Training Trends: Can training = fun?

The latest issue of our Training Trends newsletter hit inboxes yesterday. This month you’ll discover new ways to make training more enjoyable and even fun, how to unlock employee creativity and why it’s time to refresh your project management skills.

Here are some snippets from the August issue of Training Trends from TrainingTime.com:

Can Training = Fun?
Ways to make your training more enjoyable

Have you ever facilitated a training session and found that one or more attendees caught up on sleep the entire time you spoke? Let’s face it, training has the potential to be boring, for both trainer and employee. The last thing you want are employees trudging all the way to the training room feeling doomed to a session of uncomfortable introductions, awkward silences and yawn-worthy material.

As a trainer, there are ways to engage your employees with fun, worthwhile training that will relay useful and important information in a way that will stick. Take the initiative and use these suggestions to give your training an extra boost of enjoyment. (more)


Six strategies for unlocking employee creativity
Embrace creativity, create a competitive advantage

A few lucky companies are beginning to rebound from the recession, but most of us are still feeling the pressure. Employees and executives are stressed; budgets are tight and businesses are hunkered down. Though every business goes through natural ups and downs, stagnancy is something no business can afford right now.

Studies have shown that companies that emphasize employee engagement and encourage creativity will attract high-performing job candidates and retain loyal employees, giving the company a competitive advantage. Try these six strategies and unlock employee creativity in your organization today: (more)


Project management refresher
Skills to help manage your projects more efficiently

It’s Monday morning and, unlike your fellow employees, you’ve got your feet up in a lounge chair on the deck of a cruise ship. The sun is shining; a gentle breeze is blowing through your hair, and an ice cold beverage sits in the cup holder next to you. Then, exactly one week later, you find yourself dragging your sunburned heels across the company parking lot toward the entrance in a pre-coffee daze, still dreaming you’re on that cruise ship…

With all the distractions that come from the summer vacations, it’s a good time to brush up on your project management skills so you don’t fall behind schedule. If you have a team working with you on projects, it wouldn’t hurt to give them a refresher as well. Here are some basic things to keep in mind when managing your next project... (more)

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Employee engagement at Campbell’s: It's mm, mm good

Turning poor engagement around is a challenge for any organization, large or small. Finding a recipe for success came with its own set of challenges for one of the most recognized brands in the U.S., but the company now stands at the head of the employee engagement table.

In an interview with Forbes, Douglas Conant, CEO of Campbell Soup, shared how he took a “bad” company to a high-performing “extraordinary” company. We’ve put together some of the highlights in this post, you can read the full article here.

How did he do it? With a mix of “cost-cutting, smart innovations, increased marketing and, especially, a concerted effort to reinvigorate the workforce.”

"To win in the marketplace," he has said, "we believe you must first win in the workplace. I'm obsessed with keeping employee engagement front and center and keeping up energy around it." (Forbes)

The year after Conant became a part of Campbell’s he hired the help of Gallup, polling and research firm, to better understand his company’s engagement levels. Gallup found that 62% of Campbell’s managers were not actively engaged in their jobs and 12% were actively disengaged.

Today the engagement numbers look much different. According to the most recent poll, 68% of all Campbell employees say they are actively engaged, and only 3% say they are actively disengaged. The company’s engagement levels are “world-class” in Gallup’s eyes.

After Conant realized how it tied directly into shareholder returns, he used employee engagement as a tool to measure progress, build a high-performance company culture, and set high standards for Campbell’s leaders.

The company now surveys all 580 work groups at the same time once a year. Managers review the results with their direct reports and everyone is updated on their progress related to specific goals. The top quality leaders are measured on is their ability to inspire trust in those around them.

“The other thing we do is celebrate at a high level when people do things well. Learning to celebrate success is a key component of learning how to win in the market. On a personal level, I send out about 20 thank-you notes a day to staffers, on all levels. And every six weeks I have lunch with a group of a dozen or so employees, to get their perspective on the business, to address problems and to get feedback.”

How do you inspire trust in your teams? What is the most important factor any company can focus on to turn employee engagement around?

No money? No problem. Motivate without it.

Times are tough out there, you don’t need to tell us twice. Our budgets are strapped, employees are stressed, and layoffs are looming (if they haven’t happened already).

Instead of just worrying about your lack of money and employees’ low morale, why not look for a cashless way to get employees motivated?

Some think it can’t be done, but motivating employees without spending money is possible and a recent BusinessWeek article explores how many businesses managed to do it.

Here it is in four manageable steps:

Step 1: Managers must be self-motivated. How do you get employees to rally around you if you’re in a bad mood and locked up in your office all day? It’s easy for managers to hide behind email, what’s tough is connecting on a personal level. Even the busiest manager can find time to connect with and recognize employees every day.

Step 2: Get creative. Companies with the resources, like Google and Starbucks, offer employees option-exchange programs where workers can trade “out-of-the-money stock options” for new ones. For companies without that luxury, consider moving annual programs up a few months, like how software developer Intuit was able to do earlier this year.

Step 3: Make it personal. Since stock options and bonuses aren’t an option for many of us, you’ll have to find a way to recognize employees without money. Find out what each employee values and give it to them. We’re not talking about a new car or plane tickets to Europe, but something as small as a gift certificate to a fancy new restaurant for a food aficionado in marketing can make a big impact.

Step 4: Focus on intrinsic rewards. While extrinsic rewards can give employee morale a quick boost, internal motivators will have the longest-lasting effects. Show employees how their work has had a direct impact on customers and the success of the business. Whether it’s through peer recognition or sharing positive customer reviews, recognize their hard work regularly.


Keeping employees engaged is essential during an economic downturn. Not every idea will work for every business or employee. Put in the effort to find what works and run with it, your business depends on it.

The Carrot Principle: Motivating without money

What we need now, more than ever, is day-to-day employee recognition, according to motivational expert Chester Elton who shared his thoughts in a recent interview with BusinessWeek's Management Editor Patricia O'Connell.


The co-author of The Carrot Principle who’s been called the “apostle of appreciation,” suggests that small gestures, such as handwritten notes or funny voice mails, can go a long way in increasing employee engagement and retention.

In her first question for the author, O'Connell asks how he expects businesses to continue delivering quality recognition, even though there's not as much money going around as there used to be.

Elton says that what we need now is low-cost, high return recognition. It’s about doing simple things that engage employees and really make them feel valued. He also explains how even the busiest manager can find the time to deliver employee recognition on a daily basis.

It's only five minutes long, but full of useful ideas and advice. Take a look:

Improving employee engagement? Ask 3 questions

Over the weekend, Tammy Erickson shared an insightful story at Harvard Business about how any business can find low cost ways to improve engagement. She believes it all starts with creating goose-bump moments for employees.

She explained how years ago AARP asked her to audit their employment policies. AARP, an association dedicated to serving retirees and older Americans, also touts its commitment to being an employer of choice and strives to follow only the best human resource practices.

So, when company representatives began their presentation for Erickson and she became extremely bored, she interrupted and asked the presenters a few questions, including these three:

1. Why do you work here?
2. How often do you feel passionate about your work?
3. How often do you get to have experiences that make you feel passionate about your work?

One of the presenters explained how passionate she was for improving the lives of older Americans. She described a goose-bump moment she had with the company on Capitol Hill when a piece of legislation AARP worked to support became law.

“I strongly believe that the essence of a great employee experience — one that deepens our commitment and heightens our engagement — are those moments that give us goose bumps — the moments that remind us why we chose to work for this particular organization in the first place.”

With the recession taking a serious toll on morale, improving employee engagement is a top goal for many organizations. As Erickson explained in her article, sometimes all it takes is reminding people of the reasons why they wanted to work for the company in the first place.

Though the reasons for wanting to work for a company will vary from employee to employee, the desire to be happy and feel passionate about what they do is a shared feeling among many. Creating opportunities for employees to have goose-bump moments will remind employees of that passion and encourage them to go above and beyond in their work.

“In this difficult year, it's important to understand why people joined your organization and reinforce those values. In most cases, these steps don't cost a lot of money, but they can have a huge impact on employee engagement and commitment.”

Reminding employees of the reasons why they chose to work at an organization can be as simple as talking to customers or as involved as a trip to Capitol Hill. It’s all about creating experiences for employees that bolster the passion they have for the work they do.

“Find the authentic core of work at your organization and create ways to amplify and extend the experience to all employees. Give 'em goose bumps.”

How do you remind employees about what it means to be a part of your organization? How do you “give ‘em goose bumps”?