Julie Ferguson at HR Web Café shared with us on Monday, you can see what a tough job the big guy has every Christmas season.

How to use Twitter for training

Earlier this month, Jeanne Meister at the New Learning Playbook brought up some questions about the popular social networking tool Twitter asking: what is Twitter, who uses it, and can it be harnessed as a learning tool?

If you're unfamiliar, Twitter is a free social networking tool used to make connections and share small bits of information. It is entirely based on the question: What are you doing? Twitter users send "tweets" of 140 characters or less to share with their followers what they're up to.

Meister suggested using Twitter for learning and development in the following ways:

• Deliver learning to employees. Most Twitter users are young, usually between the ages of 18 and 34. Young employees will be more likely to use and enjoy using social networking tools like Twitter to learn new information.
• Webcast follow-up. You can use Twitter for asking questions on conference calls and webcasts. Using Twitter creates a record of questions and comments that you can refer to later and share with attendees.
• Learning reinforcement. Twitter gives you the opportunity to share quick bites of information, quickly. With all of your learners on Twitter, it is easy to reinforce learning content with links to follow-up information.

From first hand experience, I would like to add keeping trainees connected after a training session to the list of Twitter for learning. After a training seminar or class, have students and the instructor exchange Twitter user names to stay connected. The group can continue to stay connected through Twitter and share new information as time goes on.

We would like to know - Do you see a future for Twitter as a valuable learning tool? How are you currently using Twitter as it relates to training and learning?

How to improve the workplace, tips from Dilbert

Anyone who works for a big company can relate to the characters and story lines Scott Adams shares in his Dilbert comic strip. From a “dicey” start in the early years of his business career to the trials of owning two successful California restaurants, Adams has used real-life experiences in middle management to create America’s most lovable corporate drone.

In a recent interview with Fortune, Adams shared his thoughts on creating career stability and how the corporate workplace could use some improvements. For starters, corporations could stop worrying about employees’ every move and treat workers better when tough times roll around.

“One thing that's definitely worse is that employers have a much greater ability to monitor employees' every move. They can count the keystrokes on your computer, keep track of where you go on the Internet, and so on. It's creepy. But the big macro change now is, employers are a lot nicer when the economy is strong, because they know you have choices and can go elsewhere if they don't keep you happy. When times are bad, the gloves come off and employers are less nice. People become disposable.”

Though he doesn’t typically give advice, he wrote a book years ago called The Dilbert Principle, about how he thinks the ideal workplace should be organized. Here’s Adams’ advice for human resource professionals:

“If you don't have a lot of money to give people, then give them two other things. One is flexibility. Allow people to have a life outside of work. Does an employee have a reasonable chance of leaving the office on time, which I define as 5 p.m.? I mean, is that extra hour or two or three that people put in, in the evening, really necessary?

And second, give them at least half an hour every day to learn something they don't already know. Lots of surveys of employee happiness show that keeping people happy in their jobs really isn't so much about money anyway, it's about these other things that many companies don't think to offer. Work is like the rest of life. The best parts are free.”

And just for fun, here’s a Dilbert comic to get your Monday off to a great start

How to hold a healthy office holiday party

After an entire year of watching your waistlines and sticking to the company wellness program, why throw it all away with a holiday party full of high-fat, sugar-filled treats. This year, plan an office holiday party that is both festive and healthy.

Here are some simple tips to use when throwing a healthy office holiday party:

• Focus on fruits and vegetables. Make it a goal to cover at least half of the table with fruit and vegetable dishes. Try great winter fruit options like apple slices, orange slices, melon cubes, sliced pineapple and grape tomatoes. For vegetable trays, try baby carrots, celery sticks, and broccoli and cauliflower florets.


• Provide a variety of beverage choices. Offer a wide variety of no- and low-calorie drink options for everyone at the office to enjoy. Try mint tea, diet soft drinks, water, coffee and holiday punch made with diet soda.


• Prepare lean meats. Find holiday meats that are low in fat and high in protein. Provide healthier meat options including sliced turkey breast, lean ham and sliced lean roast beef. Try healthy seafood options like cooked shrimp with cocktail sauce and broiled salmon.


• Lighten up on the sweets. Instead of the typical high-sugar holiday treats, serve light desserts or assorted bite-size sweets. Use mini cupcake pans to cook up bite-sized cupcakes, brownies and cheesecake. Remember to keep toppings on the lighter side by offering light ice cream, frozen yogurt or light whip cream.


• Get physical. Whenever possible, get everyone up and moving. Hire a DJ or have everyone bring in their favorite CDs, whatever it takes to get party-goers dancing and working off those calories. If nobody is in the mood to dance, organize an activity like touch football, volleyball, charades or musical chairs.


• Use small plates. Eating off of small plates is one of the most effective tricks in the book to keep from eating too much. It encourages people to eat smaller portions and feel like they’re filling up.

Try to hold a healthy office holiday party this year that leaves everyone feeling satisfied and guilt-free. Your coworkers, and their waistlines, will be sure to thank you.

Handling conflict at work, what’s your EQ?

U.S. companies spend more than 2.8 hours each week dealing with workplace conflict, adding up to approximately $359 billion in 2008, according to a recent study by CPP Inc. (brought to our attention by HR Web Café).

More important than lost time and money, workplace conflict is putting employees’ safety at risk. About one third of employees (33%) said conflict at work has led to personal injury or attacks, and another 22% reported that it has led to illness or absence from work.

"These figures should be a wake-up call to industry leaders," said Jeff Hayes, CEO of CPP Inc. "Companies are losing billions of dollars because of poorly managed conflict, and we expect that figure to grow in a down economy as stress and workload -- two of the biggest causes of conflict -- rise."

While managers may think they know how to manage conflict, employees don’t agree. The survey revealed that just under one-third (31%) of managers felt that they’re skilled at handling conflict, while only 22% of employees said their managers deal with conflict well.

Positive conflict resolution and specialized training go hand in hand, according to researchers. The study found that employers with more incidents of conflict training had more positive outcomes, while organizations with less training opportunities reported lower numbers of positive outcomes.

"This research clearly shows the astounding amount of workplace debate, disagreement, and negotiation that take place in business," said Josh Bersin, president and CEO of Bersin & Associates, an analyst firm in enterprise learning and talent management. "If high performing business and human resource leaders are to turn conflict into positive business change, they must take the time to coach and train their employees to effectively deal with differences of opinion, style, and points of view."

Along with training, emotional intelligence (EQ) also makes a large contribution to your success in conflict management. Emotional intelligence is the ability to create positive outcomes in relationships with others and within ourselves through awareness, understanding and appropriate emotional expression, according to George Anderson, CEO of Anderson & Anderson, at Anger on my Mind.

“Understanding the powerful role of emotions in the workplace sets the best leaders apart from the rest not just in tangibles such as better results and the retention of talent, but also in the all-important intangibles, such as higher morale, motivation, and commitment.”

Emotional intelligence is a skill we develop and enhance throughout our lives, and plays an important role in every relationship we form. Having a high EQ will help you gain the trust and support from employees to help you lead effectively, especially when times are tough.

As businesses suffer and tensions are high, a focus on emotional intelligence may be exactly what we all need right now. Managers and employees with the skills to adapt and handle emotional situations are some of the most valuable assets a business may have.

Go on vacation without worrying about work, 6 tips

Vacations are meant to be a time to unwind, leave everything behind and recharge your worn-out batteries. But when it comes to the office, the thought of leaving it all behind has become something much easier said than done these days.

As wireless technology and mobile devices continue to advance, it’s getting easier and easier to remain connected with the office when you’re gone. Those connections can be wonderful when you’re away on business or working from home for a few days, but they have no place in your vacation.

One in four workers will be keeping in touch with the office while on vacation this year, according to CareerBuilder’s 2007 vacation survey. Close to one in ten (9%) said that their bosses expect them to be getting work done or at least checking messages while away on vacation.

So, if a vacation is meant to be a time to unwind and disconnect, can you truly call it a vacation if you’re still logging work hours on your laptop?

When it’s time to go, leave work at work and out of your suitcase. Follow these six tips to stop worrying about work while you’re on vacation:

1. Have a plan. Let everyone on your team know the dates you’ll be away from the office in advance. If there’s something that needs to be worked on while you’re away, plan to have it finished before you leave or have someone else take over. Give at least one person on your team a copy of important information (e.g. contact names, phone numbers) they may need in your absence.


2. Inform clients. Instead of returning to a voice mail box full of disgruntled messages from clients, let everyone know that you’ll be on vacation ahead of time. Provide your clients with the contact information of someone else at the office they can talk to in case there’s a problem.


3. Clean up. Before leaving the office for vacation, take a few minutes to clean up your work area. Clearing your desk will help you make sure you didn’t miss anything important and your coworkers will be less likely to dump anything on a tidy desk while you’re gone. Remember that a messy desk will only add to any stress you feel when returning to the office.


4. Keep an open calendar. You may feel like you have to jump back into it right away, but resist the urge to schedule anything for the day you come back to the office. If necessary, block out time on your calendar for a long meeting with yourself, so no one can sneak anything in while you’re gone.


5. Leave the laptop. No matter how much you tell yourself you won’t use it, leave your laptop behind when packing for vacation. The temptation to check your email will be too strong if you know your laptop is tucked inside your bag. Your family and friends will appreciate it, too.


6. Lead by example. If you’re the boss, do your best to limit contact while you’re gone. Employees will feel more comfortable taking time off and enjoying themselves when their vacation time rolls around.

As difficult as it may sound, use your vacation time to have a vacation and leave work where it’s meant to be - at work. The more you enjoy your vacation, the more relaxed and recharged you’ll be when it’s time to get back to work. Along with your family, friends and coworkers, you’ll thank yourself for it later.

Improve training, involve employees like Best Buy

How do you get employees engaged in training?

Have them make the employee training videos.

It may sound easier said than done, but it’s exactly how Best Buy managed to increase their 401k participation by 30% last year.

As the story goes, Best Buy’s HR team was struggling to find a way to boost their low 18% 401k participation rate. It looked like they were facing an uphill battle with more than half of the company’s employees are under the age of 24 and not the least bit worried about retirement.

So, in attempts to motivate their young employees, Best Buy launched a contest on their social networking site, BlueShirt Nation. Employees were challenged to submit motivating videos about what 401k plans mean to them.

The contest lasted just three months and Best Buy’s 401k participation had jumped to 47%, an almost 30% increase.

Here’s the winning video ...






Thanks to HR Marketer for bringing this great story to our attention. Have a Happy Friday!

Productivity: Rules for effective meetings

While we’re on the subject of getting things done, let’s tackle the business activity many consider to be the least productive - the meeting.

In a survey of 1,900 business leaders, 72% expressed that they spend more time in meetings today than they did five years ago. Almost half (49%) said they expect their time spent in meetings to increase, according to the results of a survey by Dr. Steven G. Rogelberg, Professor and Director of Organizational Science at the University of North Carolina Charlotte.

The same meeting research revealed that managers felt that almost one-third of the meetings they attend are unproductive.

Whether you hate meetings or enjoy them, think they’re unproductive or not, it’s hard to escape them. When managed correctly, meetings can be a useful business tool. But if they fail, meetings can be a complete waste of time and a huge disruption to everyone’s day.

Meetings are a fact of life. So, if we’re going to have to live with them, we better learn how to make them as productive and efficient as possible.

Andrew Rondeau of Great Management, recently compiled the most simple and usually ignored rules for holding a productive meeting. To organize and improve the quality of meetings, Andrew offers this advice:

• Limit the guest list. By limiting the number of people at a meeting, you immediately improve the effectiveness of the group.
• Have an agenda. Setting an agenda before the meeting will save time and keep it focused. Include a list of topics, how much time should be spent discussing each topic, and remember to distribute the agenda to every attendee before you meet.
• Define a goal. Before meeting, get an agreement up front from attendees on what the meeting should accomplish.
• Start on time. Even if someone is missing, start the meeting on time. Don’t waste everyone’s time for the sake of one.
• Feedback. Ensure that your agenda includes time for feedback and a flow of two-way communication.
• Minimize distractions. This is one of ours, but a great addition to Andrew’s list. Before the meeting, remind people to kindly leave their cell phones, PDAs and laptops at their desks. If they choose to bring them along, ask everyone to turn their devices off at the beginning of the meeting.

The rules, though simple and basic, are often missed. Try working some into your meetings to improve their effectiveness and the overall productivity of your day.

Productivity: How to get started and avoid pitfalls

Improving your personal productivity and discovering what works with you is a process that involves time, dedication and experimentation. Here are just a few tips and tricks from to help you get the ball rolling, keep it rolling and stay away from the biggest productivity-sapping traps.


Getting started

After you make the conscious decision to get to work on your productivity, you want to get started right away. But many times getting started on getting things done can seem like such a daunting task that we completely fail to start.

You can easily get started with productivity and see immediate results with a few uncomplicated tips from Heshy Shayovitz. His advice:

• Stop thinking about your to-do list. Don’t keep your to-do list locked up in your head, there’s too much going on up there and you risk forgetting something. Free your mind and let creativity flow.
• Just do it. If you can complete a task in two minutes or less, just do it. You’ll feel better about accomplishing something and more inclined to tackle everything else on your list.
• Keep your head in the game. Be conscious in whatever you’re working on at the moment. When you’re working on something, ask yourself three questions: why am I doing this? How can I stop doing it? How can I do it better?

Time management

With more on how to do things better and in less time, Chris Young at the Rainmaker Group recently put together a list of effective time management tips and techniques. To manage your time more effectively and maximize your possibility, Chris suggests:

• Have priorities. Put your to-do list in order, starting with the most important tasks and ending with things that could wait until later.
• Turn on the “green” light. Use your most productive time, what Chris calls “green time,” to focus on getting things done. Avoid taking long breaks or running errands during the most productive part of your day.
• Put up your guard. Don’t let others take away from your “green time” with unnecessary distractions. Guard your time from outside disruptions as much as possible.
• Take a break. If you need a break, take a quick 10 minute walk to recharge and then quickly get back to work.

Productivity pitfalls

After you’ve started on improving your personal productivity and are on a roll, be sure not to fall into any productivity-sapping traps. Productivity paranoia, as Christina Laun at Bootstrapper likes to call it, is a dangerous area where productivity management takes over your life and well being, at work and at the office.

Here’s some of Christina’s advice to avoid falling into productivity paranoia and get your efficiency obsession under control:

• Work with the time you have. You can only fit so much work into one day, so stop wishing you had more time. It’s not the end of the world if there are things left on your to-do list when the day is over.
• Focus on quality, not quantity. Checking everything off your list will make you feel like you’ve accomplished a lot, but the quality of each task probably suffered. Give yourself a pat on the back for the work you’ve completed each day.
• Enjoy your personal time. When you’re away from work, do your best to not think about work. Time off is healthy and will keep you more productive when you return to the office.
• Discover what works. There are hundreds of productivity techniques out there and finding the one that works for you may take time. Find what works for you and stick with it.

Personal productivity is a conscious pact you make with yourself. It may take some time to figure out exactly what works for you, but stick with it once you find out how you work best. Just be careful to not fall into productivity paranoia and you’ll be just fine.

How successful on-boarding improves training retention

How well a new employee retains training is directly dependent on the success of your on-boarding program, according to a recent article in Restaurants & Institutions (R&I).

Even outside of the food service industry, both formal and informal on-boarding programs are vital to the training process. When businesses conquer on-boarding and new-hire training, new employees are more likely to make it through the first weeks of a job and start thinking long-term.

“Dean McSherry, an Addison, Texas-based restaurant consultant, suggests a multipronged strategy that covers much more than basic job training. Introducing new employees to key people, providing them with the right tools and integrating them into the company culture quickly will help ensure that they enjoy their work and succeed.”

Here’s how some of the most successful food service companies achieve success in on-boarding and training new employees:

• Ongoing training opportunities. As employees move up the ladder at Chipotle Mexican Grill, they take part in ongoing training opportunities to help them at each new step. The restaurant chain strives to make employees at all levels understand the meaningful opportunities at the company and all of the career paths they can work toward.


• Cool training tools. Embracing new technology has greatly improved on-boarding at the Atlanta-based Wing Zone. CEO Matt Friedman harnesses the power of new technology and the Internet to make training “modern, quick, consistent and effective.” New hires are put through a simple online course complete with videos on the history of the company and quizzes that introduce employees to the company and prepare them for the hands-on training to follow.


• Stars and training mentors. New hires at the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain work their way through the company’s “Rising Stars” program where employees earn apron stars as they complete each step of the training program. During their first 60 days, new employees are also matched with a manager in a buddy program to check in with trainees throughout the on-boarding process.


• An eye on employee health. Because some people will be at the company for decades, Cal Dining at the University of California, Berkely, has new hires work with ergonomists to learn the best ways to work without injuring themselves. Additionally, new hires receive a preliminary health screening to identify any potential injury risk.


• Focus on brand value. The casual-dining restaurant Houlihan’s trains new employees to understand how the restaurant’s brand image plays a key role in customer experience. Employees are trained to “sell the brand” in their on-boarding program. The company’s philosophy: “Treat managers well, and they will be happy. Ultimately, happy managers create happy employees, and happy employees, in turn, create satisfied customers.”

With the right tools and support at the very beginning, employees will be more likely to enjoy their work and succeed. How does your company successfully implement on-boarding and new-hire training to improve retention?

Six-word icebreakers, keep it short

When Ernest Hemingway was challenged to write a story in only six words, he responded with:

“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

SMITH Magazine reignited the six-word story challenge in 2006 by asking readers to describe their lives in six words or less. The response was so overwhelming that they compiled the stories and created a book, Not Quite What I was Planning: Six Word Memoirs from Writers Famous and Obscure.

“They sent in short life stories in droves, from the bittersweet (“Cursed with cancer, blessed with friends”) and poignant (“I still make coffee for two”) to the inspirational (“Business school? Bah! Pop music? Hurrah”) and hilarious (“I like big butts, can’t lie”).”

The six-word memoir is not just a lesson in writing, but a concept that can be used to stay on task and on time around the office.

Take the idea of the six-word memoir and turn it into an introduction game or icebreaker:

• As everyone takes a seat at your next meeting or training exercise, tell them they have two minutes to write down their job description only using six words. When the two minutes are up, go around the room and have everyone share their name and six-word memoir.

Or, use it to keep your brainstorming sessions focused and to the point:

• Inspire your group with this video from SMITH Magazine and then ask the group to come up with ideas that can be written in six words or less. Whether you’re brainstorming new slogan ideas or identifying core issues, keeping ideas under six words will keep everyone focused.

Saying anything in six words or less can be a challenge, but it’s an exercise that delivers a great lesson on the value of clear communication. Use the ideas above or create your own six-word activities to challenge your next training group.

Have any ideas on how to use the six-word challenge to inspire employees? Leave a comment and let us know.

Friday Fun: Cool office gadgets and coworker gift ideas

Even while companies announce more canceled holiday parties and cut back around the office, there’s still no reason to stop spreading the holiday cheer.

One proven way to improve morale around the office - give a gift.

Whether you’re looking for something great to give your Secret Santa recipient or long-time coworker, there are a ton of cool gifts out there that they will be proud to show off on their desk all year round.

Check out these cool office gadgets and great coworker gift ideas:

• USB Coffee Warmer. Perfect for that coworker who can’t get enough of that warm, caffeine-filled goodness. Just plug the USB-powered warmer into your computer and they’ll have a nice warm cup of coffee all day long.
• USB Beverage Chiller. If it’s the colder caffeine-filled treats your coworker loves, try the USB Beverage Chiller. Works the same way the warmer does, but keeps your drinks nice and cold at your desk.
• Office carpet skates. This is the perfect gift for the Office Olympics organizer or office daredevil. The skates slip on right over your shoes and allow you to glide across carpeted surfaces. Watch this video on how it's done.
• Bright Blinds. No window in your cube? No problem. Bright Blinds are a great gift for that coworker who needs a little light in their life. Even if you’re located in the middle of a cube maze, this cool office gadget makes it look like there’s sunshine right on the other side of your cube wall.
• Water-Powered Clock. For the eco-friendly coworker always looking for new ways to be green in the office. This clock runs entirely on water, telling the time and date without any batteries at all.
• Staple-Free Stapler. Never run out of staples again with this cool little gadget. The Staple-free stapler makes a little cut at the edge and folds sheets together, making the process more neat and efficient.

When picking out that perfect something, watch out for these office gifts that could get you fired:

• Desktop Warfare Kit. Perfect for the model plane hobbyist in the office who hates to be disturbed at work. With these mini warfare devices, you can hurl paperclips at your coworkers all day long.
• Faceball. It’s like Dodgeball, but all about hitting people in the head. Not sure this one will last very long around the office, so have your fun while it lasts.
• Desktop Batting Practice. Perfect for the sports fan in the office. If you have a minute of free time at your desk, you have just enough time to practice your batting swing. Somehow, I don’t think your coworkers will enjoy the mini baseballs flying around all day.

Whatever you choose to give this year, whether it’s a cool gadget, greeting card or a simple “thank you,” be sure to show appreciation for your coworkers during the holidays and all year round. Happy Friday!

New FMLA regs, free webinar explaining what to do

In November, the Department of Labor released the first set of revisions to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that will take effect on January 16, 2009. Among other requirements, employers will need to acquire new paperwork and posters to reflect the latest revisions.

With just over a month until the new FMLA changes become effective, the pressure is on employers to understand exactly what they need to do in order to comply.

Join us next week for a free webinar, hosted by ComplyRight, covering all the information you need to know stay fully compliant under the FMLA. Attendees will learn:

• How the new regulations impact your business, what changed and what you need to do to comply
• Employer’s rights under the FMLA, including strategies to handle FMLA abuse
• Specific key requirements
• What changes need to be made to policies, notices and employee postings
• The latest rules for handling intermittent employee leave, chronic conditions, light duty, supervisor access to medical information, leave for military families and more

We hope to see you at The New FMLA Regulations: What You Need to Know on Thursday, December 11, 2008 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. EST. This free webinar is sponsored by ComplyRight and presented by Wendy J. Smith, Esquire, Fisher & Phillips LLP.

Visit the registration page for more information.


Related:

New FMLA rules: What you need to know

Family and Medical Leave Act Changes Q & A

Training Trends: PTO, the Grinch at work and religious diversity

The December issue of Training Trends was released today, with information every workplace can use during the holidays. This month’s topics include how to handle confusing PTO policies, “Grinch” behavior around the office and managing religious diversity.

Each month, TrainingTime.com shares all of the latest and greatest tips, trends and buzz from the across the training industry. If you’re not on our mailing list, please take a minute to sign up for Training Trends to have the latest training news delivered to your inbox each month.

Here’s a quick look at the December edition:

Top 10 Things Not to Do with Your PTO

Switching to a Paid Time Off (PTO) system gives employees more freedom to schedule their time, but there are some drawbacks. From “last-minute use” policies and harsh requirements, putting a new PTO system in place can be confusing. Here’s a more lighthearted look at the top 10 things you shouldn’t do with your PTO ... (full article)


Don’t be a Grinch at Work This Holiday Season

Employees who have fun at work have proven to be more loyal, productive and more willing to go the extra mile when crunch time comes. The holidays offer a great opportunity to bring more happiness and fun into the workplace. Here are some simple and affordable ideas to fill the need for fun at work this holiday season ... (full article)


Making Religious Diversity Work at Work

The month of December shines a spotlight on the religious differences among employees each year. What’s the best way to handle religious diversity at work? Embrace it. Embracing religious differences within the office is good for business and good for employees. Here’s why ... (full article)

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Why the happiest companies are so happy

It’s that time of the year again, about that time when most of us have started counting down the days until our upcoming holiday break. Whether it’s for a few weeks or just a few days, it will pass quickly and that first day back to the office will be a somber one.

But, what if you worked at a company where you looked forward to coming back after vacation? A place where you thought twice about taking a vacation because you enjoyed being in the office so much?

Business coach Gill Corkindale brought up those questions and others regarding happiness at work in an article I recently came across on the Harvard Business blogs. She explains how more companies in the U.S. and U.K. are taking happiness at work very seriously, despite the economic recession.

“As a business coach, I've noticed that more and more managers and leaders are expecting to derive more happiness and satisfaction from their work. They are often young, talented and successful people who view their jobs as routes to self-actualisation. Yet this shift in the purpose of work raises many questions: how much satisfaction are we entitled to derive from work? And should employers be expected to provide meaning and happiness as well as a job and salary?”

Companies are taking happiness into their own hands, and doing so with clear business motives in mind. In the article, Gill points out a research paper from a Wharton finance professor who found that U.S. companies with the happiest employees performed “notably better” financially than lower-ranked companies.

Moreover, happiness has been scientifically proven to extend our life expectancies, keep us healthier and improve productivity at work.

“Employee satisfaction is a very effective motivational tool and a powerful method of retaining key employees.”

One IT training company in the UK, aptly named Happy, has won a number of awards for being one of the most inspired places to work and for its strong focus on employee and customer relations.

Along with the power of play, happiness can help companies become a better and more enjoyable place for leaders, employees and customers to prosper. Here are just some ways Happy gets to be so happy:

• Create a positive work environment. In most companies, managers spend more time correcting employees on what they’ve done wrong than telling them what they’ve done right. Remember to tell employees ‘thank you’ for doing a great job from time to time.



• Freedom. It’s much easier to be creative without a manager standing over your shoulder watching your every move. Give employees your trust and the freedom to be creative in their everyday work.



• Outline clear expectations. Ensure that every employee under your roof knows what is expected of them and how to reach those expectations. Whether you use employee performance reviews or not, make sure employees are working toward clear goals.



• Feedback. “Feedback is crucial to job ownership,” says Gill. Make sure employees are hearing feedback from internal as well as external sources so they can take ownership in their work. Try using the 5 cent feedback experiment if you’re having trouble.



• Develop skills with training. Recruit talented people who show a positive attitude and then give them the training to develop their skills within the organization. Training is just one way to improve employee engagement and boost morale.



• Celebrate mistakes. “Saying 'I got it wrong' is a sign of responsibility and an indication of an honest and open corporate culture,” says Gill. “If people haven't made any mistakes, they probably haven't tried anything new.”

We want to know - What do you do to make your company a more enjoyable place to work? Would you use ‘happy’ to describe your office environment?

Creativity, innovation and happiness at work

The key to innovation is happiness at work, says Chief Happiness Officer Alexander Kjerulf.

In a recent post on one of his favorite subjects, Alexander shared some insightful take-aways from a trip to London to attend the Top Dog Live innovation conference. This year’s theme - innovation in tough times.

Whether you’re working in London or in the U.S., the theme is especially fitting today with the National Bureau of Economic Research officially stating that the U.S. is in a recession and has been for the past year.

As our economy struggles, businesses continue to make decisions that cut back on work benefits that foster innovation, including training and development. Those decisions are “precisely the wrong thing to do,” says Alexander, reminding us that “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste.”

Alexander’s main take-away from the event was the focus on people and how to make employees happy at work. The majority of conversations dealt less with compensation and stock options, and were more centered around “praise, recognition, good leadership, openness, trust, freedom and fun in the workplace.”

Like Alexander writes about in most of his posts, happy employees are more creative. According to Harvard Business School Research:

If people are in a good mood on a given day, they’re more likely to have creative ideas that day, as well as the next day, even if we take into account their mood that next day.

There seems to be a cognitive process that gets set up when people are feeling good that leads to more flexible, fluent, and original thinking, and there’s actually a carryover, an incubation effect, to the next day.

In order to harness that creativity, more businesses must understand the importance of play and playfulness in the workplace. At Presentation Zen, Garr Reynolds examined the belief that “play is good for you” and for business. In the post he shares a video of Tim Brown, CEO of Ideo, making a presentation on the subject.

In this wonderful short presentation Tim makes many salient points about the role of play, playfulness, and creativity and why they matter in our professional or academic lives. You may be a designer of consumer goods, or a medical doctor, or a researcher, or a teacher — every situation is different. But listen to what Tim Brown says and ask yourself how the idea of play might be introduced into your organization in a way that would benefit workers, patients, and students, not only in terms of productivity but also in terms of simply having people feel better (and isn't there a correlation?).

Watch Tim Brown’s presentation below and visit Presentation Zen to read Garr’s summary of the most important points.



Use this holiday season to boost employee creativity and bring more happiness into your workplace, read these related posts:

How to improve morale during the holidays

Employee recognition ideas on the cheap, it’s easier than you think

Employee engagement down, how training can help

Friday office humor: Dodgeball at work