Sorry for the hiatus! Changing roles equaled some things slipping

Hi all, yes, we are still here, alive and well at Training Time! Sorry for the silence for the past week or so...we've had some priorities that shifted and our beloved blog fell through the cracks for a bit.

But fear not! We are here, and ready to continue bringing you the best in training information, advice, tools, and yes, the much needed giggles now and then.

One thing I would like to add to our blog is more of a dialog. What would you like to know about training? Send me the burning issues impacting your company's training program, or the hot button topics you see in the HR and training world, so I can include them in our blog. Credit will be given, unless you'd rather keep your name out of the limelight (in which case, Mum's the word -- we can just attribute the idea to "a reader" or if you wish, make up a fun name for you to cleverly disguise your identity.)

Have a happy HR day!

Training for the HR Department

Most of the time when we think about training and HR, it's the HR department providing the training. But a lot of HR bloggers are talking about the need for HR itself to undergo some retraining.

Trisha, at the HR Ringleader blog put out a call for re-branding the HR department and its functions, while Laurie at PunkRock HR thinks it may actually be too late.

I think it's somewhere in the middle. Rebranding, while certainly something we need to do to clear up the real role of HR in the modern corporate world, is critical. But unlike Laurie, I'm not quite ready to stand poised with pen in hand, ready to sign the death certificate.

I think there is still hope, albeit maybe only with the radical approach House might use on one of the patients everyone else has given up on. It requires major surgery, a complete change in life style and a different view of what a viable HR career looks like.

1) The surgery --

• Centralized, standardized, cookie-cutter HR-driven performance evaluations, raises and promotions go first. Far too often, someone in the HR office who has never even met the employee in question rewrites appraisals, sets the raises or makes a firing decision. No more.
  
  The people who know the employees best, make the choices, write the reports. HR can look them over to make sure they're legal and not likely to result in a barrage of lawsuits, but that is it.
  
  
• HR as a policy-makers and enforcers on dress code, social media access, work hours and rules about whether or not someone can have a plant or a picture on their desk -- gone. No more. We're all grown-ups here, and can certainly make reasonable choices without a virtual parent on site.
  
  Supervisors and managers can deal with the rules for their departments -- again, they know the people and the work requirements. They also have a direct stake in making sure the rules set result in better performance. Again, HR can enjoy an over-site role to make sure federal and state labor law rules are followed -- but last I checked, neither plants on desks nor jeans on bodies fell under any law-making body's jurisdiction.
  
  
• Remove the phrase "We've always done it that way." and the equally offensive phrases "But it's our policy." from the vocabulary of everyone in HR. Forever. Gone. Cannot be spoken, or used as a excuse for any action or inaction.

2) The new lifestyle --

No that HR is so much lighter because of all that surgery, what can they do?

• Learn about what motivates employees.
• Set up programs to make those motivators available to managers and supervisors.
• Learn about training needs assessment.
• Make training needs assessments available to managers and supervisors.
• Create a library of training opportunities for employees. Open the door so they can access that training AS THEY NEED IT! No more holding on to training opportunities with a closed fist!
  
• Work with senior management to develop strategies to maximize every employee's potential, reduce turnover and improve job satisfaction.
  
• Do not study the strategies. Act on the strategies. Now.
  
• Learn about the power of social media. Use it. Allow employees to use it.

3) What an HR career is -- and is not --

What it is not:

• A policing role
• A top-down power role
• A "rules-is-rules" role

What is should/must be:

• A facilitation role
• A problem solving role
• A performance strategy role
• An information sharing role

Is there still time, Laurie? I think so. The big machine that goes beep hasn't flat-lined yet.

Yet.

Carnival of HR comes to town

Corn dogs, funnel cake, cotton candy … Oh My!

The Carnival of HR has made it’s way to Training Time. We got our hands on some fantastic submissions this week and would like to say thanks to everyone who contributed.

Just one thing before you enter – please ride the Screamin’ Swing before you visit the funnel cake vendor. Thanks.

Looking for a new job? Want a new position at the Tilt-A-Whirl instead of the Gravitron?

Laurie at Punk Rock HR reminds us that “we are who we pretend to be – even on our resumes,” so be careful.

For all those “Moms” out there, Kelly at Fistful of Talent has some recommendations on how to find a job that meshes well with your family life.

Don’t underestimate your social media connections, says Lance aka. Your HR Guy. Value your connections, learn new things and apply those new things to make personal improvements.

Listen to Michael VanDervort’s advice at Human Race Horses on how to interview like your in show business and you may have a shot at the carnival’s main stage next year.

Amit Bhagria the Young HR Manager has some tips for coping with a corporate layoff.

And The HR Store is asking recent interviewees, “What are you doing about the interview feedback you receive?”


One carnie short of the perfect carnival? Looking to fill a position?

Visit Recruitment 2.0 and read Susannah Cesar’s three part series on recruiting graduates in a recession.

If you’re looking to save money, you can always skip the carnival games, or listen to Melanie Quinn’s advice on how retaining human capital makes sense and saves cents.

We learn by doing, but taking the “sink or swim” approach to promoting an employee to management can be dangerous. Instead, use some management transition tools suggested by David Giffin from i4cp.

When the time comes to choose new leaders, why not take a look at some other tried and true methods, asks Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership.

When you’re ready to formulate a leadership development program, head on over to Benifys HR Solutions where Vishveshwar Jatain will get you started.


Someone call security, we’ve got problems

Broken Ferris wheel again? It’s safe to say a bit of human error was probably involved. Sharlyn Lauby aka. the HR Bartender examines why some people get desperate when faced with failure.

Lacking feedback from your manager? Dan McCarthy at Great Leadership shares his advice on coaxing feedback out of a reluctant manager.

Or maybe it’s an accountability problem. Denise O’Berry at Ask the Team Doc says assigning people specific roles is worth it and will help your team.

Spend ten minutes with Naomi Bloom, in a post by Melissa Prusher of The Devon Group, and learn from her successful project management tips.

Bad employees are very similar to smelly diapers, just read Suzanne the Evil HR Lady would handle Mr. Stinky. If you can’t change it, get rid of it, she says.

From smells to bad attitudes, Susan Heathfield from Guide to Human Resources hears countless horror stories of the way employees were treated by their HR staff person.

Wondering why everyone is walking around with masks? The swine flu has hit the carnival, and India. Read B.P. Rao ‘s common sense advice on minimizing your flu risk.

While we’re on the subject of health... Evan Falchuk of See First Blog explains why he thinks health care reform is going badly.

Don’t be afraid to put your foot down and take a stand when problems arise, says Ben Eubanks of Upstart HR in his rules for new HR professionals.

Maybe it’s time to revamp your required carnie training courses. Use these tips from yours truly at Thoughts from Training Time to reinvigorate your training programs.


The carnival is getting high tech these days

In order for collaborative communities to thrive in the workplace, you’re going to need three necessary conditions, says Steve Boese of Steve's HR Technology Blog.

Gireesh Sharma of Talent Junction explains the importance of HR data for a CEO, especially when you’re an entrepreneur pitching to investors.

Sakib Khan, of HR with Sakib Khan, explains how Google Wave can improve collaboration and HR.

And take a deeper look at the power of sticks and carrots at Prasad Kurian’s Blog on HR.

Integrating your networking and collaboration tools with enterprise systems might improve your chances of influencing behaviors that improve performance, says Mark Bennett of Talented Apps.

Also think about how a rollout plan could ease the integration of a new analytics initiative into your HR and business culture at Infohrm.


Of course, you gotta have some fun at the carnival

Invite your team to a “Night Out in August,” says April Downing of Pseudo HR. Set the budget, pick a restaurant, and set aside some time for your team to discuss what’s going on at work.

Or use Drew Tarvin’s tips from Humor That Works on how to build a better global team.

Sometimes you just have to accept that work is largely out of your control. So, find one thing that revives your sense of freedom this summer, says Mark Stelzner of Inflexion Advisors.

A new look at the Carnival of HR

Take a few minutes out of your day today and go have some fun at the latest installment of the Carnival of HR at Prem Rao's People at Work and Play.

Rao is calling it the Global Carnival, because the issues discussed are relevant to most organizations and human resource professionals anywhere on earth. So, go see a more worldly view of HR, make your stomach turn on the Tilt-A-Whirl, eat some funnel cake (after the rides, please) and have a great time!

Remember to mark your calendars - the next Carnival of HR will be hosted here at Thoughts from TrainingTime on August 19. To submit a post, please send an email to TrainingTimeBlog (at) gmail.com.

Carnival of HR: Lions, tigers and bearded HR ladies?

The latest installment of the Carnival of HR is up over at the Inflexion Point Blog, hosted by Mark Stelzner.

Mark has put together quite a show, with freakishly interesting posts from some of the leading HR bloggers on the carnival circuit. Check out the wild side of HR at the HR Carnival today.

Employees’ #1 summer wish: TIME

If employees had it their way this summer, they’d be given the chance to leave early on Fridays and would have more flextime to work with, according to a new survey.

OfficeTeam recently polled more than 450 workers and found that time is at the top of most employees’ summer benefits wish lists.

Workers were asked “Which of the following summer benefits would you most like to have?” Their top answers were:

• Flexible schedules - 38%
• Leave early on Fridays - 32%
• Activities (e.g. company picnic, potluck) - 6%
• More relaxed dress code - 5%

“Employees appreciate flexibility in their jobs because it gives them greater control and enables them to handle other commitments without sacrificing their work performance,” said Robert Hosking, executive director of OfficeTeam.

Allowing employees to have more flexible schedules during the summer months and throughout the year can be an inexpensive way to improve motivation. Just like the “Leave the Office Earlier” holiday promoted earlier this month, most of us could use a break away from the office.

Employees are more stressed than ever, spending more time at work to complete increasingly heavier workloads. Allowing for workplace flexibility benefits both employees and employers by improving retention rates, productivity and reduces stress.

So, if you’re looking for a simple way to improve morale around the office, give employees more time away from it. Let them leave early on Friday or work from home for a few hours next week and make your employees’ wishes come true.

Does your office loosen up during the summer months to allow for more flextime? Is going home early on Fridays ever an option? Leave a comment and let us know.

Corporate data security: You’re gonna need more than a policy

An alarming number of employees are ignoring data security policies and are routinely engaging in activities that could put their employer at risk, according to a survey released by Ponemon Institute Wednesday.

According to survey results, the most frequent data security offenses were employees copying secure data to USB drives, turning off security settings in mobile devices like laptops and sharing passwords. All offenses that have the potential to put a company’s data at risk.

Of the 967 IT professionals surveyed, around 69% said they copied confidential company data to USB sticks, even though they knew it was against the rules. Still worse, some employees admit that they lost USB sticks housing company data, but failed to report it immediately.

Another disturbing trend is the amount of workers engaging in online activities that raise the risk of infecting company computers with malicious software.

About 31% of respondents engaged in social-networking practices on the Web from work PCs and around 53% said they downloaded personal software on company PCs, increasing the risk of spreading malware in the workplace, according to the research.

“Mobile technologies that let employees do more while on the road are contributing to the issue, said Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of Ponemon Institute, in a blog entry. As the use of mobile devices grows, the inability to enforce data security policies could increase the possibility of data breaches. "I’m seeing a confluence of conditions that appear to be contributing to this challenge to data integrity," he said.

Over half (58%) of the IT professionals surveyed put the blame on companies for failing to provide employees with adequate data security awareness and training. About 57% also said their company’s data protection policies were ineffective and 43% said there was poor communication and enforcement of data security policies.

“The Ponemon Institute believes these results show overall lack of urgency by companies on the need to address data security. Unfortunately, our studies have also shown that it often takes a data breach incident before an organization will finally get their wake-up call and take data security seriously.” (Dr. Ponemon’s blog)

Like the survey results showed, it’s going to take more than just a policy to ensure that your company’s data is secure and protected. Read some of these past posts for more information on not only setting up a data security policy, but also training employees on how to keep your company safe:

Employee anti-phishing training, one scam at a time

Six tips for setting up a computer security policy

Employee security training: Spam 101

Employee security training: How to catch ‘phish’

Disgruntled Chrysler employee fired after Internet post

Companies restructure faster by firing and hiring, not retraining

As many of the country’s largest employers eliminate thousands of jobs, they’re simultaneously hiring workers for new positions to adapt to the market’s changing needs, according to a Wall Street Journal article published yesterday.

U.S. employers eliminated 539,000 jobs in April alone, said the Labor Department on Friday. However, the government also estimates that employers hired roughly 4.4 million workers in February, the most recent numbers available.

"It's not just routine turnover," says Lori Kletzer, an economics professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. "Quite often the people being laid off don't have the requisite set of skills or experience to move into the growth areas."

Some experts say the churn also shows changes in workplace policies. In past decades, many employers retrained and relocated underused workers, says Peter Cappelli, director of the Center for Human Resources at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. “Now they've discovered that you can restructure even faster by laying off and hiring.” (WSJ)

Microsoft, IBM, AT&T, Yahoo and Time Warner are among the companies laying off thousands, while hiring new workers to fill positions in different business units, other places or to fill a need for new skills.

These latest employment numbers support a belief that many Americans currently share -- without continued training and skills development, their current workplace skills will be outdated within the next few years.

Workers across all generations depend on training and development to stay competitive in the changing labor market, but more than three-quarters of Americans believe the training provided by their employers will fail to meet their future career needs.

Has your company decided to fire and hire, instead of training existing employees for new positions? Is it the employer’s responsibility to develop workers’ skills for their future career needs?

Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Should improving employee morale come with a black eye?

When you’re brainstorming ways to improve employee morale you usually think of friendly events including picnics, team building retreats and competitive games. An event where employees duke it out in a boxing ring would probably be the last idea on your list, but it’s exactly what one Southern California start-up has in mind.

Since the economic downturn began, Chris Lyman, CEO Fonality, noticed that the “energy was different” within the company and thought up an extreme idea to improve it. Fonality makes affordable business phone systems for companies with 5-500 employees and competes with the likes of Cisco, Avaya, and Nortel.

Instead of “hugging it out” they would “punch it out” in a new “Fight Club” inspired employee competition, according to socialTech.

Fonality employees are currently training for the “Fonality Fight Club,” a mixed-martial arts (MMA) employee tournament. They’re so serious about it that the company hired martial arts expert Chris Reilly, who trains fighters for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), to referee the competition.

According to CEO Chris Lyman and VP of Product and Marketing Corey Brundage, the idea for the fight club came when Lyman ran into Reilly in a restaurant, and learned about his fighting class. Lyman explains that because of the lackluster economy, the "energy was different" around the firm, and they felt instead of solving by "hugging it out" they'd "punch it out." (socialTech)

When asked if he’s worried about employees being injured, Lyman said employees will be wearing the proper safety equipment and any employee with fighting experience may not enter the tournament. There were 17 employees signed up for the event, at the time the socialTech article was published.

So how is a “fight club” supposed to improve employee morale? The tournament winner is awarded two free weeks of vacation. The loser must grow a mustache, equal in length to the round they lost in the fight (we assume the company is all male), and write an apology letter to the winner’s mother for losing.

Apart from this being one of the craziest ideas to improve employee morale, organizing an event like the “Fonality Fight Club” can cause serious human resources and legal issues.

What if an employee is seriously injured while fighting a coworker?

Would beating each other up create a hostile work environment?

Could the fight club losers and their mustaches become targets for workplace harassment?

Do you think the employee fight club is a fun idea for boosting employee morale or has the company set themselves up for a potential disaster?

Please share your thoughts and opinions in a comment below.

Skills training failing to meet employee needs

Without continued training and skills development many Americans believe their current workplace skills will be outdated within the next five years, according to a recent global workplace survey by Kelly Services.

The survey found that more than three-quarters of Americans surveyed predict that their job skills will be outdated within five years and believe the training currently provided by their employers will fail to meet their future career needs.

“Many organizations in an effort to cut expenses may eliminate or reduce training opportunities, but this will cause businesses to become less innovative and without the capacity to compete,” says Mike Webster, Kelly Services Executive Vice President and General Manager.

As revealed in the survey, people across all generations in the workforce depend on training and development to stay competitive in the changing labor market.

People’s views regarding their workplace skills varied in different regions of the U.S., according to the survey:

• Workers in the West are most concerned about their skill sets, with 82% worried that they are becoming outdated.
• People living in the Northeast are the most confident that their current skill levels are sustainable.
• Gen Y workers (18 to 29 years old) living in the West and Midwest are the most worried about their workplace skills.
• Gen X workers (30 to 47 years old) are more concerned about the adequacy of their skills than any other age group in the U.S.
• Workers in the South are the most satisfied with the quality of training provided by their employers.
• More than half of the Baby Boomer generation (aged 48 to 65) feel they have been let down by their employer’s human resources departments in managing their careers. Workers in the Northeast are the most critical in this area.

The majority of those surveyed (77%) believe that training should be a joint responsibility between employers and employees. The workers surveyed said they most prefer on-the-job training (42%), followed by professional development courses (26%), self-initiated learning (20%) and formal university or college courses (12%).

“The current economic environment has made people very aware of their skills and whether they will be sufficient to survive the recession and beyond, into a period of economic recovery,” Webster says.

Do you think our current economic situation has put an added significance on employee training and skills development? Are you concerned that your current workplace skills will become outdated in the coming years?

Leave a comment and let us know.

Employees want more informal, in-person communication

Whether your company is moving offices or has just gone through a round of layoffs, effective communication is critical throughout each step of the process. Employees who are informed will find it easier to adapt during a major change and at handle the stress it creates.

While most communications and human resources professionals are content with the amount of information they’re getting on the state of their company during the recession, many want more opportunities to use social media and have face-to-face conversations with company leaders, according to a survey by Heyman Associates Executive Search.

Heyman developed the survey to gauge the effectiveness of corporate communications in today’s difficult economy, Marketing Charts writes. According to survey respondents:

• 85% say their CEO has done a good job communicating with them, but
• 65% would still like more informal, in-person communication opportunities.
  

When the 550 respondents were asked whether they were getting the right amount of information about their company:

• 71% answered “yes”
• 17% answered “somewhat”
• 68% answered “no”
  

Those who were satisfied with the communication coming from their company said they are receiving information about the company’s short- and long-term prospects and challenges on a regular basis from an official and credible internal source. Sources included presentations, town-hall meetings, email newsletters, CEO blog teleconferences, intranet postings and staff meetings with their manager.

Those who were unhappy with the amount of information they were receiving say the lack of communication has been causing mistrust of the organization among employees.


Try something new

One of the most revealing findings is the way in which employees want to receive information. Though most companies utilize email and other mass communication methods, the survey showed that employees desire more in-person communications.

When asked how they would improve the way they receive information about their company, 65% of respondents would like more informal, face-to-face communication.

Written survey responses show that employees trust informal, in-person communication because it shows that the company wants employees informed on the latest information and encourages feedback.

Responses also indicated that more employees would like to see more use of social media within the company because of its interactive nature. Many respondents would like to see an mix of in-person and social media communication, believing that it will increase the frequency and trustworthiness of messages.

If your organization is experiencing major changes as a result of the recession, remember that including employees in the conversation and trying new forms of communication will improve your chances of success.

Does your company utilize any forms of social media for internal communication? Do you think it’s a useful tool when it comes to company communication?

Dealing with a sudden drop in performance

As the economy continues to hurt business and diminish our 401(k)s, new research is showing that it’s also pulling employee engagement down with it.

In a national survey of U.S. companies by Quantum Workplace, 66% of firms saw decreases in employee engagement between 2007 and 2008.

“By an almost two-to-one margin (134 to 76), more employers had lower overall employee engagement scores in the fall of 2008 than in the fall of 2007. This result is out of the ordinary from our trends for the last five years, and strongly suggests that external circumstances regarding the economy may well be influencing employees' attitudes about their jobs and workplaces," said Greg Harris, president of Quantum Workplace.

The survey measured employee engagement by “the ability and willingness of individuals to exert extra effort for the benefit of the company, their tendency to speak highly of the organization and their intent to stay," according to Harris.

Engaged employees won’t make the recession disappear, but they are one of your most effective tools for pulling through it with more success than you would otherwise.

Workplace studies continually show that engaged employees perform significantly higher than those not engaged in their work. Businesses with an engaged workforce will typically have increased service and customer loyalty, better individual employee performance and reduced costs including safety, absenteeism and lost productivity.

Whether it’s due to the economy, a child’s health issue or dealing with a bully in the workplace, managers need to know how to spot when an employee is in trouble and what they should do to help.


It starts with a conversation

Training managers and supervisors on how to address a sudden drop in employee performance in a previously high-performing staff member starts with a lesson in communication.

Rather than making assumptions or taking an accusatory stance, supervisors should start with a conversation. Explain to the employee that you’ve noticed a drop in their performance and ask if it’s because of something that is going on at the office or at home.

Once you get down to the root of it, you’ll be in a better position to help the employee with their problem and eventually improve their performance. With that knowledge, supervisors can then help employees find the support they need.

We’ve been conducting our own research on employee performance and need your help. Please answer this simple, one-question poll on LinkedIn: How do you handle a sudden drop in a star employee's performance?

On hugs, stimulus packages and shoes: This week’s must-reads

There’s a ton of great information out there this week, so much that breaking it up and discussing it all separately would take months. Instead, we’ll just direct you strait to the sources of all it. Here’s some of the best HR and training related information posted on the Web this week:


Try to give hugs to more people at work. After just four sips of wine, read how Brazen Careerist Penelope Trunk made an amazing discovery - hugging in the workplace can make you happier. If President Barack Obama can bring hugging into the White House, you can find a way to bring it into your workplace.


While we’re talking about Obama, he just signed the $787 billion stimulus package that included some important HR action items. The team at G.Neil’s HR Forum put together a quick overview of how the stimulus plan will impact HR and U.S. businesses.


Obama signed the billion dollar stimulus package yesterday and now is the time for the Leadership Development Economic Stimulus Package, according to Dan McCarthy at Great Leadership. The total cost of Dan’s plan is only a fraction of that Obama signed, but the impact on business leadership would be huge.


Put yourself in their shoes. Knowing your audience will put you on the road to success when designing your next training program. Take some advice from Chris Morgan at Learn2Develop, put yourself in the shoes of your trainees and look at your training from a new perspective.


Is the traditional training course dead? If so, technology is the killer. Technology gives us the power to learn what we need to know, when we need to know it and most of what we learn is through informal methods. Learn more about the potential death of the instructor-led training course by reading this Training Zone article by Vaughan Waller.

Friday funny: Musical tribute to HR, could it get any cornier?

As part of their “Up Close and Personnel Tour,” the award-winning* musical duo of Slimon and Carbunkle created the following video - a musical tribute to the pain and joy of working in human resources.

Before pressing play, I’d like to pass along a serious warning from Dawn Wolfe at george’s employment blawg:

WARNING: If you take your 70’s - era folk music seriously, this video may give you a facial tick. All, others, please refrain from eating or drinking anything while viewing so as not to ruin your company’s computer equipment…

*Award received for finishing 12th place in this year’s Skankleton County Bratwurst Festival Karaoke Contest.

Today is the old new Form I-9 deadline

Remember the Form I-9 “Hokey Pokey” we played last summer? Are you ready for round two?

A new I-9 form was scheduled to take effect today, but in a surprise move, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) retracted the mandatory changes late on Friday, January 30, pending further comment and review.

I hope you remember where you put your old I-9s, because DHS says we must continue using them until April 3, 2009. The good version of the Form I-9 should have the “(Rev. 06/05/07) N” date on the bottom right-hand corner of the form.

Last Friday, DHS extended another 30-day comment period for the new Employment Verification rules and pushed back the scheduled update by two months, instructing businesses to go back to using the previous guidelines and I-9 forms.

In preparation for the new I-9 forms, many hiring managers and HR departments across the country discarded the previous forms, believing them to be outdated. The retraction and re-instatement of the old forms has some employers scrambling to respond and replace the forms they threw out last week.

Ashley Kaplan, Labor Law Compliance Attorney for G.Neil, received the DHS announcement Friday evening and immediately recognized the potential challenges.

“We worked overtime last week to ship out the updated forms to our customers to begin using on February 2, and now need to get back to them with new instructions,” Kaplan explains. “We’re providing a free pdf of the previous I-9 Form and instructions to our customers who purchased the updated forms. We’ll also closely monitor the extended review period in case further changes occur before the April 3rd deadline.”

If there was ever a time when procrastinating on compliance deadlines could work in your favor - this was it. You now have more time to get the right forms in order and finish up that Form I-9 training.

Still confused and need more information? Read G.Neil's new Form I-9 Q & A.

Why happiness at work matters and how you can still have it

Alex Kjerulf, aka The Chief Happiness Officer, is one of the world’s top experts on happiness at work and author of the bestselling book: Happy Hour is 9 to 5 - How to Love Your Job, Love Your Life and Kick Butt at Work.

During a recent interview with Terrence Seamon of the American Management Association (AMA), he explained how happiness at work is no longer a luxury and is now essential to business success.

Even in the midst of crisis and without any room in the budget, companies can still focus on happiness at work. They must, according to Kjerulf. When you’re going through tough times, it’s critical to have people performing at their best. If people are happy at work and treated well by their employer, they will do anything they can to help the company succeed.

In the absence of a large budget, companies are forced to get creative with employee motivation and many times, it is the simplest idea that has the best results, says Kjerulf.

Find out more about the power of happiness at work, why the happiest companies are the most successful and the importance of saying good morning in this quick, 15 minute podcast.

You can hear the entire podcast here.


Related posts:

Why the happiest companies are so happy

Creativity, innovation and happiness at work

Should employees choose their own training?

Yesterday, Jim Giuliano at HR Morning shared one of his best HR management ideas: let employees find and choose their own training.

The idea became a winning solution to one company’s struggle to find new employee training ideas with limited resources, a common challenge many small companies face.

You can read the longer version at HR Morning, but here’s the basic story:

• During the recruiting process, people are told that the company is dedicated to continual learning and development, using training to reach career goals.
• Supervisors and HR don’t have enough time to come up with new training ideas relevant to the goals of the employee and company.
• The company can’t afford to hire a professional training coordinator.

Solution: Turn employees into their own training coordinators.

Employees find and choose their own training, under two conditions:

1. They must prove that the training correlates with their jobs and careers.
2. The cost of the training program must be justified (increased cost, increased benefit).

The company tried out the program for one year on an experimental basis with only a few employees.

Results were mixed: “Not all employees embraced the idea - some still wanted the supervisor to pick the training. But we found that the ones who did take control of their training often also happened to be our most motivated, top performers.”

Why it’s a great idea:

• It improves employee engagement by giving them the freedom to choose which areas they would like to improve on.
• It saves supervisors and HR time by having employees take over the task of researching new training ideas.

But what do you think?

Are you struggling with finding new ideas for employee training and think a program like this could work at your company? Should employees choose their own training? Could it cause any problems?

How to cut costs in your personal budget at work

You’ve heard the spiel before - we’re in a recession, your 401(k) is losing money, companies are laying off workers left and right, and we’re all worried about it.

Instead of worrying about everything you have no control over, concern yourself with the parts of your life that you can do something about - starting with how you choose to spend your money.

When you factor in coffee, lunch and all those snacks out of the vending machine, the office has a way of taking more cash out of our wallets than we’d like. Controlling your personal spending habits at work is a great way to start cutting costs in your personal budget.

In a recent New York Times Q & A, author Eilene Zimmerman shared some great ideas for slicing your own budget at the office. Here are a few of the best:

• Leave the plastic at home. Leaving credit cards at home helps you to curb impulsive spending. Determine how much money you can afford to spend at work each week and put that amount of cash in an envelope. If that’s all the money you have to spend, you’ll think twice about your lunch order.


• Brown bag it. Cut down on food costs and improve your health by bringing lunch from home. A survey conducted in October by ConAgra Foods found that workers spend an average of $6.60 a day on lunch. By bringing food from home, even two or three times a week, can help you cut down on food costs.


• Skip the vending machines. For the cost of a few items out of the vending machine you could afford to buy an entire box of snacks from the grocery store. Get a few co-workers together and set up a snack pool. Each person donates snacks like granola bars or pretzels to share with the group and keep your stash of snacks in a central location in the office.


• Brew your own. “If you skip the twice-daily coffee your can save $30 a week. That’s $120 a month and about $1,500 a year.” Pick up a French press (usually less than $20) and brew your own great cup of coffee whenever you want, for a fraction of the cost of a store-bought latte.


• Take a look at your health benefits. Talk with human resources to ensure you’re making the right benefits enrollment decisions. Starting a flexible spending account would allow you to use pretax income for out-of-pocket medical and health expenses. Using pretax income will give you about a 25% savings and reduces your taxable income.

We’d like to add one more to the list - just say no to bottled water. Not only does it help you go green at work, it could help you save a lot of money. Americans spent more money last year on bottled water ($15 billion) than they did on iPods or movie tickets. Buying a reusable water bottle will help you stop wasting money and reduce your carbon footprint.

Saving money at work comes down to making conscious decisions on the little things you buy everyday. Give yourself strict limits, stick to them, and you’ll be saving money in no time.

How to deliver employee training like a ninja

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Is using video games to recruit deceptive?

Next to the Banana Republic and Victoria’s Secret shops in the Franklin Mills Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, you can now find the state-of-the-art Army Experience Center. Complete with a Humvee, a Black Hawk Helicopter and an Apache gunship, the facility is part of a two-year experiment by the Army to boost recruiting numbers.

The Army spent $12 million constructing the facility and packing it full of computers and video games for an interactive, virtual reality experience designed to recruit new soldiers.

After four months, 33 full-time soldiers and five reservists have signed up - a figure that matches the performance of the five recruiting centers it replaced.

The army says the Experience Center is more than just a recruiting hub, and also serves to “dispel misperceptions about Army life,” according to a recent Reuters article.

"We want them to know that being in the Army isn't just about carrying weapons and busting down doors," said Jennings, who wears slacks and a polo shirt rather than a uniform. About 80 percent of soldiers are not involved in direct combat roles, he said.

But some people, including former soldiers, think the use of video games in recruiting for the Army is glamorizing war and can mislead potential recruits. Jesse Hamilton, a former Army staff sergeant who served in Iraq in 2005 and 2006, called the video games “very deceiving and very far from realistic.”

"You can't simulate the loss when you see people getting killed," said Hamilton, who left the Army after his Iraq tour and is now a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

"It's not very likely you are going to get into a firefight," he said. "The only way to simulate the heat is holding a blow dryer to your face."

We want to know what you think - Could the Army Experience Center be considered a deceptive recruitment technique or is it just a creative way to meet recruiting goals?