How a yellow sticky note can boost morale

Over at the Proper Pants blog, I came across a great idea for employee recognition that requires a familiar item in most office environments – the Post-it Note.

The process is very simple. Grab a pen, pull off a sticky note for each employee and stick them to your desk. Start every note with the words: “I appreciate you because ...” Follow that opening line with something you genuinely appreciate about each employee.

After you’re done writing, stick the Post-it Notes on each employee’s desk and watch what happens.

“I thought this was a fun thing to do at the office and I hoped it would make them smile for a while. This evening I was walking around at the office and noticed that several notes where hanging at their partition wall. And I started to realize that this really meant a lot for some of them,” said Frode Heimen, author of Proper Pants, after he tried the recognition idea in his office.

In return for his kind display of employee recognition, Frode received a Post-it Note signed by an entire shift of employees saying that he was a great boss, a couple of thank-you emails, improved morale and an overall smiling department.

Employee recognition doesn’t have to be expensive or loud. Sometimes it’s the simplest gesture, like a heartfelt message on a sticky note, that can have the biggest impact on employees.

Have you ever tried anything like the Post-it Note recognition idea in your office? Do you know of any other simple and effective recognition ideas that our readers could try out?

Could Second Life enhance your training program?

On the front page of CNN’s Tech section today is an intriguing new story on how medical students at Imperial College in London are effectively using Second Life for learning.

Using a virtual hospital in Second Life, third-year medical students are receiving “hands-on” experience in what they’ll later be doing in their medical careers including visiting patients, ordering X-rays, consulting with colleagues and making diagnoses.

From the CNN article:

It's an interactive, hands-on learning experience -- and none of it is real.

These prospective doctors are treating virtual patients in Second Life, the Internet world where users interact through online alter egos called avatars. The third-year med students are taking part in a pilot program for game-based learning, which educators believe can be a stimulating change from lectures and textbooks.

"The aim is to develop a more engaging learning environment, rather than just replicate what you have in real life," said Maria Toro-Troconis, a senior learning technologist at Imperial College London. "Game-based learning plays a very important role."

The students’ classroom training is reinforced in Second Life down to the simplest lessons like washing your hands. If students forget to wash their hands before visiting with a patient, the program limits the student from going any farther.



Back in the U.S., companies including Sun Microsystems and IBM have established their own real estate in Second Life to give employees the opportunity to connect on a different level.

Sun Microsystems, a company that has been on Second Life since 2006, owns a variety of property that the company uses for different reasons. Some of their Second Life property is open to the general public and other areas are used specifically for employee training and corporate meetings.

IBM has also been using Second Life and other virtual communities to hold company meetings, conduct online employee training and carry out orientation sessions.

The opportunities for employee training in Second Life and in similar online venues seem endless. Especially with many organizations looking to cut training costs, we may start seeing more companies adopt online training as a cheaper option to traditional methods.

If Second Life can help doctors learn how to treat patients, certainly it can help other organizations train employees in areas like customer service and safety. Whatever your situation, online training has the potential to take your program to the next level.

Have you ever been a part of training or another corporate activity that was held using a virtual platform like Second Life? Do you think there are any added benefits to virtual employee training as opposed to traditional methods?

Friday office humor: Play the “Layoff” game

A new game has taken the web by storm that gives average employees the power to “be the boss” and attempt to save their business from going under.

Tiltfactor Labs created the game, aptly titled LAYOFF, that examines our country’s current economic situation and how a bailout could potentially help.

From a Tiltfactor press release:

The key to the project is a focus on human values in games. "The game has an unsettling feeling,” said Mary Flanagan, the developer of the game as the Director of the Tiltfactor Lab. "It is cute and fun to play, but when you realize how frightening the situation is, the game in fact functions as a very dark portent."

In the game, players take the role of management needing to cut costs and cut jobs. Players match types of workers in groups in order to make “layoffs” and increase employee efficiency. If you eliminate enough workers in a row, their positions are replaced by financiers and bankers who cannot face layoffs.

Curious? Play the LAYOFF game.

What do you think of the Layoff game?

Boost employee productivity by keeping score?

In the search for ideas on how to improve employee productivity, earlier today I ran across an article from Colorado’s Steamboat Pilot & Today about a local business owner’s creative approach to improving his teams’ productivity.

Steamboat Motors manager Jeff Steinke has improved his bottom line and is helping other small business owners boost their own by putting his motto, “If you measure it, you improve it,” into practice.

“Make sure your employees know how they are judged. Establishing criteria in the short term is important. Employees need to know what they need to accomplish that day,” Steinke recently told a group of business owners at a seminar.

His approach to employee productivity at his dealership is based on his assumption that everyone is competitive by nature. In his dealership’s service department, where diagnostic and repair tasks can be standardized, he’s turned work into a productivity competition.

Here’s a clip from the article:

“In our service department, we sell time,” Steinke said. He observed that if a service technician can accomplish a repair usually allotted one hour in eight-tenths of an hour, that technician has achieved 120 percent productivity.

Steinke makes certain everyone in the service department knows who is achieving by posting a productivity scorecard on a door for all to see.

Business owners who adopt a similar technique can be prepared for the veteran employees initially to rebel but gradually come around to the new regime, he said.

“They’ll go out there and tear (the scorecards) down,” Steinke said. “It takes about two weeks to purge.”

He backs up his productivity charts with three-ringed binders stuffed with detailed job descriptions and pay scales tied to productivity levels.

In addition to posting employee productivity scores, Steinke works to improve productivity by giving employees a voice in how their departments run. Following recognition, being involved in their department is most important to employees and is “one of the biggest things we can overlook,” according to Steinke.

After reading the article, I still have some questions:

Productivity may improve when employees finish job in “eight-tenths of an hour” that were originally allotted an hour to complete, but was the quality of their work affected? Is the owner more focused on productivity than in producing a quality service?

According to the article, businesses should “be prepared for the veteran employees initially to rebel” when putting Steinke’s system into practice. Could turning work into competition hurt morale and cause resentment among employees?


What do you think about this approach to employee productivity? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Improve employee education from the inside out

“Give the proper tools to a group of people that want to make a difference, and they will.”

The above quote is a header on the Benefits page at Google Jobs, a company that was built on the premise that work should be challenging, but fun at the same time. For the hardworking employees who accept the challenge, Google offers some outstanding benefits.

From dining facilities, to gyms and even laundry rooms, Google tries to help out their employees in every way. That practice also holds true when it comes to continuing employee education.

The company offers up to $12,000 per calendar year for employees pursuing outside education that is relevant to their career. As long as employees show they’re serious about furthering their education and keep grades of “B” or better, Google will continue paying for it.

Though your company may not have the funds available to support a $12,000 education reimbursement program like Google, there are creative ways to promote employee education without spending a fraction of that kind of money.


From office to classroom

One of the easiest and most affordable ways to promote ongoing employee education is to create an in-house learning library.

Find a spot in the office, it can be anywhere from an empty cubicle to a hallway cabinet, to turn into a library. If possible, find a location that is central for everyone in the office to ensure accessibility.

Start building your library by asking everyone in the office to contribute and bring in books related on industry topics or career advice. Visit local used book stores and stock up on interesting titles that employees would find value in.

Don’t have the space for a physical library? Take it online. Set up a company Wiki using sites like PBWiki or Wikispaces and create an online learning library. Encourage employees to share information and post valuable resources that others in the office can learn from.

Give employees time, whether daily or weekly, to explore new topics with resources from your learning library. There’s no reason for creating a library if employees don’t have the time to use it.

For employees with the desire to further their education or learn more about their industry, an office library is an indispensable resource that they don’t even have to leave the office to take advantage of.

Providing employees with the tools they need to make a difference doesn’t have to cost a fortune. All you need is a great idea and anything is possible.

Employee safety tips from AIG corporate security

After receiving a bailout worth billions of dollars in taxpayer money, every move by U.S. financial institutions has been under the watchful eye of an extremely critical audience.

The conversations on blogs and other social networking sites, along with recent protests outside the doors of AIG corporate offices, have become so heated that AIG corporate security is worried for employees’ safety.

Gawker, the online gossip site, claims to have gotten their hands on a leaked AIG memo that includes advice for employees on responding to perceived threats and taking personal security precautions.

The post, titled “AIG Corporate Security's Tips for Surviving an Angry Mob,” features a copy of an AIG document that outlines “certain protective measures all employees can take in order to increase their overall safety and security.”



Employees are advised to call 911 at the very onset of a perceived threat and report any suspicious behaviors or questionable activities to AIG building security. A few of the security guidelines and employee safety tips include:

• Avoid wearing anything embroidered with the AIG logo
• Ensure AIG security badges are not visible when leaving the office
• Do not engage in public conversations regarding the company
• Walk in pairs and park in well-lit areas

Whether the document is legitimate or not remains a mystery, but the document does back AIG chairman Ed Liddy’s warning message that the company’s “public flogging” may be putting his employees’ safety at risk.

While it's unlikely that your organization will ever have to go through anything quite as public as AIG, employee safety training in dealing with disgruntled customers and the public has become a growing issue since the recession started.

Though overall workplace violence rates have dropped over the past ten years, homicides from customers and clients has steadily grown from 25 in 1997 to 74 workplace murders in 2007.

Workplace violence experts warn that there may be a rise in attacks as the economy continues to struggle. The violence is less likely to come from an angry laid-off employee, but more from an angry public. The employees that work directly with the public must be trained to deal with extremely angry customers and clients.

As the threat grows, so does the importance of building safety and employee training. Read more about how to recognize the risks of violence in the workplace and how to make positive changes to reduce that risk in “Heading off workplace violence: Keep employees safe with practical workplace safety tips” from our TrainingTime Learning Library.

Employee training in the news: The good, the bad and the ugly

There have been some interesting stories in the news covering employee training issues in the past weeks. Some are good, some are bad, while others are downright ugly. Here’s a rundown of a few of the top stories:

The good

Just to be nice, we’ll give you the good news first, in the form of some good advice from Keith McFarland at BusinessWeek. In his opinion, too many companies are complaining that their teams don’t have the skills to deal with the problems created by the economic downturn. “But instead of complaining, what management really needs to do right now is put less emphasis on getting the “right people” and more on getting the “people right,”” he says.

Getting the “people right” involves having managers sit down with their employees to talk about what the company could do to help each person develop their skills. Managers should put together a development plan for each employee including training and measurable objectives for each employee to achieve.


The bad

In this case, we’re talking about “bad” employee training as in the cool kind of bad. Like how Assurant Employee Benefits, a Kansas City-based benefits carrier, has improved training engagement by using a series of training video games.

Marcelo Vegara, Assurant’s video training game developer, says the games deliver information “in a way that's going to stick with people. It's active learning, not a sit-back-and-snooze kind of environment."

Since adding the games into their training mix, Assurant has found increased employee engagement, outstanding participation results and improved training retention. That goes down as some “bad” training in our books.


The ugly

Let's make that really ugly. A man in the Chicago area recently answered a newspaper ad for a job in the auto industry that claimed to pay a “generous salary” during training, as reported by the Chicago Tribune. After being hired on the spot, the man was told he had to pay $629 for training materials, a fee he would get back after a 90-day probationary period.

The man was fired after two weeks, received a meager compensation for his work, and wanted his training money back. The problem is that the money he spent on training supplies went to an outside training industry that refused to refund his money, but would provide him with “lifetime placement assistance” for another auto job if he wanted. He doesn’t want their help and is still fighting for that refund.


There they are, the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of employee training. Let’s hope this week holds a lot more good and the good kind of “bad” employee training that we love to see going on.

Goal setting: 100 is the magic number

Goal setting is an important part of our personal lives and careers. Setting goals in the workplace helps motivate and engage employees in their work. Creating a list of small, whisker goals can also provide an energetic kick start to move a team of workers out of a motivational rut.

Sometimes you just have to write it all down in order to get a clear picture of what you want to achieve, according to Caroline Adams Miller, author of Creating Your Best Life and founder of Your100Things.com.

"One of the best ways to achieve your own goals is to create public accountability and support by sharing them with a wide audience," says Miller.

Your100Things.com is free tool to help anyone get started on their personal or workplace “bucket list” of goals. Creating a long list of personal and workplace goals can help employees find direction in their work and can also put work/life balance issues into perspective.

It's free to register and the community forums can help you to keep working toward your goals. If you're having trouble with a certain goal, you can reach out to others on the forums for help on how to get through it or read how other users accomplished their own goals in the “I Got It Done” section.

The site stemmed from Miller's personal "100 Things To Do Before I Die" list. To serve as a role model to her readers, she keeps her list public and sets out to achieve a few goals each year. You can check out everything she hopes to achieve here.

Mix it up with peer-to-peer training

Do you regularly force your sales teams to sit through days of training only to be left with employees who are zoned-out and overwhelmed by the overflow of information? Are your instructor-led training courses completely boring your teams so much that they’re ready for nap time?

Lauren Kinke, Marketing and Sales Operations Manager at ReachForce, recently shared on the company's B2B Lead Blog how they have created an employee training program that keeps employees actively engaged in the learning process.

Here’s a piece of the story:

Our typical training regime used to be comprised solely of a full-day quarterly kickoff. During that time we would run through a few “sales” skills specific sessions, some background on our industry, and a piece on what we do and how we do it (for newbies). Part team-building, part skills training, it was an exhausting day and by the end of it some of our more ADD inclined employees had mentally checked out. Recently we decided to make some changes.

First, instead of only hosting training sessions on a once a quarter basis, each of our weekly sales meetings would be host to a mini-session led by a sales rep. Second, our quarterly sales training meeting would be shortened to a little over half a day.

Through this new training program, members of the company’s sales team have presented topics including how to prepare for a first call, overcoming customer objections, closing techniques and time management.

There are no strict rules as to how a team member can present their topic. Some employees have found success with PowerPoint, while others simply stood in front of the class and spoke.

I can’t say that we’ve measured our results, but I can say that our reps have been able to put these things into practice as quickly as they are being taught.

The benefits of using a peer-to-peer training program are seemingly endless. It allows employees to connect and fosters teamwork, improves engagement and, above all, keeps trainees awake.

Have you ever put peer-to-peer training to work in your organization? What benefits/drawbacks have you found in the process?

Setting small goals can kick start your team

Earlier this year many of us were asked by our managers to set “stretch” goals that will require going the extra mile and pushing ourselves to the limits.

In most cases, stretch goals can be the stimulus that inspires employees to “think outside the box” and improve their performance in ways they never thought they could. When times are tough, however, such goals may throw some into a state of shock.

While they can be a great way to tap into an employee’s ambition, setting stretch goals may stir up “a recipe for paralysis,” according to Dan Heath and Chip Heath in the Fast Company article Set Smaller Goals, Get Bigger Results.

Dan and Chip argue that setting smaller goals is the key to jump-starting performance during tough times and recommend that employees set “whisker goals” instead of intimidating stretch goals.

Instead of setting goals that are seemingly unattainable, whisker goals set targets that fall just slightly short of the “status quo.” Because their small and easily reached, whisker goals help us to get past the initial fear and anxiety that deter us from trying to reach lofty goals.

From the Fast Company article:

Whisker goals are particularly well suited to our current moment. Adversity taps our strength. When you've just laid off someone, it feels like too much to bear to offer constructive criticism to another employee. When you've given up your bonus and had your budget cut, it feels like too much to consider going back for that master's degree. In hard times, we retrench. We maintain. We certainly don't stretch.

But retrenchment is the wrong response to adversity. Adversity calls for change, and change doesn't arrive via a miracle: It arrives via a kick start.

Setting small, whisker goals are a great way to energize a team that may be stuck in a state of paralysis. Use whisker goals, along with small employee recognition awards, to get the ball rolling.

Once you start reaching a handful of smaller performance goals, those stretch goals may not seem so far away. Sometimes it takes a little push to get people off the starting line, but they’ll be off and running before you know it.

How workplace conflict can be positive, even productive

When you think about conflict at work, a cheerful picture rarely comes to mind for most. Though it's unlikely you're imagining sunny skies and smiles, research suggests that workplace conflict, if managed correctly, can have very positive, even productive results.

An article at Human Resource Executive Online examined a new study by Psychometrics Canada that reveals how conflict in the workplace may benefit an organization if it is handled properly.

"The word conflict has such a negative connotation, but what we heard from HR leaders is it isn't always necessarily bad," says Shawn Bakker, a psychologist and researcher at Psychometrics Canada.

"Conflict is always going to be there. The idea of eliminating it from a workplace is impossible, and, from what we learned, probably not desirable."

The study found that conflict at work can help employees discover better solutions, spark major innovations, and boost motivation, among other workplace benefits.

More than 350 human resource professionals across Canada were surveyed to reveal that conflict can trigger:

• Better understanding of others (77 percent);
• Better solutions to problems and challenges (57 percent);
• Higher work-team performance (40 percent);
• Increased motivation (31 percent); and
• Major innovations (21 percent).

Another report on workplace conflict by CPP, Inc., found that U.S. companies spend an average of 2.8 hours each week dealing with conflict, which translates into nearly $359 billion in paid hours.

The CPP report also found that while conflict costs us time and money, it can result in positive outcomes if managers and employee have the right training.

“These figures should be a wake-up call to industry leaders,” said Jeff Hayes, CEO, 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.”

Right now is the perfect time for that training, with most workplaces ripe for conflict. A mixture of layoffs, mounting financial stress and the pressure to cut spending is only adding fuel to the existing fire.

With successful conflict management training, your employees and managers can learn to deal with workplace disputes in a way that benefits everyone involved. Here are just a few ways conflict at work can be positive:

• The issues that a dispute stems from could reveal a new area of training that should be addressed.
• Conflict could open the doors to a new process that could improve the way employees get their jobs done.
• Arguments often occur when an employee feels like they’re not being heard. Employes who are given a chance to voice their opinions will feel valued and more engaged.
• Conflict may open your eyes to areas where managers require more training in handling heated situations.

No workplace will ever be void of conflict. Many times, it’s through conflict that we improve and find more effective ways to get things done at work.

Conflict may never be easy to deal with, but it can lead to growth and change. By training employees how to handle conflict, you'll be fostering a workplace culture that accepts differences and promotes new ideas.

Improve a process, boost productivity and morale

If you’ve been traveling recently, you’ve probably taken notice of an interesting change in the way airlines do business - cashless flights. Many major airlines are no longer accepting cash for in-flight services and only taking credit.

On the outside it may seem like a simple business decision that modernized a dated process, but for those on the inside it has made a considerable impact on the way they work.

Mark Mader at the Smartsheet blog told a story last week about how Alaska Airlines improved a process that was working “just fine” and found that the change impacted more than just the cost of doing business.

“As I saw the flight attendant slowly make her way to row 26, I thought, "why would Alaska give up the 2-4% margin to the credit card companies?". Following the first beverage service, I headed back to the galley to ask Cindy, the lead flight attendant, what she thought of moving away from the simple cash transaction.”

He asked the flight attendant how the new process has impacted the way she does her job. She answered, "I LOVE it!"

Switching to the cashless process made her job significantly better by eliminating the chance that she’ll forget to give someone their change, having to remember who rented digital movie players and putting an end to the tedious and stressful process of managing cash throughout the flight.

Though most processes are a necessary part of business, some may be more of a burden than a blessing when it comes to helping employees get their jobs done.

If we can find ways to simplify people’s jobs and reduce their stress, whether it’s through streamlining a work process or through employee training, they’ll appreciate it and be happier at work because of it.

Fixing that one tiresome process can snowball from happier employees to an overall improvement in productivity and morale across the company. Find ways to help employees get their jobs done more efficiently and they’ll be saying ‘thank you’ in the quality of their work.

When going ‘business casual’ causes a wardrobe malfunction

For some employees, casual Fridays are one small benefit in corporate America that can make a big difference in your organization’s morale.

Everyone usually looks forward to that last day of the workweek, where they can shed those stuffy business threads for a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, but it can also cause a lot of confusion if your rules are unclear.

What’s considered appropriate dress code for ‘business casual’ Fridays can greatly vary from company to company and from employee to employee.

In order to avoid any confusion, set aside some employee training time to remind everyone about your company’s definition of ‘casual’ dress. It could save a few employees from having an embarrassing day at the office if they show up wearing the wrong outfit.

We hope you’re having a great casual Friday and that you don’t come across a wardrobe malfunction as bad as this:

Twitter tips to help you stay productive at work

New online tools emerge everyday with the promise that they will improve our workdays, keeping us more productive than we’ve ever been before. While some of these tools do improve personal productivity, others can be a complete waste of time.

Twitter is one of those tools that has proponents on both sides of the productivity argument. One little bird with one simple question has taken the social media world by storm, presenting limitless possibilities both in the workplace and in our personal lives.

If you’ve started using Twitter at work, you may have found that all of the connections you make and information you find can be beneficial during the workday. However, you can easily get lost in the overload of information and find yourself wasting time.

Stop wasting your time and follow a few of these tips for using Twitter to improve your productivity:

• Disconnect. Not all the time, but turn Twitter off from time to time and completely focus on the task in front of you.


• Connect with coworkers. Instead of sending an email, or calling someone in the office to ask a simple question, ask them on Twitter. Sending a direct message on Twitter to a coworker can help you get the information you need in a non-distracting way.


• Use Twitter search tools. You can use the Twitter Search site or search directly from whatever Twitter platform you're using, to find out what people are saying about anything you're interested in.


• Remind yourself. Simple Twitter applications like Timer can help you manage daily tasks. Simply send a direct message to @timer and the program will tweet you back with a reminder at the time you set.


• Follow people who share valuable information. If you try to only follow people who share valuable information, there will be less nonsense to sort through.


• Subsribe to TwiTip. TwiTip is a blog dedicated to everything Twitter related. Darren Rowse delivers great information daily on the latest must have Twitter tools to help you get the most out of your tweeting experience.

Have you tried to use Twitter at work, does it help you to be more productive or is it a complete distraction?


Here are a few more posts on productivity and Twitter you should check out:

Productivity tips: How to become a ‘task ninja’

Top 8 ways trainers can use Twitter

How to use Twitter for training

Personal productivity training, six simple tips

Training as punishment, or opportunity?

When you sign up employees for a training course or seminar, you do it because you want them to learn and develop skills that will enhance their careers and improve the organization. Right?

Unfortunately, employees don’t always look at training in the same light. Sometimes they feel that they’ve been enrolled in training as a form of punishment, or because they’re deficient in some way.

A headline-making example of training seen as punishment came about last year with US Airways. As a result of high fuel prices, the airlines forced their pilots to take fuel-management courses if they ordered extra fuel for their flights.

US Airways wanted to educate pilots on how wasting fuel negatively impacts the company, while pilots felt cutting back on fuel was dangerous and the mandatory training was an insult to their expertise.

Rebecca Morgan at Grow Your Key Talent summarized the issue in a recent post, saying:

Then US Airways pilots took out an ad that said the airline “embarked on a program of jailintimidation to pressure your captain to reduce fuel loads.” Senior pilots — those who are well aware of the vagaries of flights — were targeted for (gasp!) fuel conservation training.

Their punishment was training!

Part of this is the humiliation they felt at being senior pilots and being relegated to re-training as if they were rookies or didn’t know what they were doing.

One pilot said he felt the airline was “selecting a few and hoping to intimidate the remainder of our pilot group to not add fuel when they feel they might need a little fuel. So hoping if they punish a few, the rest of the pilot group will get in line.”

It’s quite obvious that the pilots were offended by US Airways’ decision, but what should they have done differently?

What could US Airways have done to make pilots see that this training was meant to better their careers and the improve the company, instead of making the training seem like a punishment?

Communication.

If you clearly communicate the reasons why you want employees to go through training and then listen to what they have to say about it, you will have a much better outcome that what we saw in the US Airways example.

A similar story is replayed everyday in the corporate world. If a manager suddenly signs up an employee for a training course on time management, without talking to them about it first, the employee may start thinking that you believe they’re an inefficient worker or it’s punishment for being late on that last report.

Each time you enroll employees in a training course, communicate your reason for the training and how it will help employees reach their personal career goals, as well as help the company improve overall performance. By discussing your motives for training, employees will start looking at it as less of a punishment and more like an opportunity.

What advice do you have for companies that are having trouble positioning training in a positive light? How do you show employees that training is not a punishment?

First step to improving motivation: Communication

Right now it’s almost impossible to get through the day without hearing another depressing story on the economy and its affect on business. Instead of telling you more bad news about how the economy is taking our 401(k)s and morale down the drain with it, we’re going to share some good news on how to improve motivation in your company and you don’t have to spend a single dime.

The simplest and cheapest way to improve motivation in your organization is to improve your internal communication. Especially when management is making necessary, but tough changes including layoffs and budget cuts, it is always in your best interest to clearly communicate those changes to everyone involved.

A new study indicates that workers are twice as likely to put in extra effort for their employer and nearly four times as likely to recommend their company to a friend if they are satisfied with the ways in which their company communicates difficult decisions.

The results of the OuchPoint survey from Opinion Research Corporation suggest that effective communication has a powerful impact on employee motivation and morale.

“Positive perceptions around company communications serve to both boost motivation levels among current employees as well as foster employee advocacy, ultimately resulting in a strengthened employee brand,” said Lisa Wojtkowiak of Opinion Research Corporation’s Employee Engagement Practice. “When the economic situation improves, this strong employee advocacy will be critical to attracting and retaining top talent.”

Of those surveyed, 44% said their company has taken action in response to the recession over the last six months. Nearly half of respondents (49%) gave their employer top marks regarding their effective communication of the organizational actions taken.

The type of communication employees value the most included:

• Thorough explanations of the actions taken and the reasons behind the action (28%)
• Being kept informed of ongoing decisions and reasons for those decisions as the economy continues to toss and turn (13%)
• Providing early indications of impending difficult decisions so employees are not caught off-guard (11%)
• Open and honest communication (9%)
• Providing regular updates through frequent communication (8%)

As the economy continues to create more uncertainty, employees are finding solace in the simple ways their employers show appreciation. From effective communication to giving employees the respect they deserve, organizations can effectively improve employee morale in some of the most simple and affordable ways.

For more ideas on how to improve communication and motivation in your organization, read a few of these related posts:

Taking steps to improve employee morale

The one thing employees want at work

10 low-cost employee incentive ideas

5 tips to build employee morale in a down economy

Ideas for everyday training on a budget

Rising health care costs, are wellness programs the answer?

In response to rising health care costs, one of the nation’s largest grocery store chains is tackling obesity among its employees with a tough company health plan developed to help employees make positive behavior changes.

After taking a look at the numbers, Safeway CEO Steve Burd determined that obesity was at the root of a large chunk of the company’s health care costs. Obesity was a common factor among chronic conditions, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer, plaguing his company and causing increased health care costs.

To reduce obesity rates among his 200,000 employees, Burd developed a health care plan in 2005 that was focused on changing employee behavior to improve the company’s overall wellness.

"What is the revelation Safeway had two years ago that completely transformed our thinking? That 50 to 60 percent of all health care costs are driven by behavior," Burd, Safeway's CEO since 1993, said in an interview. "If you design a health care plan that rewards good behavior, you will drive costs down."

Over the past three years, Safeway has been successful in their wellness efforts, with overall health care costs only increasing by half a percentage point. Most businesses have seen about a 16% increase in family premiums during the same time period.

In 2006, one year after the plan was put in place, the company reported that health care coverage costs for employees enrolled in the new plan fell 11%.


How the plan works

Safeway employees are put through a series of tests each year to measure body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, cholesterol and if the employee smokes.

The difference in premiums between employees who are not overweight and are non-smokers and those who are is about $1,500, with employees paying the difference.

If employees manage to lose 10% of their body weight and quit smoking, Safeway will reimburse employees for the difference at the end of the year.

Employees aren’t expected to accomplish the challenge on their own and Safeway has set up help along the way. Insurance pays for preventative health care services including annual physicals and well child check ups. The company also pays for smoking cessation programs, nutrition counseling and gym memberships.

To test his plan, Burd invited 30 large, self-insured businesses to replicate the Safeway wellness model. He also brought his plan to Capitol hill with Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, promoting the Healthy Americans Act.


What’s your opinion on Safeway’s employee wellness plan? Is it the right way to reduce health care costs or do you think it’s going too far?

Friday office humor: Peanuts and a cube

What do you get when you have a few thousand pieces of packing popcorn and a coworker’s vulnerable cubicle? ... One funny office prank.

It’s Friday - watch the video below, have a little laugh and hope your coworkers aren’t planning to pull a stunt like this with your cube. Then protect yourself from any work-related brain damage and go home. Happy Friday!

Now kick your “learners” out of the office

Yesterday we told you to kick your trainers out of the office (not for good, but at least to the park down the street) and today we’ve decided to throw a few more people out. This time, it’s your “learners” that will be finding an eviction notice in their inbox.

I came across the idea in a recent post at the Informal Learning Blog, by Jay Cross. When it comes to learning, he suggests that we stop calling those on the receiving side of instruction “learners.”

By calling people “learners,” it suggests that they’re deficient in some way. Instead, we should all become partners in learning and turn the process it a collective group effort.

In his own words, here’s Jay’s “three-and-a-half minute rant about leveling the preacher-and-congregation model of learning in favor of recognizing we’re brothers and sisters here, not parents and children.”

Training Trends: Kick training out of the office

Kick your trainers and your trainees out of the office? You sure about that?

Yep, throw ‘em out. Right out into the great outdoors.

As winter starts to melt away and turn into spring, it’s the perfect time to move your employee training sessions out of your stuffy office building and into some invigorating, fresh outdoor air.

It’s the latest advice out of this month’s issue of Training Trends, Training Time’s monthly newsletter covering workplace training news, tips and best practices.

Along with exciting outdoor team-building ideas, the latest issue of Training Trends includes valuable sales training tips from a renowned sales guru along with critical safety training advice.

Here’s a quick look at the March issue of Training Trends:

Take Training Out of Your Office

All winter long, training has been an indoor activity for most of the country. With spring approaching, and summer on its heels, why not move your team building activities and other training out of the office and into the great outdoors? ... (full article)


Getting from the Call to the Deal

Zig Ziglar’s book titled The Secrets of Closing the Sale was the first book on sales techniques to ever make the New York Times Best Sellers List. That was in 1985. Now over 20 years later, the book remains one of the most powerful and trusted guides to getting to the sale ... (full article)


Name Your Poison

Unless your business involves only office work or remote computer-linked employees, odds are there is at least one Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) required for your company. But many managers aren’t even aware of the MSDS requirements, much less how to use them ... (full article)

Take a minute to sign up for the Training Trends newsletter and you’ll be all set to receive the best training information right in your inbox each month.

If you’re a training expert or HR professional and are interested in writing content for Training Trends or TrainingTime.com’s learning library, visit our “Write for Us” page for instructions on how to contribute.

Training the trainer: From employee to instructor

Informal training occurs everyday in the workplace, from one employee showing another how to put together a report to a coworker sharing advice on how to handle an angry customer. Training is usually delivered from coworker to coworker or from manager to employee.

But what happens when the tables are turned and managers find themselves being trained by a subordinate?

It may not happen often, but when your employee becomes your instructor, some managers may find themselves in an unfamiliar and sometimes uncomfortable position.

In a recent post at Jobacle, Lauren Kleinman explains that when employees train managers, it can be a “tough pill to swallow” for the manager involved and shares some great tips on how managers can successfully “maintain the balance of powers” throughout the process.

While it may not be said in the same exact language, employees training managers is a common practice in most workplaces. It often takes place when a new manager joins the team or even when an existing manager wants to learn about the latest online tools employees are using.

Learning from your employees can be a rewarding experience for any manager. We liked Lauren’s tips for getting through it, but would like to explore the added benefits for both parties when the tides change and the trainee becomes the trainer.

Top 5 benefits of learning from your employees:

1. No training costs. Learning something new from a peer or employee requires no subscription fees and no shipping costs. Better yet, you don’t even have to leave the office.


2. Team building. One of the easiest ways to strengthen a team of coworkers by having them teach each other new skills. When subordinates train managers, it fosters teamwork and shows that the manager is an active part of the group.


3. Fun. Some days you can spend an entire workday stuck inside your cube or office, barely coming up for air long enough to grab your sandwich out of the lunch room. Training a coworker will help you get out of your bubble and maybe you’ll have a little fun in the process.


4. Confidence. When employees train managers, there’s an added sense of accomplishment employees feel when it’s all over. Boost their confidence by asking an employee to explain something you’re unfamiliar with.


5. Building connections. Sometimes it’s easy for managers to lose touch with what is going on with employees’ everyday projects. When employees become trainers to their managers, it helps build connections and keep managers in the loop.

As a manager, have you ever been in a situation where an employee has become your instructor? How did you benefit from it?

Taking steps to improve employee morale

To deal with the recession and the effect it’s having on the workforce, more employers are taking steps to improve morale in their companies, according to a new survey by Accountemps.

Almost seven out of ten (68%) chief financial officers (CFOs) interviewed said they are implementing strategies to uplift their teams’ mood. However, more than one-quarter (26%) of executives say their organizations have done nothing to boost morale.

CFOs were asked, “In the past 12 months, what steps, if any, has your company taken to improve employee morale?” They chose the following responses (multiple responses were allowed):

• Increased frequency, quality of communication (37%)
• Offered additional financial rewards (18%)
• Provided additional professional development opportunities (18%)
• Conducted additional team-building activities (18%)
• Enhanced employee recognition programs (15%)
• No steps taken (26%)

While finding ways to improve dwindling sales numbers may be at the top of your ‘to-do’ list right now, it would be worth your while to work employee morale into the top slot of that list as well.

"Employee motivation should be a continual priority for businesses, but in a period of economic uncertainty, managers need to invest even more time and effort into maintaining team morale," said Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps. "Companies that work diligently to keep their top performers engaged improve their chances to retain these key contributors."

Past surveys have shown that the economy has been bringing employee engagement down with it. Companies that work to counteract the economy’s effects by keeping employees motivated and engaged will find more success when the market turns around.

What is your company doing to improve morale despite the economic downturn? Please share any suggestions you may have for motivating employees during a recession.

You can also check out some of these posts for ideas on improving employee morale on a budget:

The one thing employees want at work

10 low-cost employee incentive ideas

5 tips to build employee morale in a down economy

Employee incentive ideas on a budget

Looking for new employee incentive ideas? Listen to Aretha Franklin